I didn't get much sleep last night.
Maybe an hour—two at most.
It was hard to tell anymore.
By the time I blinked and opened my eyes again, morning had already arrived. Pale light filtered through the window, soft and gray, the kind of light that made everything feel slower than it was.
But I didn't move.
Not yet.
I lay still under the covers, pretending to sleep, listening to the quiet rustling coming from the other side of the room.
Leona was already up.
I could hear her slipping into the usual morning routine—straightening her posture, binding her chest, changing into the academy's male uniform. Her daily disguise. Something she did out of habit now. The sound of it was oddly mechanical, like she was moving on autopilot.
I kept my eyes closed until I heard the click of the bathroom door shutting behind her.
Only then did I sit up.
