Chapter 312
Chapter 312: It's Perfectly Normal to Be Nervous the First Time
In the end, the Banquet came to a close—abruptly and unceremoniously—after creatures known as heretical cultists appeared without warning, only to be suppressed by Viktor.
The nobles' family members, upon learning of the deaths, dissolved into weeping.
They did their best to identify their kin from the withered, hollowed shells of corpses.
A few young men in fine dress stumbled over to the bodies.
They clutched the desiccated shells of their elders, sobbing loudly, while forcibly suppressing the corners of their mouths that kept threatening to curve upward.
They rolled up the pitiful husks of their family heads and dragged themselves out of the gilded Banquet Hall with heavy steps.
Viktor stood at the entrance, the staff with the golden bird-head resting in his hand.
He watched, expressionless, as one family after another departed—each carrying the remains of their dead.
In truth, from the very moment he had entered the Banquet Hall,
Viktor had already activated 【The Goddess of Justice's Scale】.
He had confirmed the appearance of the cultists from the start.
In the end, drawn by the Goddess's divine power, they had crawled out from the bodies of nobles who had long since been dead.
They had already died long ago.
From the very beginning, these Devotees had been inhabiting the bodies of these nobles.
Once those filthy cultists departed their hosts, what remained were unrecognizable, withered shells.
Exactly like the cultist that had once inhabited Gwen's brother in the Delin Family.
Though the nobles who died were not of particularly high standing—most were honorary Barons and Viscounts at best—their deaths could not shake the foundations of the Empire.
This indicated that the Goddess's Devotees had not yet penetrated deeply enough into the Royal Capital.
After all, this was the Royal Capital, the seat of the Emperor.
It was difficult for the cultists to take root here.
But it also implied, from a different angle, just how tenacious these foul Devotees were.
If they had even appeared in the Royal Capital, then in other cities across the Empire, they might be hiding far deeper still.
The nobles departed with emotions tangled like a snarled knot—brows furrowed, expressions heavy.
Even those who stood in opposing camps and couldn't stand the sight of each other under normal circumstances set aside, for once, the animosity that their differing allegiances had bred.
Events had moved too fast, too suddenly.
The Banquet itself had been called without warning.
Even the 2 princes likely hadn't known.
That today, Emperor Aubrey would publicly transfer the throne to Auréliane.
Well. At least the nobles no longer needed to pick a side.
On reflection, aside from the matter of gender, Auréliane already possessed the foundation and qualifications expected of a successor.
Take qualifications first.
While Erika's genius was too dazzling to ignore, if one looked carefully,
Auréliane's aptitude was by no means inferior.
At only 15 years old—a little while longer and her birthday would make it 16—Auréliane had already become a 2nd-Tier Mage.
Her rate of advancement was hardly slow.
After all, Erika had only become a 2nd-Tier Mage around this same time last year.
Then there was the matter of influence.
Military power came from the Northern Frontier's Knight family, the Delin Family. Political backing came from the Clavena Family.
Her teachers were the renowned strongest Council Member of the Mage Council, Viktor, and the head of the Northern Frontier Knight family, Gwen Delin.
With support like that, the forces behind Auréliane were already formidable.
And that still wasn't everything.
Auréliane had even secured the backing of the Mage Council itself.
The Mage Council was, admittedly, a neutral organization.
But within that organization, 2 of its members were citizens of the Empire.
Rashel Azure-Blue and Viktor Clavena.
These 2 Council Members were unambiguously Imperial subjects.
2 Imperial Council Members had publicly declared support for Auréliane.
Add to that the Council's influence across the continent—
Auréliane's standing had already been recognized internationally.
That alone placed her a tier above both princes.
And furthermore……
There was an outrageous conclusion they had all been too afraid to voice aloud.
At this rate, the Mage Council was practically becoming Viktor's personal apparatus.
And who was Viktor? He was Auréliane Sorel's teacher.
Was it reasonable for the Mage Council to support Auréliane?
Completely and utterly reasonable.
The nobles had accepted reality. Unless one of the 2 princes managed to accomplish something truly extraordinary at this final stretch of the succession struggle, the outcome could not be changed.
One by one, the ministers filed out of the Banquet Hall. As each passed through the entrance, they paused to exchange a word with Viktor.
"Until next time, Count Viktor."
Viktor only nodded, leaning against the doorframe—greeting enough.
Before long, the nobles had emptied out of the Banquet Hall entirely.
Eventually, Leah and Heni walked out together.
Catching sight of Viktor, Leah crossed her arms beneath her chest and looked him up and down.
"Not bad—made quite a scene again tonight."
"Why is it that every time there's one of these noble Banquets, you can never sit still?"
Though Leah understood full well why Viktor did what he did.
Viktor's deep gaze settled on her. He replied, composed as ever.
"It's late. Head home early."
"I'll be heading back a bit later."
Leah shrugged, entirely unbothered.
"Don't worry—Heni's with me."
Then, thinking of Gwen's current state, she added:
"Remember to bring Gwen home soon. You know what condition she's in."
"I'm not at ease leaving her too long."
Seeing that Viktor made no particular response, she knew there was no need to worry further.
She gave him a nod and headed toward the Carriage.
Heni, however, hadn't moved. She remained at Viktor's side, seeming to fidget slightly.
Not until Leah had walked a good distance away—without turning back—did she call out:
"Heni, hurry up!"
"I know!"
Heni answered, watching to confirm Leah had not looked back.
Then she adjusted her position, stepping to stand directly in front of Viktor.
Without giving him the slightest chance to react, she threw herself boldly against him.
Both arms wound tightly around him, pressing herself against him as though trying to merge completely into his body.
She buried her face in his chest, warm breaths rising and falling, greedily drinking in his scent.
As though some deep desire had been thoroughly satisfied, Heni tilted her face upward, eyes curving gently into a half-lidded gaze.
The expression she turned on Viktor was something between a smile and a tease—like a crescent of pink moon hanging at the corner of her lips.
Her arms tightened further around him, hands trailing and tracing across his back.
"I'll be waiting for you at home ♡"
The words fell.
Heni released him.
She stepped back a few paces, body tilting slightly, hair cascading down with gravity.
The curve of her smile was like the warmth of a spring breeze—as if even the darkness of the night grew a little brighter for it.
"Professor—come home soon."
Without waiting for his reaction, she turned and ran toward Leah.
The 2 of them climbed into the Carriage, which rolled away unhurriedly, becoming a hazy point of light that gradually vanished into the night.
Viktor's expression didn't change. He lowered his head slightly and glanced at his chest where she had pressed against him.
The warmth she had left behind seemed to linger there still.
Weija beat its black wings, stretched its beak, and preened through the disheveled black feathers on its back.
It tilted one eye downward and fixed it on Viktor, clicking its tongue twice before speaking.
"A chance handed right to you, and you couldn't use it."
"You couldn't even bring yourself to reach out and hug her back?"
Though, recalling that it had been perched on Viktor's head—with a perfect bird's-eye view of everything below—
Weija had to admit: from that angle, the perspective was rather more vivid.
It glanced at its own compact form and thought: if it were the one caught in the middle of that embrace, it would probably suffocate outright.
Viktor's expression remained unchanged—like the still surface of a lake atop a snow-capped peak, undisturbed.
Lately, Heni had indeed been growing bolder.
Even in the Imperial Palace, with Leah barely out of range, she had dared to initiate the embrace on her own.
Hard to imagine that she had once been such a self-doubting girl.
Whatever she had been through had transformed her into who she was now.
Even so, he certainly wouldn't let Weija's mockery go unanswered.
He shot back.
"Jealous?"
"I could always prepare a body for you that looks just like Heni's."
Weija's raspy laughter halted.
Abruptly.
Trading barbs with Viktor was never a sound choice. He would always find a way to leave it without a word to say.
At that moment, Viktor stowed the staff.
The heavy staff with its golden bird-head dissolved into scattered pinpoints of starlight in his hand and was gone.
He returned both hands to his pockets and said casually to the black Crow on his shoulder:
"Let's go. Time to bring Gwen back."
Viktor turned and walked back into the quiet Banquet Hall.
Inside the gilded hall, only a handful of people remained.
The 3 Council Members, and Duke Livi.
The Banquet over, Erika had already said her farewells to Viktor and left early.
She seemed to share Viktor's dislike for the atmosphere of such events.
But given her position, she had had no choice but to attend.
Livi and the 3 Council Members sat gathered together, exchanging idle conversation.
It was deep into the night by now.
Emperor Aubrey, having announced the most important matter of the evening, had retired to his chambers early to sleep.
He had graciously permitted the remaining guests to linger in the Banquet Hall as they pleased.
But the noble lords had no appetite left for leisure.
From the moment the cultists appeared to the moment they were suppressed had been no more than 10-odd minutes.
They had all seized whatever excuses they could find and fled without delay.
Leaving only the few who remained now.
Even so, Aubrey's mood today had been good.
He had finally resolved something that had long weighed on him.
Making Auréliane the successor to the Empire.
But this matter could not be handled carelessly.
He needed a fitting reason—a reason the nobles could not dispute, a reason that would convince them to accept Auréliane.
And so Viktor had brought him that reason.
As Auréliane's teacher, he had thrown his full support behind her in a manner all could see.
When Viktor returned to the Banquet Hall, he saw Gwen—still standing beside the golden dais where she had been stationed, in a state of quiet readiness.
She was obedient. Even as everyone else had gone, she remained exactly where she was, motionless.
Because this was Viktor's order.
Gwen had remembered what Viktor told her.
At this Banquet, she only needed to escort the Princess into the Hall, then stand where she was supposed to stand, and let everyone see her.
So she had stood there all along—like a sculpture of ice and snow, still and composed.
The noble Knight—as exquisite as a work of art.
He had just been about to call for Gwen when Auréliane appeared at his side.
After seeing her Imperial Father back to his chambers, Auréliane had returned.
She wanted to see Viktor once more.
In the flickering candlelight, her silhouette seemed on the verge of wavering.
Much like her heart—anxious and unsettled, like a tide rolling over itself.
"T……Teacher."
Standing beside Viktor, even her voice seemed to falter slightly.
Just as it had the first time she trained under him.
The first time, one is always very nervous.