I push the door and step in.
Dean stands near the telescope, one hand resting on the bronze frame while he reads something on a floating screen. The observatory looks nearly the same as last time: high ceiling, shelves filling the walls, rolled maps on side tables, and that enormous telescope aimed at the ocean sky through the opening above.
He closes the interface when he sees me.
His eyes pass over my face, drop to my chest, and stay there for a moment.
"So the rumors are true."
I shut the door behind me.
"Depends on the rumor."
"Rank C."
Dean doesn't look impressed. He doesn't need to fake indifference either. For someone at Rank A, my evolution still leaves me several steps below him.
I walk to the chair in front of the desk.
"Your Academy has two Rank C students now."
He circles the telescope without taking his eyes off me.
"Don't confuse a recent evolution with the position Freya holds."
"I'm not confusing anything. I just updated the count."
