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Chapter 173: Back at the Academy
I successfully concluded my conversation with the First Prince.
Throughout the discussion, his face remained stern.
A duke of the empire colluding with Demon Sovereign—the gravity of this unprecedented situation weighed heavily.
On top of that, Celestial Grace was a figure with enough concentrated power to target the emperor himself.
The consequences of this revelation were unpredictable.
In truth, if the First Prince only considered the imperial throne, this incident wasn’t entirely unfavorable for him.
After all, it gave him a rare opportunity to rid himself of the dreaded Celestial Grace.
‘However…’
Celestial Grace was powerful enough to arrange a wife for the emperor.
One of the core pillars determining the fate of the empire.
Even if he was found to be involved with Demon Sovereign, cutting him off completely wouldn’t be easy.
If Celestial Grace fell, the empire itself would suffer the aftermath.
‘That’s why the Sixth Act exists.’
The Sixth Act.
The rebellion that the cornered Duke Robliage would initiate in desperation.
That was the next major event in the unfolding scenario.
For the First Prince, it was also an extremely burdensome affair.
If rebellion erupted, the empire would be shaken to its core.
No nation could remain the strongest forever.
If its internal stability weakened, its overall power would inevitably waver.
Thus, the key to this situation was how well it could be overcome.
‘Good grief, the timeline has shifted so much that I can’t predict where this is heading anymore.’
Even I was apprehensive about the future, unsure of where the accelerated events would lead.
Regardless, the First Prince was now destined for sleepless nights of strategizing.
It was the path he had to tread to become emperor.
I could only hope he would succeed.
「I promise regarding Iris.」
Fortunately, as compensation for informing him of this incident, Iris would be taken care of.
With Celestial Grace having struck a deal with Demon Sovereign, there was no way he could be allowed to become emperor.
This also meant that, once the truth came to light, Iris would be disqualified from the throne as well.
The die had already been cast.
However, painting Iris as a victim was still a feasible move.
Of course, this required her cooperation and consent.
That part was in her hands.
I could only hope she made the right choice.
‘Finally, it’s time to return to Zerion Academy.’
The accelerated scenario had kept me away from the academy for far too long.
By now, the academy’s affairs must have progressed significantly.
No doubt, the upcoming Winter Demon Dungeon was already scheduled.
‘I wonder how the others have been.’
I could only hope the real Hannon had been handling things well in my absence.
Trusting that, I boarded the carriage heading for Zerion Academy.
Of course, it wasn’t just any ordinary carriage.
“Boy, you’ve done well.”
The Duke of Whitewood herself came to see me off in person.
Even though she was busy, she took the time to see me off.
“You may not have heard much praise, but what you’ve accomplished will be remembered in history.”
Her words filled me with pride.
“I still have plenty of work ahead, though.”
“Ha! It’s a shame that we adults have to rely so heavily on someone so young.”
Duke of Whitewood’s tone was filled with genuine regret.
But for me, having her on my side was the true relief.
“I’m not as young and naive as you think, Your Grace.”
“Oh? Pfft! Hahaha!”
Duke of Whitewood burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.
“You think I haven’t heard youngsters say that a hundred times before? Show off your wrinkles before you talk big, boy.”
She laughed as if watching a child trying to act grown-up.
Well, considering she treated even the Blue Tower Master like a kid, I was nothing but a child in her eyes.
“Don’t overexert yourself. You have a bad habit of pushing your body too hard.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“We’ll be meeting again soon regarding the Flame of Ashes, so remember that.”
That was likely to be during the winter break.
Until then, Duke of Whitewood would prepare to deal with Celestial Grace alongside the First Prince.
As the carriage door closed, the horses set off.
At last, I was returning to the familiar grounds of Zerion Academy.
Unaware of what awaited me there...
* * *
Zerion Academy—
The prestigious institution that felt like home.
“Ah, it feels good to be back at Zerion Academy.”
I had been wandering outside for far too long.
Stepping out of the carriage, I took a deep breath of the familiar academy air.
The fresh scent filling my lungs was invigorating.
It was lunchtime.
Since I hadn’t eaten yet, I decided to grab a meal.
As I walked, I spotted a group of students in the distance.
When they noticed me, they froze for a brief moment—then quickly scattered and fled.
I blinked in confusion.
‘Why are they running away after seeing me?’
Given the chaos I had caused in the past, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Still, I found it strange.
Then, it hit me.
I had been away for quite a while.
And I suddenly remembered the person who had been impersonating me.
‘No way…’
An ominous feeling settled over me.
The closer I got to the cafeteria, the more anxious I became.
When I finally stepped inside, the students there averted their gazes and hastily fled.
I was stunned.
I had never been this blatantly avoided before.
Panic began to creep in.
I needed to find someone I knew.
Someone who could tell me what had happened.
With that thought, I hurried out of the cafeteria.
That was when I spotted a woman with striking blue hair in the distance.
As soon as I saw her, I called out.
“Aisha!”
“Huh? Senior?”
Aisha Bizvel, the iron-wall swordswoman.
Hearing her name, she turned around with a startled expression.
But when our eyes met, her face grew stiff with hesitation.
Seeing her reaction, I felt my heart sink.
An eerie premonition washed over me.
I never expected my sparring partner, Aisha, to greet me with such reluctance.
“...Aisha, did I… do something terrible while I was gone?”
“W-what? Oh, um… I-I heard you left to meet Duke of Whitewood just the other day…”
The real Hannon had indeed used the meeting with Duke of Whitewood as a cover to leave the academy.
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[Translator - Night]
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And now I had returned in his place.
But Aisha’s reluctance remained.
‘That damn Hannon…’
‘Did he deliberately use my name to stir up trouble and get back at me?’
“Aisha, if you’re acting like this, I must have done something terrible. Please… tell me what it was.”
In the end, this was the consequence of trusting Hannon too much.
No, it was the price I paid for allowing him to use my name.
I will humbly accept whatever comes.
When I asked with a desperate heart, Aisha lowered her eyes slightly before answering.
“No. It’s just that... I thought you didn’t want to train with me anymore, senior. That’s all.”
Aisha made a face like a dejected puppy, filled with disappointment.
Hearing that, I blinked in surprise.
‘Come to think of it.’
I had completely forgotten to mention anything to Aisha about the morning training.
The picture was clear enough.
The real Hannon must have fled after experiencing Aisha’s morning training just once.
The real Hannon was indeed skilled, but Aisha’s hellish training was not something anyone could endure.
You needed at least my level of natural stamina to barely keep up.
For the real Hannon, it must have been nothing short of a nightmare.
After running away, the real Hannon never showed up for training again.
For Aisha, who had assumed we would be training partners from then on, it must have been a tremendous shock.
That was why she seemed so awkward around me now.
“Sorry, Aisha. I’ve had some things going on for a while.”
I couldn’t explain the details, but I still felt guilty.
Aisha had always trained by my side, trusting me wholeheartedly.
I ended up being rude to her without meaning to.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be back for morning training. Let’s make up for the lost time and push even harder.”
“R-Really?”
Aisha’s face immediately lit up.
The only thing that had made her feel down was the fact that we couldn’t train together.
“Of course, I mean it.”
When I reassured her, Aisha’s expression brightened again.
“Training alone when we used to do it together was so lonely. I’m really glad.”
It seemed Aisha had become completely dependent on our shared training.
All those mornings of hard work had paid off.
“Oh, by the way, senior, do you remember asking me to look into Midra?”
It was a rare moment when Aisha had shown a spark of initiative.
I had completely forgotten about it with everything that had been going on.
Midra Fenin.
The second-year combat studies runner-up.
There was always something suspicious about him.
“Of course, I remember. I was waiting for you to bring it up.”
But, in truth, I was just being shameless.
“Yes, I did some investigating and found something strange about Midra’s personal information.”
It seemed Aisha had looked into him more thoroughly than I expected.
Her rare burst of enthusiasm made me think she might have enjoyed playing detective.
Truly, Aisha had an innocent and earnest side to her.
Seeing her proudly present her findings made me smile warmly, as if I were looking at a younger sister eager to show off her homework.
“So, what was strange?”
“There are no children in the Fenin barony.”
Huh?
But her next words made my expression change.
The Fenin Barony.
An unremarkable noble family with no notable mentions in the Flame Butterfly chapter.
And yet, she was telling me there were no children in the Fenin family.
“To be precise, the barony itself has been gone for quite some time. It’s practically just a name now.”
This was getting even more suspicious.
‘I should have asked Duke of Whitewood for help.’
But Duke of Whitewood was extremely busy with her own affairs.
I couldn’t bring myself to ask her.
‘There’s one person.’
Someone who might know about this sort of thing in detail.
‘Card.’
I’d have to ask him.
“Thanks. That was helpful.”
“Anytime you need someone to investigate, just leave it to me.”
Aisha puffed up with pride.
Detective Aisha’s investigations would continue.
“You’re back.”
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.
It was none other than Isabel, who had returned to the academy a day ahead of me.
When our eyes met, Isabel gave me a warm smile.
It was the kind of smile a wife might give her husband returning home from a long business trip.
“You’ve worked hard. You must be tired. Have you eaten?”
Even her tone was the same.
“Not yet.”
“Perfect. I figured you’d be back around this time, so I saved you a sandwich.”
Isabel handed me the sandwich.
There was a strange sense of comfort and warmth in it.
Holding the sandwich absentmindedly, I soon snapped back to reality.
“Isabel, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard anything about what I’ve been doing lately?”
Aisha wasn’t very socially connected, so she wasn’t good at picking up on rumors.
But Isabel might have heard something.
At that, Isabel averted her eyes slightly.
I blinked at her reaction.
“Isabel?”
“...Wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t know, for your own sake?”
I grabbed Isabel’s wrist.
“Tell me.”
Isabel hesitated for a moment.
Then, with an apologetic look in her eyes, she spoke.
What she said next made me question my hearing.
“You... confessed to Professor Vega.”
...What the hell?
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