Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra

Chapter 606: The girl from the Military (2)

”NO! THIS CANʼT BE!”

He turned on his father, his face contorted with a mixture of fury and disbelief. ”Youʼre sending her? A bastard? A lowborn?! To the Imperial Arcanis Academy?!” His voice cracked, desperation bleeding into his words. ”Do you even hear yourself?! She doesnʼt belong there! That seat belongs to me—I am your son! I am the rightful heir of House Burns!”

The patriarchʼs expression remained unreadable, his steel-gray eyes unwavering. ”That seat belongs to the one who earned it.”

Linston shook his head violently, his face a mask of denial. ”NO! You canʼt do this to me! Do you know what kind of people attend Arcanis? Do you think they will accept her? Do you think they will see her as anything but trash?” He spat the last word with venom, his voice ragged. ”This will ruin our familyʼs reputation!”

SLAM.

His fatherʼs cane struck the marble floor, the sharp crack silencing the murmurs around them. The air grew even colder.

”I have made my decision,” he said with finality. ”Jesse will go to Arcanis.”

Linstonʼs entire body locked up, his rage no longer restrained. He turned to Jesse, his lips curling in sheer hatred. ”You did this,” he hissed, his voice low, trembling. ”You took what was mine.”

Jesse met his gaze without flinching.

”You lost,” she repeated, her voice devoid of malice, devoid of sympathy. ”That is all.”

It was the truth. And the truth was more unbearable to Linston than any insult could ever be.

Then—

”You will regret this.”

The words left Linstonʼs lips like a curse, like a promise of vengeance. His breath was ragged, his eyes dark with something ugly, something dangerous. ”You think this is over?” He took a step closer, the veins in his temple pulsing with barely controlled rage. ”You think just because you won today, you will keep winning?”

Jesse didnʼt move.

Linston bared his teeth, his voice dropping into a low, vicious whisper.

”You took my place,” he seethed. ”I will take everything from you.”

A cold smile touched Jesseʼs lips, sharp as a blade.

”Youʼre welcome to try.”

The hall was silent, every noble watching the exchange with bated breath.

Their father, unmoved by his sonʼs tantrum, turned to Jesse once more. ”You depart for Arcanis in three days.”

Jesse gave a slow, respectful nod. ”Understood.”

Linstonʼs mother, who had been standing in the background seething, suddenly stepped forward, her gown swishing violently as she turned on her husband. ”Youʼre truly going through with this?” she spat. ”Youʼre sending her—the daughter of a maid, a common whore—to represent this family? To stand among the true nobility?”

Her fury was uncontainable, her hatred for Jesse burning in her eyes. ”Youʼre throwing away our son for her?”

The patriarch exhaled slowly, as if dealing with a child throwing a tantrum. ”I am sending the strongest candidate. The most capable one. I will not tolerate any further discussion on this matter.”

Linstonʼs mother trembled with rage. She turned to Jesse, her face twisted with pure loathing. ”How dare you injure my son?!” she snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut. ”How dare you humiliate him like this—humiliate us?!”

Jesse tilted her head slightly, her expression blank, but her voice… was not.

”I dare, because I won.”

The room fell into stunned silence.

Linstonʼs motherʼs face contorted in a mix of disbelief and rage, but before she could respond, Jesse continued, her voice unwavering.

”Perhaps you should have trained him better.”

A choked sound came from Linston. A gasp rippled through the nobles.

The matriarch of the Burns family was speechless, shaking with anger.

But Jesse didnʼt care. She turned away, stepping past Linstonʼs trembling form without so much as another glance, past the nobles who could barely comprehend what had just happened.

She had fought. She had won.

And now, she was leaving this wretched place.

Jesse stepped into her chambers, the heavy wooden door closing behind her with a quiet thud. The ornate room, once a place of confinement, now felt like nothing more than a temporary resting place—a mere stepping stone to where she truly needed to be. The fight was over. The voices of the court, the fury of her stepmother, the seething hatred in Linstonʼs eyes—it was all left behind. None of it mattered now.

Slowly, she made her way to the window, her fingers lightly tracing along the cold glass as her gaze fell upon the vast, sprawling estate of the Burns family. The torches lining the walls flickered in the night breeze, casting long shadows across the stone paths. The moon loomed high, illuminating the lands she had once thought would be her prison forever.

A small, sharp breath left her lips, and then—she smiled.

But it was not a complete smile.

”Finally.”

The word escaped in a whisper, but it carried the weight of years.

Finally, she would be able to find him.

For so long, she had searched. She had fought, bled, and endured the unbearable—all for the sliver of a chance to chase the one thing that had been ripped from her grasp. The day Lucavion disappeared, the day she was left behind, her world had collapsed.

She had been broken before, barely holding herself together with his presence alone, but when he left… that was when she truly shattered.

The world had become gray. The battlefield, once terrifying, had become a place where she simply existed. Even the hatred of her peers, the condescending looks of nobles, and the cruelty of her commanders had failed to reach her. She had lived like a ghost—breathing, fighting, but never truly living.

And all because he was gone.

At first, she had thought it was because he no longer cared. That he had left her behind like everyone else in her life had done before. The pain of that thought had nearly consumed her.

But over time, as she clawed her way through the military, as she grew stronger and sharper, she began to understand.

Lucavion had always been an enigma. A man with ambition, a man who didnʼt belong in the rigid structure of the army or the empire. His eyes had never once carried loyalty to their superiors. He had been planning something. And now, after all these years, she finally had the answer.

Shadowed Thicket.

A borderland between the Arcanis Empire and the Loria Empire. A treacherous, winding expanse of land infamous for smugglers, fugitives, and those who sought to vanish from the eyes of their nations.

That was where he had gone.

And logic dictated that he had moved past it—straight into the Arcanis Empire.

Jesseʼs grip on the window tightened.

”I know you are there.”

Her voice was quiet, but her resolve was unwavering.

Lucavion had never been a man without purpose. He had always had a goal—something more than the endless grind of the battlefield. If he had fled, if he had abandoned the Loria Empire, it was because he had a plan.

And she was going to find out what it was.

For years, she had been cast aside, ridiculed, and deemed unworthy. For years, she had endured, survived, and pushed herself beyond the limits of what anyone had expected of her.

Not because she cared about the empire.

Not because she wanted power or prestige.

But because she had to find him.

Because if she didnʼt—if she truly lost him forever—then what had all of this been for?

Her fingers lifted from the glass, leaving faint traces of warmth against the cold surface.

Lucavion had always been just beyond her reach, always walking a path of his own. But this time, she would not be left behind.

This time, she would chase him to the ends of the empire if she had to.

And when she found him?

Jesseʼs lips curled into something sharper, something unreadable.

”You wonʼt escape me this time.”