Among them — sharp even in stillness — stood someone.
He didn't glide like the others.
He strode. Clean. Sharp. Singular.
His hair dark, almost black, cut in casual disarray that somehow seemed deliberate.
His uniform immaculate, yet worn like armor — crisp without vanity.
Students parted subtly as he passed, as if orbiting a silent force.
No crest. No House colors. No signals.
And yet — nobody questioned his place.
Aria's eyes stayed on him longer than intended.
There was something unsettling about how the system didn't immediately tell her who he was.
Even Lyric hesitated for a beat — rare, for a Syntax.
"That one..." Lyric's voice lowered slightly.
"Cassian Dantes. No House. No alliances. No public record of ranks or titles."
Aria frowned. "So what does he do here?"
A pause.
"He exists," Lyric said carefully. "And Avalon watches him very, very closely."
Cassian didn't look back.
Didn't glance sideways.
He simply continued — cutting through Avalon's curated beauty like a blade through silk.
Lyric didn't elaborate.
She didn't need to.
Some figures rewrote the rules simply by existing.
Before she could even process what that meant, a different presence broke the tension.
Just as Aria adjusted her pace, a smaller figure caught her eye — and somehow, despite everything, stole the moment.
She couldn't have been more than nine.
Dark hair parted neatly, soft yet calculated features, and a gaze far too direct for her age.
Her Valmont blazer was perfectly pressed, and tucked under one arm was a slim holo-scroll — translucent and softly aglow with schematics that flickered quietly, as though thinking for themselves.
At her wrist gleamed her ONYX with custom skin, trimmed in intricate gold with shifting digital overlays, pulsing quietly with alerts and metrics only she could decode.
She didn't walk. She commanded the path.
Not with arrogance, but with the quiet efficiency of someone used to being ahead.
Lyric's voice dipped, almost reverent.
"Allegra Kingsmith. Solara."
"Inventor of MyMo — the world's bestselling customizable plush doll keychain." Lyric continued smoothly. "By five, she changed the global toy market forever... and did it anonymously."
Aria's eyes widened slightly.
Of course she knew MyMo. She used to model for them when she was eight — back when the dolls first exploded onto every luxury gift list and every influencer's feed.
She still remembered the soft pastel sets, the carefully curated "sleepover shoot," and the way her agent bragged that "you're the face of the next big thing."
That was long before Allegra's name ever became known – in fact she never was. Back then, she was just "the genius behind the curtain," a whispered rumor among insiders.
And now... she wasn't a myth or a logo anymore.
She was real. Walking past, perfectly poised, like any other student — except Aria knew she wasn't like any other student at all.
"She did all that at five?"
"Age means nothing here," Lyric reminded her gently. "Legacy isn't about waiting your turn."
As Allegra passed — her Syntax murmuring quietly beside her — she offered Aria a brief, diplomatic nod.
Aria couldn't help it. She smiled faintly in return.
A face from a shared past.
Then she was gone, already absorbed in quiet strategy.
Lyric hummed softly.
"Even she isn't uncontested," the AI remarked. "Power always attracts challengers — and Avalon is never short of those."
Just as Allegra disappeared into the streaming tide of curated perfection, Aria's ONYX pulsed softly.
Maglev Capsule — Solara Suites Detected. Boarding Now Available.
Next: The Threshold (Part 3) — The girl who doesn't have to try... and the one who suddenly does.
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
