Date: Five Days After the Festival
Location: Academy Grounds – Dorm Rooftop, Late Night
---
I thought everything ended.
The Mirror Holder is gone.
The traitor exposed.
The stage collapsed in thunder and blood.
And yet… the academy still breathes like nothing happened.
---
This morning, the headmasters made an announcement.
Formal. Cold. Carefully chosen words.
> "One professor has been removed for endangering student safety.
An internal investigation is ongoing.
Classes will resume next week."
Students cheered. Some cried. Most just… moved on.
But we didn't.
Not me.
Not David.
Not Lily.
Not those who stood on that stage and felt the blade of truth pressed to their throats.
---
David called me to his office today.
No lecture. No scolding.
Just… tea. And silence.
He stared at the chessboard on his table for nearly a minute.
Then moved a knight forward, into open fire.
> "You played your role too well," he said.
"Now they see you as something more. Or less."
I didn't answer.
There's nothing to say when the truth and lie wear the same mask.
---
Lily returned my journal today.
She didn't say she read it. But her silence did.
She placed it in my hand like it weighed more than a sword.
> "You're not alone in this," she said.
"Even if you try to be."
Then she left.
I think… she cried.
I'll never ask.
She'll never say.
But I'll remember the way her fingers lingered — like she didn't want to let go.
---
The others don't talk about it.
Leander jokes louder than before.
Anna paints fiery skies on the common room wall.
Gideon's shield has new cracks, but he hasn't replaced it.
Alice sharpened every blade she owns, twice.
Elric just said:
> "You survived. That counts."
---
They pretend it's over.
Maybe they need to.
But me?
I stood too close to the truth.
And David… David knows.
This wasn't the war.
It was a test run.
A glimpse.
A shadow of the real storm waiting beyond the walls.
---
But tonight?
Tonight, I'll sit on this rooftop.
Watch the snow melt in moonlight.
And write one simple truth:
> "Even if the curtains fall, the story hasn't ended."
We're still here.
We're still standing.
And the board is still moving.