Alaric leaned back in his chair, carefully setting his teacup on the table.
"I hadn't really thought about that," he admitted.
Because he hadn't. His focus had been on immediate survival, healing, avoiding legal trouble, figuring out how to navigate a foreign kingdom.
Long-term planning felt premature when he was still operating at a fraction of his actual power.
Vanessia laughed lightly, waving a manicured hand. "Oh, don't worry. You wouldn't be a normal student."
Alaric raised an eyebrow. "Then what would I be?"
"Think of it more like an exchange program," she explained, leaning forward.
"Every year, the Academy invites a few talented outsiders to join as special guests. You don't have to take regular classes or listen to boring history lectures."
She shot a quick, fond glance at Anya, who was happily licking frosting off her fingers and ignoring them.
