The morning air was crisp, but Eli felt none of it as he walked through the academy's sprawling garden. It was a meticulously maintained space—roses trimmed to geometric precision, paths laid out like a battlefield of symmetry. Everything had a place. Everything obeyed design.
Unlike him.
He'd just received the official summons: the first of the Imperial Scholarship Test's pre-trials would begin in three days. No instructions. No syllabus. Just a time, a location, and a thinly veiled threat in the phrasing: "Only those who deserve power should proceed."
Eli didn't like mysteries unless he was the one creating them.
"Skipping class again?" came a familiar voice.
He didn't turn. "You again."
Hana Mizuno stepped beside him, hands behind her back, watching the koi pond ripple in the distance. Her school shoes barely made a sound on the gravel path.
"I heard about the recommendation," she said. "The scholarship test. Bold move for someone who claimed not to care."
Eli let out a dry chuckle. "I don't care. I just hate being told what I can't do."
"You really are insufferable," she muttered, but her tone wasn't biting. If anything, there was a touch of amusement now.
Eli stopped walking. "You knew me before this, didn't you?" he asked, finally turning to look at her.
Hana's expression didn't change, but something in her eyes flickered.
"We were in the same district when we were kids," she said. "Different schools. You got kicked out of two of them. Once for fighting a teacher."
Eli smirked. "He hit first."
"I don't doubt it."
A beat of silence passed.
"You never fit in, even back then," Hana continued. "But you were always... sharp. Dangerous. People either avoided you or followed you. That hasn't changed."
"You followed me?"
She scoffed. "I observed you. There's a difference."
"Sure there is," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. "So why the sudden interest? I'm guessing it's not just nostalgia."
Hana's gaze turned serious. "Because this place eats people like you. People who think they can outsmart everyone. You think the scholarship test is your battleground—but it's theirs. The nobles. The Ministry. The hidden hands. They built it to sort the obedient from the useful."
Eli's smile faded. "I'm not here to be sorted."
"I'm telling you this because you don't know how deep this goes." Her voice was low now. "You think surviving the village made you strong. But this is a whole different game. Here, strength is subtle. Quiet. It poisons instead of punches."
Eli met her eyes. "Good. I've always preferred poison to politics."
She stared at him a moment longer, then shook her head. "Just don't get yourself killed trying to prove you're untouchable."
As she turned to leave, Eli called out. "Why tell me all this? Why help me?"
Hana paused, then looked over her shoulder.
"Because you're not the only one who doesn't belong here," she said softly. "Some of us are just better at pretending."
With that, she disappeared down the garden path, her braid swinging behind her like a banner.
Eli stood there a moment longer, watching the water ripple, the fish glide beneath the surface. Everything was calm. Controlled.
But beneath the surface, something dangerous was moving.
And he wasn't sure if it was the academy... or himself.