Chapter 30: Mountain Weeds and Royal Flowers
Upon opening my eyes the next day, I realized it was late.
Mayorka's first Empero class was today, and the previous day's exhaustion had kept me asleep.
I checked my wound. It was covered in bandages soaked in dried blood. My exhaustion had been so great that I hadn't even changed them.
The first thing I did upon reaching my room was collapse on the bed like a stone.
Getting ready as fast as possible, I changed my bandages while cursing inwardly for having failed my duty as a bodyguard.
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The Empero classroom was more of a circular, open-air area, surrounded by columns with carved engravings. The ground was covered in sand so fine it resembled a desert's, contrasting with the greenery of the surrounding landscape.
The retractable ceiling was open, letting in the pleasant morning light, which fell upon the sand.
Professor Duralianne Danyarta was already inside.
From behind, she looked like another column. Tall. With an imposing pink Empero emanating from her. Her hair was black at the base and pink at the tips; she wore it gathered in braids that reached her waist and seemed carefully crafted. Her dress was black, with white embroidery and pink flower adornments on the skirt that reached her ankles.
She turned when I entered. Her eyes were the same color as her Empero. They scanned me. The bandages. The bruises. The dark circles that night had left me. All registered in a blink.
"Dariel Elcronne," she said. Her voice was soft. It reminded me of a primary school teacher's. "You're late."
"I had a setback." I pointed at my bandaged hand.
"Oh! Poor little thing," she said with a hand over her lips. "I'll forgive you this time. But next time, I want you to remember that in this class, you arrive on time or you don't arrive at all."
Thirty-two students were already lined up on the sand. We were a class of thirty-six. I was surprised to see three students missing.
I supposed some nobles didn't give importance to the first week of classes.
I headed toward the other students. Lianza on the far left, Ardwyn in the center, and Layda on the far right.
Anaïs was in the back.
I spotted Alexia next to Caspian, and Lady Morven, Bethany, Sir Aldric... and several other nobles.
"Only three students are missing," Duralianne observed. "I'm afraid we'll start class without them."
She walked in front of the line. I noticed that, despite wearing high heels, her steps produced no sound and, furthermore, she walked through the deep sand without any difficulty, with the same poise she would have walking through Mayorka's hallways.
"I am Professor Duralianne Danyarta. As of today, the Practical Empero class falls under my responsibility. Professor Aldric has been reassigned."
Another reassignment.
"Before we begin, a clarification." She stopped in front of a minor house noble. "As some of you may know, I am the substitute professor. The Empero Council chose another for this position. A Bookforger. But said Bookforger has decided that their teaching obligations are... optional."
Her lips tightened.
"So, my beautiful little creatures, you'll have to make do with me. I will instruct you with all the love in my heart."
Her gaze shifted toward some of the knights.
"I will make each and every one of you the sharpest blade in the armory."
Her gaze shifted toward some of the ladies.
"Or the rose with the most beautiful petals and the hardest thorns in the entire garden."
The nobles exchanged glances.
"In this class, there will be no theory. No books. No favoritism. None of that. Only..."
Professor Duralianne released an immense amount of Empero.
Save for Ardwyn and Lianza, everyone covered themselves, expecting a lethal blast.
I even took a defensive stance.
But nothing happened.
Although Professor Duralianne had expelled copious amounts of Empero, it remained about twenty centimeters around her. Serene. As calm as a winter lagoon.
Even Layda, the person with the greatest Empero control I had seen, didn't come close to her level.
Was this how capable Rank S Empero Ladies were? And despite being genuinely impressed, something told me this was only the beginning.
"Although I didn't expel my Empero more than twenty centimeters from my body, everyone covered themselves," Duralianne said. "Does anyone know why this happened?"
"Not all of us covered ourselves," Ardwyn responded, and I could see Lianza nodding.
"For now, crown prince. But that wasn't the question I asked."
"You expelled Empero," Layda explained, "but in a controlled manner."
"And what else?"
"When we expel Empero, something happens: we increase the perimeter of the Empero that covers us, but at the cost of density. You did the opposite."
Duralianne nodded.
"Excellent explanation, Miss Layda Alaranne," the professor replied, then turned toward the rest of us. "And so, does anyone else have anything to add?"
"The heels," I said after analyzing it.
The professor looked at me, tilting her head to one side.
"Elaborate."
"Due to that way of expelling Empero, you can concentrate it in specific places. You used it on the soles and heels of your shoes so they wouldn't sink due to the softness and depth of the sand in the circle where we stand."
Duralianne gave small one-handed applause.
"Very good! Now, with the rest of you... How is it possible that mountain weeds have more knowledge than the flowers of a royal garden?"
Even when praising Layda and me, she called us 'weeds'. Even a person as sweet as Duralianne Danyarta was exempt from the stigmas of a society like this: deep down, she still saw lowborns as weeds.
"Why waste time answering such easy questions?" Ardwyn responded.
"Is that what you think, young crown prince?"
"Yes."
"Since you long so much for something more 'advanced,' how about you and I have a little training match?"
Although I was meters away and behind him, I could see a second of hesitation in Ardwyn's posture.
"I see no problem," he replied, removing his cape.