Chapter 56: ⁵⁶: problem

All my thoughts of wanting to stay here longer, look around, and admire the grandeur of the hall went completely out the window the moment I heard the voice call my name.

Kael had said that nobody would be here right now. Even the housekeeping staff had been instructed to stay away from the hall, so how was this possible?

With panic probably written all over my face, I slowly turned around to look at the person who had called me.

A man was standing there.

He was tall and heavily built, with a completely expressionless face that somehow made my heart pound even harder. There was something intimidating about his presence, not because he was doing anything threatening, but because his face revealed absolutely nothing.

I instinctively glanced toward Kael.

"Don’t worry," I heard him say.

I looked at him, and he nodded toward the man.

"He is my beta, Ryan."

Kael was looking at me with the same cold gaze I had seen on him the first time I had seen him at the academy. No one would believe me if I told them that just moments ago, upstairs, this same man had been giving me those annoying little smirks as if teasing me was his favorite pastime.

It was almost amusing how easily he could switch between those two completely different sides of himself.

I looked back at the man and greeted him. "Hello, Beta Ryan,".

My voice came out unconsciously quieter than usual. Something about his expression made me feel as though escorting me was the last thing he wanted to do.

I instinctively wanted to scoff at his attitude, but I stopped myself. I couldn’t break my character.

As far as Ryan knew, I was nothing more than an omega from a small pack. I needed to remain at least cordial with him, if not completely respectful.

Then again, I had already broken that character with Kael long ago.

But that was different.

I would have to deal with Kael far more often, and maintaining that submissive personality around him would become increasingly difficult anyway, so I should just keep my true personality with him.

"This way, ma’am," Ryan replied.

He motioned toward the exit without acknowledging my greeting any further, as though he hadn’t even heard me.

I blinked. Well, that was certainly a warm welcome.

"I’ll go, then," I said quickly to Kael and without waiting for his response, I hurried after Ryan, worried that if I kept him waiting, he might simply leave me outside and drive away without a second thought.

The moment we stepped outside, I noticed There were far more guards around the mansion than I had seen from the balcony.

I kept my eyes moving from one side to another as I followed Ryan toward the car. There were guards stationed near the entrance, along the paths, and even farther along the road leading away from the mansion.

Why were there so many?

I had barely gotten inside the car when Ryan spoke.

"Fasten your seat belt, ma’am."

I obeyed, still distracted by everything I could see through the window.

As the car began moving away from the mansion, I finally couldn’t hold back my curiosity.

"Umm... Beta Ryan?"

He didn’t respond immediately, so I wasn’t even sure he had heard me.

I glanced at him before continuing. "Are there usually this many guards around the Alpha’s residence every day?"

For a few seconds, there was only silence. I had almost given up on getting an answer when he finally spoke.

"Today is the Imperial Army Forum."

I turned toward him. "The what?"

"It is an annual gathering for the packs’ warriors and military forces," he explained in his usual clipped tone. "There will be additional security throughout the pack because of it."

"Oh." So that explained the excessive number of guards.

I mentally noted that before turning my attention back toward the window. I didn’t feel particularly interested in making conversation with him anymore.

As he had said, there really was extra security everywhere.

The roads that were usually quiet were filled with guards, patrols, and warriors moving between different parts of the pack. Whatever this Imperial Army Forum was, it seemed important enough to put the entire pack on alert.

"Thank you for the ride, Beta Ryan," I said when we reached the area near the packhouse.

He didn’t reply.

Not that I had expected him to.

I quickly slipped into the packhouse premises before anyone could notice me. Even though it was still early in the morning, the packhouse manager would already be awake, and although she wasn’t unreasonable, she was strict enough to notice if someone came in at an unusual hour.

I sighed in relief as I finally entered my own room through the window. Ah, I don’t know if I actually enjoy climbing into houses like Kael had said. But I had certainly become very good at it.

"Get ready for the academy, Athena," I muttered to myself as I hurried around the room.

I also needed to tend to my wounds. I usually kept them uncovered throughout the night, but last night, I had needed to keep them covered.

Once I was done getting ready, I headed toward the academy, hoping that nothing else would go wrong.

.....

"Athena! Where were you till now? Come here quickly!" Rose called out in a panicked tone, the moment I enterd our classroom.

I froze for a moment before walking toward her. I had already suspected something was wrong when I entered the academy and noticed everyone looking at me strangely.

"What happened?" I asked, glancing around the classroom. "Why do you seem so worried? And why was everyone looking at me like I was a criminal or something when I entered the academy?"

As I looked around, I noticed that my classmates were still stealing glances at me while pretending to be busy with their own conversations. That only made me more suspicious.

"That is what I wanted to tell you!" Rose said urgently. She grabbed my hand and lowered her voice slightly before continuing. "It is because of your video from Louis’s birthday party."

I froze. Which video? Someone had taken a video of me? Where? What video could possibly have caused everyone to look at me like this?

The moment the thought entered my mind, another possibility struck me, and my heart nearly stopped. The only thing that could cause those accusing looks was a video of me with Kael.

No... no.

That couldn’t happen. My plan couldn’t fall apart like this when it hadn’t even properly begun yet.

I hadn’t sensed anyone watching us that night. So how could someone have recorded us?

"Which video, Rose?" I asked, my voice suddenly tense. "Did you see it?" My heart felt like it was lodged in my throat as I waited for her answer.

Rose squeezed my hand when she saw the panic on my face before quickly explaining, "It is your dance video with Louis. Someone recorded the two of you during the banquet."

I stared at her, stunned. What? dance video. A wave of relief washed over me first, followed almost immediately by confusion.

I felt relieved because at least it wasn’t anything related to Kael.

As long as the video had nothing to do with him, I could handle everything else. But that still left one question, why had a video of me dancing with Louis suddenly become such a big problem, now?

"But Rose, a lot of our classmates were at the banquet that night. Everyone must have known about the dance already, right?" I asked, glancing around the classroom.

The strange looks hadn’t stopped.

People were still stealing glances in my direction, whispering among themselves before quickly looking away whenever I happened to meet their eyes.

"Then why is our dance suddenly a problem now?" I asked still confused.

"The problem isn’t your dance," Rose said, shaking her head. "The problem or should I say, problems are actually two things."

She paused dramatically, making me frown. "First, Maria is back at the academy, and everyone is waiting to see what she is going to do now, knowing someone dared to dance with Louis publically."

My eyebrows furrowed.

That certainly explained some of the tension, but I still couldn’t understand why my dance with Louis had anything to do with other people.

"And the second problem?" I prompted.

Rose’s expression became even more serious. "The second, and probably the main one, is that the person who posted the video was Louis Dreven himself."

My eyes widened. "What?" For a moment, I wondered if I had heard her correctly.

"Louis uploaded it? Why would he do that?"

My mind immediately began running through every possible reason. Louis and I had danced at the banquet in front of plenty of people. There had been nothing particularly secret about it, so why would he record it or more importantly, post it himself?