Hundreds of people packed themselves into the Hall of Illumination. Students occupied the entirety of the first floor, while their friends and family occupied the balcony wrapped around the second floor. The Solarian Imperial Academy’s teachers, as well as the dean and vice dean, sat upon the stage situated at the far end of the hall. I recognized them all. It looked like the school hadn’t changed their roster of teachers in the year since I left.
Despite the lack of windows, powerful magelamps provided enough light to illuminate the entire space. These ones in particular were enchanted to mimic natural sunlight, which was a nice touch. Actually, if someone with Sun magic created those magelamps, then they didn’t just mimic natural sunlight, they emitted it.
More magic kept the temperature inside the hall at a nice and comfortable temperature. Given that many of the people in attendance were the cream of House society, their comfort was of the utmost importance to the academy administrators. After all, while the Sun Emperor ruled the empire, it was the Houses who did most of the heavy lifting.
Annabelle and Lord Dominic separated themselves from our group, so they could sit with the other students. Afterwards, House Thorne invited me to sit with them during the entrance ceremony. Well, her mother did. Her father and brother looked like they had swallowed something bitter. Still, Lord Thorne didn’t contradict his wife and Lord Miles remained silent.
I didn’t like the message that would send, as if I would be the one joining their family, so I wanted to decline. The problem was finding a diplomatic way of doing so. However, before I could, my parents came along. After everyone greeted each other, House Thorne extended the invitation to them as well. This solved my problem, since it looked more like a union of two families instead of me just joining House Thorne.
As befitting their status as a Great House, House Thorne had access to some of the best seats in the Hall of Illumination. As their invited guests, my family got to enjoy this privilege as well. The actual best seats were reserved for House Solaria, who showed up as well. I even caught a glimpse of Prince Eugene, who I hadn’t seen in months.
The entrance ceremony itself was a rather simple affair. First came a speech from the dean, Whitaker Waller, welcoming students, both old and new, to the academy for the spring semester. Magic allowed his voice to reach all corners of the Hall of Illumination. Since I had already been through the entrance ceremony a few times before, when I attended the Solarian Academy myself, I focused my attention on the man giving the speech.
Dean Waller looked more like someone’s grandfather than the dean of one of the Solarian Empire’s most prestigious learning institutions. Short white hair, a trimmed beard, and a kind face covered in wrinkles. With the robes he always wore, and the way he hunched over, many people mistook him for a harmless old man. Those people were fools.
I knew from personal experience that Dean Waller was anything but harmless. When he grew angry, even the heads of the Great Houses minded their manners. The facade of a kind grandfather disappeared, and in its place was a wizard in the prime of his power. Despite his frail body, Dean Waller was no weakling. While he kept his power and his aura in check out of consideration for others, he was at the upper end of the Fifth Circle. I wouldn’t be surprised if he formed his Sixth Circle within the next fifty years.
After my duel with Annabelle last year, I endured a short but grueling lecture from Dean Waller. That had been a harrowing experience. Despite regaining the memories of my past lives, I felt his anger and disappointment in my soul. It felt like he could crush me with the pressure from his aura alone.
After Dean Waller finished with his speech and the subsequent round of applause died down, next came a speech from the student council president. If the Solarian Imperial Academy was a microcosm of House society, then the student council represented the upper crust of House society. The Great Houses, in other words. In order to join the student council, one either needed an extraordinary background, incredible personal power, or significant academic achievements. Having two or all three was even better.
This year, the student council president turned out to be Lady Isabella Rhodes, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Using the criteria above, she hit all three points.
As she gave her speech, I saw no traces of the temptress I met during the tea party at House Thorne. Instead, she looked more like the serious academic I saw at the Tower of Magic. Which one was the real Isabella Rhodes? The temptress? The academic? Both? People were multifaceted, and they showed different aspects of themselves in different circumstances.
I felt someone’s eyes on me and turned to find Annabelle staring up at me from her seat down below. It took me less than a second to figure out why. Rather than focus on Lady Isabella, and potentially stir up Annabelle’s jealousy, I kept all of my attention on my beloved. We maintained eye contact throughout the entirety of Lady Isabella’s speech. Others noticed as well, and whispered about it.
After the conclusion of Lady Isabella’s speech, everyone moved to the academy’s banquet hall to enjoy the welcoming party. Like the Hall of Illumination, the banquet hall was a large open space, rectangular in shape, that was two stories tall. Large pillars supported the ceiling, which turned out to be one giant skylight. Sunlight streamed through the ceiling. At night, it showed a wonderful view of the stars. When it was dark, cloudy, or both, the academy summoned motes of lights.
Large tables stood at both ends of the banquet hall, laden with food and drink. Unless they were reinforced with Wood magic, I was worried that they would break under their heavy burden. Alcoves with furniture in them dotted the outer perimeter of the banquet hall, so guests could enjoy food or conversation in privacy. Each alcove had a magic circle that prevented anyone from eavesdropping, though these magic circles did nothing to hide their occupants.
An area of the banquet hall had been reserved for dancing. After all, the primary purpose of the welcoming party was for the students and their families to mingle. Dancing was an excellent way to go about it. A band, which occupied one of the banquet hall’s corners, provided the music.
After exiting the Hall of Illumination, I looked around for Annabelle so we could enter the banquet hall together while my parents went looking for Kaylee. It didn’t take me long to find my beloved. However, when I saw her, she wore an annoyed expression on her face. I took her elbow and escorted her to the banquet hall.
As before, we drew plenty of attention, though people seemed less surprised. I guess they were getting used to the idea of us courting. Now came the time for rumors, gossip, and rampant speculation. I knew there were rumors about me and Annabelle from our time in Rosewood City, and the tea party at Thorne Manor, but they wouldn’t be enough to satisfy everyone’s curiosity.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“My parents want me to spend the latter half of the welcoming party with them rather than with you,” she said. “They were afraid that the two of us would stick by each other’s side the entire time, when the whole point of the party is to mingle with everyone.”
That was quick of them. My family and I had only separated from House Thorne a few minutes ago.
“We can mingle with everyone together,” I pointed out.
“That’s what I said!” Annabelle exclaimed. “They said that there’s a difference between mingling as a couple, and mingling as a scion of House Thorne. They wanted me to experience both.”
I tilted my head from side to side. While I understood where Annabelle’s family was coming from, it still annoyed me that they wanted to separate us. We spent the past several months apart. Why couldn’t they give us this time together?
“Plus, they’re afraid that I’ll spend all of my free time with you instead of them,” Annabelle continued. “They didn’t say that part out loud, but they were thinking it.” She shrugged. “They’re not wrong, but it wasn’t as if I was going to neglect them.”
I sighed.
“In that case, let’s make the most of our time together while we have the chance,” I said, giving her a smile. “Keeping your family happy now means they’ll be less likely to give us trouble in the future.”
Annabelle grunted in response.
“Fine,” she said, before a lecherous grin stretched across her face. “Maybe this is our penance for last night.”
“In that case, let us repent and be cleansed of our sins,” I intoned in a solemn voice, before bursting out into laughter.
Annabelle joined in. The two of us must have seemed like a pair of loons as we entered the banquet hall.
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The welcoming party was in full swing by the time Annabelle and I arrived. As we agreed, the two of us spent the first half of the party together, which was more than long enough to establish our relationship in everyone’s eyes. The chokers did that as well, but one couldn’t be too careful.
Nothing much happened during that time. The two of us wandered around the banquet hall, stopping to socialize every now again. Since Annabelle was a current student, and I was a former student, we met several shared acquaintances. At first they were leery of us, since Annabelle and I had been enemies just last year, but it didn’t take long for them to relax.
Several took this as an opportunity to indulge their curiosity. The most common question they asked was how the two of us ended up together. Annabelle and I stuck with the story we told the others at the tea party. We met each other again in Rosewood City, and ended up falling for each other hard. A few were skeptical of us, given our sudden change in attitude towards one another, but everyone else loved our story. It was a classic tale of enemies to lovers.
Several young lords made snide remarks about me, calling me whipped and collared. I ignored their comments, since I could tell they stemmed from jealousy and envy. Annabelle was a beautiful woman with high status and powerful magic. In short, she was a great catch. Many of these same young lords no doubt hoped to snag Annabelle for themselves. Too bad for them, that was never going to happen.
Annabelle and I also made sure to dance with each other, since we had the opportunity. At first glance, many assumed Annabelle wasn’t great at dancing. That couldn’t be further from the truth. While she wasn’t the most graceful and elegant dancer, she had an energy and liveliness to her that gave her dancing a certain vitality. Keeping up with her wasn’t easy, but I was more than up to the challenge.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Around the halfway mark, House Thorne came by to retrieve Annabelle. With great reluctance, the two of us separated. Lord Dominic seemed particularly smug about this, which irritated me to no end. Lord and Lady Thorne, on the other hand, seemed apologetic. Lord Miles, to my surprise, just seemed downcast.
I wandered about the banquet hall with no particular destination in mind, looking around. The sound of countless conversations filled my ears, with music playing in the background. Dozens of scents lingered in the air; perfumes and colognes from the nearby House scions. In the distance, I saw my parents chatting with some of their friends, accompanied by Kaylee. It looked like they were establishing Kaylee as heir to House Sturm. Father made the announcement some time ago, but it didn’t hurt to reinforce her position.
I saw Lady Calla with Lady Teresa. The two of them occupied an alcove. Based on the excited expressions on their faces, it looked like they were enjoying a riveting conversation. Lord Oliver played bodyguard for Lord Asher, who was dressed in the Solarian Imperial Academy’s uniform. So, he was a student as well.
That didn’t surprise me. Most House scions started attending the academy when they were fifteen or sixteen. Like with high school on Earth, it took about four years to graduate. However, some attended when they were older, like Annabelle, for one reason or another. In her case, it was because she was an Otherworlder and attended the academy as a way to learn more about Lumina.
After we separated, I didn’t see Annabelle or her family. Nor did I see Elizabeth, who now served as Annabelle’s lady-in-waiting. Well, that didn’t surprise me. The banquet hall was quite large. At least this made it easy to avoid Lady Isabella. Given Annabelle’s jealous streak, it was best to keep my distance from her for now.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
This set me apart, since everyone else here wanted to do the opposite. The welcoming party was one of the few opportunities where scions from middling and minor Houses could meet with scions from the Great Houses.
When I saw them earlier, Lord Asher and Lord Oliver were surrounded by a large group of students and their families. If it weren’t for Lord Oliver, whose size deterred too many people from approaching, Lord Asher might have been completely swarmed.
I thought about approaching Lord Asher, to see if I could salvage relations between House Griffin and House Sturm, but held off. I wanted to resolve the situation with House Shelton first, since that would affect things going forward. While I wanted to make a connection with House Griffin, I didn’t want to give them the impression that we were suck-ups or pushovers.
Servers carrying trays flitted about, offering food or drinks to the guests. I grabbed a glass of wine from a server, if only to have something to carry. Besides, the wine offered by the Solarian Imperial Academy was of the highest quality. Why not enjoy their hospitality while I was here?
As I wandered about, with no particular goal in mind, stares and whispers followed in my wake. None of the students or their family members approached me, now that I was alone. To them, I was an object of curiosity and interest, given everything that happened. However, befriending me or making a connection was a gamble on their part.
Yes, I was a scion of House Sturm and I was now courting Annabelle, which were positives. I also had a high magical aptitude, and I had somehow restored my Circles. However, people also remembered my feud with Annabelle from last year. Not only that, but becoming an adventurer and my actions in Rosewood City were also marks against me. Plus, there was the situation with House Shelton.
Feuds erupted between Houses at the slightest provocation. If House Sturm and House Shelton ended up in one, others could get dragged into it as well. Rather than risk that, it was safer for others to keep their distance from me for now and observe. Not that I minded in the slightest.
Thanks to the tea party at Thorne Manor, and this welcoming party, I realized that I had lost my taste for House society. Before I regained the memories of my past lives, I reveled in it; rather, I reveled in the attention I received. After losing to Annabelle and regaining my memories, I realized that there were more important things to life than social status and the fickle adoration of others.
Family and friends, for one. My actions last year harmed those I cared about the most, and I would not make that same mistake twice. Training and increasing my personal power was also important. The ultimate goal of cultivation while in the mortal realm was to achieve immortality.
Dealing with House society, while useful, could also become a distraction. I would do it, if necessary, but I would rather spend my time on more useful endeavors. That was one of the reasons why I stepped down as heir to House Sturm, so I could focus on my cultivation.
Still, since I was here, I might as well use this time to my advantage. I started to head towards my family, so I could put myself at their disposal, when a figure caught my eye. I saw a tall blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man leaning against one of the pillars. He nursed a cup of wine, and studied the crowd with a bemused expression on his face.
Hadley Ward, my former roommate and, potentially, Grand Priest Darius’ kin.
Hmm, scratch that. My parents could wait. I owed Hadley an apology for my behavior last year. That, and I wanted to find out for sure if he was related to Grand Priest Darius.
I started to make my way towards Hadley, but a loud voice called out to me, cutting through the background noise.
“There you are, Lord Gabriel, you gutless dog!” the voice said.
I stopped and looked in the direction the voice came from. A young man wearing the academy’s uniform approached, glaring at me with an arrogant sneer on his face. He had light brown skin, dark hair, and dark brown eyes. His face looked familiar, though I knew I had never met him before. Based on his apparent age, late teens or early twenties, I guessed he was a fourth-year student.
A familiar trio followed behind him. They were the retainers who had accompanied Lord Asher to the tea party at House Thorne: Fucker One, Fucker Two, and Fucker Three. The oldest, Fucker One, wore the uniform of a House Griffin retainer. Fucker Two and Fucker Three wore the academy’s uniform.
Ah, he was from House Shelton. That was why he looked familiar.
The arrogant young man stopped a few feet from me, encroaching on my personal space. He radiated “arrogant young master” energy, something I was quite familiar with. Not only had I dealt with a lot of arrogant young masters, during my life as Celestial Thunder, but I had been one myself before Annabelle knocked some sense into me.
From his attitude, and the way the other three hovered around him, I guessed that this young man was someone important among House Shelton’s younger generation. Either the heir or the spare.
The young man’s tone and words attracted a lot of attention. Everyone else gave us a wide berth, while simultaneously crowding around to see what the commotion was about. More than a few people wore expressions of eager anticipation. Whatever happened, it was bound to be entertaining.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from my people,” the arrogant young master said. “Now that I’ve seen you for myself, you don’t look like much at all.”
Despite the insult, I sipped my wine and waited for him to get to the point of this little speech.
Fucker One, Fucker Two, and Fucker Three wore triumphant smirks on their faces.
“You and the rest of your misbegotten House have been hiding from us like the cowards you are,” the arrogant young master continued. “You were right to hide. Now that you’ve slinked out of that crumbling ruin you call a manor, it’s time to face the consequences of your actions.”
He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but I held up a hand to cut him off.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice filled with confusion. “But who are you?”
The arrogant young master blinked at me, as if he couldn’t believe I didn’t know who he was, before his face twisted with anger.
“Pretending not to know who I am won’t sav-…”
“No,” I said, interrupting him again. “I really don’t know who you are.” I gestured to the trio behind. “I know those three, since I’ve seen them before, but you’re a complete unknown to me.”
The arrogant young master snorted, before puffing up his chest.
“Fine then,” he said. “I shall correct your ignorance. I am Wilbur Shelton, young master and heir to House Shelton.”
I blinked at him, wearing an innocent expression on his face.
“Good for you,” I said. “What can I do for you Lord Wilbur?”
Confusion filled Lord Wilbur’s eyes. Things were not going as he expected. It had taken me less than a second to figure out what his intentions were. By publicly insulting me and my House in a crowded space, Lord Wilbur’s goal was to rile me up, putting me on the back foot.
After accomplishing that, he would accuse me of the crimes that I very much committed, before making some kind of demand. Either Lord Wilbur would demand compensation for stealing from his House, in addition to returning what we stole, or he would demand a duel to satisfy the honor of his House. If he made compensating his House one of the conditions for him winning the duel, he could get both.
By making these demands in public, after pissing me off, the pressure from the crowd would all but force me to accept. At least, that was the idea.
Was this it? When House Shelton remained quiet for the past few days, and after hearing Lord Oliver’s warning, I thought that they would have something more…Well, more in store for us. Instead, they pulled this bullshit.
I found myself disappointed in House Shelton, and annoyed at myself for being so worried about them. Well, it wasn’t House Shelton that worried me. It was House Griffin. By themselves, House Shelton wasn’t much of a threat to House Sturm. They were like a lap dog, barking at us and baring their teeth. However, the moment anything big and scary threatened them, they would scurry behind their master for protection.
Just thinking about the whole ordeal worsened my headache.
“I’m here to make you answer for your crimes against my House,” Lord Wilbur said, having lost some of his steam. “Or do you intend to pretend ignorance for that as well?”
“If you’re talking about the incident involving the cat magic beast,” I said. “Then no, I fully admit to stealing it from House Shelton.”
The crowd broke out into whispers at my words.
“My sister and I wanted to buy a pet for my little brother,” I continued. “When I saw the cat magic beast, I knew that it was perfect for our purposes, so I took it.”
“Ha!” Lord Wilbur said, pointing a finger at me. “So you do admit to stealing from House Shelton!”
“Yes,” I said, in a tone implying that he was an idiot. “I just said that.” I shrugged. “House Sturm is more than willing to compensate House Shelton for the trouble we’ve caused.” I put on an annoyed expression. “If you had messaged us, we could have arranged a meeting to discuss the matter. Instead, you decided to turn it into a public spectacle.”
The crowd around us whispered some more, this time in disapproval of Lord Wilbur’s actions. The three Fuckers looked around. When they realized that public opinion was turning against them, their expressions fell.
Lord Wilbur’s face turned red, either from anger, embarrassment, or both.
“As if we would give you the chance to weasel your way out.” he said.
“Lord Wilbur!” I said in a sharp voice. “That is enough. Yes, I wronged House Shelton with my actions, but you are out of line. I will not stand here while you insult my House like this. This discussion is over. If you wish to continue it later on, feel free to send a message to Sturm Manor. For now, I’m done tolerating your boorishness.”
With that, I turned on my heel and started to walk away.
“Don’t you try to escape!” Lord Wilbur said.
He grabbed my shoulder and yanked me around. I hadn’t planned for this, but I might as well take advantage of the opening he gave me. I “stumbled” around and splashed the wine remaining in my glass onto Lord Wilbur’s uniform, leaving a large dark stain.
“Lord Wilbur!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing?”
His face turned an interesting shade of purple.
“You…!” he said, unable to finish his sentence.
He reached for me again, this time with both hands, but a voice called out and stopped him.
“Is there a problem here?”
We both turned to find Dean Waller standing near us, looking like the kind grandfather that he pretended to be. Trista Matthews, the vice dean of the Solarian Imperial Academy, stood behind him.
Vice Dean Matthews was a thin, severe looking woman with pale skin, long dark hair, and brown eyes. She wore black robes and a pair of spectacles, completing the whole “strict teacher” aesthetic she had going on.
“Dean Waller, Vice Dean Matthews,” I said, bowing to them both. “Lord Wilbur and I were just having a discussion, which grew too heated. I apologize for any trouble we may have caused for the academy and its guests.”
“I see,” Dean Waller said, walking up to us. “Is this true, Lord Wilbur Shelton?”
Lord Wilbur looked like he had swallowed a lemon. He didn’t want to agree with me, but it was the lesser of two evils. Getting on Dean Waller’s bad side was a terrible idea, especially since Lord Wilbur was still a student.
“Yes, Dean Waller,” he said, also bowing to the dean and vice dean, looking every inch the perfect House scion.
The stain on his uniform and the stench of wine wafting off of him ruined the image, however.
“Good,” Dean Waller said with a nod, wearing a gentle smile on his face. “Parties are meant to be filled with joy, not discord.” His smile disappeared and he gave us both a hard look. “From now on, keep such discussions outside of the academy, where they belong. This is neither the time nor the place for them.”
To emphasize his point, the dean pressured us with some of his aura, just enough to let us know that he was serious. Even so, I had difficulty resisting it. The pressure certainly didn’t do my headache any favors. Lord Wilbur stumbled back a few steps, but remained on his feet.
In the face of Dean Waller’s overwhelming might, we only had one response.
“Yes, Dean Waller,” Lord Wilbur and I said at the same time.
“Excellent,” the dean said. The pressure from his aura disappeared and his smile returned. “It warms my heart that you two are such quick learners.” He glanced at Lord Wilbur. “Why don’t you run along and clean yourself up, Lord Wilbur?”
Without another word, Lord Wilbur bowed and hurried away with the three Fuckers in tow. That didn’t stop him from throwing me a dirty look before he disappeared.
Prick.
“I suggest that the rest of you run along as well,” the dean said to everyone surrounding us.
With that, the crowd dispersed, leaving me alone with Dean Waller. I turned to leave as well, but the dean’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Lord Gabriel,” he said, giving me a stern look. “I see that trouble continues to follow you around.”
“That’s hardly a fair statement, Dean Waller,” I protested, facing him once again. “Lord Wilbur is the one who accosted me first. I also tried to disengage without escalating the situation further.”
“You are correct, which is why you are still here,” Dean Waller said. “Otherwise, I would have had you thrown out of the academy’s grounds already.”
Yikes. I hadn’t known I was that close to the edge. I guess the dean’s opinion of me had been lower than I realized.
“Still,” Dean Waller continued as his expression softened. “It’s good to see that you’ve gained some insight and wisdom in the year since we last saw each other.”
“I had a lot of time to reflect on my actions,” I said.
The dean nodded.
“Good.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Enjoy the rest of the party. And please try to stay out of trouble.”
With that, Dean Waller walked past me with Vice Dean Matthews in tow. The vice dean gave me a derisive snort as she passed me by. Clearly, she didn’t hold me in high regard.
However, when she neared me, I detected the faintest hint of honeysuckle come from her. It only lasted for a second, before a myriad of other scents washed it away, but I recognized that smell.
Rather than react, and give anything away, I let out a sigh, as if relieved that Dean Waller had let me go without issue. It helped that it was true.
I would let this go for now, but I made a mental note to follow up on it. If nothing else, I needed to inform the Inquisition. If Vice Dean Matthews was indeed the Dark wizard who cursed me and the others, then the situation was even more dire than I realized, given her position. I hoped she wasn’t, but it was better to make sure.
For now, I had more urgent matters to take care of, such as apologizing to Hadley.