Chapter 35: To relieve the siege

“In private?”

“On Royal Academy grounds?”

Alarm bells rang in Freya’s mind. ‘This is definitely not a friendly invitation.’

Lyra had already lowered the carriage curtain.

A cold light flickered in her red eyes as her hand rested on her waist, where she now wore a more practical short sword.

“Boss, ignore them. You can tell they have no good intentions just by looking at them.”

Freya pondered for a moment.

Rejecting them directly might make Ross even more irritated, leading him to take more drastic measures.

However, going was undoubtedly like walking into a tiger’s den; the risk was extremely high.

She lifted a corner of the curtain and looked at Adrian outside the carriage, her voice clear and cold.

“I appreciate the invitation from His Highness, and I also thank classmate Adrian for making the trip. However, I am still feeling somewhat unwell this morning and need to return to the Academy to rest. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it. Regarding what happened last night, if there was any discourtesy on my part, I will personally apologize to His Highness once my health improves. Please convey this to him.”

Her rejection was tactful but firm, the reason was sufficient, and it gave the other party a way out.

Adrian frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

He took a step forward, his tone growing heavier.

“Miss Freya, His Highness sincerely wishes to speak with you. The Morning Glow Garden is a quiet environment, making it a perfect place for recuperation and conversation. If you are unwell, His Highness can also arrange for a physician. Please do not decline, lest… His Highness waits too long and becomes displeased.”

A faint threat was now woven into his words.

“Hey! Are you deaf?”

Lyra couldn’t take it anymore.

She pushed the carriage door open, jumped down, and blocked the front of the carriage with her hands on her hips.

She looked up and glared at Adrian, who was a full head taller than her.

“Didn’t you hear my boss say she’s uncomfortable? Are the people from your Royal Academy so ill-mannered that they must force a sick person to chat? What, is your Prince a doctor? Or are you planning to kidnap someone?!”

Her words were blunt and merciless.

Combined with her fierce “try me” posture, they left Adrian and the people behind him stunned for a moment.

Adrian’s face darkened. He looked Lyra over, a flash of contempt in his eyes.

“Are you that wild brat who injured the guards of House Elwin? This isn’t your place to speak! We are inviting Miss Freya!”

“I am the boss’s assistant, specifically responsible for cleaning up trash in the way and idiots who can’t understand human speech!”

Lyra didn’t back down. She even took a step closer, her red eyes narrowing slightly as a dangerous aura began to radiate from her.

“If you don’t move, don’t blame me for being impolite! I haven’t moved my muscles enough this morning anyway!”

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Adrian’s followers gathered around, their hands resting on their weapons.

The driver, Old John, gripped the reins nervously.

Just then, a gentle but undeniably majestic female voice rang out.

“Adrian von Lorrain, when did you students of the Royal Academy learn to intercept our students at the gates of the Central Academy?”

Everyone looked toward the source of the voice.

A middle-aged woman with an elegant temperament, wearing the robes of a professor from the Central Magic Academy, was walking from the direction of the main gate.

Two academy guards followed beside her.

It was the Vice-Principal of the Central Magic Academy and the Chief Professor of Spellology — Lady Melinda.

Adrian’s expression changed. He quickly suppressed his anger and bowed.

“Professor Melinda, good day. We are only following the orders of Prince Ross to invite classmate Freya…”

“Invite?”

Professor Melinda walked closer.

Her gaze swept over Adrian and his group, then she looked at the carriage and Lyra standing in front of it before finally landing on Freya, who had lifted the curtain.

Her tone was flat but carried weight.

“What I see looks more like coercion. Freya Christo Dale is an outstanding student of our academy. If she is willing to accept an invitation, she has the freedom to do so. However, if she is unwilling, no one has the right or the qualification to force her to do anything on the grounds of the Central Academy.”

She looked at Adrian with a sharp gaze.

“Go back and tell Prince Ross that if he wishes to communicate with a student of our academy, please do so through formal channels or in a public, appropriate setting. This method of intercepting someone halfway is beneath the dignity of the Royal Academy and the Prince himself. Now, please leave.”

Professor Melinda held a respected status in the Empire’s magical education circle and was an Archmage herself.

Her words carried immense weight.

Even though Adrian was unwilling, he didn’t dare to contradict her to her face. He could only grit his teeth and respond.

“… Yes, Professor. Sorry for the intrusion.”

He glared fiercely at Lyra and the carriage before leading his people away in frustration.

Lyra made a face at their retreating backs. Then she turned around and bowed to Professor Melinda with a grin.

“Thank you for the help, Professor!”

Professor Melinda glanced at Lyra. Her gaze lingered on her for a moment as if she had noticed something, but she didn’t say much.

She simply nodded to Freya.

“Freya, if you’re not feeling well, get some rest. The Academy is your backup.”

“Thank you, Professor Melinda,” Freya thanked her sincerely.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

However, Freya knew that Ross would definitely not give up.

Professor Melinda could resolve the immediate situation, but she couldn’t solve the underlying trouble.

Back at the Academy and in the familiar dormitory, Freya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lyra, like a vigilant hound, checked every corner of the dormitory. She only relaxed after confirming it was safe.

“Boss, that Blondie Prince is like a ghost that won’t leave!” Lyra said angrily.

“And that Adrian guy is clearly a lackey! If he dares to come again, I’ll beat him until he’s looking for his teeth on the ground!”

Freya sat at her desk and rubbed the space between her eyebrows.

“Lyra, violence cannot solve all problems, especially within the Academy.”

“But sometimes violence is the most effective!” Lyra argued. “See, if it weren’t for me this morning, that lackey might have actually tried to grab you! Reasoning with people like that is useless!”

Freya looked at her helplessly, knowing there was no point in arguing with Lyra about this. She changed the subject.

“I need to go to the Academy’s ancient archive section. I want to apply to consult some documents on ancient contracts and energy cores. You…”

“I’m going with you!” Lyra said immediately. “Besides, I can ‘look’ at those books too! What if there’s something I can understand!”

She actually had no interest in reading, but protecting Freya was her primary mission, especially when it was clear they were being watched.

Freya thought for a moment and nodded.

With Lyra following, it was indeed safer.

Moreover, Lyra’s extraordinary intuition and observation skills might provide unexpected help when consulting documents.

The two of them organized themselves slightly and headed to the most heavily guarded and oldest area of the Central Academy — the archive section at the bottom of the Arcane Tower.

The sunlight was filtered through the towering tower and intricate magical barriers, appearing deep and mysterious.

The air was filled with the scents of old parchment, magical ink, and the accumulation of time.

Giant bookshelves, like silent giants, were arranged as far as the eye could see, packed with countless scrolls and classics.

Freya showed her high-level research clearance.

After a strict registration and scrutiny by the administrator, she was able to take Lyra into the specific area.

Her goal was clear — to find records related to the ‘Chaos Core,’ the ‘essential nature of the Holy Sword’s power,’ the ‘Ancient Energy Transfer Ritual,’ and the ‘consequences of Soul/Heart Core Stripping.’

Most of these materials were obscure and scattered across various ancient manuscripts, fragments, and even encrypted notes.

Freya soon immersed herself in the pile of old papers. She read very quickly, her fingers brushing across the yellowed pages as her pale purple eyes focused on scanning rows of ancient words and runes.

Lyra followed her side boredly.

At first, she pretended to look around, but she was quickly made dizzy by the dense, tadpole-like script.

She yawned and began to wander aimlessly between the bookshelves, her nose twitching occasionally as if she were trying to distinguish other scents in the air besides the smell of books.

Her gaze swept over the dusty spines, the shadows in the corners, and the monitoring magic runes that occasionally flickered on the ceiling.

Suddenly, her footsteps stopped in front of a row of bookshelves that looked particularly old and even somewhat damaged.

This row of bookshelves was located in the most remote corner of the area. The light was dim, and it seemed no one had been there for a long time.

However, Lyra’s red eyes narrowed slightly.

She reached out her fingertip and gently brushed over an almost invisible layer of thin dust on the edge of the bookshelf.

‘The dust distribution… seems a bit uneven?’

Above the few books closer to the inside, the dust was slightly thinner than elsewhere, as if they had been moved recently but carefully put back.

Lyra’s curiosity was piqued

She looked at Freya, who was fully concentrated on her research in the distance, and then at the administrator’s position — it was far away, and the view was blocked by the bookshelves.

Then, Lyra leaned closer to the bookshelf silently like a nimble cat.

She didn’t touch the books that might have been moved to avoid leaving traces.

Instead, she pressed her nose to the gap in the bookshelf and took a deep, extremely light breath.

A trace of an extremely faint, slightly sweet, and cloying scent of powder, almost completely masked by the smell of old books, drifted into her nasal cavity.

‘This scent…’ Lyra’s red eyes suddenly grew sharp.

She remembered this smell!

Yesterday evening in the Emerald Hall of the Imperial Palace, that Crybaby Irina had a similar scent faintly radiating from her!

Although it was very light, Lyra was exceptionally sensitive to the scent of people and would never remember it wrong!

‘Irina? Or someone related to her visited the Central Academy’s ancient archive section recently?’
‘And moved these books in this remote corner?’

Lyra’s heart skipped a beat.

She stepped back calmly and returned to Freya’s side, pretending to continue her bored wandering.

However, her gaze was firmly locked on that corner, and her brain was working rapidly.

What was Irina doing in the Central Academy’s archive section? What kind of authority did she have to enter this place? What was she looking for? Or… what was the person behind her looking for?

This was definitely an important discovery!

Lyra was almost certain that this was related to the Holy Temple’s conspiracy they were investigating!
She suppressed the urge to tell Freya immediately and decided to secretly investigate it clearly on her own first.