"You're actually alive," Kai said, leaning against a stone pillar in the main courtyard the next morning. He didn't even look up from the small dagger he was cleaning with a piece of cloth. "Good to know. Pearl was convinced you'd been eaten alive by the library stacks, and Des was about to launch a search party before he got sidetracked by the breakfast buffet."
I offered a weak, apologetic smile, adjusting the heavy strap of my bag against my shoulder. "Yeah, sorry about that. I've just been completely drowning in schoolwork lately. The stress is honestly eating me alive."
Kai stopped cleaning the blade, his sharp, dark eyes scanning my face with a slow, calculating look. "Right. The elite Class A curriculum. Sucks being the only one-star magic student in a room full of high-born prodigies. You have to work twice as hard just to stay afloat, let alone keep up with the practical exams."
