The academy didn't rebuild itself overnight.
Mira noticed that first.
The banners came down. The screens went back to showing class schedules instead of breaking news. The guards relaxed into their old posts, no longer scanning every student like a potential revolution waiting to happen.
But something deeper had shifted.
People lingered in the hallways now. Conversations stretched instead of cutting off when someone "important" walked past. Students sat where they wanted in the dining hall, not where they were expected to.
It wasn't freedom.
Not yet.
But it was the beginning of it.
Mira walked through the courtyard with her hands in her jacket pockets, watching the way sunlight caught on the fountain's water. She could almost pretend this was a normal school. Almost pretend she hadn't stood on a stage a few nights ago while a political system cracked apart behind her.
