Chapter 65 - Rolling Ball

Chapter 65: Chapter 65 - Rolling Ball

Walking through the corridors toward their morning lectures, the atmosphere surrounding the trio – Maelle in particular – was somewhat different compared to the day before.

The blatant disdain, sneering laughs, and arrogant, mocking whispers had transformed into hushed awe, wide-eyed fear, and even quiet, trembling reverence. Every student they passed pressed themselves against the walls to make way.

Ava was reveling in the sudden change. She walked beside them with her chin high into the air and her hips swaying with unearned confidence.

"Look at them all, bowing before our greatness~ Got nothing to say~? Ha!"

"... Hey... Who’s that plain girl walking next to them? The one with the big glasses?"

"... I think she’s the princess’s new servant. I saw her bringing them food yesterday. She even fed them..."

"S-Servant...? Plain...?" Ava’s springy step shuffled back to normal as her shoulders slumped into a tragic, drooping posture of sadness.

Unlike the two girls, the whispers regarding Vincent were overwhelmingly positive.

"Did you see him break the Crown Prince’s sword with two fingers...?"

"... His wings were so beautiful! He looks like... an angel~"

"... So it’s confirmed that he’s not a human Familiar? God, he’s so cool..."

"... Wait, an angel? Wasn’t there an angel in the girl’s do–"

Of course, not everyone was won over in a single morning.

Changing the school’s deeply ingrained idea of reputation and hierarchy wouldn’t happen overnight. In the shadowed corners of the hallway, a few stubborn students still muttered bitter, venomous complaints beneath their breath, glaring at Maelle’s back with quiet hatred.

.......

When they arrived at their lecture hall, the dynamic became even more fascinating.

During group discussions and practical drills – specifically when Maelle wasn’t nearby or looking – classmates found Vincent and Ava shockingly easy to approach. Though they still approached with trembling knees and nervous gulps.

Vincent’s down-to-earth, friendly personality made him an instant hit among the low-born students and open-minded nobles alike. Beside him, Ava’s bubbly, chaotic charm kept everyone around her entertained, even if she spent half the lecture unashamedly clinging to Vincent’s arm.

Maelle, however, remained a terrifying presence.

Her regal aura was poise yet suffocating that no student dared to approach within five feet of her. They stole terrified glances at her stoic profile, hesitating to speak up.

But she didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, she vastly preferred the silence, remaining completely unfazed as she focused entirely on her lectures.

In the middle of their afternoon class, the silence of the room was broken by the door opening with a soft creak.

"... Huh? Why is she here?"

"... It has to be because of what happened this morning, right?"

"... Guess the student council was not happy about it if the president herself came."

The Student Council President stepped gracefully into the room.

She was a strikingly polished young human woman, featuring long pale blonde hair tied into high twin tails, paired perfectly with piercing green eyes.

She quickly spoke to the lecturer, and after a nod of approval from him, she walked up to Maelle’s desk.

The second Ava caught sight of her, she flinched and sat up straight, burying herself in her notebook so as to not look at her. The President glanced toward Ava, smiling pleasantly with a refined composure as she nodded in approval.

"Pardon the interruption, Princess Maelle. The principal requires your presence in her office immediately. Yours, and your Familiar’s."

As if she had been expecting this, Maelle closed her textbook with a sharp snap. She stood up and looked to the back of the room. "Vincent."

"Right behind you."

Together, the three of them exited the classroom.

......

Walking down the administrative wing, they stopped before a pair of polished white wooden double doors. The President raised her gloved hand, knocking twice.

Knock knock

"Principal. Princess Maelle and her Familiar have arrived."

"..... Enter."

Pushing the doors open, the president stepped aside to let them pass. As Vincent walked past her into the room, he felt her calculating eyes scan every inch of him before the doors silently clicked shut behind them.

Sitting behind a black desk at the far end of the room was the principal – a stunning elven woman with white hair.

Vincent immediately noted that she looked eerily similar to Elder Bran from the Silver Leaf Sanctuary, though this woman lacked a silk eye-shield or multicoloured irises. Her eyes revealed a deep forest green.

Standing around the edges of the room was a committee of faculty members, each a representative of their race. Their gazes were serious, and deeply scrutinizing.

A stern looking red bearded male dwarf; a towering male lion beastkin with scars across his brow; a human scholar wearing a golden monocle; a gray-skinned demon sporting curved goat horns and dark sunglasses; an elven woman; and one that does not looking to be part of the faculty, a human wearing a butler’s attire stood rigidly at the side of the principal’s desk.

Maelle stood in the center of the room, completely unbothered by the pressure. "What is the meaning of this assembly?"

The demon faculty member with the sunglasses bowed his head slightly, speaking with surprising respect. "Please do not be alarmed, Your Highness. We are merely here as witnesses."

The elven Principal rested her chin on her fingers. "We are here to speak regarding Lucianne of House Elsa. And the letter sent to me by your attendant, Gwen.

"But first... we must address the duel that transpired on the training grounds this morning. You fought Crown Prince Quinton Solara. You defeated him, humiliated him, and basically destroyed his Familiar."

"The students and staff are deeply unsettled, Princess Maelle," the human with the monocle interjected sternly. "Prince Quinton is not merely a student. He is the Heir of the Solarian Kingdom."

Maelle’s lip curled into a disdainful line. "And who better to publicly expose Lucianne’s treasonous crimes than the future king who blindly stood by her side rather than his fiancé’s? Ex fiancé. He made his choice to duel me. He lost."

The butler stepped forward with eyes burning in outrage. "Your Highness, as the representative of House Elsa, I demand that Lucianne be handed over to me immediately! You have no right to be holding a high-born noble as your prisoner!"

"I refuse."

"You refuse?!"

"If Lucianne enters your custody," Maelle stated coldly, "her wealthy family will bribe the officials or fabricate evidence to cover up her treason. Her life was forfeit the moment she paid slave-bandits to kidnap me."

The principal let out an amused scoff. "You aren’t even trying to play the political chess game, are you, Princess?"

"No, I’m not playing games. I am dead serious. In what world would a mere noble dare lay their hands on a princess of another kingdom without seeking death or war."

"W-Why you–!"

A faint, intriguing smile touched the principal’s lips as she cut in. "Moving on... As the letter and you have just stated, you have been kidnapped by slave bandits situated deep within the eastern forest at its mountain pass."

The elven professor stepped forward, nodding gravely. "I personally traveled to the coordinate zone yesterday to investigate, Principal. The site was... chaotic. An entire mountain was partially blown to pieces at the top. And after some thorough searching in the debris... I found a few dead bandits..."

Vincent casually raised his hand. "Oh, yeah. That was me."

The elven professor turned her angry gaze to him. "You could have at least spared one of them for questioning. Or their leader."

"Ah... oops. To be fair, the elves we were with kind of went on a murder spree after finding out their kids were kidnapped by them. So... yeah, we were taking no prisoners."

"The elves?" the principal repeated.

"Yes," Maelle took over. "We had assistance from a group residing within a hidden settlement known as the Silver Leaf Sanctuary. I omitted their specific involvement from the official letter, as I assumed they would prefer their identity kept secret. Thanks for that, Vincent."

"Sorry?"

The principal’s eyes widened slightly. "The Silver Sanctuary...? Then... you must have met the Elder?"

""Elder Bran,"" Vincent and Maelle answered in unison.

"Haha. Jinx." Vincent lightly bumped his elbow onto Maelle’s arm. He then added, "Honestly, Principal... I was thinking about this for a while now, but you kinda look like her. That’s not racist, is it?"

The entire room fell silent.

The principal’s composed demeanor completely shifted, and a look of profound, solemn realisation washed over her face. She closed her eyes for a long moment before opening them again, looking at Maelle in a different light.

"If Lucianne involved herself with slave-traffickers who targeted the Sanctuary’s children... then there is nothing left to discuss. The Academy waives its right to intervene. Princess Maelle... you may handle Lucianne however you see fit."

"Principal!" the butler screamed. "Do you have any idea what you are saying?! Lucianne is the daughter of a Duke! Of Elsa! Her family belongs to one of the founders of the Imperial City!"

Maelle looked at the butler with scorn. "She is clearly not that important, considering her parents sent a mere servant like you instead of coming themselves. They are likely already making plans to pump out another obnoxious brat to replace her."

"Pfft–" Vincent couldn’t help but let out a snorting laugh.

"How dare you–!?"

"Enough!" the principal’s voice rang with absolute authority that shut the butler up. She looked back at Maelle.

"However... We must still confirm that Lucianne is alive and unharmed while in your custody. You do not mind if we send an official observer to verify her condition?"

"... I don’t mind."

"Good. President," the principal called out.

The double doors opened and the blonde Student Council President walked into the room. "Yes, Principal?"

’Was she just standing out there the whole time? Don’t you have classes?’ Vincent thought as he looked at her in confusion.

"You will accompany Princess Maelle later today to inspect Lucianne’s condition."

"Understood."

"I demand to accompany them as well!" the butler barked while glaring at Maelle.

"Fine." Maelle agreed. "But only the two of you."

The butler’s face twisted into an ugly, sneering grimace. Years of deeply ingrained noble arrogance boiled over, and he dropped all pretenses of respect – not that he showed any – and stepped right in front Maelle.

"You think you have won something here today, girl?! You are nothing! A cursed pariah! I would expect nothing less from someone who carries the vile, disgusting blood of the Tyrant King!"

DEAD. SILENCE.

The faculty members shook their heads in horror at the butler’s suicidal breach of royal etiquette.

Maelle didn’t react back nor did her expression change.

She simply turned her face toward the butler and looked at him with eyes that turned into two abyssal, pitch-black voids of murderous malice.

The butler’s breath caught in his throat. He stumbled backward as his face turned pale with a primal terror that seized his heart when–

Ding~ Dong~ Ding~ Dong~

From high above in the academy’s clock tower, the bells chimed, signaling the start of the midday break.