Chapter 6 CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

AURELIA

I sat there dripping, my uniform soaked and sticking to my skin, food scattered across the floor in front of me. My cheeks burned and my eyes stung, but I refused to cry in front of all these people. Lirien was already on her feet beside me, her small hands gripping my arm gently.

“Come on,” she whispered, her voice tight. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Caelum stood up too, his face serious for once. He glanced around at the staring students and then back at me. “Yeah. We need to clean you up before next class.”

Neither of them had stepped in while Draven was throwing my food or while Vespera was dumping the water. I understood why. Draven was an S-Rank and Vespera was A-Rank. Most people didn’t want to get on their bad side, especially not in public where everyone could see. Still, the fact that they waited until it was over made the humiliation feel even heavier.

Lirien and Caelum helped me stand. My legs felt shaky. Caelum grabbed my bag while Lirien kept a steady hand on my elbow. We walked out of the cafeteria together. I could feel every single eye following us. Some students even leaned out of their seats to watch us leave. The whispers followed us all the way down the hallway.

“She really is the center of everything now…”

“Did you see Draven’s face? He looked ready to crush her.”

“Vespera’s been waiting to do something like that for days.”

I kept my head down and let them lead me. We didn’t go far. Lirien steered us toward a quieter corridor with bathrooms on the side. Once we were inside the girls’ bathroom, she locked the door behind us. Caelum stayed outside to keep watch, which I appreciated. I didn’t want any more eyes on me right now.

Lirien immediately started pulling paper towels from the dispenser and wetting them under the sink. “Here, let’s get the water out of your hair first. You’re soaked.”

I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself. My silver-gold hair was dripping and stuck to my face. My uniform was ruined for the day. I felt pathetic. While Lirien gently patted at my hair and shoulders with the towels, I finally spoke.

“What did I even do?” My voice came out small and shaky. “To make that girl do that? I don’t even know who she is. I’ve never spoken to her before.”

Lirien paused for a second, then kept drying my hair. Her voice was soft but steady. “That was Vespera. Vespera Nyxara. She’s A-Rank, shadow fae bloodline. She’s been the one spreading most of the rumors about you since the training incident. She’s jealous. You show up and both of them start paying attention to you. She hates that. She thinks you’re stealing something that should be hers.”

I stared at my reflection, water still dripping from my chin. “I’m not stealing anything. I didn’t even ask for any of this. I don’t want their attention.”

“I know,” Lirien said gently. She reached into her bag and pulled out an extra uniform shirt she had been carrying. “Here. Change into this. It’s a spare I keep for emergencies. It should fit you okay. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

I took the shirt with shaky hands and changed quickly in one of the stalls. When I came out, Lirien helped me fix my hair as best as she could with the paper towels and a small comb she carried. My eyes were still red from holding back tears.

“I just want to go to class and be left alone,” I whispered. “Why won’t they leave me alone?”

Lirien gave me a small, sympathetic smile. “Because you’re different. And because the S-Ranks have decided you’re interesting. That makes you a target for people like Vespera. But you’re not alone in this. You’ve got me. And Caelum now too. We’re not going to let them break you.”

I nodded, trying to believe her. We stayed in the bathroom a little longer until I stopped shaking so much. When we finally stepped back out into the hallway, Caelum was still waiting right outside the door like he promised. He gave me a quick once-over and nodded.

“Better,” he said. “You look more like yourself now. Ready to try and make it to the next class without any more disasters?”

I managed a weak smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The three of us started walking toward our next class together. I kept my head a little lower than usual, still feeling the weight of everything that had just happened. My new shirt was a bit big on me but at least it was dry. Lirien walked on my left and Caelum on my right, like they were forming a small shield around me.

We were almost to the lecture hall when two people stepped into our path. I recognized them vaguely from the cafeteria earlier. They had been sitting at a table not too far from ours. One was a tall guy with midnight-blue hair and pointed ears that marked him as fae. The other was a girl with warm golden-red hair that seemed to have a soft glow at the tips. Both of them looked at me with open, curious eyes.

The guy spoke first, his voice smooth and polite. “Hey. You’re Aurelia, right? We saw what happened in the cafeteria. That was pretty rough. I’m Elyndor Vossari. A-Rank. And this is Serelith. We’re in the same department as you, Comparative Mythology and Folklore Studies. We have a couple of classes together actually.”

Serelith gave me a gentle smile. “Yeah. We noticed you sitting with Lirien and Caelum. We were going to come over earlier but… well, things got messy fast. Are you okay?”

I blinked, surprised they even knew my name already. “I’m… I’m fine. Thanks. It’s nice to meet you both.”

Elyndor glanced at Lirien and Caelum, then back at me. “We were actually heading to the same lecture right now. Mind if we walk with you guys? It might be better to move in a group for a bit. Less chance of random people starting trouble again.”

Caelum shrugged but looked friendly. “Fine by me. The more the merrier, I guess.”

Lirien nodded quietly beside me. I hesitated for only a second before nodding too. “Sure. That would be… nice.”

As we started walking together toward the lecture hall, I felt the eyes on me again, but this time it didn’t feel quite as heavy. Elyndor and Serelith talked easily as we moved, asking small questions about how I was settling in and what I thought of the academy so far. They didn’t bring up Draven or Vespera again, and I was grateful for that. For the first time since arriving, it almost felt like I was starting to collect people who didn’t want to hurt me.

Still, in the back of my mind I couldn’t stop thinking

about the way Draven had looked at me before he walked away.