Rumors had a way of growing in places where truth could not survive, and by the time the week turned, Eira's name was no longer whispered only in corners. It followed him into hallways, slid between conversations in the cafeteria, and hovered just behind his shoulders whenever he entered a room.
Some said he was hiding his true rank, others that he was a noble's illegitimate child, others that he had made a pact with something that did not belong in this world. Eira ignored it the way he had learned to ignore most things, by pretending he was only walking forward and nothing else existed, but it became harder when the rumors grew teeth.
The challenge came during afternoon practice, when Jack Valen stepped into his path with the confidence of someone who had never been refused anything in his life, his noble crest pinned cleanly to his collar and gravity mana pulsing faintly around his boots.
Jack was tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome in a sharp, controlled way, the kind of boy who was used to being admired, and he looked at Eira not with hatred but with something closer to irritation, as if Eira's existence itself was an inconvenience. Jack announced, loudly enough for the courtyard to hear, that he wished to test whether Eira's reputation was deserved, and challenged him to a formal sword duel.
Refusing would have been seen as cowardice, so Eira accepted without argument, borrowing a practice blade while students gathered around in a tightening ring of anticipation and malice.
Jack moved first, as expected, slamming gravity into the ground in a controlled pulse that made the stone groan and forced several spectators to stumble backward, but Eira did not answer with mana, only with motion, stepping into the space Jack thought he controlled, slipping sideways before the second pulse could lock him down, and striking not hard but precisely, knocking Jack's blade aside and placing his own against Jack's throat in a clean, simple arc.
The entire exchange lasted less than ten seconds, and when it ended, Jack stood frozen, eyes wide, humiliation flooding his face as the crowd fell into stunned silence. Eira stepped back immediately, bowing with quiet respect, and returned the sword, walking away while the murmurs turned from expectation into disbelief and then into resentment, because losing to someone stronger was tolerable, but losing to someone who did not even use magic felt unforgivable.
The days after that became strangely calm, the sort of calm that comes not from peace but from tension being held too tightly to release. Exams loomed closer, and with them came long evenings in the library where Eira, Neo, Lara, and Ryn sat together surrounded by stacks of books and scattered notes, their small group forming a quiet island in the middle of academic chaos.
Neo studied with a seriousness she rarely showed elsewhere, her dark hair tied back as she leaned over diagrams of mana circuits and elemental interactions, occasionally glancing up to ask Eira questions that were half academic and half comfort seeking, while Lara tried to follow along but often paused to stare into space, fingers twitching faintly as if she could feel her unstable mana even when she was not using it.
Ryn was focused in a way that felt almost obsessive, sketching mechanical designs between memorizing enchantment theory, occasionally showing Eira a new safety device or mana stabilizer he was trying to invent, and Eira himself drifted between texts, absorbing information but never fully present, his thoughts sliding back again and again to the way Jack's face had changed when he lost, and to the way eyes now followed him with something colder than curiosity.
When the exams ended and relief spread through the academy as a shared exhale, the nobles organized a celebration, a formal party in one of the grand halls that smelled of polished wood and expensive flowers, filled with soft music, floating lights, and carefully arranged beauty.
Invitations arrived with the casual cruelty only privilege could manage, and Neo received hers from both Ken and Lara, while Lara extended a polite one to both Eira and Ryn, making it clear she was doing so out of friendship rather than status. Eira went only because Ryn insisted it would be good to appear normal, and because Neo smiled when she asked him to come, even though she would be attending with someone else.
The hall was overwhelming when they arrived, filled with swirling dresses, gleaming jewelry, laughter that sounded too sharp, and eyes that never stopped measuring, and Eira stood at the edge for a long time, watching Neo dance with a noble boy whose hand rested too easily at her waist, her smile polite but distant, while Lara laughed awkwardly as Ryn guided her through the steps, both of them clearly trying but neither quite belonging.
The sight made something inside Eira tighten in a way he could not easily name, a discomfort that was not anger and not jealousy exactly, but something closer to loss, as if he were watching a version of his life that no longer had space for him.
He slipped away quietly, moving through side corridors until the music faded into a distant echo, and found himself in the garden behind the hall, where moonlight spilled over stone paths and pale flowers glowed softly as if lit from within.
Lily sat there alone among them, her light green hair loose over her shoulders, fingers brushing absentmindedly over petals that responded to her touch by blooming slightly wider. She looked like a fairy in that dress, soft clothes, embroidered with flowers which looked almost real, a properly fitted dress, she shone under moonlight, in la ight green dress.
She looked up when Eira approached, surprise flickering across her face before softening into something warmer,
"Why aren't you in the hall?" Eira asked with a slight smile. He wasn't complaining. He liked it this way. That side of her, she keeps hidden.
"Why aren't you there?" Lily asked question for a question.
"I.. I didn't find it interesting." Eira spoke, looking sad for a second, turning his gaze towards the hall.
"Me too. It was boring." Lily brought his attention back.
"Is that so?" he smiled and walked towards her, each closer to Lily, she looked beautiful. He couldn't hold back his words,
"You look more beautiful than the flowers here. Would you show some mercy and grant me a dance?" El asked.
Lily blushed and got up.
They stood together in companionable silence for a moment, the distant music drifting out into the night, and then, impulsively, Eira asked her to dance, admitting at once that he did not know how. Lily smiled in a way that felt both amused and gentle, and took his hand, placing it carefully where it should be, guiding his movements with subtle pressure and quiet instruction as they moved together beneath the moon.
It was not perfect and not graceful in the way noble dances were meant to be, but it was sincere, and as they moved, the flowers around them began to react, petals unfurling, stems leaning closer, light shifting in soft pulses that matched their steps, as if the garden itself were listening.
Eira felt something inside him ease, the tension draining away into the quiet rhythm of motion and breath, and when the dance ended, they stood too close for too long, the space between them charged with a warmth that had nothing to do with magic.
As they moved, the world seemed to narrow until there was only the sound of their steps on stone and the quiet rhythm of their breathing, Lily's hand warm in his and steady in a way that felt strangely grounding, and Eira found himself watching the way moonlight caught in her hair and the way her eyes softened when she looked at him, as if she were seeing something in him that no one else bothered to look for. When the music faded completely and they slowed to a stop, neither of them stepped away. The space between them was filled with a gentle tension that made the air feel heavier and lighter at the same time, and Lily's fingers tightened slightly around his.
Lily leaned in first, her lips brushing his in a soft, hesitant kiss that deepened only slightly, enough to make his breath catch and his heart stumble, and the kiss deepened, the time stopped, but their lips kept wanting to be together, an attraction that couldn't be brushed off. Moonlight casting its beauty on her lip, the scent of flowers highly addicting, their bodies got closer as they kissed more intensely, they looked at each other, no words spoken, the night came to a halt.
They returned to the hall separately, neither mentioning what had happened, and the night ended with polite goodbyes and the soft clatter of shoes on stone. But long after the music stopped and the lights dimmed, the rumors began again, this time sharper and more deliberate, whispering not only about strength and rank but about threats and balance and whether someone like Eira should be allowed to exist at all, and somewhere far above them, in rooms that did not belong to students, decisions were beginning to form.
Their mind still in the garden, the dance and the kiss. They glanced at each other, unable to look away, their lips still feeling the sensation, the soft blush on their cheeks, hard to contain, unable to explain the feeling. The night ended