Aiden was speechless for a long moment, staring at Miss Flecine as her words sank in. His chest tightened with frustration until he couldn't hold it in any longer.
"How can you all be so despicable?" he snapped, his voice louder than he intended. "It's not like I have anything left to give you. It's not like having one less student will ruin your school! So why won't you just let me go?"
Ryker shifted uncomfortably beside him, but Miss Flecine didn't flinch at his outburst. Her expression remained calm, even sympathetic, as though she had been expecting this reaction.
"Aiden," she said softly, "you're not just any student. We are planning to make you our legacy fulfilled. Since the day you entered Skyline Academy, you became someone special to us. When you go out into the world in the future, we want people to say, 'Skyline Academy is where this powerful person was raised.' That's the kind of pride you represent for us. So how could we ever let you go?"
