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  Chapter 3: Welcome to Regal Gem (Yes, That’s Really the Name)

  The academy.

  Funny, right? I know what you’re picturing—some dark, ancient Hogwarts-style school with gothic towers and a suspicious lack of adult supervision.

  Nope.

  The full name is Regal Gem Academy, which, to be honest, sounds like something ripped straight out of a Barbie Princess movie. I mean Regal Gem? All we’re missing is a glitter-spitting unicorn and a plucky commoner who comes in and flips the noble hierarchy on its head—

  Hold that thought.

  Anyway, I arrived late. Not fashionably late. Just… “demonic chauffeur tried to kidnap me” late. You’d think after three years they’d update their GPS.

  I was barely through the courtyard gates when I heard the sound of determined heels clicking toward me.

  “Reina!”

  Ah, Mia. Queen of campus gossip, professional people-pleaser, and part-time fashion critic.

  “Oh hey, Mia.” I waved lazily. “What’s up?”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You missed first-year orientation! Again. Honestly, Reina, what happened this time?”

  I adjusted my bag strap and said, completely deadpan, “Demons hijacked my ride. Took me a while to convince them I wasn’t planning another summoning anytime soon.”

  She blinked. Twice. “Oh Reina,” she giggled. “Your sense of humor is sooo weird. Demons, right?”

  “Haha. Yep. Total joke,” I said, fake-smiling with the dead eyes of a sleep-deprived raccoon. “Haha. Ha.”

  She linked her arm with mine, dragging me into the main hallway before I could escape. The air inside smelled like floral disinfectant and repressed teenage angst.

  “So,” I asked, steering the convo elsewhere, “anything fun happen at orientation? Any princes fall off a stage? Nobles trip on their own egos?”

  “Well… the usual noble spawn parade. There’s a prince from that kingdom that deals in mermaid pearls—”

  “Seamarine? Let me guess, silver hair, daddy issues, allergic to public school?”

  “Probably,” she snorted. “And the Duke of Blackwell’s third daughter is starting this year too.”

  “Wait. Blackwell? Weren’t they blacklisted after the whole ‘exam cheating’ scandal? You know—Daddy paid someone to write his son's future.”

  “Yep! But they’ve been reinstated. Money talks. Or maybe bribed tutors do.”

  “Huh.” I nodded like I cared. I didn’t. “So who’s the poor soul the nobles are already plotting to eliminate?”

  Mia’s voice dropped to an excited whisper. “Get this: someone named Mira Bloom.”

  “Bloom? What house is that? Minor nobility? Merchant class?”

  “That’s the thing…” Mia grinned like a dragon guarding juicy drama. “Bloom isn't a noble house. And Mira’s not a noble. She’s a commoner.”

  I stopped walking.

  “You’re kidding.”

  She beamed. “Nope. A full-on commoner. Enrolled as a scholarship student. Wears her hair in a braid. Brings her own lunch. No mana-infused jewelry in sight.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “How scandalous. Someone call the purity council.”

  “You’re joking, right?” she laughed.

  “I’m always joking,” I said in my signature deadpan. “Just with varying levels of honesty.”

  She laughed again, assuming I was being sarcastic. I wasn’t. Not really.

  See, people at Regal Gem didn’t know what to make of me.

  I wasn’t invisible, but I wasn’t popular either. I liked it that way. Crowds made me itchy. Drama was boring. And nobles? They were just reality show contestants with better outfits.

  Most people chalked up my weird comments to an odd sense of humor or social detachment. They weren’t completely wrong. I liked the silence of my own head more than their shallow convos.

  But Mira Bloom? A commoner enrolled in a school where half the student body thought silk was a birthright?

  That was going to stir things up.

  And if this place was anything like I remembered…

  Chaos was just around the corner.

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