Caerus walked through the central courtyard, his black robes a stark, lonely contrast to the honey-colored stone. His boots crushed a path through fallen wisteria petals.

To the followers of the God of Radiance, black was a stain, a mark of the unlucky and the profane. Yet, no one questioned the Professor's attire. It was as if the capacity to doubt him had been stripped from their DNA.

"Professor Caerus..." a girl whispered near Daisy. "His eyes... they're like sunlight hitting arctic ice. A blue that makes you lose your breath".

"Miya, you're engaged to a Viscount," another girl teased. "Are you really planning to chase a teacher?"

"Engaged? If he looked at me once, I'd sell that idiot fiancé of mine to the highest bidder," Miya replied. "Who do you think is better? The Professor or Sir Loren Eir?".

The noble girls glanced at Daisy and smirked. "In Miss Daisy's eyes, no one touches the Knight Commander, right?".

In this rigid hierarchy, an illegitimate daughter sat lower than a commoner. But Daisy was a princess of the Farislan Empire, destined for the Knight Commander. The girls couldn't cast her out, so they sharpened their tongues instead.

"She isn't fit to even think about Sir Loren," a voice snapped.

A girl in deep purple silk stood in the center of the clique, her necklines low and her chin high. This was Winnie, the next "villainess" in the script. She looked at Daisy as if the sight alone fouled her vision.

"If Yulia hadn't been so careless, a bastard like you would never have stepped foot in this palace," Winnie sneered.

Nearby, Yulia—now known as Lillia Bird—stopped. Her senses, sharpened by divine blood, caught her name in the wind. She watched the "villainess" loom over the "heroine".

"Winnie! God above!" a young prince stepped forward, shielding Daisy. "How can you say such cruel things to a fragile girl?"

Winnie's eyes widened. "Brother! Whose sister are you?!".

Daisy reached out, her fingers catching the prince's sleeve. "It's... it's fine. Princess Winnie is right. I'm just a bastard. I don't deserve Sir Loren".

The prince, Arthur, wore the face of a perfect "backup lover". "Kindness like yours is worth more than a dozen royal titles! If Loren looks down on you, he's the one who isn't worthy!".

Winnie let out a scream of pure rage. She whipped her folding fan through the air, the ivory frame cracking against Daisy's forehead.

Daisy crumpled like a broken flower into Arthur's arms. The prince growled, his hand rising to shove his own sister back.

A streak of light hissed through the air. A Guiding Bolt slammed into Arthur's hand, knocking it aside with a sharp crack.

Dozens of eyes snapped toward the source. Yulia stood there, her hand still raised.

Instinct. Damn it. She hadn't even chanted the incantation.

"Who are you!" Arthur roared, his royal arrogance flaring. "You dare attack a Prince? I'll take this as an insult to the Kingdom of Alva!".

Yulia didn't answer. Winnie was already shouting louder. "You were going to hit me for her?! I'm telling Father! You're dead, Arthur!".

The noise was a physical weight. Yulia's head throbbed. "Shut up! All of you!".

The courtyard went silent. Even Caerus, who had been ready to crush the prince's skull into the dirt, paused.

Yulia pivoted, flashing a polite, radiant smile. "We aren't here for a family feud. We're here for Professor Caerus".

She stepped behind the black-robed man, using his shadow as a shield. "If we keep arguing, the class will be over, won't it, Professor?".

Caerus looked down at her. "Afraid? But you still stepped in?" he whispered, his voice too low for the others to hear.

Yulia offered a cheeky grin. "Not afraid. Why would I be scared with you here?".

"You don't need to hide," Caerus muttered. "With the power I gave you, you could crush him like an ant".

He turned his gaze to Daisy, who was still draped over Arthur. Through the noise of the world, he heard the girl's prayer.

Grant me favor... keep Sir Loren's eyes on me... let this 'Lillia' disappear....

Caerus's hand began to rise, the air around his fingers shimmering with a lethal, dark heat.

"What are you doing!" Yulia hissed, grabbing his sleeve. "Don't tell me you're going to murder a student in public!".

"I promised Elias. No killing during class," Caerus replied, his voice a flat, cold drone.

Yulia let out a breath of relief.

"But I only said... I wouldn't kill them," he added.

Yulia's eyes widened. "Don't kill! You're a teacher! Dock his credits! Make him run laps! Fail him! Murder is so... uninspired".

Caerus considered this. "Fair point".

He didn't want Elias buzzing in his ear for the next century about broken limbs. But he wasn't a god of mercy.

"Get out of my class," Caerus rasped.

A localized gale erupted from his palm. It didn't touch the girls. It hit Arthur like a battering ram, sending the prince tumbling across the grass in a tangle of limbs and dirt.

The students erupted into laughter. Arthur's face burned a deep, humiliated red as he crawled from the bushes.

Daisy stood frozen, her face pale. She didn't reach for Arthur. She looked at Caerus—at the indifferent, grey-blue eyes that saw the world as nothing more than dust.