Alex woke to the distinct sensation of a finger poking the tip of his nose.
Zara's face hovered above him close enough that the morning light caught the edge of her black hair and the faint curve of amusement already forming at her mouth.
Instead of getting irritated, Alex opened his mouth and tried to bite the whole finger in one clean motion.
Zara pulled her hand back with practiced ease.
She raised one eyebrow and looked down at him with the same dry expression she used when he did something unexpectedly childish.
"Someone is in a very energetic mood this morning," she said.
"Trying to take a finger before breakfast is a new one, even for you, Alex."
Alex sat up.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood without answering the comment directly.
He stretched by rolling his shoulders until the last of the sleep stiffness left them.
Then he headed for the bathroom with the calm certainty of someone who had already decided the shape of the day.
"Today is going to be an incredible day," he said over his shoulder.
"Nothing and no one can ruin it,"
Zara's expression turned into an evil little smirk.
The shift was small but unmistakable.
Through the open bond Alex felt the dangerous direction of her thoughts the moment they formed.
A quiet spark of mischief that had nothing to do with training and everything to do with the fact that he had just declared the day invincible.
He did not wait to find out what she was planning.
He stepped into the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind him before she could act on whatever idea had just crossed her mind.
The bond carried a faint pulse of disappointed amusement from her side of the door.
He ignored it and focused on getting ready.
He came out refreshed and wearing his black training suit.
It was the latest one.
He had to replace the set every six months or so because of his rapid growth.
The fabric still fit cleanly across the shoulders and through the arms.
The cut practical and free of unnecessary ornament.
The color was pure black, the same shade he preferred for anything related to serious work.
He adjusted the cuffs once and checked the fit in the mirror by the wardrobe, and nodded to himself.
'Looks good.'
The suit felt like a statement even before he left the room.
Breakfast was already waiting when he returned to the outer room.
Alex and Zara sat down together and ate with their usual casual banter.
A maid entered near the end of the meal and cleared the plates with quiet efficiency, then she bowed once and withdrew without lingering.
Alex looked at Zara across the cleared table.
"Bring the Viper's Spine box with you," he said.
Zara's mouth curved slightly.
"I already have it ready," she replied.
"It has been sitting by the door since before you woke up."
They left the room together.
The palace hallways were already active with the morning movement of staff, guards and servants carrying linens or ledgers stepped aside as soon as they saw the pair approaching.
Guards stationed at intersections straightened their postures.
Almost every person who looked at Alex widened their eyes in visible surprise before the practiced bow took over.
The reaction was consistent enough that it became its own pattern as they walked.
A pair of junior maids actually stopped mid-step and stared for a full second before remembering themselves.
A senior guard near the east corridor intersection gave a deeper bow than protocol strictly required.
Alex glanced sideways at Zara after the third or fourth set of widened eyes.
"They look like they just saw a ghost," he said.
"Or at least someone they did not expect to see walking these halls in a training suit this early in the morning,"
"The surprise is consistent enough that it is starting to feel like a performance."
Zara's answer was dry and immediate.
"Of course they are shocked, you abruptly stopped coming to the training hall after you finished defeating that new Level 9 recruit and never gave a single reason,"
"You simply disappeared into isolation and stayed there for weeks with no announcement or explanation,"
"Many people have been quietly watching your progress for years, trying to figure out how are you growing so fast without leveling up, tracking every public spar and every quiet report that leaked out of the hall,"
"They got the idea that the Third Prince was either training in secret or had hit some kind of wall,"
"Now you have suddenly appeared again in a brand new training suit after all that silence, word is already spreading ahead of us,"
"By the time we reach the hall half the wing will know the Third Prince is moving, and the other half will be inventing reasons why."
Alex shrugged, unconcerned by the attention or the speculation.
"It does not matter to me, Zara," he said.
"Let them talk,"
"Rumors are useful when they carry the truth,"
"Today the truth is going to be very loud."
They continued through the corridors at a steady pace.
As they approached the recruits' training hall, the news of the Third Prince's emergence from isolation raced ahead of them like a living current.
All the conversations cut short when they passed.
Alex could feel the attention building around their path.
The quiet shift of a palace that had grown used to his absence and was now adjusting to his return in real time.
He could already feel that a second, much more chaotic piece of news was about to follow.
The thought settled in with a familiar weight.
The training hall was close.
The dual skills sat locked and ready in his interface.
The Viper's Spine box was in Zara's possession.
Everything that needed to be in place was already in place.
The only remaining variable was the moment itself.
'Things are starting to heat up again…'
It had been a long time since the world around him had felt this charged, this ready to tip into motion.
The doors of the recruits' training hall waited ahead and the day he had declared incredible was already moving to meet him.
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End of Chapter 130: Incredible Day!
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