Late at night, faint whispers could be heard near a certain dormitory. "Are you sure this will work?" Kael asked, holding a transparent potion in his hand.

  "That's just water," Zaros commented dryly.

  "Shut up," Lia hissed, glaring at Zaros before turning back to Kael. "Yeah, it'll work. This potion ensures that you won't make a sound for five minutes. I guarantee it.”

  "And...side effects?" Zaros asked suspiciously.

  "Hm." Lia tapped her chin, pretending to think. "Well, the brewing process took two days..." She smirked at Zaros. "There’s a small chance you’ll get pretty nasty diarrhea. I'd get comfortable with your toilet tomorrow."

  "Wait, th—" Zaros began to protest, but Kael interrupted him.

  “Zaros, you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.”

  “No, it’s fine,” he grumbled, shooting Lia an annoyed look. "I said I'd help you, and I stand by my word. But you still haven’t told us what we're looking for."

  Kael exhaled softly. "While we were waiting for Lia’s potion, I asked some of the students in my class. I wanted to know if anyone had been close to Astra or knew anything about her disappearance."

  Seeing their skeptical looks, he quickly added, “Naturally, I asked them as a concerned classmate. Nothing more.”

  "I hope so," Lia replied, smirking. "Because you're really not good at pretending." Kael coughed, feeling half embarrassed. She was right.

  “Anyway,” Kael said, nodding toward the dormitory, “do you know the guard shifts, Zaros?”

  "In ten minutes, the guards here will change," Zaros answered. "New men will arrive, but it will take them a while because more of them are posted at the academy's gates. Security has tightened everywhere since Astra’s disappearance.” He met Lia’s questioning look. "A friend owed me a favor."

  "That's good," Kael said, pointing to a particular window on the ground floor. "That's her old room. We’re lucky it’s on the first floor. When the guards leave, we can move to that window. The window is tilted," he added, glancing at his friends and lowering his voice. "We can open it quietly, and with Lia’s potion, we won't make a sound.” He smiled. Perfect plan, isn’t it?”

  Lia, who was more suspicious than Zaros, asked, "How do you know the window is tilted? Do you go to her room that often that you’d notice?"

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “What? No,” Kael protested, flinching at her accusing look. "I asked around. When a student moves out, they tilt the window for the new tenant. It’s common practice.”

  "Guys," Zaros interrupted, his eyes fixed on the dormitory doors, "the guards are leaving. Now’s our chance.”

  "Okay. Are you ready?"

  "Of course."

  They uncapped the potions, drank quickly, and gave Lia a last nod of encouragement. Moving as quietly as possible, they slipped from their hiding place and crossed the open grass toward the building. Kael pointed to the slightly tilted window. Zaros gave him a thumbs-up, indicating that they had to remain silent because the potion only muffled sound; it did not make them invisible.

  Kael reached through the narrow opening, found the latch, and eased the window up. They squeezed through one by one and closed the window gently behind them.

  "We're in," Zaros whispered, his gaze sweeping the room. "It looks like any other dorm with plain furniture and a study desk." He whistled softly. "Still, not bad for student quarters.”

  "Astra never opened up to anyone," Kael said more to himself than to Zaros. "She kept to her classes and training. She was always distant. If she had secrets, where would she hide them?"

  “What if she cleared everything before she vanished?” Zaros asked, still distracted by the room’s faint luxury.

  "No," Kael replied firmly. "We argued, yes, but she wouldn't leave without leaving something. A message for me."

  "Why would she leave anything for you?" Zaros asked. "If I were her, I'd hate you."

  Kael looked at Zaros deadpan. "Thanks, man. But even if she hates me now, she would've still left a warning, like she did before. After all, we share the same goal.”

  They began to search the room, checking corners, drawers, and the underside of the bed, but they found nothing.

  "Hah," Kael sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. His gaze wandered to the desk. “Hey, are the academy papers distributed in class, or are they already in the rooms at the start?”

  "They're already there when you move in. It would be a hassle to pick them up after every lesson," Zaros said.

  Kael went to the small stack of papers neatly arranged on the desk. He began to sift through them one by one. Zaros joined him, flipping through the sheets and checking between the pages.

  After a while, Zaros sighed loudly. "This is useless. There’s nothing here.”

  Kael didn’t answer. He picked up a pencil from the desk and began gently scratching a blank sheet of paper. Zaros frowned. “What are you—”

  "Wait," Kael interrupted, focused. Faint words began to appear between the printed lines, written in barely visible ink. Slowly, a single sentence took shape.

  Kael held the paper closer to the candlelight and read aloud, "Now observe, remain alert."

  "That's it?" Zaros groaned, his voice rising. "Did we risk our necks and did I drink that cursed potion for a warning you already knew?"

  Kael ignored him, his eyes narrowing on the sentence. This sounds like her, but why hide it in such a complicated way? He studied the note again, tracing the letters with his finger. Then, realization struck him.

  "Nora," he whispered. Why him?

  "What?" Zaros stopped mid-rant.

  Kael looked up at him, his expression grave. "I deciphered the hidden message: It spells Nora.”

  Zaros blinked. "You mean Professor Nora? What does he have to do with it?"

  Kael shook his head slowly. "I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”