The warm dawn broke through my room's narrow windows. Yellow strips of light slid along the walls, pulling from the twilight the neatly arranged books on shelves and the training sword lying on my desk. I pried my eyes open, feeling the weight of sleep still pressing on my eyelids.

  "That nightmare again."

  For several nights now, nightmares had been tormenting me. Because of them, I couldn't get proper sleep.

  I sat on the edge of my bed, trying to chase away the remnants of sleep. In the mirror opposite, a pale face with dark circles under the eyes stared back. I needed to wake myself up. Throwing on my training cloak, I left my room.

  The academy corridors were unusually quiet. Normally at this time, the clang of swords and muffled voices of students preparing for morning lessons would already be heard. But today most students had the day off.

  At the training grounds, I encountered only a few students halfheartedly swinging swords. Their movements were uncertain, their gazes scattered. What's wrong with them? I wondered, but didn't ask. Instead, I focused on my own training.

  My sword's blade cut through the air. Few mages use swords, but we cannot fall behind the soldiers. Even fewer know about the existence of secret techniques. The one I'm training now, I learned from the church paladins.

  Few know about it simply because the clergy themselves are an extremely closed community, which is very difficult to enter without connections.

  After training, I went to my first lesson—magical theory. The professor, a tired old man with unkempt gray hair, monotonously lectured about ancient spells, but I barely listened. My thoughts were elsewhere.

  To my right sat the princess, listening to the professor. On the other side sat Darius, and behind him Reynor. They were both dozing, though for different reasons. Darius was never attentive and often slacked during theoretical lessons.

  Reynor, on the contrary, loved theory as much as practice. But he'd most likely been up all night. Reading books. How many times we'd argued about this, all to no avail.

  Elliot and Aura sat on the other side, occasionally whispering to each other. Before, Elliot had been more reserved and attentive, but since Luten disappeared, he'd changed.

  After the lesson, we were supposed to go to the dining hall with the class. Each separately, as we had some time for leisure before the meal. On the way, a messenger intercepted Selena and me.

  "Princess, an urgent dispatch for you."

  He handed her a scroll and withdrew. Selena was surprised, as usually everything was left at her room, meaning this letter was important and not public.

  Selena unrolled the scroll, and her face instantly became serious. She quickly scanned the lines with her eyes, then raised her gaze to me.

  "Is everything alright?"

  She nodded.

  "I won't be long."

  "I could..."

  "No. I'm sorry. I'll go alone."

  She left. Without explanation. Without a single glance.

  I stood as if knocked the wind out of me. Not because she didn't take me with her. But because of how she didn't take me. Without words, without warmth. I thought we were closer. That I was more than just an assistant at court. More than a good student beside her. I'm always by her side, after all.

  Deciding not to go to lunch immediately, I returned to my room and took my diary, where I always recorded thoughts and concerns. Throughout all the time spent with Selena, I'd dedicated no small portion of entries to her.

  Who wrote to her? Why not to me? Why don't I know anything?

  But I had no right to ask. Ethics. Protocol. The line of conduct I'd been taught since childhood: mind your own business. Even if that business was Selena.

  I looked in the mirror. It reflected me with a second's delay. I still wasn't used to it. The Arcanum of Mirrors—magic that shows the future.

  But only others'. I cannot see my own. Couldn't even after enrollment, when the rest of the class developed their skills with tremendous speed.

  "Well, that's for the best. Better not to know myself."

  I ran my hand across the glass. A thin crack in the corner. Probably from a previous sword throw. Strange I hadn't noticed it before. Perhaps I'm becoming absent-minded too? Like everyone else.

  While I was lost in my thoughts, someone knocked at the door. Startled, I jumped, but collecting myself, opened the door.

  "Hi! How are you?"

  It was Aura, with Elliot standing behind her. He always followed her like a puppy. I remained flustered, which made me answer coldly.

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  "Fine. What happened?"

  "Well... Um, nothing really, we just lost track of you. Isn't Selena with you?"

  "No, she had important matters to attend to. I decided to rest a bit before the meal."

  "Oh... Well, good, we'll wait for you in the dining hall then."

  After saying goodbye, I closed the door and, leaning against it, became lost in thought.

  "What if... Oh, right, my parents asked me to contact them!"

  I quickly ran to the mirror and activated my magic. I'd learned the communication technique. Essentially, mirrors stood in two different places, which I'd slightly transformed with my magic. As if connected, they reflected each other.

  I was inspired by this method of communication from the otherworlders. In their offices, huge projectors often stand, where you can see people located far away. My parents often took me to such places since childhood.

  "Why are you contacting us so late?"

  I rarely forgot about contact, and this greatly angered them.

  "Forgive me, Mother dear. It wasn't intentional..."

  "Raise your head. All that's required of you is to contact us. It's not difficult, is it?"

  "No, not at all."

  In the mirror, I saw my parents' reflection. Even in everyday clothes, they tried to look presentable and elegant. All to make the best impression even on servants. Mother wore a simple red dress, and Father—a very expensive suit, which he only parted with when preparing for sleep.

  "Did you complete what we asked?"

  "Yes, neither the director nor the teachers noticed me. But why?"

  "Why what?"

  "Why did I need to plant that for the director?"

  "Not your concern. You'll understand when you grow up."

  But I'm not little anymore! I'm already stronger than you—both in magic and fencing! How I wanted to shout this, but I couldn't. I needed to follow all their instructions, as we were family.

  "As you say."

  "Do you have anything else to add?"

  "Yes, Selena..."

  Should I tell them?

  "Don't keep us waiting."

  "The princess... She went somewhere."

  "So what? Shouldn't you be aware?"

  "No, she refused to tell me. She also didn't allow me to go with her."

  "Good, we'll look into it."

  Gathering my thoughts, I went to the dining hall. The whole class was waiting for me there, except for Selena who still hadn't returned. Everyone was chatting and having fun. Over the past year and a half, we'd grown quite close. We spent almost all our free time together, but one feeling wouldn't leave me. A feeling of betrayal.

  This is wrong. Wrong that I tell my parents everything. Or isn't it? Or is this how it should be, and everyone does the same?

  We were already finishing eating when Darius, sitting opposite, looked at the exit. His fork with steak fell loudly onto his plate, dropping from his hands.

  "It can't be... Is that? That's..."

  His voice changed. He trembled, was in shock.

  I didn't understand what he meant until I turned around. My heart immediately clenched and stopped for a moment. He stood in the doorway. Luten Caers. The one whose name was forgotten as quickly as it was learned by everyone in the academy.

  He looked different now. His facial features had become sharper, a restrained precision had appeared in his movements. Not tension, but rather caution developed over time. He stood straight, as taught, but there was something foreign in it. His gaze—not empty, not angry, just detached. As if he was here, but not quite.

  His clothes fit neatly, but something didn't match. The tie was pulled too tight, the collar pressing—and he didn't even try to fix it. He didn't look weak, but seemed drained. Neither the former clumsiness nor childish liveliness. As if everything excessive in him had burned away.

  He looked at us differently. Caution could be read in his gaze, hidden by a smile.

  Students immediately stirred around us. Silence gave way to a resonant whisper, clinging like smoke.

  "Who is that?"

  "Is he from the chosen class? Why are they reacting to him like that?"

  Words clung to each other while I simply stayed silent, unable to tear my gaze away. And suddenly—Selena emerged from behind him.

  She was... alive! There was so much light in her, as if she'd returned from another life. Her cheeks were flushed, hair slightly disheveled, her gaze glowing—she was even laughing. Laughing beside him. As if he'd never disappeared. As if this was an ordinary walk, not a return from the edge of the world.

  I stood frozen in place. Didn't know what to feel. Or rather, didn't want to admit to myself what I was feeling. This wasn't just surprise. This was something sharp, heavy. Jealousy? No, that word didn't fit. But still... anxiety. Pain. And confusion: where did it come from?

  Why did you come out with him? Why not alone? Why not with me?

  After all, before you always called me first. We studied together, trained, laughed. You said I was your support. And now you stand beside him, as if he hadn't disappeared for a year without telling us anything. As if he's your best friend who listens to your secrets and problems.

  I nearly dropped my glass. The thin line between normal and foreign cracked somewhere inside.

  Everyone around had already stood. Some approached closer, others, conversely, froze, afraid to interfere. I simply remained in place. As if in stone. As if the world moved on, and I didn't. And behind my learned polite smile, something prickly grew. Unbidden, but alive.

  Luten walked past. He didn't notice me right away. Stopped, nodded—briefly, as if by duty. As if I wasn't his friend, like the others.

  And I... nodded in response. Just as coldly, just as formally. And in my head rang a single word: why?

  Elliot rose from the table and walked toward Luten. They stopped in the center of the hall. Elliot stepped first, quickly, as if afraid he would disappear. Face tense, but lips trembling with an almost imperceptible smile. He wasn't ready.

  Luten stood calmly. Shoulders straight, but breathing deep, as if holding something inside. He didn't step forward, didn't retreat. Just watched.

  "Long time no see. You seem to have grown."

  Dry, but not hostile. Like a rehearsal of a conversation he'd long held in his head.

  Elliot smirked. For a moment, the boy he'd been before flickered in him, but his expression immediately changed. He didn't approach. On the contrary—his arms lowered, shoulders compressed slightly noticeably. Either confusion or irritation.

  "And you... You're completely different."

  Luten didn't answer immediately. Nodded. Slowly.

  "We've all become different."

  They fell silent.

  I observed from the side, not moving. The hall seemed frozen. Even the princess didn't intervene—just stood slightly behind Luten. Watched them with a light smile. For some reason, that smile bothered me most of all.