Im'the son of the Villainess's at the Academy

Volume 2– The Corruption Begins*

The forest had vanished.

The cold had not.

Nox lay motionless at the gates of the grand Leonhart estate—his clothes torn, soaked with damp soil and dried blood. Moonlight fell gently across his pale skin, but he did not feel its warmth. He did not feel *anything*.

Yet the shadows... felt him.

They whispered to him, like silk brushing across a fresh wound.

And deep within, something ancient stirred.

---

. The Voice That Broke the Silence. 

Beneath the world of men, something shifted.

In that void between waking and dream, **Zakaros**—the Black Lion—towered above Nox's unconscious form. His fanged maw curled into something between a grin and a snarl. Golden eyes like twin infernos stared into the soul of a boy already breaking.

> *"You do not deserve this power… but unfortunately—there is no one else."*

He raised his clawed hand.

The black waters from the corrupted pond rose as if obeying an ancient command. They slithered across the forest floor, crawling toward Nox's bare hands, his legs, his chest…

> *"Especially not you... spawn of that coward...* **Akai** *."*

The name twisted the air like venom.

Zakaros' laugh shattered the silence of the forest. Trees bent back, their branches clawing the sky, as if in fear. The ground rumbled beneath the lion's fury.

---

The black ichor reached Nox's skin.

And then—

**Pain.**

Even in unconsciousness, his body twisted.

The darkness sank into him—through his skin, his pores, into the marrow of his bones. It wrapped around his **mana heart**, choking it, infecting it.

Black veins began to pulse on his arms, his neck.

He shivered violently.

But never woke.

And then…

Zakaros vanished, fading into mist and wind.

The body of the boy was left at the doorstep of his family's home—like a forgotten doll.

---

Nox gasped.

His eyes snapped open.

The world was quiet. No forest. No lion. No screams.

Only silence… and **a void** inside him.

He sat up slowly. The stone beneath him was warm. Familiar. He was back. Somehow.

> *"Was it a dream…?"*

But as he flexed his fingers, a chill ran down his spine.

His hands were cold. **Too cold.**

Like marble left in winter.

He looked at them with a vague sense of unease, then stood and pushed open the heavy oak doors.

---

Above the estate…

Something moved.

A stream of black smoke coiled silently in the clouds, twisting like a serpent in the night sky.

And within it—two golden eyes.

They watched Nox step through the gates.

They did not blink.

> *"Soon…"* came the whisper from the smoke, coiling into a promise.

> *"I will burn the one who took your place… that cursed girl of Akai."*

With that, the smoke dissolved into the air, silent as ever.

---

Far beyond the forests, in a distant mountain range shrouded in snow and moonlight, stood a castle.

Its walls were forged from pure obsidian, etched with runes of the moon—**the symbol of the House of Roche**.

And outside its gates…

Zakaros stood in silence.

He examined the crescent-shaped sigil carved into the doors.

> *"So... the lady lives here now."*

He sniffed the air. His form flickered like shadow and flame.

Then… a soft giggle.

He turned.

A little girl with long **silver hair** was dancing through the garden—laughing under the moonlight. She was young, no more than six or seven, but her eyes… **they saw him**.

Zakaros narrowed his gaze.

> *"...She can see me."*

The child giggled again and ran inside the castle.

The shadow-lion stood motionless.

> *"That must be... her daughter."*

> *"But I have yet to see... her son."*

He stepped forward, and without warning, **fused his body into the castle's magical barrier**, melting into its layers like smoke sinking into silk.

---

A flash of deep red.

**Sion**.

She emerged with her usual predatory elegance—leather boots echoing across the courtyard, her reddish-brown eyes glinting with amusement.

> "Hehehe… back already, mutt?" she said with a smirk.

Zakaros' voice vibrated through the stones of the castle wall.

> *"I am no mutt, Lady Sion. I am a lion."*

She raised an eyebrow.

> "Mmm… wolf, dog, cat... same thing."

> *"Lion."*

> "Dog."

> *"...Forget it."*

With a growl of resignation, Zakaros fully dissolved into the barrier—his essence becoming one with the protective shell of the obsidian palace.

The shadows grew quiet again.

But the seeds of darkness had already been planted.

Sion looked at the barrier and said, "You dog, where were you? Didn't you want your vacation to be two days?" 

Zakaros replied, "I felt the power of the cowardly Odi Akai's presence, so I went to give him a small gift." 

sion raised her right eyebrow and said, "Akai, do you mean the lion of the Lionheart or Leonhard family?" 

Zakaros yes this family are sons of bitches I will destroy them 

Sion laughed "hahaha" 

 Then suddenly her voice became cold and her eyes narrowed.

"Listen you filthy animal, we don't care about your enmity and problems with the Lionheart family, but listen, if your war and personal problems will bring problems to us, you know what I will do to you. I will skin you. Do you understand" 

Zakaros replied, "Yes, I know that. It is impossible for me to cause trouble for my lord Naoko, Lady Sion." 

.... 

Heat: Tomorrow I will put a link to the characters' pictures because I cannot add them to the characters section, so I will put a PDF link.