[First Year Dorm, Imperial Academy]
[Solstice - **Year: 1738
Date: 26th
Month: Shadowmoon
Ti: 9:00 PM
Location: Solstice**]
Standing in front of the door, Mary looked from side to side while fidgeting her fingers over the knob. She then moved to knock but stopped, murmuring to herself.
"Girl, I think you shouldn't disturb him at such a late hour," said Mrs. Penny. She was about to go to bed when Mary appeared at the dorm.
For a second-year student as famous as Mary to co to the farthest first-year students' dorms building on the academy premises at such an hour obviously ant she was here to et soone.
And in this whole dorm, there was only one guy who made such a buzz that it wouldn't be surprising if even the headmaster were here instead of Mary, and that was Ren Hilton.
Ren might not give a damn, but his na was always going around attached to several weird rumors.
"Nah, I-I need to do it now-I'll make it quick," stuttered Mary, her face pale as a ghost and her heart beating loudly.
She was anxious and scared.
For so reason, after Ren left with Raven, her heart wouldn't stop beating, and then there was this urge... an urge that she wanted to see Ren.
She wanted to be beside him, touch him... talk to him.
'He wouldn't mind, right? It's fine... yeah, it should be. He's been lurking around my house late at night, peeking across the window when we lived in Sephra, so this should be fine. Yeah, it should be,' she rationalized her decision, trying to reason with her conscience.
Ignoring the fact that it had been a year or more since both of them had exchanged a single word despite being in the sa academy, knowing each other, and Ren confessing his love to her thousands of tis.
**Knock Knock**
Mary knocked on the door, but to no avail. The door remained closed, and it suffocated Mary -the closed door looked like a wall to her.
**Knock knock!!**
This ti, louder, she knocked harder.
"Ruu..." Her eyes began to shake, and her hand trembled nervously.
"He must be asleep," Mrs. Penny replied. If it had been soone else, she would've kicked them out by now, but Mary seed like she might scream at any mont, so Penny kept her words to herself.
"Yeah, yeah, he yeah... Ruu must be asleep," Mary nodded to herself, as if reassuring herself about sothing.
"You should leave-" Mrs. Penny's words halted mid-sentence when she saw Mary grab the door knob.
The air around them both rippled, followed by a cracking sound-the door was-it was broken.
The knob ca off, leaving a hole big enough to look inside.
Mrs. Penny was terrified when she saw the look on Mary's face as she put her hand through the hole and opened the door from the inside.
It was a face of pure desperation, not a single thought behind those eyes at all.
"What the hell are you doing!?" But Mrs. Penny was not going to let this happen. The door
was broken, which ant Stormborne would be here at any mont.
The magic on the doors of the academy ensured that if broken by force, it would alert the headmaster about danger.
Mary ignored Penny and leaned inside the room. She saw it was empty.
There was no one in the room; Ruu was nowhere to be seen.
**[Two Hours Ago.]**
**[Stormborne's Office]**
**[Ren Hilton's POV.]**
THAD
The door opened with a loud bang. Mary was shoved to the side by-
"Headmaster!" Professor Devereaux had entered. "Urgent news!"
Stormborne walked toward her. "What happened—"
"Reva Kingdom is under attack."
Looks like nobody's going anywhere.
'Demons?' Blaze asked in my mind.
Yeah, they have to be demons, and I don't know why they didn't start from Elishia like in the ga. At this point, I don't even want to question it.
"By whom? What do you an that the Reva Kingdom is under attack?!" Stormborne asked,
tense.
"I don't know," Professor Devereaux said, currently in her black nightgown-most of her chest was heaving as she breathed heavily.
'Heavens.' Smokeball was in his own world.
"A letter was sent by the ergency transportation portal. It was from the Reva Clan. The whole coast of Reva Kingdom is under attack. They didn't write-here, see this." Instead of explaining, the professor handed over the letter from her hand to the headmaster. "I was told to give this to you imdiately by the beastman who ca with this. He's standing outside."
She huffed.
Stormborne took the letter, quickly unfolding it. His eyes scanned the parchnt, his expression growing darker with each line he read.
"This is... troubling," he muttered.
Yeah, it sure is. A kingdom is under attack, and by the looks of it, it was very well planned too.
"I have to leave, headmaster!" Raven yelled.
Everyone silently turned their gaze towards her. It was evident that no one here was considering what Raven felt right now because they had better things to worry about.
"No."
One word. All Stormborne spoke was a single word, and it was easy to guess what he'd say next.
"In these circumstances, not a single student is allowed to leave the academy because it's dangerous," he said. "And yes, according to the academy rules, I can do that." He gave a
stern look.
Sighing, I grabbed Raven's hand, much to her surprise as she was startled by the sudden
touch.
"R-Ruu!?" Her eyes were watering.
When did she start calling that? Anyway, I leaned forward. "Not right now. Co with
."
And with that, I dragged her out of Stormborne's office.
Raven didn't resist as I led her down the hallway, her footsteps heavy and her breath shaky. The tension from the headmaster's office seed to cling to us, and I knew I needed to get her sowhere quiet where she could process everything.
We reached an empty classroom, and I gently guided her inside, closing the door behind us. The room was dimly lit, the evening sun casting long shadows across the desks. I turned to
face Raven, who was struggling to hold back her tears.
"I'm sorry, Raven," I said softly. "I know this isn't what you wanted to hear."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, looking at with a mix of frustration and sadness. "Why, Ren? Why can't I just go and say goodbye to him?"
I sighed, leaning against a desk. "I wish I had a better answer for you. The headmaster's worried about our safety, especially with what's happening in Reva. But I know how much this
ans to you."
Raven took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "It's not fair. None of this is fair."
I stayed silent.
"Elsa got to leave when there was an ongoing war in the Elishia Forest. She got to save her
parents out of there, and here-why! Why can't I get to see my grandpa for the last ti!" But
it looked like she couldn't contain herself as she began sobbing uncontrollably.
I stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "Well, well, well. I think I know what to do."
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