A girl with short, pink-white hair stood tall between us. She used herself as a shield for me while she stared down my attacker. The terror I had instilled in the onlookers began to dissipate. The heavy atmosphere from my earlier display of power vanished, and the crowd's focus shifted to this newcomer.

  Shit. I had calculated the arrival of teachers, but I did not account for a random third-party intervention. Who even is this brat?

  She turned around. Snot and tears were running down her face as she walked towards me.

  "Hey, what are you..." My voice trailed off as she reached out, her hand pressing against my bleeding forehead.

  A bright blue glow erupted from her palm. As audible gasp could be heard from the audience.

  The soothing glow permeated my skull. I felt the skin knitting itself back together as the wound on my forehead closed. It was a familiar sensation. It felt exactly like the holy magic my father used on me that day in the library, back when I tried to infiltrate the library.

  The energy flowed from my head down my spine, purging the pain from my bruised body. But the rapid healing drained my stamina. My eyelids grew heavy, and a wave of exhaustion threatened to pull me under right there on the pavement. I swayed, ready to collapse, but a small hand gripped mine tight, dragging me through the crowd, leading me away from the scene.

  We reached the main corridor and took a sharp left toward the nursing office.

  As she dragged me forward, my heavy eyes locked onto her small hand clutching my fingers.

  A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. It might have just been the drowsiness from the healing magic clouding my senses, but she seemed undeniably familiar to me. It felt as if I had met her somewhere before.

  She threw the door open and dragged me inside. A large, heavyset man with a thick beard stepped out from the back of the room.

  "Elara? Why are you..." His voice trailed off as his gaze landed on my battered face. "Good heavens! Child, what happened to you?" He lifted me effortlessly and gently carried me onto a bed before grabbing a cloth to wipe the blood from my forehead.

  My vision started to fade, but I managed to fight the exhaustion for a moment longer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pink-haired kid crying and pointing at me, explaining something to the man, though I could barely hear them. He nodded and approached me again.

  The man nodded and returned to my side. His hands moved in a fluid motion above me, radiating a soft green light. The soothing magic was impossible to resist, and it finally pulled me into a deep slumber.

  My eyes snapped open. I bolted upright in bed, my chest heaving as a wet cough tore through my throat. I pulled my hands away from my mouth and froze. They were stained.

  Blood?

  "Ah, you're finally awake, I see," a deep voice rumbled.

  I looked up to find the large, bearded man watching me. My eyes then darted to the right, landing on Michael who sat in a chair with his arms crossed.

  "I can't take my eyes off you for even a single second, can I?" Michael said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Without waiting for a response, he began to lecture me on the proper conduct of a noble lady. He kept rambling about how picking fights on the first day of school was not exactly ideal behavior, but his voice faded into background noise. My mind was racing. Why am I coughing up blood? Did the magic barrier fail at the last second? If I have internal bleeding, am I dying, or did that healing magic earlier just patch me up poorly?

  "HEY!" Michael shouted, shattering my train of thought. "Are you even listening to me?" He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

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  "Buhahaha! Come on, cut the kid some slack." I turned back to the big bearded man as he handed me a glass of water.

  "You should be fine now," he assured me. "The internal bleeding has stopped."

  So they are aware of internal bleeding? I let out a hidden sigh of relief and downed the cool water.

  "You're quite lucky, to be honest. If Elara hadn't pulled you out of that fight, things would have ended differently," the bearded man noted.

  It wasn't a fight to begin with.

  But he is right. If I hadn't been so self-indulgent, focusing only on putting on a show, the outcome could have been deadly. Especially with the force of those blows reverberating against my internal organs. Emotions make me sloppy. This is yet another reason why I need to cut out my emotional receptors.

  "Elara?" Michael repeated the name, sounding unfamiliar with it.

  "Yeah, the commoner girl who managed to get admitted. She was the talk of the academy before this little rascal right here stole the spotlight." The bearded man laughed again, his heavy hand landing on my head to ruffle my hair messily.

  A commoner girl... I thought to myself, nursing the cup while I listened. Interesting.

  "She must be smart then," Michael said, leaning back in his chair with a sharp glare. "Considering she passed the entrance exams designed specifically to filter out non-nobles."

  "Heh, you got that right. But it's not just her written scores. When they tested her magical aptitude, she registered on the level 5 Aelier magic scale," the bearded man boasted as if she were his own daughter.

  Michael's left eyebrow shot up. "Tier 5? Isn't she like twelve years old?" He rubbed his chin, clearly calculating the implications.

  After a moment, Michael stood up and stretched his back with a groan. He turned his sharp gaze toward me. "Well, since you seem decent enough, it's time for us to head to the principal's office."

  "Principal's office?" I asked.

  "Yeah. You're in big trouble, young lady." He turned and walked out the door without looking back. "Let's go."

  I scrambled out of bed to follow him, but the bearded man raised a hand to stop me.

  "Oh, before you go, Seraphina. Be sure to come back tomorrow morning before class starts. I need to ensure the magical patch on your internal wounds has sealed perfectly."

  I gave him a quick nod of gratitude before rushing out of the room to catch up.

  So they caught the internal bleeding. Impressive. I couldn't help but wonder how advanced the medical technology in this world actually was, but I kept my thoughts to myself as I silently followed Michael down the corridor.

  The hallway was deserted, though the muffled sounds of a crowd drifted down from the second floor. It sounded like classes had already begun.

  Just before we reached the principal's office when Michael stopped dead in his tracks. He turned slowly, his expression angry.

  "Listen to me, kid. Whatever scheme you are cooking up, drop it. I know what happened during your rite. I know what the High Priest summoned inside your body that day. Whether it's a demon or something from another world entirely, do not dare try to bring it out again."

  He took a step forward, his shadow engulfing me as he towered over my smaller frame. The killing intent radiating off him was palpable.

  "I may have sworn an oath of loyalty to your father, but do not mistake that for blind obedience. If you harm a single student in this academy, be it with that creature or that explosion you were about to cause in the forest, I will not hesitate to cut you down where you stand. Do I make myself clear?"

  His little performance was almost cute. If viewed through the eyes of Viper, his intimidation tactics were painfully basic. But if he wanted a scared student, I would give him one. I suppose I can play along with his game for now.

  I forced a loud, shaky gulp. I stumbled back on my left foot, allowing a bead of sweat to roll down my temple to show just how much his pressure was affecting me. "O-okay," I stammered.

  The tension in the air evaporated in a split second. His grim scowl flipped into a bright, carefree smile. "Good! Now let's get this over with." He spun around and marched toward the principal's office door, acting as if he hadn't just threatened my life.