You Crossed a Line That Shouldn’t Be Crossed

“Damn it, House Skyroad and House Arsein!”

Assassins do not show emotion.

But even though all those dispatched were elite assassins from the infamous <Visitors of the Dark Moonlight> in the Britannia Empire, despair flickered in their eyes.

‘I’ve heard the Skyroad heir is a genius among geniuses, skilled in swordsmanship, magic, and spirit arts. The assassination will be difficult, but the aftermath worries me more.’

No matter how much of a genius the target was, having earned top marks in every department except Divine Arts at Jeiha Academy, he was still only a first-year student.

With this in mind, the assassins secretly underestimated Theodore Skyroad’s abilities.

He might be impressive among his peers, but they were elite assassins with the confidence that they could handle a mere 21-year-old regardless of his talent.

“From now on, we slow our pace and move more stealthily.”

Their orders were to assassinate Theodore Skyroad and kidnap Lady Yuria Arsein.

They planned to focus all their efforts on killing Theodore Skyroad first, then kidnapping Yuria Arsein.

‘We won’t let our guard down.’

Though they believed they could handle it, that didn’t mean they expected a clean victory without casualties.

They considered the possibility that he might notice their approach, which would require them to fight with all their might, using every means available.

‘We’ll have to flee after this assassination anyway.’

If the heir of House Skyroad from the Arcan Empire was murdered while studying abroad in the neighboring Britannia Empire, it would become an international incident. The Britannia Empire would do everything in its power to catch the assassins.

William might get away with a light punishment because he was the Chosen One, but they were merely members of an underworld organization.

The Britannia Empire would certainly punish them severely to save face from this national disgrace.

‘Cleaning up Yuria Arsein, this woman, would be rather easier.’

They figured that if Yuria Arsein of House Arsein were defiled, she would have no choice but to marry William, the heir of House Artin and the Chosen One, if only to save face.

If she were merely raped while studying abroad, it would still cause a major international incident, but it would be overshadowed by the murder of the Skyroad heir and her becoming the wife of the Chosen One.

“We’re approaching the target’s location.”

Normally, academy security would be tight.

But that problem was solved with William’s help.

‘He made infiltrating the academy easy.’

William, who wandered all over the academy at all hours, used his status as the Chosen One to prevent even Headmaster Albert from restricting him.

This made it very easy for him to secretly bring the assassins inside.

‘And he told us to assassinate without giving him any chance.’

The assassination of Theodore Skyroad was now imminent.

There was no turning back.

Thinking this, the leader of the assassins felt tension rising and gripped his sword more tightly.

“The breeze is refreshing.”

Just then, whether by luck or not, the target—Theodore Skyroad—came outside.

They had been briefed beforehand, but everyone who saw him couldn’t help but be surprised anyway.

Though his hair was blonde, apart from that, he looked so similar to William Artin that they wondered if they might truly be twins.

‘Wait, twins?’

Just as the leader of the assassins wondered why he hadn’t thought of this before, he had to quickly set aside the question.

“Lady Yuria is in meditation… I suppose I shouldn’t disturb her meditation.”

As Theodore Skyroad suddenly muttered these words and took a step forward, the assassins silently aimed their weapons at him and prepared to rush in.

Their instant speed, which they had intensively developed, was so fast that even renowned knights would find it difficult to defend against, even if they knew it was coming.

With twelve such assassins attacking simultaneously, Theodore Skyroad should have died.

“Huh?”

But they couldn’t understand what had happened.

The only certainty was that all the assassins’ arms and legs were grotesquely bent and broken.

“AAAAARGH!”

The assassins all screamed in agony.

With the pain of broken limbs, the leader of the assassins couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.

‘W-what just happened?’

They had clearly surrounded and attacked him.

This should have been enough to kill Theodore Skyroad.

But suddenly, all of them were on the ground with twisted limbs, while Theodore Skyroad stood a few steps away from where he had been, coldly looking down at them.

“<Visitors of the Dark Moonlight>, is it? More like illegal trespassers with a name that doesn’t suit you. An ugly appearance befitting those who follow William, who wears an undeserved mask.”

Seeing Theodore standing with his arms crossed as if he knew everything, the leader of the assassins felt a chill run down his spine.

‘Is this really a young man of academy second-year age?’

It was unbelievable.

Even with talent, this was too much.

He couldn’t believe how they had been so easily subdued.

“You must have many thoughts, but there’s no need for unnecessary ones.”

At Theodore’s words, the leader of the assassins quickly tried to bite a poison capsule to commit suicide. But the poison capsule that should have been in his mouth was gone.

“An assassin’s actions are predictable. But did you think I would just let that happen? Your futile struggles are over.”

“D-damn it. What is this…”

“Oh, and you won’t be captured by the Britannia Empire. You’ll all be transported to the Arcan Empire.”

“W-what?”

“Well then, farewell.”

As soon as Theodore finished speaking, light enveloped their bodies, and when the assassins opened their eyes, they were in a prison.

“Oh, so these are the assassins the Young Lord Skyroad mentioned.”

“We should also contact Duke Arsein.”

“Hehe, it’s time for our Arcan Empire’s royal interrogation team to get to work.”

The leader of the assassins thought that they might be in an even worse situation than they had imagined.

‘Impossible! The royal family? Why would the Arcan Empire’s royal interrogation team be involved? Even if he’s the heir of House Skyroad… there’s no way he could have such connections to the royal family?’

The leader of the assassins couldn’t understand the current situation, and neither could those who had followed him.

‘Could it be?’

However, a hypothesis belatedly occurred to the leader of the assassins.

‘Could he actually be Theodore Artin?! And was he the real Chosen One!’

---

‘I’ve dealt with the assassins for now.’

Soon, the Arcan Empire would officially protest to the Britannia Empire.

House Skyroad would express their anger, and House Arsein would be in uproar.

‘Lady Arsein will be furious.’

It was very easy to discover the assassins’ purpose. In time slowed to one-thousandth of normal, he could easily learn their objective by briefly examining their minds with magic.

‘So they were after my life and Lady Yuria.’

Their goal, under William’s orders, was to kill him and then immediately kidnap Yuria.

He had expected this.

But while expected, it was too crude.

“As I expected, you acted right away, William. To expect to kill me with such a simple and clumsy method, your judgment has rotted.”

As Theodore muttered this, he briefly looked toward the mansion where Yuria was.

Sensing her presence as she meditated after bathing, Theodore recalled his promise to Duke Arsein to protect her.

“It was just out of obligation before, but I think I’m starting to develop some feelings now.”

He had only intended to protect her out of duty because they were engaged.

But now that he had developed interest in her, he felt he could no longer view her as before.

To be honest, if she had been injured before, he would have been angry at his own failure, not at the fact that she was hurt.

But now that he had given her even a little affection, he couldn’t feel that way anymore.

He had thought that the burden of affection was enough with just family, but now an exception had appeared, making him feel like his plans were already becoming complicated.

‘This is why I despised giving affection to anyone. She turned out to be quite impressive.’

Now, if Yuria were hurt, he would be angry at the fact that she was hurt.

Even now, he could feel a quiet anger rising within him at the fact that the assassins had tried to kidnap Yuria.

And his foolish twin brother, who harbored dirty desires for Yuria, needed to be taught a lesson.

“Conveniently, he’s not far away.”

William was inside the academy, expecting news that the assassins had killed him and waiting for them to bring Yuria.

It was time to teach his brother a lesson in reality as he waited at the entrance with anticipation.

---

“Hehehe.”

William anticipated a future where Theodore would be pierced by numerous swords before he could even use his abilities.

If that man died, he would no longer have to tremble with anxiety.

He would return to being the only Chosen One, and everything would fall into place correctly.

“Yuria Arsein, I’m really looking forward to tasting that woman. Time has never felt so slow before.”

“I’m afraid time will flow even slower.”

William’s expression froze. In this situation, he heard a voice that he should never have heard.

Simultaneously, he saw time around him begin to flow extremely slowly.

The sounds of insects stopped, and everything seemed to flow so slowly that it appeared frozen in time, just like he had seen earlier.

The slowly flowing time in the dark night was terrifying in itself.

Adding to the feeling of helplessness that he could do nothing, William, facing a power he couldn’t resist, began to back away in terror.

‘D-did Theodore appear? N-no! He should be dead!’

As William denied reality, he felt someone grab his shoulder from behind.

“AAAAH!”

William screamed and tried to flee, only to fall forward. As he hit the ground face-first, someone’s foot stepped on his back.

“William Artin, my foolish twin brother who shares the same blood as me. Your methods were too crude and clumsy. But then again, they were perfectly suited for your level, which is worse than the filth on the streets.”

“T-Theodore!”

With a foot pressing down on him, William called out in a trembling voice, terrified.

“Yes, it’s me. William, I’m sorry, but your moves were too crude and clumsy. And to cross the line on the first day, I must commend you.”

“W-what are you talking about? G-get this off! D-do you think you’ll be safe after this?”

William bluffed despite his fear. He rationally knew very well that if it became known that the one stepping on his back was Theodore Artin, the true Chosen One and his twin brother, even his death would not hold much significance.

Now being trampled by the only opponent against whom all his arrogant behavior—based on the belief that without him there would be no one to prevent the end of the world—was ineffective, William’s mind was filled with neither anger nor hatred.

Just fear.

Only overwhelming fear of truly dying dominated his thoughts.