Leomaris’s POV:

"You may be a Calamity, but do not mistake your title for absolute authority. The academy’s rules do not bend to your whims. Respect is earned, and once squandered, it is not easily recovered. Show your elders the respect they deserve, or learn the consequences. If I receive no notice before you send a cadet beyond these walls, I will personally demonstrate just how false the claim that Calamities possess equal authority as Instructors truly is."

Not a single word followed after that, she was already gallivanting off before the last word had even fully left her mouth.

Beside the entrance of the lecture hall stood Leomaris, his eyes locked on Instructor Stella, mixed emotions simmering beneath the surface.

Her words moments ago had carried loud enough for even the last cadet in the hall to hear, teetering between countless emotions much like Leomaris’s expression, though hers held no trace of an embattled instructor but rather something closer to hatred.

Of course, Leomaris knew why this saccharine lady harboured such loathing for him, he’d killed her fiancé, and though she remained unaware that Moon had died directly by his hand, his alibi made it transparent enough that Moon’s blood was on his hands regardless.

’She is growing wings, isn’t she?...’

He let out a deep sigh.

He blamed only Raine for handing Stella the opportunity to belittle him. She’d used his name without his permission, and he remained none the wiser until she’d already left the academy grounds, at which point her maid informed him.

"Are you okay, young master?"

Leomaris’s attention shifted toward Hazel before long. She approached from a distance, trepidation etched across her face.

Leomaris’s expression let out a little, softening in the warmth.

"I’m alright. Were you able to have a coherent conversation?"

Once before Leomaris, she paused and signalled affirmatively. With a soft smile, Leomaris patted her head as a token of appreciation. Hazel basked in it, and she didn’t hide it in the slightest.

Taking point, the two secured their seats for the upcoming class.

He was mere days from the Night Call at the Seniors’ Jade Hall. It would be imprudent of him not to take precautions, since he had no idea why he was being summoned, and though such precautions were already underway, Stella’s presence had resurfaced concerns the looming Night Call had overshadowed.

Instructor Moon’s organization... the Crimson Order.

He’d taken down three of their First Orders, but he had no reason to believe they’d relent and allow him to live without repercussions.

He hadn’t heard anything concerning them since those three were killed, not even an uproar when their allies’ heads were displayed somewhere they couldn’t possibly miss, regardless of how hard they tried.

The thoughts weighed heavily enough on his mind already, and he was dead certain he wasn’t in the mood for the theatrics of it. This was future Leomaris’s burden to bear.

Soon enough, scant moments before Instructor Rosario entered the hall, Raine and her maid, Ren, walked in.

The sight of them was enough to help Leomaris shove his thoughts elsewhere. He waved slightly, not in a welcoming manner but not entirely standoffish either, just enough for Raine to know he existed and would be coming for her transgressions.

But the strangest thing happened.

His hand hung in the air for a moment too long, caught between pulling it back down and trying his luck with her name.

He couldn’t decide which would feel more embarrassing, so he just stayed there, suspended in that uncomfortable halfway point.

Raine’s eyes flicked toward him briefly, registering his presence, but she didn’t return the gesture or even acknowledge it in any meaningful way, as if the wave had never quite made it to her.

He felt a thousand gazes settle on him, and even his thoughts didn’t quite land right.

Employing the oldest trick in the book, he forced his hand through his hair, an uncomfortable smile emerging through the gesture.

Strange as it was, this rendered him stranger than he’d bargained for. He couldn’t quite place his finger on the emotion, but he was certain the act had worsened his mental state. It was conceivable she hadn’t noticed him, but that thought hardly mattered regardless.

Countless expressions suffused him, only to be eclipsed by desolation moments later, and more than anything, he glanced around to ascertain whether anyone had caught wind of the uncomfortable moment.

He wanted to dismiss it with a handful of thoughts, but there remained someone he couldn’t escape no matter how hard he tried: Hazel.

Perhaps she hadn’t realised Leomaris had been snubbed in the most awkward manner conceivable, but she certainly noticed the discomfort etched across his face.

"Are you okay, young master?"

With a rehearsed smile, he spoke.

"I will be fine."

Hazel’s expression darkened. Obviously, this was the most bizarre thing she’d ever heard Leomaris utter. He was always persuasive enough to say "I’m alright," and though Hazel never trusted those words, they’d always sufficed. But "I will be fine"?

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but evidently even he hadn’t been shrewd enough. Hazel stared at him for as long as she could without speaking, perhaps rummaging through her mind for some explanation for this strangeness. Leomaris didn’t allow it, though; he hastily patted her on the head, just as he always did, diverting the subject entirely.

"I want to take you somewhere after class... what do you think?"

She furrowed her brow. "But I thought you were meant to be meeting Erloice regarding the Night Call?"

’Come on... just take the bait.’

His smile grew somewhat more authentic now. In truth, this was something he’d been intending to do for quite some time.

"No... that can wait. When it comes to you, everything else can wait."

With the faintest yet brightest smile, she said:

"Okay, young master. I will be honored."

While they chattered, the exchange had Instructor Rosario’s face flushing crimson, indignation nearly bursting forth. He’d been teaching for roughly ten minutes now, and Leomaris had, as it happened, yet to register his presence in the slightest.

"Since you seem to have so much to say, Cadet Leomaris, would you care to explain to the class the Night Search on the Old World Floating Island in 1879?"