The broken textbook

Chapter 16

The next morning, the sky was still a pale, gloomy grey. I sat at a small wooden desk near the back of the advanced history classroom. My body felt incredibly heavy and exhausted from the midnight confrontation on the stairs, but I forced my eyes to stay open.

I placed my thick, leather-bound history textbook on the table. It was an old, borrowed book from the school library, but I had cleaned the cover carefully.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over my desk.

I looked up. Marcus was standing right in front of me. He was flanked by two other large Alpha players from the football team. He had a cruel, mocking smirk on his face, and his arms were crossed over his broad chest.

"Look at this, boys," Marcus said loudly, ensuring the other students in the room could hear him. "The little maid brought her favorite book to class. Do you even know how to read these big words, scholarship girl?"

"Step back, Marcus," I said, my voice completely flat and devoid of emotion.

Instead of moving away, Marcus reached out his large, heavy hand and snatched my textbook off the table. He flipped through the pages carelessly, his smirk growing wider. "This book belongs to the academy. It's too expensive for trash like you to touch."

Before I could stand up, a bright, hot spark of red magic flared from Marcus’s hand. He used his fire affinity to ignite the edges of the paper. Within seconds, the textbook erupted into bright orange flames.

The students around us gasped, backing away as Marcus threw the burning book onto the stone floor. The pages curled and turned to black ash right in front of me, the smell of smoke filling the classroom.

"Oops," Marcus laughed nastily, stepping on the ashes with his heavy boot. "It looks like your book accidentally burned. How are you going to pass the lecture now, Eva?"

Deep inside my chest, that familiar, agonizing heat flared up immediately. My royal bloodline magic was reacting violently to his malice. A sharp, white-hot pain spiked behind my eyes, and a thick pool of hot copper flooded my tongue. I tightly clenched my teeth, forcefully swallowing the blood down, refusing to let Marcus see me show any pain or weakness.

“I don't need that book,” I thought coldly, forcing the golden light in my veins to stay hidden. “I already lived this year. I remember every single word of this l

Just then, the heavy wooden door opened, and Professor Pendelton walked into the room. He was an older, distinguished beta man with sharp eyes. He stopped, looking at the pile of black ash on the floor, and then looked at Marcus and me.

"What happened here?" the professor asked, his voice strict.

"Miss Cross accidentally dropped her book near the heating vent, sir," Marcus lied smoothly, sliding into his front-row seat with a smug smile.

Professor Pendelton sighed, walking to his podium. He didn't punish Marcus because the aristocracy always protected their own. Instead, he opened his notes. "Very well. Let us begin. Today we are discussing the Great Territorial Treaty of 1842 and the exact legal rights of the Alpha Regents."

The professor began speaking fast, writing complex historical dates and Latin phrases on the large blackboard. The other students scrambled to open their textbooks, frantically trying to follow along. I sat perfectly still, my hands resting calmly on my empty desk. I didn't need to look at a page. I closed my eyes slightly, pulling the exact memories of this lecture from my first life.

Halfway through the class, Professor Pendelton stopped writing. He looked around the room, trying to find a student to test. His eyes landed on my empty desk.

"Miss Cross," the professor said loudly. "Since you do not have a textbook, perhaps you can tell the class the three secret clauses added to the 1842 treaty by the High Sovereign line? The clauses that limited the power of the Vance family?"

Marcus chuckled softly from the front row, whispering to his friend, "She's going to fail."

I stood up slowly from my chair, keeping my shoulders perfectly straight and my chin lifted high. I looked right into the professor's eyes, speaking in a clear, freezing tone that echoed off the walls.

"The first secret clause states that an Alpha Regent cannot claim territorial land without the written seal of the High Royal crown," I said, my English simple but absolutely flawless. "The second clause dictates that any scholarship student under royal protection cannot be touched by pack laws. And the third clause gives the Sovereign the absolute right to strip a noble family of their title if they commit treason."

The classroom went entirely dead silent.

Professor Pendelton’s jaw dropped slightly, his eyes widening in absolute shock. He dropped his piece of white chalk, and it shattered on the floor. No student had ever memorized those secret clauses, they were hidden deep in the advanced archives.

I looked down at the front row. Marcus’s smug smile had completely disappeared. His face was pale, his golden eyes wide with humiliation as the other students began to whisper and look at him.

"That is... completely correct, Miss Cross," Professor Pendelton breathed, his hands shaking slightly as he looked at me with a strange, deep curiosity. "You may sit down."

I sat back down calmly, crossing my hands over my lap. I didn't look at Marcus, but I could feel his furious, embarrassed gaze burning into my side. He thought he could destroy my armor by ripping my books. He hadno idea that my mind was a weapon he could never burn.