Raymond's POV
With everything going on lately, it really felt like the academy was slowly collapsing right in front of us, piece by piece, like something you thought was solid but turned out to be held together by nothing but thin threads.
The rumors didn't help.
If anything, they made everything worse.
Word had been spreading that people like us, those born without noble blood, were going to be kicked out of the academy. It didn't matter if it was true or not. Once something like that starts circulating, it digs into people's heads and refuses to leave. You could see it in the way everyone was acting.
Uneasy.
Distracted.
Some weren't even trying to hide it anymore.
A few people nearby were already crying, trying to keep it quiet but failing anyway. The sound of it carried, soft at first, then spreading like it always does when one person breaks and the rest start following.
And of course, it made sense.
