Chapter 129: Miscalculated

Lorien:

I fell silent.

She stepped closer, not aggressively this time, but with the quiet certainty of someone who had finally decided exactly where she stood.

"Maybe you are not a bad person," she continued, her voice calmer now, though no less guarded. "Or maybe you are. I don’t know you well enough to decide that yet. But right now, you are definitely not someone I trust."

I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell her about every decision I had made for her, every problem I had quietly diverted, every time I had watched over her without asking for recognition. Yet what good would any of that do? Trust could not be demanded into existence simply because I had reasons.

"And I’m not going to thank you for your so-called attempt to save Jasper from getting into even more trouble," she continued, and I felt my jaw tighten. "Because if you were the one who told him to take me away tonight, then you should have made sure nothing went wrong."

This time I couldn’t argue, because once again, she wasn’t wrong. It was my duty to make sure nothing went wrong tonight, and yet it did.

She held my gaze for another moment before exhaustion finally softened the anger around her eyes. "I’m tired, Headmaster. I want to go back to my dorm."

Before I could stop her, explain myself, or even find another argument that might reach through the wall she had built around herself, she turned toward the door.

With a flick of my fingers, the locking spell dissolved, and Elara walked out without looking back.

I remained where I was, staring at the open doorway long after her footsteps disappeared down the corridor, realizing with a bitterness I had no right to resent that perhaps the person I wanted her to trust most was the very person who had given her the fewest reasons to do so.

I slumped into the chair behind my desk, allowing my body to finally surrender to the exhaustion I had been refusing to acknowledge. I leaned back and dragged a hand over my face before taking a long, deep breath, attempting to calm the turmoil twisting inside me.

It was futile. Her words continued echoing through my mind, particularly the simple certainty with which she had told me that I had given her no reason to trust me. Perhaps what irritated me most was that I couldn’t even argue with her.

After several moments of staring blankly at the ceiling, I reached for my phone and called Maze, my right hand and the one person I trusted to investigate matters without asking unnecessary questions.

He answered almost immediately, and I didn’t bother with pleasantries before asking, "Find out why Darren Valemont suddenly came to the academy tonight. I want everything. Who contacted him, when he received the information, who informed him about the incident, and whether his arrival had been planned beforehand."

There was a brief pause on the other end before Maze acknowledged the order.

Elara was right about one thing - Darren Valemont’s arrival tonight was far too convenient. My jaw tightened as I considered the circumstances again. Darren had arrived after hearing about the incident involving the dead cat, yet I knew with absolute certainty that he had no idea Elara had left the academy or crossed into the human realm.

Because if he had known that, tonight would have ended very differently. Darren’s reaction would not have been limited to criticizing Jasper or questioning Elara’s judgment. He would have demanded answers from me, Jasper, the council, and perhaps half the academy before the night was over.

Once Maze confirmed that he would investigate immediately, I let out another breath and asked, "What about Hazel? Did you take care of her transfer?"

His answer came without hesitation, and I finally allowed some of the tension in my shoulders to ease.

"Hazel and her brother Magnus would arrive at the academy by the weekend."

I had been waiting for that confirmation for days. Hazel was currently the finest Moon Warrior we had, someone who had spent years fighting on the frontier against the Reapers and had earned every ounce of her reputation through blood, discipline, and experience.

More importantly, she was an old friend of mine, and after Maze, she was perhaps the person I trusted most completely. That was precisely why I had ordered her transfer from the frontier. I needed someone capable of leading the investigation into the repeated attempts against Elara while also serving as another layer of protection around the Princess.

Jasper was devoted to Elara beyond reason, but devotion alone wasn’t enough when the enemy remained faceless and powerful. We needed warriors who could investigate, anticipate, and strike before another attack reached her.

As for her brother Magnus, he was no less talented than Hazel. He was a prodigy in his own right, an exceptional warrior whose abilities had developed far beyond what most expected from someone his age. Having both siblings within Moonveil’s walls would strengthen our defenses considerably.

I ended the call and placed my phone on the desk, allowing the room to fall silent once more.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and tried to organize everything that had happened tonight, but instead my mind returned to the moment Darren Valemont had stood before Elara. I could still see the fury in her silver eyes as he insulted her, questioned her judgment, and spoke to her as though she were some foolish child who had wandered into a world she didn’t understand.

She had stood there with her hands clenched at her sides, every muscle in her body screaming that she wanted to give the Regent a piece of her mind. If Jasper hadn’t repeatedly tried to keep her quiet, I had little doubt that Darren would have left the academy tonight with considerably less patience than he had arrived with.

Honestly, I was still surprised she had managed to hold herself back. She had already demonstrated that she possessed very little tolerance for arrogance, and Darren had pushed every possible boundary in a matter of minutes. Yet somehow, she had remained silent enough to prevent the confrontation from becoming worse.

In the end, that silence had been useful.

Darren had walked away believing that the lost Princess was inexperienced, reckless, and still far too ignorant of the world around her to pose any immediate concern. He believed she needed time before she could become a true political threat, and that belief was exactly what I needed him to have.

Let him underestimate her. Let him believe she was still weak. Let him assume the girl standing before him tonight was merely a frightened princess struggling to understand her own position. Meanwhile, beneath that fragile appearance, Elara’s power was awakening faster than any of us had anticipated.

Her ice had answered her instinctively, and I still believed she possessed wind element too. Her seal was weakening. Her combat abilities were already far beyond those of an ordinary student, and every day she survived another attack, another humiliation, another challenge, she became harder to break.

I opened my eyes slowly, staring at the dark window across my office.

Darren could underestimate her for now and so could other Regents. The enemies watching from the shadows could underestimate her too. But I wouldn’t. I knew what she could become, and I would make certain she became strong enough to survive whatever was coming.

Whatever it cost, whatever sacrifices were necessary, I would see to it that Eleanora Argentis learned to protect herself. And one day, the people who thought they could break the lost Princess would discover just how badly they had miscalculated.