The academy was unusually quiet that morning.

The whispering that usually echoed through the corridors had faded into nervous silence. Without Evelyn’s sharp laughter cutting through the air, the halls felt almost foreign. Ivy stood at the top of the main staircase, looking down at the courtyard filled with students who kept their heads low.

It was peaceful, eerily so. For the first time since she arrived, no one dared to look at her the wrong way. No one tried to trip her, or whisper cruel ...