Episode-717
Chapter : 1413
There was no signature. Just a small, drawn symbol of a lion's paw.
Lloyd looked over at Isabella's table. She was gone.
"This is ridiculous," Lloyd muttered. "She is the Commander of the Royal Guard. She is a Princess. And she is passing notes in the cafeteria like a spy."
He tucked the note into his pocket. It was good intel. Scary good. She was using her network to help him. She was watching his back in the court politics he hated so much.
Later that afternoon, Lloyd went to the faculty restroom. He washed his hands. He looked in the mirror.
The door to one of the stalls creaked open. Lloyd tensed.
Isabella stepped out. She was wearing her Academy uniform, but she had added a cloak that helped her blend into shadows.
"This is the men's room," Lloyd pointed out.
"I am inspecting the plumbing," Isabella said, not breaking stride. She washed her hands next to him. "You should be careful walking home tonight. The eastern gate has a loose cobblestone. You might trip."
"Is that a threat?" Lloyd asked.
"It is a weather report," Isabella said. She dried her hands. "Also, your tie is crooked."
She turned and walked out.
Lloyd looked at his tie in the mirror. It was crooked. He fixed it.
"She's lost her mind," Lloyd decided. "Or she's found a new hobby. I think I preferred it when she wanted to stab me."
He left the restroom. He had to admit, having a princess as a stalker was effective. It was just very, very unsettling. He felt like he was being guarded by a tiger that hadn't decided if it was hungry yet.
The sun began to set, casting long orange shadows across the Academy grounds. Lloyd was walking back to the Old Tower, his private lab. The campus was mostly empty. The wind rustled the leaves of the ancient oak trees.
Lloyd was thinking about the Golem Heart. He was thinking about mana frequencies. He was distracted.
He passed a narrow alleyway between two lecture halls. It was a shortcut he often used.
As he stepped into the shadow of the alley, he stopped. His instincts screamed.
Standing at the other end of the alley was a student. But it wasn't a normal student. This boy was big. He was holding a wand that glowed with a sickly, unstable green light. His eyes were glazed over.
"You," the student hissed. "Professor. You failed me."
Lloyd recognized him. It was a student from the Elemental Theory class. Lloyd had given him a failing grade last week because he tried to summon a water elemental using fire runes.
"Grades are final," Lloyd said calmly, his hand drifting to his belt where he kept a concealed dagger. "Submit a complaint to the administration."
"I don't want a complaint," the student growled. The green light on his wand intensified. It was forming into a jagged spear of acid. "I want to melt your face."
Lloyd sighed. "That seems like an overreaction to a D-minus."
He prepared to activate his Void Steps. He could dodge. He could disarm the kid. But it would be messy. He didn't want to hurt a student, even a homicidal one.
The student raised his wand. "Die!"
Before the student could cast, a blur of motion dropped from the roof above.
It was silent. It was fast. It was a figure cloaked in black.
The figure landed behind the student. A gloved hand chopped down on the student's neck.
Thwack.
The student’s eyes rolled back in his head. The green light on his wand fizzled out. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
The figure stood over him. It straightened up. It pulled back its hood.
It was Isabella. Her red hair tumbled out. She looked annoyed.
"Sloppy," she said, looking at Lloyd. "You were distracted. You were thinking about rocks again."
Lloyd blinked. "I was thinking about engineering. And I had it handled."
"You were going to use Void Steps," Isabella deduced. "Flashy. Unnecessary. A simple neck chop is more efficient. Less paperwork."
She kicked the unconscious student gently. "He is not a threat. Just a disgruntled idiot. I will have the guards take him to the infirmary. We will say he fainted from... studying too hard."
"You were on the roof?" Lloyd asked.
"The vantage point is superior," Isabella said. "I could see the entire quadrangle."
"You've been following me all day," Lloyd said.
Chapter : 1414
"I have been ensuring the safety of a valuable asset," Isabella corrected. "The King needs you alive. The Academy needs you alive. Therefore, I am protecting the investment."
Lloyd looked at her. She stood there, defiant, proud, and completely unapologetic. She had moved from being his enemy to his rival to his... bodyguard? It was a strange evolution.
"Why?" Lloyd asked. "Really. Why are you doing this? You don't take orders from anyone. Not even the King, half the time."
Isabella crossed her arms. She looked away, a faint blush touching her cheeks. "You defeated me. On the cliff. You spared my life. By the code of the Royal Knights, when a warrior is defeated and spared, they owe a debt. A life debt."
"I thought you hated debts," Lloyd said.
"I do," Isabella snapped. "That is why I am paying it back. I will watch your back until the scales are balanced. Until I have saved you as you saved me."
She looked back at him, her eyes fierce. "Do not mistake this for affection, Ferrum. I am simply clearing my ledger. Once we are even, I might throw you off a cliff myself."
"Fair enough," Lloyd grinned. "But until then... thanks for the save. The neck chop was very professional."
Isabella huffed. "Of course it was. I am the best."
She turned and vanished into the shadows, moving with a stealth that was terrifying for someone who usually wore armor.
Lloyd looked down at the snoring student. He shook his head.
"This is my life now," he muttered. "I have a ninja princess living in my shadow."
He stepped over the student and continued walking to the tower. He had to admit, it was nice having backup. Even if the backup was terrifying, judgmental, and stole his spotlight.
"Ken is going to be jealous," Lloyd chuckled. "He thinks stalking is his job."
He reached the tower door. He looked up at the roof. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was there. A silent, fiery guardian watching over the monster she used to hunt.
"Goodnight, Princess," Lloyd whispered to the wind.
A single red rose petal drifted down from the darkness and landed at his feet.
Lloyd smiled, picked it up, and went inside. The Shadow was on duty.
The private lab in the Old Tower was humming with activity. It was a symphony of scratching quills, bubbling potions, and the soft clinking of metal. Lloyd stood at the main workbench, examining the chassis of the Aegis suit. He was trying to figure out how to mount the shoulder cannon without throwing off the center of gravity.
Around him, his students—the misfits he had brought into his inner circle—were working on their own projects. He had turned the tower into an incubator for genius. Or madness. The line was thin.
In the corner, Zeba, the shy engineering prodigy, was hunched over her desk. She was small, with glasses that were always sliding down her nose. She was brilliant with small mechanisms. Clockwork. Gears. Things that ticked.
She was working on her masterpiece: a self-guiding drafting tool. It was a magical pen that could draw perfect geometric shapes based on voice commands. It was supposed to revolutionize architecture.
"Professor?" Zeba's voice was small. Trembling.
Lloyd looked up. "Yes, Zeba? Did the pen draw a rude picture again? We talked about the profanity filter."
"No," Zeba said. "It feels... hot."
Lloyd frowned. He put down his wrench and walked over to her desk.
Zeba was holding the pen. It was a sleek silver rod etched with runes. But the runes weren't glowing blue like they usually did. They were pulsating with a sickly, reddish-black light. The metal seemed to be sweating a dark, oily substance.
"Drop it," Lloyd commanded instantly. His instincts screamed danger.
"I... I can't," Zeba whimpered. "It's stuck."
Her hand was clamped around the pen. Her knuckles were white. The dark veins on the pen were moving. They were crawling off the metal and onto her skin. They looked like liquid shadows, burrowing into her flesh.
"It burns," Zeba gasped. Her face went pale. "It's... cold. It's so cold."
"Mina! Alaric!" Lloyd shouted. "Clear the table! Get the containment box!"
He reached for Zeba's wrist. He tried to pry her fingers open. But her grip was locked tight, fueled by a unnatural, rigid strength.
The corruption was spreading fast. The black veins shot up her arm, reaching her shoulder. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She started to convulse.