Vencian pushed the classroom door open and stepped inside.
The classroom fell silent almost immediately. Conversations cut off mid-sentence, leaving the air dense with attention. Students shifted, their gazes tracking him as he moved.
He walked past the first row without acknowledgment. The stillness inside was heavier than the courtyard outside. At least there he had been moving, steps carrying him away from comments before they reached him. Here he was forced to sit and listen to every hushed word.
Elías paused near the center, waiting for him to choose a seat. Vencian gave the faintest gesture with his chin. "You pick."
The prince's mouth twitched with something unreadable before he selected a pair of seats square in the middle of the rows. It left them surrounded, yet he seemed entirely unconcerned. He sat with the calmness of someone who had lived long enough in public light that it had become background noise.
