Chapter 71

The next day at the academy, I found myself teamed up with Emily once more. Our opponents were Gale and Bell, two of the best students in our year.

This matchup wasn't possible before for one simple reason—Emily and Bell, despite both being exceptional archers, were trained differently. Emily excelled in long-range precision shots, while Bell specialized in rapid, short-range volleys. Pitting them against each other had always been a logistical headache for the instructors. The academy had tried placing Emily and Gale on support duty during matches, as archers often are, but they ended up obliterating the other students even in close combat.

But now that I was here, a direct competitor to Gale, this balanced matchup was finally possible. Unfortunately...

"Hmm..." I mumbled, swinging my legs idly as I sat in the corner, waiting for our turn.

The match wouldn't start for hours since the other students were still training. I was bored out of my mind.

"What do I even do..." I muttered under my breath.

Emily bounced over to me, brimming with excitement. "Aleena! Aleena! I brought a special bow for today's fight! Can you help me get it? It's in the storage room. Teacher Ganth put it way up top, and I can't reach it!"

Eager for any distraction from the monotony, I nodded. "Sure, let's go."

Biggest mistake of the day.

Emily practically skipped the entire way to the storage room, her enthusiasm contagious. But when we arrived and opened the door, we found Gale and Bell already there.

I was surprised. Emily wasn't.

Gale, on the other hand, looked startled to see us. Bell didn't even flinch, calmly rummaging through the shelves for what I assumed was her own bow.

Emily gestured for me to climb onto her back to retrieve her bow from a higher shelf. I hesitated but complied, carefully balancing myself on her shoulders as I sifted through the towering boxes.

Everything seemed normal at first.

Then it happened.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emily and Bell exchange a mischievous wink. Before I could react, my balance was thrown off as Emily suddenly stepped back.

"Whoa—!"

Both Gale and I toppled over amidst the falling boxes. Emily and Bell were already retreating, giggling as they turned off the lights and slammed the door shut behind them.

"What the—?" I muttered, dazed.

When I came to my senses, I realized I wasn't hurt at all. No impact, no pain. It was... soft?

I opened my eyes and froze.

Gale was beneath me, staring straight at me, his eyes wide with shock.

Time seemed to stop. My mind went blank as I found myself captivated by his gaze. There was something magnetic about it, something that pulled me in like a spell.

He was staring back, equally entranced. Whatever this feeling was, it wasn't one-sided.

The spell broke when we both snapped back to reality.

Scrambling to get up, I lost my footing again, and Gale ended up collapsing over me this time.

"Ugh, not again—"

But before either of us could react further, our eyes locked once more. The moment hung heavy, an unspoken tension filling the air.

Our faces were so close. Too close.

I didn't even notice the distance between us shrinking until our lips were nearly touching.

But just as they were about to—

We snapped out of it.

Gale's hands were suddenly restraining my wrists.

"H-Huh?! Let go!" I stammered, my voice loud and flustered.

"Sorry!" he shouted, quickly releasing me.

We scrambled to our feet, our faces burning red. The embarrassment was unbearable.

"Let's pretend that never happened," Gale muttered, looking away awkwardly.

"Mm-hmm," I mumbled in agreement, nodding furiously.

Trying to regain some semblance of normalcy, we searched for the light switch. When the lights flickered on, something caught my eye—a camera, tucked on a shelf across the room.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at it.

Gale narrowed his eyes. "I think it's a—"

Before he could finish, the door creaked open slightly. A hand darted in, snatching the camera.

Our blood ran cold.

"Wait... was that recording us?" I whispered, horrified.

The realization hit us both at the same time.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no," Gale muttered.

We bolted for the door, only to trip over the scattered boxes again. This time, we recovered quickly and made it to the door—only to find it locked.

With a shared glance, we nodded and punched the door simultaneously, shattering it.

Bell and Emily were walking down the hall, laughing to themselves, when the loud crash of the broken door made them freeze.

They turned around, and our eyes locked.

Bell was holding the camera.

"You two!" I shouted, anger boiling over.

Emily and Bell exchanged nervous glances, then took off running.

"Stop!" Gale and I yelled, giving chase.

This wasn't over.