CHAPTER 183: TALK WITH MRS LIRA

Some nodded faintly, too eager to agree with royalty. Others looked unsettled, torn between what they had seen with their own eyes and what they were being told to believe.

Fin shifted slightly, opening his mouth as if to speak, but Sun raised a hand, halting him without breaking eye contact with Jae.

The crown prince didn’t need anyone else’s voice to amplify his. His presence filled the air, heavy not because of any technique but because of certainty, because he believed the world would bend to his words.

Jae smirked faintly, brushing his hair back from his forehead. "If it’s nothing special, then why are you so bothered by it?"

The courtyard crackled with silence. It was not loud, but it was sharp, like the pause before lightning split the sky.

For a moment, Sun’s glare hardened. His lips pressed thin, his eyes cold. And then, without a word, he turned away, his cloak snapping behind him like a banner in the wind. Fin followed silently at his shoulder, his expression unreadable.

The tension unraveled as they left, the air rushing back into the courtyard. Students exhaled as if they had all been holding their breath together.

Whispers started again, hushed and uncertain, their tones divided. Admiration warred with doubt, awe clashed with fear. Was Jae their savior, or was Sun right to call him dangerous?

Tirel let out a low whistle, breaking the silence. "You do know how to make enemies, don’t you?" Her grin made it sound less like a warning and more like admiration.

Byun shook his head slowly. "Sun was never going to like it. He sees power and thinks it belongs only to him. That’s his problem, not yours."

Elise still looked shaken, her grip on Jae’s sleeve loosening only after Sun had gone. She forced a small smile, though it was strained. "Don’t listen to him. What you did... it mattered. To all of us."

Yuna, unusually quiet now, simply nodded. Her gaze lingered on Jae, pride flickering there but mixed with something else, something heavier, more complicated.

Jae didn’t answer right away. His eyes swept across the courtyard, past the broken stones and scorched walls, to the clusters of students who still stared at him.

Admiration, envy, fear, they were all there in their eyes, tangled together in ways he couldn’t separate. He hadn’t asked for any of it, but it followed him like a shadow he could never shake.

He brushed a hand through his hair and kept walking, his friends falling into step beside him.

Let them think what they want, he thought quietly to himself. I’ll keep getting stronger. That’s all that matters.

Jae stepped into the lecture hall earlier than usual, the wooden doors groaning faintly as they closed behind him. The sound echoed across the wide chamber, bouncing between the rows of polished desks and tall windows that lined the walls.

Without the usual bustle of students, the room felt vast and hollow, a cavern of sunlight and silence. Dust motes drifted lazily in the golden beams spilling down from above, settling on the varnished wood and catching faintly in the air.

Only one person occupied the space.

Mrs. Lira stood at the front, chalk in hand, her posture composed yet graceful. She was sketching clean arcs across the slate board, each stroke deliberate, the white lines curving into a diagram of flowing circles and intersecting points.

Mana flows, carefully mapped, like the veins of a living system. Her movements carried a rhythm, steady and unhurried, almost meditative.

The faint hum of her mana filled the room, subtle but constant. Jae felt it before he heard it, a presence woven into the air itself. It was soft, steady, soothing, like the low murmur of a river.

He had felt the violence of magic countless times on the battlefield, sharp and brutal, but Mrs. Lira’s aura was the opposite. Gentle, controlled, yet no less powerful for it.

"Morning," Jae called, his voice low but carrying in the emptiness.

She turned, surprise flickering across her features. It lasted only an instant before her expression softened into a small smile. "Jae. Early today, aren’t you? That’s unusual."

He walked down the aisle toward the front, the sound of his boots against the floorboards echoing faintly.

His shoulders were relaxed, his pace unhurried, but there was a quiet confidence in the way he carried himself. He had not always moved this way. He knew it, and she likely noticed it too.

"Woke up early," he said, sliding into a seat near the front. "Figured I might as well get ahead of the rush."

Mrs. Lira set the chalk aside, dusting the fine white powder from her fingertips. Her eyes lingered on him, thoughtful.

She tilted her head slightly, the faintest crease forming at the corner of her brow. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Jae ran a hand through his blond hair and shrugged, as though the question were unnecessary. "Faster recovery than anyone expected, apparently."

Her smile lingered, but her gaze was searching now, carrying something deeper than simple teacherly concern. Warmth, yes, but also a quiet caution. "That doesn’t surprise me. You’ve always had a way of defying limits."

She paused, letting her hand rest lightly against the edge of the board. "Still... when news reached me of what you faced, the Shadow General, I thought we might lose you."

Her voice wasn’t reprimand. It wasn’t sharp. It was quieter than that, steadier, but tinged with something heavier.

She spoke less like an instructor and more like someone who had carried the weight of worry in the dark hours of the night.

Jae smirked faintly, leaning back in his chair. "Takes more than that to get rid of me."

"I’m glad." Her breath slipped out softly, shoulders easing as though she had been holding that tension far longer than she admitted. "But you should be careful, Jae. You’ve drawn attention now, admiration, yes, but also envy. Not everyone will look kindly on what you’ve done. Power makes allies, but it also makes rivals."