Imperial capital

Imperial Palace

It was a huge royal hall filled with people from various backgrounds

Most of the neighboring countries sent representatives to congratulate the Grand Emperor on his ninety-fifth birthday, and this explains the variety of clothes worn by the attendees.

A man wearing a black tuxedo approached Emperor George Xerjoff

George apologized to the ambassadors who gathered around him, under the pretext that he had urgent matters to attend to

“Is it over, Turner?...” George asked the Imperial Minister of the Interior

Turner took out a handkerchief and wiped away the sweat forming on his forehead. “I have good and bad news.”

“Start with the good news.”

Turner replied after a light breath. “The enemies have withdrawn and we are now pursuing them. In addition, there are no dead students or employees.”

George let out a relieved breath

They received news that the academy was suddenly attacked

The academy was built in a secluded place north of the capital, so it would take some time to reach it

But besides the academy, there are security facilities belonging to the Imperial Army surrounding the academy on three sides

It is assumed that there are forces that have launched from these military bases to defend the academy, but communications have been cut off with the force assigned to this mission.

In addition, the cameras that were transmitting footage from the academy to the surveillance center in the capital were subject to interference from an outside party

With all these successive incidents, even a calm person like George was starting to worry

The academy contained students from different countries and belonging to different forces and families

If many students died because of this attack, George would not be able to avoid blame for this disaster

Because the Imperial Academy guarantees the safety of all students

This is why families and different countries allow their students to join the Imperial Academy because of their confidence in the Empire's ability to provide adequate protection for their heirs.

The second problem is the timing in which this attack occurred, as if the perpetrators of the operation had deliberately committed this event at this sensitive time.

He couldn't move from his place because he didn't want unnecessary rumors to spread because of this attack

Because his withdrawal from the banquet hosted by the empire will turn into statements that may spread panic and cause problems.

That's why he had to stay here and wait for news from the Minister of the Interior

“Well what's the bad news...” George was more relieved because he was sure that he would not face any problem with other countries because of this incident

"..." Turner lowered his eyes slightly

“What happened?...” George realized something was wrong

“The academy suffered some damage.” Turner told him what was worrying him

“Just that...” George was upset because Turner was exaggerating things

Turner made him anxious for no reason

Damage was something to be expected, so he was prepared for this from the beginning

What is important is that there were no victims

Turner rubbed his cheek. “I...I think I made a mistake in describing it when I only said some damage.”

" What does this mean?."

Turner passed the tablet he was holding in his hand to George

" this...!" George's eyes widened at the image he saw

There were collapsed buildings and rubble everywhere, and the most obvious thing was a giant ditch cutting the academy in half

" What is this...?" George asked in awe, hoping he wouldn't hear the answer he had in mind

“It's the academy...or what's left of it.” Turner stood beside him, also helpless because of what had happened

As the Minister of the Interior, he will bear the greatest responsibility for these damages

George sighed helplessly. "Has Frederic gotten there?"

"My men informed me that Frederic had arrived."

“What about the media?...”

“The news has already leaked to the media.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Ugh…” George wiped his face with his hand

With pictures of the accident reaching the media, there will be no opportunity to remedy the situation

He can put pressure on these channels and newspapers to prevent the publication of news

But doing so would show the world that the empire is making desperate attempts to cover up their mistake instead of taking responsibility

George sighed again, more miserably this time

Old Walter approached them. "It looks bad. How many dead?"

"There are no victims."

“Oh…” Walter’s eyes widened happily. " that is great."

George didn't answer him and passed the tablet to Walter

Walter grabbed the tablet and opened his mouth when he saw the extent of the destruction to the academy

But he was able to quickly regain his calm. “What is the strength of the people who carried out this attack?”

Walter had sent ten intelligence agents to monitor Alexander

Their levels were between the fourth and fifth levels

In addition, the academy's instructors are themselves a fighting force to be reckoned with

There are academy guards and a military base located next to the academy

But all these layers of defense could not protect the academy from this damage

Here comes the question that occupied their mind

How powerful were the intruders who were able to cause such widespread destruction?

“Walter…” George looked at Walter seriously

“I will go there myself…” Walter quickly realized George’s intentions

A government official should have gone there to give some statements

They couldn't let Frederic go through all this alone

----------------------

“Okay, here you go...” Louise lowered Alexander to the floor and made him lean against the wall

"Couldn't you have put more distance between us?" Sella complained, as Louise positioned her next to Alexander so much that their shoulders were touching

Louise sat on a nearby stone, catching her breath. " I'm tired..."

Sella frowned and tried to move away, but her waist hurt

" There's a potion in my pocket that you can take."

Sella hesitated for a moment, but the pain made her give in and accept his offer

There are potions for different uses and there are two basic types

The type helps to break levels and increase strength

The second type is a treatment for injuries, wounds, and even weak states that a person falls into after losing all of his aura

“It's in a pocket inside my coat...” Alexander pointed his eyes at the coat

It was a little embarrassing but she had to do it

Sella reached into the coat and started searching the pocket

She found a pocket with a small bottle inside. "I thought I found the potion."

“No, not this one, it’s a bottle of poison.”

"Oh..."

Sella continued searching for her target and found another pocket and felt a small bottle inside it. “Okay, here it is...”

“No, this is another poison...”

"..." Is there a poison tank inside your coat?

Sella tried again and searched for a new pocket. It only took seconds to find a new pocket and found a small spherical object in it. " What is this..."

"They're explosives..."

Sella blinked when she heard this

She still remembers her first meeting with Alexander

But she knows this is not the time to start a fight

“How many pockets does this coat have?” Sella complained with some anger

At the end, there was a pocket containing another small bottle

“Ah, it must be another bottle of poison...”

"No, it's the anesthesia potion..."

“…” Sella stared at him for a moment, took out the bottle and drank it quickly

After a few seconds, the pain subsided and it only took a minute for the pain to disappear completely

The effect of this potion is fast and amazing, it must be an expensive type... Sella thought as she looked at the small bottle in her palm.

She decided to give him money or something equal to the value of this potion later

The feeling of being indebted to someone else made her uncomfortable

“Okay...” Alexander raised his voice with some energy. “We should discuss what to tell them when they interrogate us...”

" What do you mean by that?...". Sella narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “It seems like you don't plan on telling them what really happened...”

“That's because I plan on not telling them what happened...”

Sella was surprised for a moment by Alexander's frankness. "I'm not going to lie...especially about this important matter."

There was no reason for her to lie to help Alexander

Louise remained silent as she waited for Alexander to complete his speech

Although she believes that lying is a bad thing, she thinks that Alexander may have a convincing reason for doing so

The smile disappeared from Alexander's face. "You heard that man. They attacked the academy in order to kidnap me."

Sella nodded automatically

It still baffles her

Did they do all this chaos to catch Alexander?

Attacking the academy was something suicidal in Sella's eyes

But the strength of those intruders was higher than she could imagine and they possessed strange skills

She still remembers how that monster emerged from the shadow of the masked man

She had profound experience in hunting monsters, so she knew that this wolf was one of the wolves roaming the northern mountains, an adult of which could reach the fourth level or higher.

The thought of someone capable of hiding monsters in the shadows was a terrifying thought

If she and Louise were the ones facing those enemies, they would not be able to survive no matter what they did

They were lucky to have Alexander there

“Are they enemies of the Ford family...” Louise asked anxiously

Ford was one of the most powerful families in the world

Therefore, it was not surprising that there were many other families who wanted to eliminate the Ford family heirs or kidnap them to use them against the Ford family.

“No…” Alexander shook his head. “They are targeting me, not the Ford family.”

" but why?." Louise furrowed her eyebrows

" I don't know..."

“So... won’t you enlist the help of your family...” Sella asked

It was natural for powerful families to protect the younger generations

Alexander smiled wryly. “They already sent people to protect me...”

"so where are they?" Sella's eyes widened

She only saw Alexander and did not see anyone coming with him

“They are on vacation in the imperial capital...”

“…” Sella stared at him for a moment to make sure he was not joking

But Alexander's straight face made it clear that he was telling the truth

“I am sure that the family will punish that Ronaldo badly...” Despite his bad attitude, he did not forget to mock the position of that young heir who negligently performed his duty.

“Ronaldo?...” Louise was lost in thought as she tried to remember who this person was, but after several moments her look became strange. “You mean Rafael?...”

"Yes, I think that's his name..." Alexander answered indifferently

“Rafael?...” Sella raised her eyebrows

She met this young man a while ago. He was following Louise and flirting with her shamelessly

At first she tried to intervene, but Louise asked her to leave him alone

Louise said that Rafael's father is the person who took care of her alongside the Versace family after she lost her parents, so she owes him a lot.

But Sella felt more annoyed and scolded Louise a lot for letting this idiot perform acrobatic movements in front of her just because she felt she owed his father.

Sella knew that Rafael and his sister were talented and elite among the younger generations, but there was one problem.

It is that having talent does not necessarily mean being strong

Raphael and his sister are still young and have not fully developed to be considered powerhouses

Now they are considered part of the young generation and nothing more

How were they supposed to face those enemies who destroyed the academy to its ground?

Why didn't the Ford family send stronger people to protect Alexander?

Sella's eyes widened as she came to a sudden realization. “They… are using you to train their heirs.”

“Haha…” A dry guffaw came from Alexander's throat. "You finally realized that..."

Sella's eyelids twitched for a moment

It was not unusual for families to give out some tasks to hone the strength and experience of their heirs

But using Alexander, whose life was threatened by these dangerous people, as a training subject was a bit extreme

“But why…” Sella’s eyes became uncertain. “Why would they do something like endanger the life of someone as talented as you?”

The strength Alexander showed was beyond her imagination, so in her eyes, his talent was no less than his strength

In fact, she had never heard of someone so young having reached this level

Common sense dictated that any family should nurture and protect this talent at all costs

“My talent appeared late...” Alexander lowered his eyes to the ground. “And when my talent really began to show, all relations between me and the Ford family had deteriorated, to the point that they took the title of heir from me.”

“If you show them your abilities, everything is—”

Sella thought the situation could be resolved, but Alexander interrupted her. “This will not change anything. The Ford family has no value to me and I am worth nothing to the Ford family. From this standpoint, they will prefer to sponsor talent whose absolute loyalty is to the Ford family rather than sponsor someone who might harbor a hidden grudge toward them.”

“…” Sella did not respond to his words

Alexander's words made sense

A safe investment would be better than risking the sponsorship of a talented but unreliable person

But she still believes that it is not impossible to repair the relationship between Alexander and the Ford family

Alexander continued speaking so as not to allow Sella to think any longer. “All I can rely on is my strength. My strength must be kept secret so that I can survive. Otherwise, they will try to find a way to eliminate me.”

“Is this why you want us to provide false information when the academy interrogates us?” Louise quickly intervened when she realized his intentions

" exactly..."

Louise and Sella looked at each other, hoping to find an answer in the other's eyes

In the end, Louise was the first to come forward. " I will help you..."

She retained her gratitude to the Ford family. So she will help Alexander, and even if he is not from the Ford family, she will still try to extend a helping hand to a good person like him.

If just a little lie would save him, it would definitely be worth it

Sella exhaled forcefully. “Okay, I am with you...”