When Kael reached the door, the grass around the dormitory was already covered in a thin, quiet layer of snow. He pushed it open, exhaling softly with relief when he saw that the entrance hall was empty. No conversations. No gazes. No questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

  He walked down the corridor to his room, patting his pockets for the key. The motion was automatic, his mind still drifting back to Nora’s words, until his gaze dropped to the small pile of letters lying neatly beside his door.

  He had ignored them for an entire week.

  Kael froze for a moment.

  Maybe these will distract me from the questions I’ve been drowning in since the lesson, he thought. He gathered the letters into his hands and stepped inside.

  The first thing he noticed was the cold. An icy breeze pushed against his skin. The window was still open.

  Ausma’s perch was empty.

  Kael walked toward it and closed the window with a quiet click. He knew immediately what had happened. Ausma must have found shelter for the night somewhere, unable to return through the thickening snowfall.

  "A smart decision," Kael murmured, rubbing his stiff fingers together as the wind howled in the distance behind the glass.

  He looked down at the letters in his hands; they felt heavier than mere paper.

  Kael lit the candle on his desk, its warm glow pushing back the cold shadows of the room. He placed the stack of letters beside it and began opening them one after another.

  Minutes blurred into each other.

  Most letters praised him. Some mocked him. A few were outright insults.

  After the tenth letter, Kael leaned back in his chair and exhaled in exhaustion. If I had known this would happen, I never would’ve made half of the choices I did...

  He reached forward to snuff out the candle but paused.

  A letter buried beneath the others caught his eye. At first, he thought he was imagining it.

  Then, he pulled it out.

  He froze.

  Stamped on the envelope was a twelve-pointed crown. The sigil of the royal family.

  His palms dampened instantly. A cold prickle ran down his spine. Receiving a letter from them could never mean anything good, especially after what Nora had revealed.

  Yet, Kael let out a shaky, humorless chuckle. Of all times to see this symbol... now?

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  He shook his head, tore open the envelope, and hesitated for a moment before unfolding the thick paper inside.

  His eyes skimmed the text.

  Then again. And again, this time more irritated than afraid.

  What? They were inviting the top five participants to the royal palace for their annual New Year's formal ball?

  That was it?

  Kael frowned and reread the letter, searching for hidden meanings or veiled threats that would reveal its true purpose, but there was nothing.

  But there was nothing. It was just a formal recognition of "exceptional performance" in the evaluation.

  Just as he was about to put the letter aside, his eyes fell on the signature beneath the invitation:

  Princess Artelia.

  A shudder ran down his spine. Zaros’s warning echoed like a whisper in the back of his mind:

  No, that doesn't mean anything, Kael told himself quickly, straightening his shoulders as if to physically shake off the unease. They invited all five of us, not just me.

  A humorless chuckle slipped out. The idea that he was relieved to share an evening with Liam, for once, felt almost absurd.

  Still, the unease didn’t vanish.

  Kael held the letter up to the candlelight again and studied the elegant handwriting and the gleaming crest stamped into the parchment.

  It's not something I can decline, he thought reluctantly. A royal invitation wasn’t a request. It was a command dressed in silk.

  But then another thought arose, quiet yet strangely steady.

  Maybe being in the lion’s den once isn’t the worst thing.

  He folded the letter and slipped it beneath the others. With a sigh, he made his way to the bathroom. He washed up as carefully as his still-healing injuries would allow and returned to his bed.

  He blew out the candle. Darkness settled softly over the room.

  I can think about my questions tomorrow, he thought, letting his gaze drift toward the window, where snowflakes danced gently and silently downward.

  The quiet fall of snow washed over his thoughts and soon pulled him into sleep.

  ...

  The next morning, Kael woke to loud, insistent knocking on his door.

  He pushed himself upright, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and glanced out the window. Dawn had barely begun to break.

  Who would knock at this hour? he thought, feeling irritated. Then another thought struck him, and his expression darkened.

  If it's Zaros wanting to talk about his 'complicated relationship' again, I swear I'll punch him.

  But the knocking continued, relentless and urgent.

  "I said I'm coming!" Kael shouted, but the knocking didn’t stop.

  He dragged himself to the door, grumbling, and yanked it open.

  "Zaros, I promise you I'll—"

  He froze.

  Cassandra stood in the doorway. Her face wore its usual composed expression, but beneath it, a faint, unfamiliar tension flickered.

  "Cassandra?" “What—?” he began, stunned to see her at all, much less at sunrise.

  She didn’t answer.

  Instead, she stepped past him without hesitation, brushing against his shoulder as she entered the room. She left Kael standing speechless in the open doorway.

  She walked straight to his desk, rifling through the pile of letters he had opened the night before without a single word. Her movements were quick, almost frantic. Kael could only stare, still too stunned to react.

  Then she found it: The letter bearing the twelve-pointed crown.

  Cassandra snatched it up and scanned its contents. As her eyes moved across the page, the tension in her shoulders slowly eased. She released a quiet breath, almost a sigh, and replaced the letter exactly where she had found it.

  Then she turned toward the door.

  Just before leaving, she gave him the smallest, fleeting smile. Grateful but tired, she slipped out into the hallway without a word.

  Kael remained frozen in place, staring after her long after she was gone.

  Minutes later, he finally blinked, shook his head, stepped back inside, and closed the door behind him.

  "What...was that?" he muttered, staring at the empty space where she had stood.