The door to his room was locked.
But the air inside was different.
Not disturbed. Not ransacked.
Just… wrong.
Like someone had opened every drawer and closed it again with surgical care.
Sol stepped in without hesitation.
His boots didn't scuff.
He scanned the air—not for magic, not for scent.
For timing.
The dust layer on the sill had been broken exactly nine minutes ago. The hinge screws on the window latch had been loosened, then re-tightened too fast — torque uneven.
Someone had come in.
And left something.
A letter lay on his desk.
No wax.
No seal.
Plain paper. Folded once.
He opened it.
No flourish.
No glyphs.
Just a sentence, scrawled in uneven ink:
We see you now.
Nothing else.
No threat.
No demand.
Just awareness.
And that was worse.
Sol folded the letter precisely and tucked it into the flamebox on his desk. He didn't burn it.
He left it there. Open. Like bait.
Velus arrived thirty minutes later.
He didn't knock.
Just opened the door, closed it behind him, and leaned against the wall like he'd walked into his own quarters.
"You got one too?" the prince asked.
Sol raised an eyebrow.
"Yours said the same?"
"Not quite," Velus replied. "Mine said 'We've already seen you. He's the one we're still watching.'"
Sol didn't react.
Velus exhaled and sat on the edge of the bed.
"This is where it stops being clever, you know."
"What does?"
"Hiding."
The prince reached into his coat and pulled out a card. Thick. Black. No writing.
He tossed it onto the desk beside the flamebox.
"They're not asking anymore. You've drawn breath in a world where people want to sell air."
Sol stared at the card.
It didn't feel like a threat.
It felt like a marker.
A pin driven into the map of the capital's power structure.
"You're not safe," Velus said softly. "Not just from enemies. From relevance. From the way eyes start to twist when they linger."
"You think I should be scared?"
"No," Velus said. "I think you should stop pretending you're not already being hunted."
The door closed behind him without another word.
Sol stood in silence for a long time.
The System finally broke it.
[Mainline Tag Shifted: You Are No Longer Hidden]
[Faction Interest Elevated – Status: Active Observation Across Six Registries]
[New Tag: "Unclassed Unknown" – Unclaimed by Any Structure, Feared by All]
[System Suggestion: Declare a Banner, Forge a Path, or Prepare to Burn Those Who Try It First.]
Sol looked down at the letter again.
Then turned his gaze to the skyline outside his window.
The towers shimmered in evening rain.
The city was waking up.
But so was he.
"I'm done pretending."
[END OF CHAPTER 3 – "The Academy Does Not Sleep"]