Chapter 51: A Victory They Couldn’t Keep

Liam was already talking about food before they’d even left the arena grounds, insisting they take over the entire cafeteria to celebrate. "We won," he said, throwing an arm around Roshan’s shoulders. "We actually won."

Then the announcement came through the academy’s public address system, the same flat, official tone that had delivered every piece of bad news this week.

"Due to the ongoing review concerning the Moonstone team, today’s match result is suspended pending further investigation. No ranking points will be awarded at this time."

Liam’s arm dropped from Roshan’s shoulders. "You’re joking."

Nobody answered him.

Kai’s jaw tightened immediately, and he took a step toward the officials’ section before Lucien caught his arm.

"We need to understand the process first," Lucien said quietly. "Charging in there accomplishes nothing."

Kai stopped, though the tension in his shoulders didn’t ease.

Roxanne looked up at the temporary scoreboard still hanging above the arena, their names sitting exactly where they’d earned them. MOONSTONE — 1ST. For a handful of seconds, that had been true, undeniable, displayed for the entire academy to see.

Then the board flickered and refreshed itself.

RESULT UNDER REVIEW.

The words sat there in place of their victory, and something about watching it disappear stung more than she expected it to.

Later that evening, the five of them gathered in the training room again, exhaustion from the match still lingering in their limbs. Liam paced near the window, still fuming.

"They’re punishing us for being royal," he said. "That’s what this is. They don’t have the courage to say it outright, so they hide behind procedure."

"There’s a reason for the investigation," Roxanne said carefully. "The leaked report was real. Kai did what he did. The academy has grounds to look into it."

Liam turned to her, surprised.

"But that doesn’t mean we let it erase everything we’ve actually earned," she added. "There’s a difference between accountability and letting someone use it as an excuse to bury us."

Lucien nodded slowly, something settling in his expression. "Tomorrow, we train again."

No speeches followed. No declarations of revenge. Just five people agreeing, quietly, that they weren’t finished yet.

The next morning brought its own quiet blow. Roxanne checked her academy account before breakfast and found a notice waiting for her, brief and clinical.

Her temporary position on the Founders’ Festival student committee had been revoked. Reason listed: pending review of her association with the Moonstone team.

Isla read over her shoulder and immediately went red with anger. "This is insane. You didn’t do anything."

"I know," Roxanne said, and she found that she wasn’t angry so much as offended, the distinction mattering to her more than she expected.

She went straight to the committee office rather than complaining to anyone who couldn’t actually fix it. Instead of arguing her case, she asked to see the written decision, and the specific rule that permitted her removal.

The administrator behind the desk seemed thrown by the request, fumbling slightly before producing the paperwork.

Roxanne read through it carefully, and near the bottom of the complaint that had triggered her removal, she found a list of student signatures. Several names she recognized as legitimate committee members. A few others she didn’t expect at all, and when she mentioned one name specifically to Isla later, Isla told her flatly that the student in question had denied signing anything.

Someone had been collecting names, real or fabricated, building a case rather than simply spreading rumors through the hallways. That shift unsettled Roxanne more than any single insult could have. This wasn’t Arabella cornering her in a hallway anymore. This was something organized.

She took the document, folded it carefully, and left without confronting anyone.

Kai found her sitting alone on a bench outside the administration building later that afternoon, the folded complaint still in her hands.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

She told him everything, and immediately his expression hardened into something protective. "I’ll talk to the administration."

"No," Roxanne said.

He looked at her, surprised.

"If every problem I have gets solved because a Moonstone steps in," she said, "the academy will never believe I belong here on my own merit. They’ll just think I’m being protected again."

Kai didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t argue either. Instead, he simply stayed where he was, sitting beside her in silence while she reread the document one more time.

It wasn’t dramatic. There was no grand gesture in it, no declaration. Just his presence, steady and unhurried, and Roxanne found that it settled something in her chest more effectively than any promise to fix things ever could have.

The following day, she returned to the committee office on her own terms. She didn’t demand her position back. Instead, she requested that the academy hold an open review of the complaint against her, arguing that if they believed she’d abused her position, the evidence should be made public rather than decided behind closed doors.

The administrator hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the request, but eventually agreed to consider it.

"You should understand," he said carefully, "that public scrutiny rarely helps people in your position."

Roxanne allowed herself a small smile. "Then they shouldn’t have made it public in the first place."

She left the office feeling steadier than she had all week, though the feeling didn’t last long.

That evening, back in her dorm room, a new notification appeared on her academy account, the header alone enough to make her stomach drop.

FOUNDERS’ FESTIVAL STUDENT COMMITTEE — EMERGENCY HEARING

Her name sat listed beneath it as the subject of the hearing. But it was the next line that made her sit up straighter, reading it twice to be certain she hadn’t misunderstood.

COMPLAINT FILED BY: JOANNA VALE.

Not Arabella. Joanna.

Roxanne stared at the screen, recalculating everything she’d assumed about who was actually orchestrating the pressure closing in around her. Arabella had been loud, personal, obvious in her hostility from the very beginning. Joanna had been quieter, more procedural, filing official complaints instead of spreading gossip through the hallways.

And apparently far more dangerous for it.

Another notification appeared beneath the first before Roxanne could fully process it.

WITNESSES REQUESTED: LUCIEN MOONSTONE, ROSHAN MOONSTONE, LIAM MOONSTONE, KAI MOONSTONE.

The hearing was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Roxanne sat back slowly, the weight of it settling over her. This wasn’t only about her anymore. Joanna had found a way to drag all five of them into the same room, forcing the entire team to answer for something that had started as a single leaked disciplinary report and had somehow grown into a referendum on whether any of them belonged at this academy at all.