"…How did this even happen?" Azel muttered, staring at the ruined courtyard.
The garden had always been a peaceful place… it had rows of neatly planted flowers and vines maintained by the academy's gardener.
But now it was chaos.
Dirt had been kicked up, pots were shattered, and petals littered the ground like torn silk.
There was even blood splashed against one of the stone edges, already drying into a rusty stain.
Nari said Lorraine liked this place and she came here often to help the gardener, sometimes bringing Nari along as well.
Azel crouched down and brushed his fingers over the dirt.
There were footprints.
Big ones that were deep in the soil and drag marks like someone had been pulled… but the trail had vanished.
'I thought this was supposed to be one of the safest places in the world,' he thought grimly. 'Even with all the incidents lately, there are guards and barrier wards everywhere. People shouldn't even be able to enter without triggering alarms…'
