Chapter 86 - 20
The heavy oak doors at the base of the lecture hall swung open with a resounding thud, cutting off the lingering, stunned whispers of the classroom. Professor Vane—a stern, middle-aged woman adorned in the dark indigo robes of the Senior Mana-Mechanics Faculty—marched up to the grand slate chalkboard. She slammed a thick, iron-bound textbook onto the podium, her sharp, hawk-like eyes sweeping over the tiered rows of students.
"Silence!" Professor Vane barked, her voice echoing through the acoustics of the hall. "I am unconcerned with your noble lineages, your family wealth, or the social squabbles you brought through those front gates. This is Advanced Runic Engineering and Applied Mana Dynamics. Three-quarters of you will fail your midterm practicals if you treat this discipline like a common finishing school. Open your texts to Chapter one!"
As the professor began chalking complex mathematical equations and runic matrices onto the board, the classroom settled into a tense, scratching quiet of quills on parchment.
Sitting in the dim, isolated shadow of the top row, Katherine couldn’t focus on a single word being spoken at the front of the hall.
Her mind was in absolute, chaotic turmoil. Her heart hammered against her ribs so violently she was terrified the boy sitting beside her could hear it. She kept her posture stiff, squeezing her arms tightly against her sides to minimize her massive, suffocating curves, her face burning with a persistent, fiery blush.
Why is he sitting here? Katherine thought frantically, her deep violet eyes darting toward the edge of her parchment, stealing another breathless, covert glance at Arthur. Is this a cruel prank? Did those noble girls down front pay him to mock me? Or... is he going to demand that I hand over my lecture notes later?
Every story her mother had told her about men back in her impoverished border village screamed at her to be cautious. In her home district, the rare males were treated like fragile, spoiled gods who demanded absolute subservience from the women around them. They were selfish, demanding, and dismissive of commoners.
Yet, as Katherine watched Arthur out of the corner of her eye, her preconceived world completely crumbled.
Arthur sat with immaculate, comfortable posture. He wasn’t staring at her chest with predatory lust, nor was he casting sneering, disgusted glances at her threadbare, oversized cardigan. He was simply listening to the lecture, writing concise, perfectly structured notes in a clean, elegant handwriting that looked almost printed. Whenever his arm moved slightly, a gentle wave of a clean, subtle cedar scent reached her, making her breath hitch in her throat.
When Professor Vane wrote a famously deceptive, ancient runic conversion formula on the chalkboard—a standard trap meant to test incoming freshmen—Arthur didn’t even pause. He calmly corrected the coefficient in his own notes, predicting the professor’s trick three steps before she even explained it.
Katherine stared at his notebook in sheer, silent disbelief. He... he understood the third-order mana equation instantly? Without even looking at the textbook?! Who is he...?
For the first time in her life, Katherine didn’t feel the crushing weight of her own insecurities or the cruel glares of her peers. Instead, a strange, breathless fluttering bloomed deep within her chest—a sweet, overwhelming curiosity about the quiet, handsome boy who had chosen to sit in her dark corner.
Meanwhile, miles away at the Apex Sovereign Estate, the atmosphere in the central executive headquarters was suffocatingly solemn.
The grand mahogany boardroom, which usually buzzed with rapid-fire corporate decrees and multi-million gold crest transactions, was operating at a snail’s pace. The massive glass windows looked out over the sunlit skyline of Aegis City, but the atmosphere inside the office was heavy with a shared, aching sense of emptiness.
Lyra sat at the head of the long conference table in her tailored, deep-emerald silk dress. A massive stack of continental trade permits and central bank loan approvals sat before her, but her golden quill remained suspended in mid-air. She stared blankly at the empty leather armchair at the far end of the table—the chair where Arthur usually sat during executive briefings, calmly sipping dark coffee while directing the fate of the continent.
He had been gone for less than twenty-four hours, yet the massive palace felt entirely hollow without his presence.
"My quarterly agricultural yield reports are running twelve percent behind schedule," Elaria the high elf botanist sighed softly, resting her chin on her slender hands, her long ears drooping sadly. "I keep turning around to ask Master Arthur which cash crop variant to prioritize for the northern markets... only to remember he isn’t in his study."
"Tell me about it," Greta the Dwarf forge-mistress grunted, tossing a heavy brass wrench onto the table with a dull clatter. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her heavy bust, looking uncharacteristically somber. "The foundries feel cold without the lad coming down to inspect the mana-engine drills. I tried testing a new alloy this morning, but it just felt boring without him standing there giving me that clever, arrogant smirk of his."
Madame Vespera lounged on her private velvet sofa, absently twirling a long black feather pen between her manicured fingers, her crimson eyes filled with a restless, melancholic irritation. "My intelligence network reported three minor smuggling syndicates attempting to cross the eastern border this morning. Normally, I’d ask Arthur if we should liquidate their assets or absorb them into our shadow trade. Now? I just feel like burning their ships to pass the time."
Even Baroness Ignis, the usually boisterous dragonkin war-matron, was quietly sharpening her massive dragon-scale dagger in the corner, her long tail flicking lazily against the marble floor, completely devoid of her usual fiery energy.
Lyra let out a long, heavy sigh, setting her quill down and rubbing her temples.
"We are the executive council of the continent," Lyra said softly, her voice carrying a mixture of self-deprecating humor and profound affection. "We control the central bank, the military, the trade networks, and the parliament. Yet the moment he steps out the door to play student for a few weeks, we completely forget how to function."
"It’s because he isn’t just our sovereign, Lyra," Vespera purred gently, her playful smirk returning for a brief second. "He is the core of everything we’ve built. Without him walking through those doors, all this gold and power is just heavy metal."
Lyra looked down at the glowing Aegis-Link Mana Pad resting beside her ledger. A soft, warm smile touched her lips as she traced the edge of the glass screen. She knew Arthur was currently sitting in a common classroom, enjoying the quiet, unburdened freedom he had earned after rebuilding the world.
"He’ll send his daily status report this evening," Lyra murmured, her violet eyes shining with fierce, unshakeable devotion as she picked her quill back up with renewed determination. "Until then... we make sure his empire remains flawless for when he comes home."
Back in Lecture Hall 101, the sharp chime marking the end of the two-hour block echoed through the auditorium.
"That concludes today’s introduction," Professor Vane announced, erasing the slate board with a wave of her hand. "Review Chapters one through three. Dismissed!"
The classroom instantly exploded into the noisy rustle of parchment, bags, and chatter. Down in the front rows, noble heiresses immediately turned around, casting eager, lingering looks toward the top bleachers, planning their next move to approach Arthur.
Arthur smoothly packed his clean notebook into his leather bag and stood up. He glanced down at Katherine, who was still sitting frozen in her chair, her head bowed, nervously clutching her worn cardigan over her heavy, trembling chest.
"I’ll be sitting here for the afternoon lectures as well," Arthur said calmly, his deep, soothing voice cutting through her anxious thoughts. "Try not to knock your inkwell over next time."
Katherine gasped, her head snapping up, her deep violet eyes widening in utter shock. Before she could stammer out a reply, Arthur gave her a subtle, polite nod and walked calmly down the stone steps toward the hallway.
Katherine sat alone in the corner, her face burning like fire, her hand pressed against her wildly racing heart.
He’s... he’s coming back? she thought, a brilliant, helpless blush spreading all the way to her ears as a small, breathtaking smile involuntarily touched her lips. He’s coming back to sit next to me...