---
Then he checked the door again. After that he checked the void thread.
Nyx was still hidden. It was still safe. It was still quiet.
The dorm room looked normal.
But John knew better now.
This was not only about hiding Nyx from students.
It was about hiding Nyx from the kingdom.
And maybe, if John's instincts were right, hiding Nyx from Snake too.
Because Snake's smile had been casual.
But the way he had said "I saw everything" had not been casual at all.
It had been ownership, pretending to be kind.
John sat down slowly on his bed.
Fizz hovered beside him like a guard who had decided this was war now.
Neither of them said more.
Ray Flame was still absent.
The academy corridor outside was quiet again.
And John stared at his own hands as if they might reveal the next mistake before he made it.
The next day, John left the academy under Snake's pass and did not look back.
