Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra

Chapter 1026: I am dignified

“Or maybe you were busy with something else.”

The implication was clear.

Isolde.

She hadn’t seen Lucavion with her.

But Isolde’s involvement always meant disaster—and Lucavion had been her pawn once. The tool she used to destroy Elara’s life. The weapon she shaped to stage the very moment that led to Elara’s exile.

Cedric’s expression made it clear he was thinking the same thing.

Lucavion didn’t miss the implication.

He met Cedric’s stare, eyes flattening—calm shifting into something colder, more distant.

“I train alone,” he said simply. “Always have.”

Cedric didn’t blink. “Training. Right.”

Lucavion exhaled through his nose, a soft, annoyed huff. “Whatever.”

He adjusted his satchel, dipped his chin to Elara in a faint gesture of acknowledgment—somewhere between polite and guarded.

“Good night,” he murmured, tone quieter now.

Then he turned and walked away, steps faster than before, posture too rigid to be called relaxed.

He didn’t look back.

Cedric watched him disappear, expression tightening further with every step Lucavion took. The distrust radiated off him like heat, cold at the edges, simmering beneath the surface.

When Lucavion vanished into the dormitory shadows, Cedric slowly turned to Elara.

The question was already gathering behind his eyes.

Was he with Isolde?

Do you think he was?

Do you see what he’s doing?

Elara felt the weight of his stare.

She shook her head gently, exhaustion softening the gesture. “Not now, Cedric.”

His jaw worked, tension tight around the corners of his eyes. For a heartbeat he looked like he wanted to argue, to press, to unravel every thread of Lucavion’s behavior right here in the courtyard.

But he swallowed whatever words he had.

Elara stepped back toward her door. “I’m tired.”

Cedric’s expression softened—barely, but enough. “Alright. Get some rest.”

She nodded—quiet, distant—and slipped inside the dormitory building, the door closing softly behind her.

And in the silence that followed, it was impossible to tell which worried him more—

What Lucavion was doing…

or what Elara had seen.

****

The corridor outside was quiet—darker than usual, the mana lamps dimming into that late-evening pulse they held when the Academy wanted students to sleep and not think. His boots made little sound on the waxed floor, but every step felt too loud in his chest.

Cedric’s words clung there like burrs.

“You disappeared.”

“She wasn’t with us either.”

He pushed the door open.

The room was dim—just the single ward-lamp near the desk casting a pale circle of light across the floor. Lucavion stepped in, dragging one hand through his hair.

Before he could take another step—

[Welcome back.]

Her voice brushed the inside of his mind like silk, smooth and cool. A beat later, something warm and soft rubbed against his ankle.

He glanced down.

Vitaliara sat by the leg of his desk—white fur glowing faintly in the mana-light, tail lazily curling like she owned every inch of the floor. Her eyes, golden with that thin ring of shininess around the iris, blinked up at him with a patience that wasn’t patience at all.

He breathed out, slow.

“Hey.”

She hopped onto the bed in one fluid motion, settling into a loaf, whiskers twitching.

[Something is wrong.]

Lucavion shut the door fully this time, leaning his back against it for a moment. The pressure between his brows tightened—Cedric’s accusation replaying like an echo that refused to fade.

He pushed himself upright, shrugging off his coat and tossing it onto the chair.

“I’m tired,” he muttered.

Vitaliara didn’t respond for a second.

Then—

[No. You are thinking too loud.]

Lucavion’s hands paused on the buttons of his shirt.

A soft exhale left him. “Am I.”

[Yes. It is irritating.]

She flicked her tail as if punctuating the statement.

He finished undressing the top half, folding the shirt over the chair. His skin still held a faint glow from overworked mana pathways—training far beyond what the Academy would consider acceptable.

Or safe.

He rolled his shoulders once, the tension winding and unwinding beneath the bones.

Vitaliara watched him, head tilted.

[Who rattled you? It was not the exams.]

“No,” he said quietly.

She blinked once.

Twice.

Then—

[…Was that a girl?]

Lucavion stopped halfway through pulling on a fresh shirt.

His jaw flexed. “Maybe.”

Lucavion pulled the shirt over his shoulders, the fabric brushing against the faint glow still clinging to his skin.

That was when he felt it—

Vitaliara’s gaze narrowing.

She didn’t blink. Didn’t shift. Just stared at him with that flat, slow-building irritation only a familiar could produce.

[…A girl.]

Her tail flicked once, the motion sharp.

Lucavion couldn’t help it—

a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Why do you sound jealous?”

[I do not.]

“Mm. Of course.”

Her ears flattened a fraction.

Not much—just enough for him to know he was right.

She turned her head away with exaggerated dignity, then back again, golden eyes narrowing even further.

[I simply asked a question.]

“You asked like you were evaluating a threat.”

[You said maybe.]

Lucavion chuckled under his breath and buttoned the last clasp on his shirt.

“Relax. You do know her.”

Vitaliara’s expression didn’t soften at all.

[…Good.]

Lucavion shook his head, amused. “Possessive little thing.”

She ignored that. Or pretended to.

Instead, she hopped to the edge of the bed, tail curling around her paws.

[Today, I tried looking at that energy again. The one I mentioned before.]

Lucavion’s smile faded a notch. “And?”

Her whiskers twitched in irritation.

[…No results. Again.]

He exhaled softly. “Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

There was a long, cold pause.

[…Annoying.]

He nodded. “I can see that.”

Vitaliara looked away, chin lifting with a delicate, offended tilt.

Then—

[I won’t bother with it tomorrow.]

Lucavion blinked. “Really?”

[Yes.]

A single, decisive swish of her tail.

[I was curious about your exams anyway. I might as well watch you instead.]

Lucavion huffed a laugh. “Heh… peeping again?”

Her head snapped toward him.

[It is not peeping, you bastard. It is in public.]

“I’m not talking about the exams.”

She opened her mouth to retort—

But Lucavion simply looked down.

At himself.

Shirt hanging open.

Toned torso visible.

Only his underwear on.

He raised one brow, smirking.

Vitaliara followed his gaze—

And froze.

Her ears went stiff.

Her body locked.

Her pupils dilated like she’d been struck.

Then—

[…!!]

She whipped her head away so fast her whole body tilted.

[I— I was not— You— Stop doing that!]

Lucavion laughed quietly, the sound low and maddeningly pleased.

“You’re getting used to it,” he said mildly. “If I didn’t say anything, you wouldn’t have noticed.”

Her tail puffed slightly—just enough to betray her.

[Shut up.]

“You looked longer than usual.”

[Shut. Up.]

Lucavion closed his shirt slowly, savoring her reaction. “Cute.”

Vitaliara nearly fell over from the force of her offended huff.

[I am not cute. I am dignified.]

“Mm.”

[Stop that noise.]

Lucavion sat down beside her on the bed, fingers brushing lightly over her fur. She stiffened for a breath… then leaned into it—reluctantly, stubbornly, the way she always did.

He exhaled, tension easing for the first time since the courtyard.

Vitaliara didn’t look at him, still turned stubbornly away, but her voice was softer now.

[…Just focus tomorrow.]

“I will.”

[Good.]

A beat passed.

[And do not let any girl look at you like that.]

Lucavion blinked. “…Like what?”

[Like that.]

Her tail flicked again, utterly and gloriously jealous.

Lucavion smiled into the dim room.

“Vitaliara,” he murmured, “you’re impossible.”

[Learned from you.]