Evaline:
Walking out of the classroom after an entire hour of early-morning torture felt nothing short of divine rcy.
I swear, if the Moon Goddess herself had appeared at that mont and congratulated us for surviving, I wouldn’t have questioned it for a second.
The corridor outside the astronomy tower was filled with sluggish footsteps, half-open eyes, and souls that looked like they had been personally attacked before sunrise. And strangely enough, the sight of everyone looking just as traumatized as I felt made the misery a little easier to bear.
Misery truly does love company.
It wasn’t just the fact that we had woken up at four in the morning, dragged ourselves into cold showers that felt like punishnt for sins we couldn’t rember committing, and sohow appeared in class by five... without coffee, without tea, without even any hope.
No.
The true culprit behind our collective suffering had a na.
Professor Vireya.
Our brand-new professor for Lunar Energy and Moon Cycles.
On paper, the subject sounded fascinating - moon phases influencing magic flow, early morning constellations, celestial shifts affecting wolves and witches alike.
In reality?
Pure torture.
Professor Vireya had sohow managed to make every minute of her lecture feel longer than the last. Instead of teaching us about lunar resonance or astral alignnts, she had spent the majority of the hour doing what could only be described as unsolicited astrology readings.
At the beginning of the term, she had only targeted a handful of unlucky students.
She would squint at them over her thin spectacles, ask for their birth moon, then launch into dramatic predictions about their futures - who would rise to greatness, who would live diocre lives, who would face heartbreak, and who would "inevitably betray their own potential."
I still wasn’t sure if any of these were supposed to be educational.
But then her attention widened over the weeks.
By the end of the first month, no one was safe.
She would pace between the desks, muttering about shifting destinies, warning us how the stars were misaligned for ambition this year, how love would be treacherous for those born under waning moons, and how power always ca at a price.
There wasn’t a single slide, not a single diagram, not even a ntion of lunar energy theory.
Just vague prophecies and existential dread.
By the ti her classes finally ended, I always felt like I had aged five years.
And today was nothing different.
We poured down the stairs of the astronomy tower like survivors escaping a cursed ruin. The early morning air was crisp, the sky painted in pale blues and golds as sunlight crept over the mountain peaks surrounding the academy.
It should have been beautiful.
Instead, all I could think about was sleep.
Mallory trudged beside . "I’m telling you, the academy council didn’t hire a professor."
She paused dramatically on the next step.
"They picked up a random tarot card reader, slapped an academy professor badge on her, and dumped her here."
That earned a few tired chuckles from the group.
I rubbed my eyes, snorting softly. "Honestly? You might be onto sothing."
Noah groaned from behind us. "We were supposed to study early morning constellations today," he said, his voice thick with exhaustion. "Instead, I learned that Cedric Valen is apparently destined for a political marriage that will ’bring balance but no love.’"
Ria burst out laughing. "I can’t believe she just traumatized the poor guy. I heard he just found his mate over the holidays."
"And she said it dramatically," Noah added. "Like she was announcing the fall of a kingdom."
A group of classmates walking ahead of us slowed down, clearly having overheard. They turned around, instantly joining our little circle of complaint.
Lydia threw her hands up. "I swear, Lunar Energy was my favorite subject during first year. And she managed to ruin it in one month without even trying."
Beside her, Eren shivered exaggeratedly. "At least it’s only twice a week," he said. "Imagine suffering through that every single day."
Soone muttered a prayer of gratitude to the Moon Goddess.
By the ti we reached the second-year dormitories, the academy was finally waking up.
We still had three hours before our next class and the dining hall wouldn’t be opening for another hour, so we were left clueless about what to do.
We stood in the hallway for a mont, staring at each other with the shared realization that crawling back into bed would only result in frustration.
"So," Mallory said slowly, "How about our dorm?"
That suggestion earned unanimous nods.
We entered our dorm with dragging steps, intending to play so gas, complain a little more, and maybe relax until the dining hall opened.
But that plan lasted exactly fifteen minutes.
Because fifteen minutes later, all seven of us were sitting around the common room table, books spread out, parchnt scattered, samples and notes everywhere.
We were working on the project Kieran handed us yesterday. It was due on Monday and it was Friday today. So not much ti to waste.
Noah had been the first to crack.
He’d leaned toward with pleading eyes and soft voice. "My dear Eva... you are really good at this. Could you just... take a look at mine? Just to make sure I’m not completely off?"
Before I could have replied, Mallory slid closer. "Actually... could you help too?"
Then Ria chid in. "Sa."
And Rowan followed. " too, please."
By the ti Kyros raised an eyebrow at from his couch and casually added, "You might as well accept your fate," I knew I was dood.
They all looked at like I was so kind of miracle worker.
"You are the real deal," Noah added earnestly. "If anyone’s going to help us score high, it’s you."
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "You know teaming up doesn’t an I do everything for you, right?"
Five heads nodded vigorously.
"Of course," Mallory said. "We just... need guidance."
I eyed them suspiciously.
Still, I couldn’t deny that helping them would help too. Teaching always reinforced learning, and Herbs and Potions had always been a subject I genuinely enjoyed.
"Fine," I said at last. "But we are doing this properly."
A cheer went up.
And we imdiately got to work.
I moved from one parchnt to another, pointing out mistakes, suggesting combinations, explaining why certain herbs reacted badly together. I explained extraction thods, timing, preservation techniques.
And before we even realized it, we all had strong outlines ready for our projects and it was finally ti to grab so food.
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