(He's absent today too?) Cecelia thought quietly.
She sat straight in her seat, eyes forward, hands folded neatly on the desk, just like a model student should.
But her attention wasn't fully on the front of the classroom. It drifted—again—to the empty seat near the back.
Kael's seat.
Empty.
No bag.
No sword leaning beside it.
No quiet presence that somehow always felt heavier than it should have been.
Cecelia frowned slightly, a crease forming between her brows before she smoothed it away.
"…He didn't come yesterday either," she murmured under her breath.
Edwin sat two rows ahead, arms crossed, gaze fixed on Professor Orwen. Jin was beside him, half-listening, half-doodling strange mana symbols on the corner of his notebook.
Professor Orwen continued speaking, his calm voice filling the room.
