The Crown Prince In Hiding

”What exactly are you doing?”

The Raven’s voice alone was enough to smother the entire room under suffocating pressure. It was a weight that came naturally from being one of the last five active national heroes.

There was no detail too small to escape his gaze—the legendary raven eyes that missed nothing.

He had caught wind of what happened.

And one thing was certain to him—Nora did not kill Iskaryx alone. Not by a long shot, not with the capabilities he knew she had.

The Raven’s face was taut, his expression so fierce it could make the weak-willed wet themselves. Nora gritted her teeth, trying to endure the crushing tension.

“Mr. Raven...? What are you talking about?”

“Glassner. Leave us.”

The butler hesitated, clearly reluctant. But when he saw the look in Raven’s eyes, he slowly bowed and slipped away, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Dan turned back around.

Silence swallowed the room.

“I’m giving you one chance, Princess. What really happened on Silver Mountain?”

“What happened? I told you—I killed Iskaryx!”

“I never said you didn’t. I’m asking what happened up there.”

“What do you mean… Mr. Raven?”

Suddenly, a black raven swooped in through the window and perched on Raven’s arm.

“...You think I’m that stupid, Princess Nora? I trained you myself. You think I don’t know what you’re capable of? You couldn’t have taken Iskaryx down—not alone. Even I couldn’t.”

He stepped closer. Another raven appeared from behind his shoulder, its eyes gleaming with arcane malice.

These were no ordinary birds—they were magical creatures.

“I could have! It was weak! You weren’t there—you didn’t see it!”

“Weak, was it? Hmm…”

Raven’s demeanor softened slightly. One of the large ravens crawled along Nora’s shoulder, turning its head to stare her down.

“If it truly was as weak as you claim... I might’ve believed you. But do you know what I found inside Iskaryx’s stomach?”

“…What, Mr. Raven?”

“Ice mammoth meat. Still being digested. Consumed within the past twenty-four hours. Now, explain to me—if Iskaryx was as feeble and near death as you claimed under oath, how did it manage to kill and eat an ice mammoth within a day of its death?”

Iskaryx wasn’t a scavenger. Every scholar in the kingdom knew that.

Nora froze.

Raven wasn’t just a national hero—he was the chief of forensic investigations. And he was supposed to report this to the Empress. The fact that he had come here first to confront her in private—that said everything. He still cared for her, like a father catching his daughter in a lie.

But what he had discovered directly contradicted her testimony.

“I never doubted that you dealt the killing blow. I’m doubting your claim that Iskaryx was already dying. It doesn’t add up, Your Highness.”

He began circling her slowly.

“But regardless, the truth remains: your black ice pierced its skull. You killed it, yes. But on your own? No. That’s impossible. So I’ll be blunt… did you use forbidden magic, Princess?”

Or… did someone with forbidden magic help you?

In Snowhaven, forbidden magic was punishable by death.

“Or maybe… you didn’t use the magic. But someone with you did.”

The momentum shifted. No longer aimed solely at Nora—it was shifting toward Dan Burn.

To Raven, Dan was a stranger. Unknown. Suspicious. When framed that way, everything snapped into place—like puzzle pieces falling together.

“You will not accuse my friend like this!” Nora quickly stepped between them. “No one here is using forbidden magic, Mr. Raven!”

“Then explain this.”

The raven on his shoulder dropped something onto the floor.

A tiny black fragment.

Dan’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t large—only the size of a pinky toenail. Something small enough to be mistaken for lint or a dead bug. But Raven, with his hawk-like eyes, had found it wedged between Iskaryx’s teeth.

It was a fragment of Fury’s armor—cracked from battle.

“This is no wood. No stone. This is outer shell. Organic. And it does not exist anywhere in Snowhaven.”

There was no point arguing. Raven knew the land better than anyone.

“Iskaryx’s wings were torn—but no ice shards were found in the wounds. That damage wasn’t from your magic. Someone else weakened it. Or rather… maybe that ‘someone’ isn’t even human.”

Recent news of shadowkind able to shapeshift into human forms had rocked the world.

That meant anyone could be a disguised shadowkind. Even... Dan.

Raven’s black-and-purple crossbow rose into view, its string crackling with dark lightning. It pointed—directly at Dan.

Dan recoiled.

No. No no no. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go!

Raven’s brilliance was proving far more dangerous than expected. His deductions were taking terrifying shape—and he was on the brink of using force.

Maybe he’d arrived with that exact intention.

“I’m not one of those monsters!” Dan cried out.

Meanwhile, Zeedee grabbed a nearby iron poker and hid it behind her back. The air in the room was thick with tension—this would not end peacefully.

“That fragment could’ve come from a bug or something, Mr. Raven! We were all fighting—it was chaos!”

“Exactly! You can’t accuse Dan like this, Mr. Raven! There’s no way he could be one of them! No way!”

“Your Highness... how can you be sure?”

The crossbow remained steady. Dan found himself backed into a corner, shielding himself from the potential bolt, eyes shut tight.

“Mr. Raven! Back away from him right now!”

Nora shouted, shoving Raven back with her own strength.

Raven looked at her. Something in her gaze—her desperation—felt... off.

She was defending Dan too fiercely. For a noble princess and a commoner who’d only known each other for a few months... it was too much.

He knew Nora. This was out of character.

Way out of character.

“I swear to God… if you hurt him, I won’t stay silent.”

Ice began forming across her palms.

But Raven didn’t waver.

“No one is hurting anyone. All I want is the truth. Just the truth. This is your last chance. If you don’t tell me… I’ll take this straight to court.”

Raven had a duty. To report everything. And the damage done to Iskaryx’s corpse was beyond the means of two teenagers who hadn’t even graduated. Unless…

They used forbidden magic.

He was the bottleneck. If they couldn’t stop him… Nora’s freedom would be stripped away. The hearings would begin again—with no end in sight.

Nora was numb. Raven’s eyes bore down on her—and then… they fixed on Dan.

“I’ve already told you everything! I’m the one who killed Iskaryx—and it was weak! How many times do you want me to say it?! This isn’t like you, Mr. Raven! What’s wrong with you?!”

“...”

Raven lifted the black fragment in his hand.

“Princess Nora… I’m very disappointed in you.”

“WHAT are you talking about, Mr. Raven?! I’m seriously getting pissed off now!”

Dan cowered behind her. Nora was fighting with all she had for him—but still...

Raven didn’t budge an inch.

“Twenty years ago... a battle occurred in the Salawan Plains between Holy Knight Casca Saint Maximin... and Prince Fury of Diablo.”

Nora’s eyes widened.

“That fight caused catastrophic damage. Though Casca was severely injured, so was Prince Fury. His black armor shattered—pieces scattered across the battlefield.”

He stepped closer. Nora shrank. Her breath came faster.

“Scientists from Mathema retrieved fragments of his armor and ran tests. What they found... was astonishing. Even under the crushing weight of ten elephants, they didn’t break. If humanity could replicate his armor... we’d leap forward by centuries. We’d have ships that never sink. Armor no weapon could pierce. And you expect me to believe... you have no idea how a piece of it ended up next to Iskaryx’s corpse?”

!!!!!!

Raven had already tested the fragment.

It was identical to what Mathema had in their vaults.

It was Fury’s armor.

“Since the attack last week… I’ve pieced everything together. So be it. If you won’t speak up—”

He walked past Nora.

And stopped right in front of Dan Burn.

“Then you explain it to me…

What are you doing here?

Prince.”