The Strongest Student of the Weakest Academy-Chapter 158: Silverleaf Academy (6)

"Your Highness..."

A man in a dark mage's robe knelt deeply before the Emperor and Empress, his hands trembling slightly as he gripped his skull-topped staff.

Francis, the Emperor, stood at the top of the throne steps, tapping his foot against the marble floor nervously.

"You're finally back," the Emperor muttered coldly.

"So?"

He took a step forward.

"Did you find him?"

The room went still.

The mage hesitated to answer.

"...No, Your Majesty," he finally said, lowering his head further. "There were no traces left behind. Nothing from the blood samples either. It's like he vanished."

Silence.

Then—

Twitch.

A vein bulged on the Emperor's forehead, and his fingers curled into a fist.

Francis didn't speak, he only stared before finally parting his lips.

"...What about Aestrea?"

As soon as he uttered those words, the Empress's eyes narrowed slightly. Her nails dug into the velvet armrest, but she kept her mouth shut.

'This... bastard. Don't you dare mess up my plan!' She gritted her teeth as she thought inwardly.

The mage swallowed hard, his body twitching slightly in sheer fear.

"Aestrea made it safely to Silverleaf Academy, sire. The knights sent to intercept him... they're gone. We believe—"

"You believe?" the Emperor cut in, raising his voice.

The mage froze.

Francis's voice was full of killing intent, shaking with pure rage.

"Are you telling me we lost contact with two assassination squads, and you've brought me back nothing but guesses?!"

The mage looked down, sweat dripping down his temple.

"We don't know if it was Aestrea who killed them—"

CRACK.

The Emperor's left hand flew to his leg, where the old stab wound still pulsed with an invisible pain, purely caused by the trauma Aestrea had left on him.

"Get out."

"...Y-Your Majesty—"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Francis roared.

The man scrambled up and stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own robe as he fled through the tall throne room doors.

As they slammed shut behind him—

CRASH!!

"FUCK!"

The Emperor hurled his wine goblet across the room.

It shattered against the pillar, the red wine inside the goblet splattering down like blood.

"HE ESCAPED?! ESCAPED?! AND NONE OF YOU FUCKING FOOLS CAN EVEN FIND HIS SHADOW?!"

His voice echoed through the room as he grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it, plates and fruit crashing onto the ground.

"USELESS! USELESS! FUCKING USELESS!" he screamed, gripping his own hair in both fists, tearing at it as his breath came in ragged gasps.

The guards at the corners of the hall flinched but dared not move.

The whole throne room held its breath.

And seated calmly on her silver throne beside him, Empress Elizabeth tilted her head, her lips twitching into a faint smile.

'...Oh~ho... and who's this little guy that managed to make this shitty emperor so mad?' Her eyebrows rose in interest.

'Whoever he is... he's interesting enough to make this madman lose control. I'll find him before Francis does. And once I do—'

She crossed one leg over the other, slowly running a finger along her thigh.

'—Maybe I'll finally throw this rotten emperor off his throne.'

Just thinking about it, she couldn't help but get excited, brushing her legs slightly.

But then—

Francis stopped his madness.

He stopped clenching his fists, and his shoulders slowly lowered.

".....GUARDS!"

He shouted.

But his voice didn't seem to contain an ounce of rage in it.

Elizabeth blinked at his actions, and the smile on her face completely disappeared.

Francis didn't even look at them when he spoke.

"Bring Bishop Jeremiah. I want to speak with the Pope."

The guards exchanged glances, then bowed deeply before rushing off in silence.

Francis said nothing more.

He turned his back on the chaos he'd caused and called for the maids.

"Clean this up."

Then, without waiting, he left the throne room and disappeared down the marble hallway.

His behavior made the Empress very suspicious of him, and no matter how many times she had seen his personality change on a whim, it only increased her suspicion.

'What is this bastard hiding...?' she couldn't help but wonder.

But deep down, she now had another interest at hand.

And it was to find none other than the man who had caused such a traumatizing wound in Francis.

That person could surely help her overthrow him.

No matter what conditions he had, she was confident that she would be able to fulfill them.

Even if their request was...

Her pure body.

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[Eternum's Royal Academy]

The soft rustle of papers and the quiet scribble of pens were the only sounds filling the spacious student council room.

Normally, the student council room would buzz with conversation and light laughter as the members went about their duties.

However, the air in the room felt extremely strange.

All eyes occasionally turned toward the same girl—the one seated at the head of the table.

Violet.

The Student Council President.

Since walking into the room that morning, she hadn't said a single word.

Not a greeting, not a smile, not even her usual teasing comment about someone's messy desk or crooked tie.

She just sat quietly, going through her paperwork calmly.

And when they spoke about the tasks they had to do today, she merely nodded her head, which surprised them a lot.

After all, for those who knew her well… it was downright chilling.

The girl who always greeted them with a radiant smile, who laughed easily and lit up every meeting like spring sunshine, was now looking depressed.

"...Agh..."

A soft sound escaped her lips, barely audible.

The entire room stiffened.

Was she in pain?

Was she upset?

Was she about to explode?

But no. She didn't speak again.

Instead, she leaned over her stack of documents and continued working as though nothing had happened.

The silence stretched too long.

And finally, the members started whispering among themselves.

"...What's wrong with her today?"

"I don't know. She came back from the short break like this… It's weird."

"Maybe she's sick?"

And finally...

Someone said something that made the member's ears chirp.

"...Do you think she's like this because Aestrea went back to his academy?"

A petite girl with pigtails hesitated before whispering the one question that made everyone freeze.

Silence.

The member's eyes widened, and their head turned.

"...Wait. You don't mean—"

"President… in love?"

"With him?!"

"Now that you mention it, there were rumors about the two of them being close…"

"She did act kind of weird every time his name came up…"

"...Could it really be?"

And suddenly, like pieces of a puzzle falling into place, their expressions changed.

They all looked at the president as if they had understood her.

Not with confusion like before, but with pure pity.

And she must have sensed their gazes, too.

Because she slowly lifted her head.

And when Violet looked around… everyone was already staring at her.

She didn't even need to use her ability to read their thoughts.

Their eyes already had told her what she needed to know.

"Sigh..."

Violet let out a frustrated sigh.

But just before she could explain herself...

Ding!

Her phone rang.

She slowly reached out to it and picked it up.

But as soon as she saw the message—her eyes widened just slightly, and she abruptly stood up.

"I'm leaving for now," she said curtly.

And without a single word of explanation, she turned and dashed out of the room.

The members stared after her in stunned silence.

"…Do you think that was Aestrea?"

"Mhm. She looked like she was in a hurry."

"Maybe... Aestrea decided to pay a visit to her."

The members were left in wonder.

Meanwhile, Violet rushed towards the training grounds, and when she reached them, she was met with a small group.

None other than Lucas's group.

Oh...

Prince Leon and Ella's Simp, Telmo, were also there.

"Where's Ethan?"

Violet couldn't help but ask.

Since Aestrea had appeared with Ethan in the survival island exam, Ethan began to grow closer to Lucas and the rest of the group.

One could say he belonged to the group now.

"He's taking care of his sick sister and couldn't come here," Lucas explained in a few words, and then cleared his throat.

"As for the reason, I called all of you here... It's simple. Our headmistress notified us that there was going to be a small partnership with the Silverleaf Academy because an S-rank dungeon has appeared in the Silverleaf City."

"And because of that, we were chosen to go to Silverleaf City, on some kind of holiday, to clear that dungeon along with the Silverleaf Academy's strongest students."

At his words, Rose's eyes fluttered for a moment as she thought about Aestrea.

But she wasn't the only one who had that reaction.

Ella's body almost trembled.

"Heh… so we're meeting that cold-blooded guy again?" Maya said casually, drawing a faint smirk from Iris.

"Tsk..." Telmo clicked his tongue.

Lucas had mentioned Silverleaf's elite.

Which meant—without a doubt—Aestrea Moon would be there.

That thought alone made Telmo's mood sour.

As for Prince Leon, he remained unusually calm.

No reaction at all.

"Also, one more thing..." Lucas added.

"The Silverleaf Academy is now accepting international students, which means that now, the Silverleaf Academy isn't only filled with humans, but all with other kinds of species. Because of that, we'll need to keep a respectful behavior towards them, to not cause any trouble."

"Is that clear?"

Honeslty, the group was a bit shocked at Lucas's words.

He seemed to have matured a bit after getting slammed against a wall by Aestrea.

Nonetheless, the group nodded at his words.

"Great! Then, that's all, the information about the trip will be sent to you in a while, and make sure to read all of it!"

Lucas dispatched them.

Telmo and Leon immediately left while the rest of the group remained still.

They were in the training grounds for a reason...

"...Violet? Do you need something?" Lucas suddenly asked as he looked at Violet, who was literally frozen, gazing down at the ground.

Violet immediately woke up and shook her head.

"No... I just need to inform the student council."

"I see..." Lucas smiled.

"Then, I'll see you in a few days!" he waved his hands before leaving to follow the others to train.

Violet nodded and returned to the student council room.

What she didn't notice was that when she stepped back into, a faint smile appeared on her lips, and the members couldn't help but rejoice.

"…President!"

One of them gasped.

"She's smiling…"

"I told you it was Aestrea!"

Violet blinked.

And sure enough—there it was.

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

She tried to wipe it away and ignored their teasing cheers.

But no matter how hard she tried…

The smile just wouldn't leave.