Professor Dexter's voice carried clearly across the hall, calm yet heavy with intent.
"Now now… Fran. Since you are now part of the Eldoria family, I want to ask you this… what makes you enroll in this academy?"
The words fell like a stone into a still pond. Dila's long ears twitched at once, her eyes darting toward Fran in surprise. The room, however, was anything but still.
Murmurs erupted among the students, sharp and hissing like whispers carried by the wind.
"Huh… what?"
"Did he just… ask her that?"
"It's just a peasant… why waste such a question on her?"
"That should only be asked to the high princess, not her! But the high Princess turn is over how come?"
Their voices dripped with disbelief, envy, and mockery. A few students even leaned to the side, staring at Fran with narrowed eyes, measuring her against Dila as though she were a fraud sitting in the wrong seat.
