Spring had fully taken over.
Fresh green leaves almost burned under the midday sun. Warm enough to sink into your bones, but not yet heavy, not suffocating.
Halfway to the academy building, a tall man in a dark gray instructor's uniform stood still, head tilted toward the sky, eyes narrowed against the light.
He didn't move.
Not for several minutes.
Like a sculpture.
A beautiful one.
I lowered the book I'd been pretending to read in the shade of a tree.
And stared.
I couldn't look away.
Something in me locked in place. My breath slowed. My body stilled, like I'd been caught and held there.
Andrew must have felt it.
Slowly, he lowered his head and looked straight at me.
I flinched.
Dropped my gaze too fast, but not before I caught it.
That faint smile.
Barely there.
Familiar.
Pulling.
My heart stuttered.
And suddenly the sunlight filtering through the leaves felt warmer. Pressing against my skin. Too real. Too much.
"Are you sick or something?"
The voice behind me hit like a jolt.
I was already on my feet before I even processed it.
At some point, my body had started reacting before my mind.
Every time something felt even slightly off, I moved first. Thought later.
And after everything that led to Theodore Holivan's expulsion, that instinct never went away.
"Robert—what the hell?" I snapped, turning sharply. "Do you always creep up on people like that?"
"Or," he said with a grin, "someone here was so far gone he didn't hear my very loud footsteps."
"I was reading," I muttered, dropping back down.
My eyes betrayed me, flicking toward Andrew's retreating figure.
"Yeah?" Robert snorted, sitting beside me. "Looked more like you were bewitched. Staring at our combat instructor like you forgot how to blink."
He picked up the book from the ground, skimmed a few lines with zero interest, checked the title, and handed it back.
"You really think this is going to help?"
"I don't think. I'm trying everything," I said, closing the book on the history of the hidden world.
"So? Find anything useful?"
"Nothing we haven't already been spoon-fed in lectures. Same recycled garbage."
"I was hoping for something real."
"You're still chasing demons, aren't you?"
"I don't get it," I said, frustration tightening my voice. "They're supposed to be the most dangerous threat, and yet there's not a single real case of anyone actually fighting them."
"It's like…"
I drew in a slow breath.
"Like there's been some kind of agreement with them from the very beginning."
"But there's nothing about that either."
And then it hit.
"…Or it's being hidden on purpose."
Robert let out a short, dry laugh.
"Took you long enough."
"You knew?"
"I guessed," he shrugged. "I just figured you weren't naive enough to believe the academy library would hand you anything that actually matters."
"You know where I can find something real?" I leaned forward.
"Maybe," he said.
"Then stop screwing around and tell me," I snapped. "I'm not asking out of curiosity anymore."
"I'm desperate."
"Then why don't you ask your 'master'?" he said, the last word dripping with contempt.
"Silius isn't my master," I shot back, sharper than I meant to. "And I'm not going to him unless I absolutely have to."
"You picked that role yourself," Robert said with a smirk. "So why do you sound like you regret it every time it comes up?"
"You had options. Work with the resistance without tying yourself to someone. Stay here. Teach. Join administration."
"You know I didn't have a choice," I said quietly.
My voice tightened.
Because I did.
I remembered exactly why.
"…Yeah," he said after a moment. "Alright. Drop it."
"It is what it is."
"So?" I pressed. "What do you know?"
"You remember Koni's been working closely with the academy leadership?" he said. "Because of her ability."
"Yeah. I barely see her anymore."
"That's because you're always busy," he shrugged. "I've got time to kill. I hang around. I notice things."
"Including her."
"You know she's being trained separately, right?"
"Yeah… and?"
"And her materials don't come from the regular library."
"Then where?" I asked, impatience snapping through my voice.
"A restricted section."
He tilted his head slightly.
"You know there's another building on campus. The one they dump the less gifted students into?"
"…Yeah…" I said slowly.
Something clicked.
"You're saying Koni studies there?"
"But regular students don't have access."
"Exactly. Regular," Robert said. "Koni isn't regular."
"Her ability is rare."
"Useful."
"Valuable."
"And you know how to get in?"
"I know how she gets in."
A pause.
"That won't help you."
"Yeah, I figured I won't be walking through the front door," I muttered. "So how do I get in?"
"No idea."
He paused, then added casually:
"And don't even think about trying at night."
"…You read my mind."
"There's a barrier," he went on. "You touch it, you get flagged immediately."
I dragged a hand over my face.
"Great. So you just gave me hope and crushed it in the same breath."
"Or," he shrugged, "you could try talking to someone who actually has authority."
"Maybe they know something you don't."
"…Please don't tell me you mean Silius."
"He's got influence," Robert said. "Sure. But he's still just a student."
"I doubt he has access to something like that."
"Then who?"
"I don't know," he said. "Director, maybe."
"Or her bodyguard."
He smirked.
"Yeah, perfect," I said dryly. "I can already see it. She personally walks me in and hands me every secret they've been hiding."
"I'm just giving options," he said, pushing himself up. "You'll figure something out. You always do."
He clapped me on the shoulder.
"You coming?"
"…Yeah," I sighed, getting up.
Time to go back.
To classes I'd been skipping more and more lately.
Being a personal bodyguard had its perks.
That's what I kept telling myself.
Trade useless lectures for useless research.
But at least now I had something.
A lead.
A thread.
And maybe, just maybe, a way to get closer to the truth about the demons that wouldn't stop eating through my thoughts.