Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra

Chapter 914: Scolded

"Enough."It wasn’t raised, but it carried. Selenne didn’t need volume to command attention; her tone had the precision of glass sliding into place, sharp enough to be felt.

She stepped forward, her robe brushing the stone as she moved into the space between Lucavion and the nobles, her gaze sweeping the gathered students.

"I’ll remind all of you," she began, "that any fight conducted without informing the Academy is a violation of policy. Penalties are not light."

Her eyes lingered briefly on the hands still near sword hilts.

"Even escalating toward one is punishable. Whether you call it a duel, a ’lesson,’ or anything else—it is still misconduct. And on the first day?" A faint lift of her brow. "That would be a spectacular way to begin your record here."

Some of the tension bled out of the crowd, but not all. Pride was a stubborn thing.

work most faculty want to build."

"Which," Aurelian added, glancing toward Selenne’s straight-backed figure ahead of them, "makes Lucavion’s timing... interesting. He stepped in right when they were setting the stage."

Lysa raised an eyebrow. "You think he’s doing it for her?"

"Not necessarily for her," Cedric replied, his voice low. "But his interference shifted their focus off her, at least temporarily. It’s the kind of move that forces people to reevaluate their approach—keeps them from pressing too hard right away."

Marian huffed. "Or it’s the kind of move that gets you hauled into her office after orientation."

"Both can be true," Cedric said simply.

Elara stayed quiet, her mind still playing back the way Selenne had stepped between them—precise, deliberate, almost surgical in how she’d cut the moment apart. The tension between her and Marcus had been subtle, but not invisible. A lingering weight behind every measured word. She could almost feel the history there, the way Marcus’s eyes had tracked Selenne with more than simple professional disapproval.

"Either way," Selphine continued, "it’s worth remembering—faculty politics are their own battlefield. And if what I’ve heard is true, Marcus and Selenne have been circling each other for years. Lucavion just wandered into that ring without even flinching."

"Or without even realizing," Riven suggested.

Selphine gave him a look. "Oh, he realizes. That guy doesn’t look like he moves without purpose, no matter how careless he acts."

Before Selphine could add anything else, Selenne’s voice called from ahead, crisp and unmistakable.

"Follow."

It wasn’t loud, but it carried over the murmurs like a taut string snapping. The boy, who had been lingering near the rear of the group with the sort of loose-limbed defiance that dared someone to tell him otherwise, gave a long-suffering sigh loud enough for several students to hear.

"And you, student Lucavion. Return to the group."

"Yes, yes..." he muttered, peeling himself off the wall he’d been leaning against. His steps were unhurried, almost lazy, yet somehow he closed the distance without ever seeming to rush.

By the time they were moving again, Elara had returned her attention to the path ahead—until a shadow fell alongside her.

She glanced sideways and nearly started; Lucavion was suddenly there, matching her pace as if he’d been walking next to her the entire time.

"..."

"Yo..."