The morning after the Blood Moon felt too quiet.
Almost unnaturally so.
The academy's halls, usually alive with murmurs and laughter, seemed to hold their breath. My classmates glanced at me, then quickly looked away, as if I carried some invisible mark.
I didn't need to guess why.
Rumors spread faster than the wind here — and last night's duel had been anything but subtle.
I was halfway to the library when a figure in black intercepted me.
A tall, expressionless girl with silver eyes.
"Airi Takahashi," she said, her tone flat. "The Headmistress requests your presence. Now."
My pulse skipped.
The Headmistress?
I'd barely seen her since my arrival — only from a distance, during the welcome ceremony.
I followed the silent messenger through winding corridors I'd never walked before. Each step echoed in the stone passageway until we reached a pair of towering, crimson-wood doors.
They opened soundlessly, revealing a vast office bathed in sunlight.
And there, seated behind a mahogany desk, was Headmistress Yuzuriha.
She was even more imposing up close — silver hair that shimmered like starlight, violet eyes that seemed to see straight through me, and an aura so heavy it made my knees want to bend without command.
"Come in, Miss Takahashi," she said, her voice calm but carrying a weight that silenced the air.
I stepped forward, my hands clasped tightly in front of me.
The doors closed behind me, leaving me alone with her.
"Do you know why I've called you here?"
I shook my head, afraid my voice would crack.
She studied me for a long moment before rising from her seat.
"Last night was… troublesome. Blood Moon duels between senior students are rare. When they happen over a first-year, it's unprecedented."
Her words pressed against me like a blade resting on my skin.
"And you, Miss Takahashi… are not as ordinary as you seem."
My breath caught. "You mean… my blood?"
Her lips curved slightly, though it wasn't quite a smile.
"Not just your blood. Your entire lineage. Your arrival at this academy was no accident."
I tried to speak, but her gaze pinned me still.
"There is a dormant power within you," she continued. "One that hasn't awakened in generations. Certain students — like Lys, Rena, even Tsukiko — can sense it instinctively. That's why they're drawn to you."
I swallowed hard. "But… why me?"
She walked to the window, the sunlight outlining her tall figure.
"Because your bloodline once belonged to the Moon-Blessed — a clan said to bridge the worlds of mortals and the nightborn. They vanished centuries ago… until you."
The room suddenly felt too small, too warm.
"If this awakening happens too soon," she warned, "you could lose yourself entirely. The ones circling you now — they may protect you, or they may push you toward it for their own reasons."
I thought of Lys's steady eyes, Rena's fierce grip, Tsukiko's warnings, and Celene's teasing touch.
My stomach twisted.
The Headmistress returned to her desk and slid something across the polished wood.
A thin silver charm shaped like a crescent moon.
"Wear this. It will suppress your aura. At least… enough to buy you time."
I picked it up, the metal cool against my palm. "Why help me?"
For the first time, her expression softened.
"Because, Miss Takahashi… if you fall, this academy will follow."
The messenger reappeared, silent as a shadow, signaling that my audience was over.
As I stepped out into the hallway, the charm warm now against my skin, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd just been handed a secret no one else was supposed to know.
But even as I walked back toward my dorm, my thoughts weren't on the Headmistress.
They were on the girls whose eyes had lingered on me lately — each of them with a different hunger.
And for the first time, I wondered if the charm around my neck was protecting me…
or just making me even more tempting prey.