Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series-Chapter 96: Map Of the School

Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan slipped into their shared dorm room, closing the door as quietly as possible.

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The three of them stood in silence for a moment, listening for any signs of movement; no prefects, no professors, no lurking figures waiting to catch them sneaking in at such a late hour.

When they were sure the coast was clear, Adrian finally let out a breath and flopped onto his bed with a dramatic groan. "Well, that was a night well spent."

He grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "I think I’ve found my new role model."

Sevan pulled off his boots and rubbed his face tiredly. "You mean Lopt?" He shook his head. "That’s the last person you should be idolising."

Adrian smirked. "Oh, come on. You have to admit, the man’s a genius."

Sevan only sighed, but Aiden could see the corners of his lips twitching, like he was resisting a smile.

Aiden himself wasn’t sure what to make of Lopt. He was certainly unpredictable, but there was something unsettling about him, even beneath all the jokes and theatrics.

Pushing that thought aside for now, Aiden moved to his desk and carefully unfolded the parchment Lopt had given them- a detailed map of the school, complete with secret passages and hidden tunnels. He smoothed it out on the wooden surface and compared it with their own hand-drawn map, which he retrieved from under Adrian’s pillow.

"We need to compare these," Aiden murmured, scanning both maps with sharp eyes. "See if anything is missing."

Sevan leaned over, eyeing the parchment. "Lopt’s tunnels cover a lot of ground, but look here-" He pointed to a section near the west wing. "This passage isn’t on his map."

Adrian sat up slightly, intrigued. "Think he doesn’t know about it?"

"Doubtful," Aiden replied, tracing the passage with his finger. "It’s more likely that he purposely left it out."

Sevan frowned. "Why would he do that?"

Adrian’s grin widened. "Maybe it’s a test. See if we’re smart enough to figure out things on our own."

Aiden nodded. "Or he just assumes we’ll find it eventually."

Sevan sighed and leaned back on his bed. "Either way, we now have the most detailed map of the school in our hands." He gave them a look. "Which means we are either the luckiest first years alive or the biggest targets for every member of the Nocturnal Conclave in this school."

Adrian chuckled. "I prefer to think of it as us being on our way to becoming legends."

Sevan rolled his eyes. "Legends that will get detention for the rest of the year."

Aiden smirked as he carefully folded both maps and tucked them away. "One step at a time."

For a moment, the three of them sat in comfortable silence.

The weight of the night’s events hung over them- not just Lopt’s antics, but the realisation that they were now involved in something far bigger than simple pranks. Lopt had tasked them with looking into Emmeranne, and Aiden still wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Savion’s murder. Emmeranne creeping around in the forest. Lopt knowing far too much.

Aiden exhaled and lay back against his pillow. Those were problems for tomorrow.

Right now, they needed to rest.

Sevan was the first to pull his blanket over himself, muttering something about how he wasn’t going to let a shapeshifting maniac ruin his sleep schedule. Adrian, on the other hand, stretched out with a lazy smirk, already plotting what mischief they could get into next.

Aiden just closed his eyes, letting the night’s excitement settle into quiet exhaustion.

Tomorrow, they’d start mapping the missing tunnels.

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Morning arrived far too soon for Aiden’s liking.

He barely had time to blink before the sun was creeping through the dorm window, casting streaks of golden light across the room. Sevan was already up, combing through their maps again, while Adrian- predictably- was still half-buried under his blanket, mumbling something incoherent about Lopt’s secret society.

Aiden sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "We need to talk about Emmeranne."

Sevan glanced up from the maps, his blue eyes sharp.

"Figured you’d say that." He tapped the parchment. "I was thinking about it too."

"Why are we even talking about her at- what? Seven in the morning?" Adrian’s voice was muffled as he turned over, pulling his blanket further over his head. "Can’t we plot over breakfast?"

Aiden ignored him. "We know she was out that night, but we don’t know why. And Lopt asked about her specifically."

Sevan frowned. "Which means he suspects something."

Adrian finally pushed himself up with a groan. "Great. First night as official mischief-makers, and we’re already being given homework." He stretched. "So what’s the plan?"

Aiden leaned forward, lowering his voice. "We keep an eye on her. Not just in class- outside of it, too. She’s always slipping away. If we figure out where she keeps going, maybe we’ll understand why Lopt is so interested."

Sevan nodded. "Makes sense. But we can’t be obvious about it. If she catches on…"

"She already dodged our questions once," Aiden agreed. "She’ll do it again if we push too hard."

"Good thing we’re good at sneaking around."

Sevan rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

The three of them quickly got dressed and headed for breakfast. The Great Hall was already filled with the usual morning chaos- students chatting, cutlery clinking, the scent of warm bread and roasted meat filling the air.

They spotted Rupert and Jarek at their usual spot and sat down across from them. But while the others dug into their meals, Aiden’s attention immediately went to the far end of the table, where Emmeranne sat with Ivara, Amihan, and Morrigan.

She looked as calm as ever, her usual unreadable expression in place. Her long black hair was neatly braided over her shoulder, and she ate quietly while listening to Ivara talk about something. There was nothing suspicious about her.

At least, not on the surface.

"We need to find a way to get her alone," he murmured, keeping his voice low.

Sevan followed his gaze. "That won’t be easy."

Adrian, chewing on a piece of toast, raised an eyebrow. "Why not just do it after classes?"

Aiden shook his head. "She’s never alone. She’s either with them-" he nodded toward the girls, "-or slipping away to who-knows-where."

Sevan sighed. "Then we follow her."

Adrian grinned. "Now that’s a plan I can get behind."

Aiden knew it wouldn’t be easy. Emmeranne was careful.

Cunning.

And if she really had something to hide, she wasn’t going to let them figure it out so easily.