"It was Anya's brother," Nico said bluntly.

  "What?!" The word came out louder than I intended.

  "The kid?" Erick looked genuinely confused. "How does that even work? He can barely move."

  Aurora, however, didn't look surprised. Her expression was thoughtful, like this confirmed something she'd already suspected.

  "We were surprised too," Mira said quietly. "But it's true."

  "How are you sure?" I asked, wanting desperately to find a hole in the theory. But even as I said it, pieces were clicking together in my mind.

  The only time Anya had left the infirmary area was when the attack happened. We did not feel any presence of mana on him.

  "Aurelius told Mary," Nico revealed. "I was trying to figure out what was going on with his absence and the whole emperor visit. Turns out the emperor knows about the situation and is negotiating with the director over who gets custody of the kid."

  "What?!" I said again, because apparently that was the only word my brain could produce.

  "This is horrible," Lina finally managed to speak, her voice shaking. "He's still just a child. He doesn't even know what's happening to him."

  "It's awful," Mira agreed, wringing her hands.

  Nico kept his expression neutral. "There's nothing uncommon about these kinds of negotiations between the emperor and the academy. Mary isn't the type to ask questions though, so I didn't get much more information beyond that."

  I tried to process what I was hearing. They were negotiating over a kid like he was a resource to be traded.

  "Wait..." Something didn't add up. "Didn't Aurelius leave before we went to examine the runes?"

  "You went to see runes?" Mira's eyes went wide. "And you didn't invite me?" She looked genuinely heartbroken.

  "He did leave before our expedition," Aurora confirmed, ignoring Mira's distress. "And knowing the director, negotiations probably started the moment Anya's brother entered the academy after the original expedition. Before anyone knew what he was capable of."

  For a moment, I was grateful I'd turned down the director's offer of academy protection. The idea of being associated with someone who'd negotiate over a child like this made my stomach turn.

  "So the kid attacked Silvani, and now the director has a way bigger problem than he bargained for," Erick said, leaning back in his chair. "I bet whatever the emperor was offering went down significantly after that."

  "Is there anything we can actually do?" Lina asked, looking around at all of us. "We're just students. Even with all this information, what can we do besides watch it happen?"

  "We need to tell Anya," I said immediately.

  "That's not a good idea." Aurora's response was instant and firm. "She won't take it well. And there's a risk that if her brother senses something is wrong through whatever connection they have, he might try to flee. Or worse."

  "What if he decides on his own that he's had enough and tries to make a run for it?" I argued. "She's the only thing standing between him and the exit. She deserves to know."

  Aurora didn't have a response to that. Her jaw tightened, but she stayed silent.

  "Whatever we decide to do, we'll end up caught between the emperor and the director," Mira pointed out nervously. "That's not a safe place to be. Maybe we should just... let them handle it?"

  "You told us for a reason," I said, looking at Nico and Mira.

  "Yeah, we're not exactly the 'stand around and watch' type," Erick agreed with a slight grin.

  "But shouldn't we at least try to protect Anya while letting the director and emperor handle the actual problem?" Lina suggested. "We don't even have a plan. What are we going to do, just rush in?"

  "I don't trust them," I said, the certainty in my voice surprising even me. "Even if they manage to solve the immediate problem with Anya's brother, I doubt they'll care about whoever gets caught in the crossfire. Anya, her brother as a person rather than a weapon, anyone else who gets in the way."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "He's right," Aurora said quietly. "The director is practical. The emperor is strategic. Neither of them will prioritize the people involved, just the outcome."

  "Then it's decided," Erick said, sitting up straighter. "We do something about it."

  One by one, the others nodded. Lina looked scared but determined. Mira was wringing her hands but didn't argue. Aurora's expression had settled into that focused look she got when making tactical decisions.

  Nico, however, didn't look pleased at all.

  "My job is to get information," he said, standing abruptly. "Whatever you decide to do with it, that's on you."

  He walked toward the door.

  "Nico—" Mira started.

  "I'll see you around," he said without looking back, and left.

  The door closed behind him with a soft click.

  "He doesn't really mean it," Mira said quickly, looking distressed. "It's just... it's scary, you know? Going against S-ranks like this. Against the director and the emperor. But we'll help! We stand with Aurora."

  She smiled, but it was shaky.

  Aurora looked a bit surprised. "I'm not..." She paused, recomposing herself. "I can help execute whatever plan we decide on. I can make sure it works from a tactical standpoint. But I'm not the one who makes these bold decisions about what we actually do."

  She looked directly at me.

  "Whatever you decide, I'll guarantee we pull it off."

  "Me?" I felt my brain stall. I was motivated, sure. Angry, definitely. But I wanted to just rush in alone and fix everything myself. I wasn't prepared to make decisions for everyone else. "I don't..."

  "Yeah, you pick the cool path," Erick said, clearly excited now. "Who are we pissing off? Both of them? Just one? Come on, this is what you do."

  I looked around the room. Lina and Mira were watching me expectantly, waiting for direction. Erick looked ready for anything. And Aurora...

  She opened her mouth, hesitated for just a moment, then said quietly:

  "You can do it. I trust you."

  Those words hit me hard.

  I didn't have any more doubts after that.

  Aurora helped me work through the situation methodically.

  We spent the next hour mapping everything out on a piece of paper, writing down the different forces at play.

  "Three sides," Aurora said, drawing quick diagrams. "The director, the emperor, and the corruption mages."

  "The director wants to get the most out of this situation," I said, thinking it through. "But he's in over his head now. He thought he had a valuable research subject, but now that subject has attacked a professor. He's trying to figure out how to get rid of the problem without looking incompetent."

  "The emperor has an interest in acquiring information about corruption mages and their research," Aurora added. "We don't know exactly why, but Aurelius wouldn't have been sent to negotiate if it wasn't important to the Imperial family."

  "And the corruption mages themselves," Lina said quietly. "An unknown group that created this mess. But they haven't made any moves since the attack on Silvani. Why?"

  "Maybe they're waiting," Mira suggested. "Watching to see what happens?"

  "Or maybe they already got what they wanted," Erick said darkly.

  That was a disturbing thought.

  "Whatever we do," I said, trying to focus, "the first priority has to be stopping the corruption mages. Actually stopping them, not just dealing with Anya's brother. And we have to do it in a way that doesn't put anyone else in danger."

  "We also need to protect Anya," Lina added. "She's with her brother right now, not knowing he's essentially a corruption weapon that could activate at any moment."

  "So we need a plan that deals with her brother, protects Anya, and doesn't put us in the middle of a conflict too big for us to handle," Aurora summarized. "That's a tall order."

  "When has that ever stopped us?" Erick asked with a grin.

  We continued discussing, throwing out ideas and shooting them down, refining and adjusting. Aurora kept us focused, making sure we considered every angle. Lina pointed out magical constraints we'd need to work around. Mira offered suggestions about timing and academy schedules. Erick kept pushing us to be bolder, more direct.

  And slowly, a plan started to form.

  It wasn't perfect. There were risks, places where things could go wrong. But it was something. A real path forward that didn't involve just standing by and watching.

  "This could actually work," Lina said, sounding surprised.

  "It'll have to," I replied.

  Aurora reviewed what we'd outlined, her eyes scanning over the notes we'd made. "We'll need to move fast once we start. No hesitation, no second-guessing."

  "When?" Mira asked.

  I looked at the others. At Lina's nervous but determined expression. At Erick's eager confidence. At Mira's shaky smile. At Aurora's steady gaze.

  "Tomorrow," I decided. "We set everything in motion tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow," Aurora confirmed, gathering up our notes. "Get some rest tonight. All of you. We'll need to be sharp."

  We left the old library wing one at a time, spacing ourselves out so we wouldn't draw attention walking back in a group.

  As I made my way back to my dorm, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to step past a point of no return.

  We were going up against the director's plans. Against the emperor's interests. Against corruption mages who'd already proven they could infiltrate the academy.

  It was dangerous. Possibly stupid.

  But it was the right thing to do.