After classes ended, Alina felt that sa knot of worry twisting in her chest. She’d been thinking about the eting all afternoon.
The email from the principal had been short and formal, the kind that made her stomach drop.
eting: Principal’s Office. Attendance Required.
So when the last child was picked up by a driver, Alina gathered her courage, smoothed her simple dress, and hugged bag.
The hallway outside Dante Nightshade’s office felt colder than the rest of the building, the dark carved door so tall and heavy that even the handle seed to glare at her. She knocked once, then twice, and when she heard that deep, low "Co in," she nearly squeaked.
Inside, the room felt like another world– rich dark wood, shadowy corners, bookshelves filled with heavy, ancient volus.
And at the center of it all was Dante, leaning back in his tall chair like a dark king, his sharp crimson eyes fixed on the files in front of him.
Professor Hobb and Miss Kelly were already seated on one side of the polished table. Their faces looked as sour as ever–Hobb’s eyebrows twitching at her like little caterpillars of judgnt, Kelly’s eyes rolling when she stepped in. But Gabriel was there too — the only soft light in the dark room and he gave Alina the tiniest nod and a kind smile as if to say You’re fine.
One empty chair remained. Right across from Dante. Alina’s throat went dry.
She stepped forward, keeping her shoulders straight as she whispered, "May I... take a seat, Sir?"
Dante didn’t even lift his head from his papers. He just flicked his eyes up, then nodded once, a tiny gesture that still made her chest tighten. She carefully pulled out the chair and sat down, folding her hands in her lap to stop them from fidgeting. She could feel Professor Hobb’s eyes on her like bugs crawling on her skin.
Then Dante finally raised his head fully — the horns, the jaw, the shadows that seed to cling to his clothes and let his gaze sweep across the table.
"The first report: Class performances," he said, his voice calm but cold enough to make the room shiver. "Professor Hobb, your floor."
Hobb sniffed, pushing up his glasses. He rattled off numbers about his students, all in that stiff, pinched voice that made Alina’s eyelids want to droop. But she forced herself to sit straight. She caught Gabriel’s encouraging smile from the corner of her eye and even that tiny warmth helped her breathe.
"And Miss Hart," Dante’s voice cut through the air, startling her. "Your report?"
She nearly dropped her bag but caught it just in ti. Clearing her throat, she spoke carefully, trying not to squeak.
"Um... yes, Sir. Class D is... adjusting well," she began. Her voice trembled, but she pushed on. "They’re young, but they respond kindly to gentle discipline and extra praise. We’ve had so incidents —" she caught the flicker of amusent in Gabriel’s eyes "— but they are learning fast. I’m preparing new activities to help with focus and... and working on making them feel safe. Especially for... certain students."
She didn’t dare glance at Dante’s expression, but she felt the intensity of his stare like a cold shadow pressing on her cheeks.
When she finished, the room went silent except for the faint scratch of Dante’s pen as he noted sothing on his file. Then he looked up, eyes pinning her like a butterfly on glass.
"Good," he said, though his tone was flat. "Continue. And do not repeat the sa mistakes."
"Yes, Sir," Alina whispered, her heart hamring in her chest. But when she peeked down the table, Gabriel’s soft smile made her feel a little stronger.
Miss Kelly sat stiffly beside Alina, arms crossed so tightly. She hadn’t said a single word through Professor Hobb’s boring droning or Alina’s small, shaky report. But the mont Dante’s cold eyes turned her way, she sniffed and her pinched lips parted like she’d been holding her complaints in all day.
"Well, Principal Nightshade," she began, her tone sharp enough to cut paper, "I must speak about my class."
She Kelly huffed, "I have never seen children so mischievous. This week alone, three illusions! I woke up one morning and my hair was gone, Principal — GONE! Do you know how humiliating it is to chase a bunch of little brats who cackle behind your back because you think you’re bald?"
Professor Hobb coughed into his hand, not quite hiding his smirk. Gabriel just nodded politely, his angelic face unreadable.
Miss Kelly wasn’t finished. "And their powers — they have no control. One of them set my chair on fire because I asked for howork! Howork! Another teleported into my locked cabinet and stole every single chocolate I keep for ergencies." She glared at the ceiling, cheeks flushed. "I am expected to maintain order when they act like brats—"
Dante raised one gloved hand — a single, calm motion that made Miss Kelly’s voice stop like she’d been unplugged. His eyes flicked over her stiff posture, then to Professor Hobb, then back to her.
"Miss Kelly," he said, his deep voice soft but cold enough to make Alina shiver, "this school’s purpose is to help them learn control. If you cannot guide them with patience, you are welco to submit your resignation."
Miss Kelly’s lips went pale. She sat back in her chair like soone had pushed her spine down. "Understood, Principal," she muttered, her voice tiny now. Hobb looked away, pretending to cough.
After Miss Kelly shrank back into her chair, cheeks flushed and lips pursed so tight they looked ready to vanish, Dante’s cold crimson eyes drifted over to the last person at the table — Gabriel.
Compared to Hobbs’ twitchy scowls and Kelly’s endless complaints, Gabriel was like a warm breeze drifting through a storm. He sat a little straighter, his lips curved in that sa kind smile, effortless as sunlight. Under the harsh office lights, his golden hair seed to glow, as if the universe had decreed: This one stays perfect.
Dante gave him a tiny nod — the only respectful gesture Alina had seen all eting as if the demon king himself knew this angel never wasted a word.
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