Chapter 75 75

Chancellor Sheppard's Office.

Rowan stepped inside and immediately registered that someone else was already there besides the chancellor: Professor Crowler, positioned in front of the desk with his golden mop of hair and his signature expression of controlled dissatisfaction.

"I've brought Rowan and Jaden, Chancellor," Professor Banner said pleasantly, stepping in behind them with his cat tucked under one arm.

"Thank you, Banner, I apprec..." Chancellor Sheppard began, then stopped.

He had been expecting two students. What had arrived was considerably more than that.

Rowan and Jaden, yes, but also Syrus, and then several others behind them, and at the back of the group, unmistakably, Alexis Rhodes of Obelisk Blue.

The chancellor stared at the small crowd that had assembled in his office.

He recovered his composure with some effort and waved a reassuring hand.

"No need to worry, everyone. This has nothing to do with the abandoned dorm situation. That's been settled. This is something else, a small matter related to the Academy, and I only really need Rowan and Jaden for it."

"What kind of matter?" Rowan asked directly.

His internal guess: they wanted him and Jaden to publicly clarify that the post-victory taunt was not an Academy tradition. He kept that to himself.

Jaden, Syrus, and the others looked at the chancellor with matching expressions of curiosity.

Alexis did too, though she had drifted to stand somewhat nearer to Rowan's side of the room.

"The thing is," the chancellor said, settling his chin in his hands, "Duel Academy has more than just our main campus. North Academy is one of several branch institutions, and we've maintained an annual tradition with them: a friendly inter-school duel. By the standing agreement, whichever school wins receives a special prize, collected by the winning campus's chancellor on behalf of the institution."

"Right, it's that time of year again," Alexis said, something clicking in her expression.

Rowan's expression had gone subtly strange.

The chancellor's phrasing was diplomatic, but Rowan knew perfectly well what the prize actually was.

If his memory was correct: a kiss. From Ms. Dorothy, the woman who ran the school store.

He conjured the image of Ms. Dorothy, warm and broad and thoroughly maternal in presence, a waistline generously estimated at three times Alexis's, and felt a small shiver move through him before he could stop it.

Mamma mia.

The words arrived in his head in Crowler's voice, which made it worse.

All he could say was that the chancellor and the North Academy principal both had a very specific taste in the stakes they chose to compete over.

"Who represented us last year?" Jaden asked, leaning forward the moment the word "duel" had entered the room.

It was Pavlovian at this point.

"Last year, naturally, it was Duel Academy's undisputed top student, the pride of Obelisk Blue himself, Zane Truesdale!" Crowler cut in, waggling one finger at Jaden, Syrus, and the other wide-eyed first-years.

His eyes drifted to Rowan. His finger quietly lowered. He said nothing further on that subject.

"This year, however, North Academy's representative will be a first-year student. In the interest of matching that, our representative should ideally be a first-year as well."

"That does sound interesting," Rowan said, his tone picking up just slightly.

He had a strong suspicion about who North Academy's first-year representative was going to be.

If he was remembering things correctly, it wasn't a stranger.

It was the recently-expelled comic relief of Obelisk Blue, returned for revenge with a new school's uniform.

Chazz Princeton.

Which meant the wool he hadn't finished collecting last time was back on the table.

"The issue," the chancellor said, pressing his hands together with the expression of a man who had been genuinely wrestling with this, "is that we're somewhat divided on whether the representative should be you, Rowan, or Jaden. Both of you are strong candidates, and it's difficult to choose."

He was not about to let North Academy's chancellor get his hands on that prize. He refused.

"Why not just have them duel for it?"

Professor Banner raised all ten fingers in a gesture of cheerful suggestion, his cat blinking serenely in the crook of his elbow.

He was, in truth, quite interested in what a duel between these two would look like.

Rowan, with his quiet unreadability, and Jaden, who wore everything on his sleeve but somehow still kept winning when it mattered.

"Banner, that's an excellent idea!" The chancellor straightened immediately, eyes brightening.

He turned to Rowan. "What do you think?"

"Fine by me," Rowan said, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug.

He was, if anything, looking forward to it.

Spreading some well-targeted enthusiasm in Jaden's direction while also running the numbers on how much Emotion Points a duel against the main character could generate.

That was worth being curious about.

"I'm completely in! I've been wanting to duel Rowan since practically the beginning!"

Jaden was already on his feet in spirit if not in body, eyes lit up, fist raised, grinning at Rowan with the boundless enthusiasm of someone who had never

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