Chapter 238: Mom, Let Me Explain Myself! Wait—What the Hell? It Actually Came True?!

Laxana pulled her hand free and turned to rush out the door.

“I’ll go find my mother! She’s the dean! She’s in charge of all magical affairs in the Central Academy! If there’s a demon invasion or traces of forbidden spells, she’ll find them with a single investigation!”

“Then we’ll see if I’m lying, or if you’re just baselessly suspecting your friend!”

She said this with absolute resolve, her posture full of conviction.

But Miss Klein’s heart was praying frantically.

‘Stop me! Astreia! Please stop me!

‘Just give me an out now—say you believe me, and this can all end here! We can still be best friends!’

Laxana’s foot had already crossed the threshold. Her heart hung in the air, waiting for that familiar hand to yank her back.

The next second.

Her arm was indeed grabbed.

The grip was strong, tight enough to make her wrist ache.

Laxana’s heart soared.

‘I guessed right!’

Just as she prepared to turn around and put on a wronged expression—something like “I knew you’d still trust me”—Princess Astreia didn’t give her a chance to perform.

Her Highness didn’t pull her back. Instead, she strode forward, dragging Laxana along.

“Fine. We’ll go now.”

Astreia’s movements were swift and decisive, without a shred of hesitation.

Now it was Laxana’s turn to be stunned.

“Huh?”

‘That’s not how the script goes!’

“Laxana, this is no joke!”

Astreia’s expression was graver than ever.

“This concerns the safety of the Central Academy! Even the safety of the entire continent!”

“No… Astreia, this…”

‘It’s over.

‘I’ve really messed up this time.’

Dragged by Astreia, Laxana was rushed all the way to the dean’s office of the Magic Division. She felt like her soul was about to be yanked out of her body.

Her own mother, the dean, was a continent-renowned Arcane Master. No trace of magic could escape her detection.

This crude, makeshift lie wouldn’t last three seconds in front of her.

The more Laxana thought about it, the more terrified she became. Her legs went weak, and she was practically being pulled along by Astreia.

She had already started imagining the miserable scene of being punished to detention and copying the Magic Apprentice Code ten thousand times, along with Astreia’s contemptuous reaction.

Passing students cast curious glances at the Princess of Valoran dragging Miss Klein through the hallway, assuming the famous best friends were having another squabble.

Bang!

Astreia shoved open the oak door of the dean’s office.

“Dean Layana!”

Behind the desk, a silver-haired woman with gold-rimmed glasses looked up. Seeing the two intruders—especially her own daughter, whose face looked like the end of the world—she raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Princess Astreia, and Laxana. What’s all this commotion? Where are your manners?”

“Dean, there’s an emergency!”

Astreia explained succinctly, recounting in the fastest way possible how “Laxana discovered a demon and eliminated it.”

Layana listened quietly, her gaze slowly shifting from Astreia to her daughter’s pale face.

Laxana felt her scalp tingle under that stare and wished she could crawl into a hole.

When Astreia finished, the entire dean’s office fell into silence.

Layana didn’t speak immediately. She slowly removed her glasses and polished them with a velvet cloth, unhurriedly.

That gentle motion made Laxana’s heart leap into her throat.

‘That’s Mom’s preparation before thinking… or before suppressing her anger.’

‘Has she already seen through it?’

‘Is she about to hit me with a lightning zap?’

“A demon? Capable of bypassing the academy’s protective barrier?”

Layana finally spoke, her tone heavy.

“And you blasted it to ashes in one hit?”

“Y-yes, Mother.” Laxana’s voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.

Layana put her glasses back on, didn’t bother comforting her seemingly frightened daughter, and walked straight to the communication magic array on the wall.

“This matter is no small thing.”

Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the runes.

“Aurelia, come to my office. Quickly.”

“This is serious.”

The communication cut off.

Laxana’s heart sank to the bottom along with the fading magical glow.

‘Now things have completely blown up!’

‘Mom actually called the Dean of the Holy Branch too!’

‘Ah… I want to die…’

Soon, Aurelia, wearing her red cardinal robe, pushed open the door and entered. Her kindly face bore a hint of inquiry.

Layana didn’t waste words and recounted Laxana’s story in the most concise terms.

“A demon? Infiltrated the Central Academy?!”

The gentle smile on Aurelia’s face vanished, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.

“Let’s go to the scene.”

Without another question, the two deans turned and walked out, their efficiency astonishing.

Astreia immediately followed.

Laxana’s legs were weak. Only with her last shred of willpower did she manage to move and trail behind them.

‘Complete disaster.’

‘Now it’s a joint trial by two big shots.’

‘I’m probably going to get double-teamed.’

The group of four, in a heavily somber atmosphere, returned to the reading room in the library—the one filled with ambiguous secrets.

When Laxana pushed open the bookshelf leading to the secret chamber, Layana and Aurelia’s expressions shifted slightly.

They hadn’t even known that this ordinary reading room contained such a hidden chamber!

Inside, everything remained as it had been the night before.

The sofa still bore traces where Wendy and Laxana had lain, and the air still carried the lingering scent of ambiguous lavender.

Seeing this scene, the trust Astreia had just built for Laxana began to waver again.

But Layana and Aurelia paid no attention to such details.

As soon as the two top experts stepped into the chamber, they immediately went into work mode.

Aurelia closed her eyes, and the holy emblem on her chest emitted a soft glow.

Countless pale blue light particles drifted from her fingertips, moving through the air, analyzing the magical residue in every inch of space.

Layana extended her hand, and complex arcane runes appeared on her palm.

Time passed minute by minute.

Laxana’s back was soaked with cold sweat.

Tucked inside her clothes, she clutched the notebook tightly.

It was the “payment” Xi Ya had left her—her last lifeline and a death warrant.

‘I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!!!

‘Mom and them won’t find anything, and then they’ll decide I’m lying…’

Just as Laxana closed her eyes, waiting for death, Aurelia slowly opened her eyes. Her expression was grim.

“Strange…”

She murmured:

“There is indeed a trace of faint demonic aura here. Though it’s been handled with some sophisticated technique, nearly undetectable, it can’t fool the Goddess’s Light.”

What?!

Laxana’s eyes flew wide open. She was completely dumbfounded.

Then Layana also dispersed the arcane light in her hand, her face equally solemn.

“Aurelia is right.”

“Not only is there demonic aura, but also residual traces of high-level forbidden spells. Memory alteration, mental enslavement… and even a hint of a soul contract.”

“The technique is very skilled, and…”

Layana glanced at her daughter, a note of admiration in her voice.

“There’s also an extremely high concentration of residual thunder element in the air. Wild, pure—definitely your magic, Laxana. Based on the residual traces, the power released would be enough to instantly vaporize an unprepared high-level mage.”

Double confirmation.

The highest authorities in both the Magic and Holy Branches of the Central Academy had just verified her made-up story.

Astreia let out a long breath, looking at Laxana with a gaze full of apology, admiration, and lingering fear.

But at this moment, the most stunned and disbelieving person was Laxana herself.

“Laxana, you… you really… I… I’m sorry…”

Astreia was almost incoherent.

‘Holy crap?’

‘Really?’

‘I just made that up off the top of my head!’

‘And it worked?!

‘That woman named Xi Ya… she… she really was a demon?!

‘No way, I didn’t even fight her!’

‘And my lightning magic really did…

‘Wait. I never cast lightning magic!’

‘Then where did the thunder element residue come from?’

‘Could it be… I was so emotional that my magic went berserk while I was unconscious?’

Laxana’s mind was a complete mess.

One absurd coincidence after another perfectly stitched her lie into an irrefutable “truth.”

And just as the young lady’s worldview was shattering and reassembling, the notebook she was clutching suddenly grew scorching hot.

A fatal question surfaced in Laxana’s mind.

‘Since Xi Ya really was a demon…

‘Then this forbidden spell tome she left me…

‘Isn’t it a genuine, authentic demonic grimoire from the demon race?!

‘It’s evidence!’

‘Should I… hand it over now?’

‘Let Mother and Dean Aurelia inspect it?’

This thought had barely appeared when she smothered it.

‘No!’

‘This is my only hope to surpass Astreia and win back Wendy!’

‘But…

‘What if it’s discovered…

‘What if there are side effects or a scheme…’

Laxana clutched the notebook tightly, her heart engaged in an unprecedented inner battle.