Arin stilled at the sound of the voice behind her. From its tone, she could tell it belonged to a female.
"That's strange. You are not Nihan," the voice spoke again. The words were closer this time and clearer.
Arin had yet to turn around and face the stranger, but her brows slowly drew together in confusion.
Nihan?
The name echoed in her mind as she searched for where she had heard it. It had come from the blonde-haired girl who had complained about someone practicing too close to her bath.
Arin felt a knot form in her stomach.
The very same blonde-haired girl who had stormed off was now standing directly behind her.
"Neither are you Madeline, even though you are wearing her clothes," the blonde continued, suspicion now evident in her tone. "So who are you?"
Arin's fingers twitched at her sides. The fabric she had hastily worn that had not seemed fitting earlier, suddenly felt suffocating. She stayed quiet refusing to answer.
Instead, her eyes darted toward the trees ahead, quickly measuring distance, obstacles, and which path looked the least crowded with roots and low branches.
"You will speak when I am addressing you," the blonde began again, her voice firmer now as she took a step closer. The dry leaves beneath her feet crunched softly.
That was all the warning Arin needed.
She suddenly spun on her heels and broke into a run, her foot nearly slipping on loose soil before she caught her balance and pushed forward.
"Hey! Stop right there!" the blonde shouted, the irritation in her voice turning into alarm as she immediately gave chase.
But Arin did not stop.
She ran with everything she had, her borrowed garment tangling around her legs and nearly tripping her more than once. The air burned in her throat as she forced herself to move faster despite the ache building in her calves.
Behind her, she could hear footsteps. One that suggested the girl was a few feet away from her. And Arin did not dare look back to confirm. Looking back would slow her down.
The academy finally came back into view through the thinning trees, its tall structure rising ahead of her like both salvation and threat at once. The same place she had fled from earlier now stood ahead of her.
"Wait…" The girl called from behind Arin as she stopped running to catch her breathe.
Arin stopped running too, but mainunted a good distance away from her.
"This ends now because you cannot cross the barrier. No females are allowed in the male dormitory, it is common knowledge." the blonde called out. "So you have no choice but to stop and face me now. Who are you… and what did you see?"
Two things struck Arin at once.
The first was the way she referred to that section as the male dormitory, which meant the building she had seen earlier is the female dormitory.
But if females were forbidden from wielding spiritual veins, then what exactly did they do on their side? Arin wondered.
The second thing that struck Arin was the shift in the girl's tone when she asked what Arin had seen.
Her voice had lowered. It was as if she was afraid of being heard.
And if that was the case, Arin figured that means she was afraid of something.
And aside from being discovered as a female pretending to be male, the only other thing that could inspire that kind of fear in an environment like this… was a female wielding spiritual veins.
Arin slowly began to turn, curious to confirm her suspicion—
"Nina! Nina, where are you? We need to get ready, it's almost time!"
Another voice rang out from somewhere nearby, sounding hurried.
The blonde tilted her head toward the sound. "I'm over here, come quickly!" she shouted back.
Nina.
So that was her name.
Before Nina could turn her gaze back toward Arin, Arin had already slipped behind a nearby tree, pressing herself into the shadows.
Nina scanned the area briefly. After a fruitless attempt to find Arin, she huffed in frustration and began walking toward a blue-haired girl who had apparently been the one calling for her.
Arin released a slow breath, watching carefully until Nina disappeared from sight.
Only then did she move.
She turned to face the entrance of the academy looming ahead of her.
I cannot go through the main entrance, she thought immediately. Those rascals could still be waiting for me.
She scratched her scalp anxiously as she considered it.
But on second thought… I am wearing a gown, and I have a mask. I could possibly get in without being recognized for who I am known to be inside.
With that reasoning, Arin straightened slightly and prepared herself to head toward the entrance. But just then she recalled what the girl, Nina, had said.
'You cannot cross the barrier. No females are allowed in the male dormitory.'
Barrier.
Arin frowned faintly. She would have to make it a point to properly study the rules that governed the academy once she found her way back inside.
If such restrictions existed, there were likely many more she knew nothing about.
Realizing the entrance was too risky, she stepped away from the open path and moved along the academy walls instead, keeping close to the cool stone surface.
No institution this large would rely on a single point of entry. There had to be another way in.
If anyone stopped her for trespassing, Arin decided she would simply claim she had been newly admitted and had lost her way. That sounded believable enough.
It had to.
But first, she needed to find a way inside. And then she needed to find Roldar.
She had just begun to feel settled in her decision, a small confident smile forming on her lips when something suddenly dropped over her face.
Arin jerked violently, ripping the fabric away at once and stepping back into a defensive stance. Her heart pounded as she scanned her surroundings, half-expecting someone to lunge at her from the shadows.
No one stood behind her or in front.
She looked down at what she had snatched from her face.
A shirt.
Not just any shirt.
A male academy uniform.
Arin brows furrowed.
Did this fall from the sky?
She tilted her head slightly, scanning the branches above.
But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Before she could question it further, something caught her eye.
To her left, a bush rustled.
And then another piece of clothing came flying out from within it, tossed carelessly into the open air.
The unmistakable sound of one kissing and moaning came next.
Arin did not need to step closer to understand what was happening behind that hedge.
Her eyes dropped again to the uniform in her hands.
She had just been looking for how to make her way inside, and now a uniform had practically fallen into her arms.
Perhaps fate had a twisted sense of humor.
If she wore this, she could walk through the front without suspicion.
Another muffled sound came from the hedge.
This time, it was followed by a faint crackle.
Arin's head lifted.
Lightning flickered briefly above the leaves before disappearing.
Could that be the Nihan Nina was referring to? Arin wondered.
With how aimlessly the lightning crackled, it was clear the male was undisciplined.
So that means Nina did not have spiritual veins as she had begun to suspect. Maybe because I do that's why I thought she did too. Arin thought to herself.
Without bothering to move any closer to the hedge, She gathered the uniform, moved quickly behind the line of trees she had just passed, and changed with hurried efficiency. The fabric fit better than the borrowed garment and felt far safer.
Once dressed, she straightened her shoulders and adjusted the collar.
No more sneaking along walls.
This time, she walked toward the academy as though she had every right to be there.
Arin noticed the corridors were busier now with more males as she made her way further in. No one stopped her or questioned her.
The uniform worked.
Arin kept her pace steady until she reached the Merit Tribunal section. Once she got to the doorstep, she lifted her hand to knock.
The door swung open before her knuckles could touch the wood.
Varyn and Halven stepped out so abruptly that she nearly collided with them.
Both men looked worried . But the moment their eyes fell on her, the tension drained from their faces.
"Good heavens, child! Where have you been? We have been searching everywhere for you," Halven said, gripping her shoulders.
"My roommates—" Arin began, ready to expose everything.
"We have no time," Varyn cut in. "The ceremony is about to begin."
Ceremony?
Arin barely had time to process the word before Varyn began steering her down the corridor. Halven followed close behind.
"Wait… You need to hear me out!" Arin tried to protest.
But Varyn cut her off. "Now is not the time, he needs to see you."
Arin didn't even bother to ask who, she simply opened her mouth to argue again when a familiar presence caught her eye.
Roldar.
Her heart lifted instantly and relief found its way to her chest. Knowing he would definitely want to hear her out.
She took a small, hopeful step toward the direction he was coming from… but stilled immediately when her gaze finally settled on the three figures behind him.
Her roommates.