Once the empress finished saying what she was saying, she asked for a vote on who of the queens was up for the idea of founding a new academy. This question was, of course, just a form of courtesy as there was no one that could refute. In as much as the empress had instigated this request for a more or less selfish reason, it was still a fact that this idea possessed more merits than it did demerits. And thus none of the queens could find any reason to shoot it down.

This was especially true for Dusk, as the proposal of this idea had come at just the right time. He had, after all known for a long time that he would have to go to school. He was initially quite reluctant to do so because he knew that whatever he was going to be taught, he had already learned from his mom’s memories.

With the development of the imperial academy, however, everything would be different. After all, the imperial academy would incorporate knowledge from all the kingdoms, most of which he was sure his mother did not possess. While he had the option of learning from the memories of the people present, he did not really savor that idea, as it would be no fun. More so, he would be forced to learn of other people’s pasts and experience all the emotions that they did (both good and bad), something that he did not wish to do.

“This is going to be really interesting.” Dusk could not help but smile to himself.  After coming to this world, while Dusk had at first really enjoyed the feeling of knowing almost everything, after a while it became rather boring. What was the fun in knowing everything after all? Thus the only thing Dusk could find interest in was the pursuit of strength.

Unfortunately, with only the pursuit of strength he still felt that there was something missing. It was only when he came to learn something new that he really felt alive. Thus he came to crave the feeling of learning new things in the manner in which a stranded man would crave water. Within him was birthed the thirst for adventure, the will to go out and discover new things. If possible he even wanted to learn everything this world had to offer, and what better a place to start than the imperial academy. A place where geniuses from all over the continent gathered.

Throughout this whole meeting, Dusk had noticed that Queen Onaho had been keeping an eye on him and his mom with a really disturbing look on her face.  It was just so blatant that even Stream seemed to have noticed it as she occasionally turned her head in Onaho’s direction.

“Can jealousy really do this to someone?” Dusk thought to himself. The state this lady was in was really pitiful. In as much as it was pitiful to look at, however, Dusk could just not get himself to sympathize with this her.  She had, after all fallen into such a state for a really stupid reason. Even if he were to sympathize with her, how would that help the situation?

One thing that really caught his interest though was that, unlike Onaho, her daughter did not seem to be even mildly interested in he and his mother. Let alone them, she did not seem to be even a bit interested in anything that was going on in the room. It was almost as if she had detached herself from reality.

The more Dusk observed her, the more a weird feeling developed within him. He did not know what it was but he had a feeling that this girl had a somewhat sad past. His knowledge from earth only seemed to further his suspicions as from what he knew, it was not normal for children of her age to behave in such a manner. Only those with really special circumstances would tend to do so.

Feeling his curiosity get the better of him, Dusk could not help but delve into her memories to see what it was that made her temperament become like so. Sadly, what he had discovered was pretty close to what he had anticipated.

The one feeling that was most prevalent in him once he finished scouring through her memories was one of not being wanted. Throughout his life, this was the first time he felt this feeling in such a magnitude. Were he not in utmost control of his emotions, he would have burst out crying.

The past that he saw from this little girl was one of rejection. Ever since she was born, no one had wanted her; no one had paid any attention to her. While you would have expected the mother of such a beautiful little girl to cherish her, her mother did not.

Once Queen Onaho gave birth to Janelle, her daughter, she had at first been really troubled that instead of getting a son she had gotten a daughter. As she did not know where to vent her anger, she decided to inflict serious damages to the house’s furniture.

Only by destroying almost all the furniture in the house was she able to cool down. Unfortunately, after cooling down, she came to her senses and decided to not bother with Janelle anymore and thus she only left her with the maids for them to raise. As she rarely visited her ever since then, Janelle had grown up to think that she was not loved. She had come upon the conclusion that she was not wanted and thus wherever she went; she decided to keep quiet and act detached so as to avoid bothering anyone.

In as much as dusk had had his emotions dulled, even he could not just ignore such a plight. It was also a bit of his fault after all that this was happening. Unfortunately, at the moment there was nothing that he could do thus he decided to patiently wait for two more years, for the time that they would both awaken their affinities and begin attending the imperial academy.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Once he was there, Dusk swore to himself that he would do his utmost to keep her company. It was, after all, because of her mother’s demeanor that the girl had fallen to such a state. Nothing of what was happening was her fault.

Once Dusk came to this conclusion he felt much more relaxed and could now sit back calmly and follow the proceedings. As the construction of the Imperial academy had already been decided, the meeting was pretty much coming to an end.

To Dusk, it was pretty weird to have such a short meeting where not even everyone had had the chance to speak. However, in as much as it was short, it was also effective and thus dusk admired it for that.

Just as he had expected, the Empress really did have nothing else to add and simply posed a question. “Does anyone else have anything to add?”

“Empress, so will anyone be allowed to attend this school?” Jade asked. Surprisingly, when it came to matters that did not involve Dusk directly she was clearly really level headed, a fact that pleased Dusk greatly.

“Good question. Yes anyone can attend the school provided she/he is among the best of the kingdom. As for the tuition fees, there will be none. After all, we want to encourage a spirit of equality within the school.” Said the empress. It really did seem as though she had thought this all out.

“And what if us as queens decided to not send the best of their younger generation?” Jade asked once more. This was a really good question, after all the queens could decide to just throw caution to the wind and send over ordinary students.

“That will lead to your own kingdom’s peril, after all I have planned for the curriculum to be really intense and so those students that are not up to the mark will just lose themselves and end up useless. Also the strength of your students will determine the ranking of your kingdom, as there will be various competitions.  So if you bring children that are not able to cope then your kingdom will naturally tail behind the rest.”

Once everyone in the room heard this, they naturally threw away all prior ideas of sending mediocre students over. While they as queens did not really care for such things as ranking, this was something that involved their honor as a kingdom and as such they could not just let it slide. To be the last among all the kingdoms would be a real shame to each one of them.

All apart from Night Everdark, of course. No one ever knew what she was thinking and thus they could not put themselves in her shoes to determine her stand in the matter.

Once the empress completed her speech she was pretty certain that no one else had any other questions and as such she could only declare the meeting completed.

“With this, the meeting has come to a conclusion. You may stay at this palace for as long as you like before returning to your respective kingdoms. I thank you all for attending.” Said the empress.

As soon as those words left her mouth, she stood up and left through the front door with her three children following behind her in tow. This sight was really similar to a mother duck leading her ducklings making Dusk chuckle a little internally.

While the empress was leaving, Dusk could feel the gazes of her daughters upon him. Those gazes contained an unhidden desire to come over and carry him away with them.

“What the hell is this? Why does everyone want to take me away? Do I really look that cute? Ooh no, this much attention is going to be a problem.” Dusk thought to himself.

Before he could finish his contemplations, however, he noticed that Queen Night Everdark had shot a glance towards him. While the glance was swift and hidden, Dusk could naturally notice it and within that glance he could sense a minute amount of curiosity.

As soon as she shot the glance, however, she did not wait and immediately followed closely behind the empress. With her leaving, there were now only five queens left in the room. All of who were looking at him. The only exception was Queen Onaho as she was intently glaring at his mum. The venomous glance in her gaze could not be hidden making even the other people in the room notice it.

“Queen Onaho, what’s wrong? Have I maybe done something to offend you?” Jade asked in a confused tone. This was the question that everyone in the room was wondering about as they had long since noticed Onaho’s fierce glare.

“Mmph.” The lady in question however could merely snicker before standing up to leave with he daughter in hand. As she walked off everyone’s gazes were focused on her. She was behaving really peculiarly after all.