༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (8) ༻
Once again, dawn broke out.
Yesterday’s events seemed like fragments of a dream. In my hazy state, I fumbled around searching for my canteen.
A solid weight met my touch with a thud. Swiftly, in a familiar motion, I took large gulps and the water rushed down my throat.
Clarity returned to my mind. I sat up straight.
The events of the previous night began to replay in my mind. Although yesterday felt more like a daze, upon reflection, I realised I had accomplished quite a lot.
Firstly, I got to know about the incident involving the princess.
And I also communicated to Senior Elsie that we shouldn’t meet for a while.
Her expression at that time was pitiful, almost on the verge of tears, clinging desperately to my clothes. Pleading eyes gazed up at me as she questioned.
“Is it… is it because E-Elsie did something wrong? I’m… I’m sorry… I won’t… I won’t repeat it… So… please don’t abandon me……”
I was momentarily shaken by her response, but I forced myself to remain composed.
It was for Senior Elsie’s own good. A sigh involuntarily escaped my lips.
“Senior Elsie, it’s not like that. You understand why I’m doing this…”
As a parting gesture, I tenderly stroked her head before turning away. However, even after getting her favourite reward, tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
The soft sound of her quiet sobbing, echoing like raindrops, lingered in my mind.
That memory still weighed on me. I absentmindedly tapped my canteen and took another gulp of the cold water.
Come to think of it, there was an incident early in the morning as well.
The sound of persistent knocks on the door reached my ears. Initially, I thought it was a mistake and ignored it, but when this mischief continued for nearly two hours, my patience was stretched to its limit.
I guess there are endless ways to annoy someone if one sets their mind to it.
Clearly, someone wanted to gift me a sleepless night. So, I decided to return the favour.
A surprise gift should be enough.
After lurking behind the door for a few minutes, I finally sensed someone approaching.
I held my breath, erasing any trace of my presence. Just as someone was about to knock, I swiftly swung the door open.
Before me stood a male student, eyes widened in surprise.
A group of students, seemingly accompanying him, were standing behind him. I flashed a slight smile in their direction.
I yanked back the hand he was about to use to knock.
Then, with a thud, the door slammed shut once again. Until the very last moment, the group of male students were oblivious to what had just happened.
The boy sprawled on the living room floor gazed up at me with puzzled eyes. There was no need for him to gaze at me with such curiosity, you know.
With a resounding thump, my fist collided with his face.
The sound of his nasal bone collapsing and cartilage cracking echoed. The boy instantly screamed in pain, clutching his face.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh!”
Only then did I hear the whispers from outside, and it was soon followed by forceful pounding on my door. Of course, at this point it didn’t really matter.
The door was locked, and unless they had the courage to break it down, the boy was practically at my mercy.
I quickly straddled him, unleashing a barrage of punches.
Bam, bam, bam.
Three strikes were all it took.
Initially, his screams echoed, but following the first punch that sent his teeth flying, the second blow left him only capable of letting out feeble whimpering sounds.
And by the third, his face was covered in bruises, and his choked sobs grated on my ears.
“St-stop… wh-what did I do wrong……”
Suppressing a scoff of disbelief, I punched him again.
Uggghhh, the man writhed intensely from the punch. Although I was tempted to land another punch, I restrained myself. He clearly wasn’t affiliated with the Knight Division.
If I went too far, he could die. Struggling to rein in my emotions, I questioned the whimpering student.
“Then why did you try to provoke me?”
“I’ll… I’ll report you… Sob… I’ll get you… expelled… Arghhhhhh!
Without hesitation, I snapped the finger of the man who was wiping his tears, making it twitch as it snapped backwards with a crunching sound.
He convulsed in sharp pain once again. Only then did a faint smile appear on my face.
“Did you really think someone who messed with the Imperial Family would fear mere expulsion?”
Suddenly, a look of sheer terror filled his eyes. They quivered as he looked at me.
It seemed he never imagined I’d react this way.
Which just added to my puzzlement.
Logically, it made no sense for someone audacious enough to provoke the Imperial Family to fear expulsion. Yet, every time I caught one of these bastards, they kept threatening me with ‘expulsion.’
It was the student’s trembling voice that answered my confusion.
“D-Didn’t the princess save you from getting expelled?”
What a load of bullshit.
The academy’s traditions were deeply rooted, and the Imperial Family had always respected its authority. This had been the norm since the reign of one of the empire’s greatest emperors, Emperor Aedalus.
The Imperial Family had never once interfered with the academy’s regulations.
Adhering to this long-standing tradition, the Imperial Family made it a principle not to intervene in incidents within the academy.
Even if the Imperial Family faced disrespect, their stance remained unchanged.
For matters of physical harm, they might intervene, but for a minor altercation, they wouldn’t step in, as it would tarnish the authority they’d upheld for centuries.
Instead, the Imperial Family preferred to work behind the scenes.
For example, they might dispatch one of the five prestigious households of the empire or leverage their connections to apply pressure.
The princess’s current approach towards me wasn’t very different. Therefore, the likelihood that the princess had approached the academy’s disciplinary committee was implausible.
No gambler bets on a certain loss. It was obvious that my actions would be deemed self-defence.
Splashing water on her was wrong, but charging at someone with a real sword with the intent to kill was far worse. Hence, my reaction was justified.
Within the academy, whether one hailed from the Imperial Family, nobility, or commoner status, everyone was simply a student. The likelihood of the disciplinary committee ignoring this principle was exceedingly low.
Hence, the idea that the princess had spared me from expulsion was baseless from the start.
Sure, if the Imperial Family chose to act, they could. But there was no reason to go out of their way for a princess so low in the line of succession.
If the First Prince or the Second Princess, both rumoured strong contenders for the throne, were involved, it might have been a different story. However, Cien was far less powerful and influential compared to them.
This made me all the more suspicious.
Most nobles in the empire were known to be blindly loyal to the Imperial Family. Even so, that didn’t mean they’d be so oblivious to fundamental truths like this.
There could be only one explanation. Someone was spreading false information.
Now, the remaining questions were who, why, and for what purpose.
“The princess saved me from expulsion? Who said so?”
“They… They said you unjustly assaulted Her Highness…”
“I barely roughed up her guards, I never laid a finger on the princess.”
However, the male student looked at me with eyes clouded by distrust.
Tsk, I clicked my tongue in irritation.
I was certain. Distorted rumours were circulating within the academy.
However, as far as I knew, there was no group within the academy capable of such manipulation.
While some influential families could control the rumours, they could only muffle voices. The truth eventually found a way to spread.
But the attitude of this male student was entirely different.
He seemed to genuinely trust the information.
That could only mean there existed a group capable of manipulating information to a degree where they could suppress the testimonies of dozens of witnesses from that day. And all this for the sake of the Fifth Princess, who wasn’t even close to the throne’s line of succession.
With a sarcastic smile, I delivered the final blow.
Crack, the sound of the bone cracking echoed and the male student lost consciousness.
His head thudded as it dropped. Thankfully, from his breathing, it seemed he hadn’t died.
I searched through his belongings. Since the dormitory I stayed in was filled with lower-ranked nobles, if he was a noble, he would undoubtedly have a protective dagger or two.
Sure enough, I found a slightly crude dagger on him. I placed the weapon in the limp man’s hand and then lightly grazed my cheek with it.
This met the minimum condition to claim self-defence.
Just as I was about to throw the unconscious student out of the room, a grey piece of paper slipped from his inner pocket, catching my attention.
I paused and picked it up. It was a newspaper.
It seemed there was at least one place I needed to visit.
I tucked the newspaper under my arm, dragged the male student, opened the door, and tossed him out.
His companions outside, who had been anxiously pacing to and fro, stared at me wide-eyed. I flashed them a quick smile.
“He’s quite aggressive, isn’t he? I tried to have a conversation with him, and he just attacked me out of the blue.”
Their expressions were of disbelief, but upon seeing the battered face of their friend, their faces turned pale.
The silence turned awkward, so I cleared my throat and added.
“If anyone else wants to talk to me in the future, feel free to knock on my door. Well then…Bye.”
After that, no students knocked on my door.
I should have done that earlier, I thought, as I went to fill my canteen.
However, my hand paused as a thought crossed my mind. Subtly, my eyes shifted towards a bottle of alcohol.
It reminded me of my freshman days. On particularly lazy days, when I didn’t feel like training or studying, I used to fill my canteen with alcohol and sip from it throughout the day.
Today seemed destined to be one of those bitter days.
After a moment’s hesitation, I poured an entire bottle of whiskey into my canteen.
Another day had begun.
Today was the day to ponder how to counter the Imperial Princess.
**
It happened when I was lazily strolling to collect the mail.
Normally, each dormitory room had designated mailboxes. However, this morning, the state of my mailbox was unspeakable.
The mailbox had the word “Die” written in red ink, which was already unusual, but the fact that it was also stuffed with various trash and leftover food made it even more so.
Such a typical method of harassment.
Ultimately, the post office decided I couldn’t receive mail normally. They sent me a notice, asking me to come and collect it in person.
Having the Imperial Family as an enemy was certainly bothersome. Such thoughts crossed my mind as I yawned, and a group emerging from an alley suddenly caught my eye.
They were laughing and brushing their hands as they walked out, but the moment they saw me they froze.
Then, after sneaking a few glances at me, they hastily fled.
My puzzled gaze trailed them. Suddenly, a bad feeling engulfed me, and I dashed into the alley.
There was a pile of trash in the alley. For aesthetic reasons, the dormitory’s waste disposal was located in such alleys.
And in that mound of trash, a very familiar face was buried.
“Leto!”
Groaning and struggling amidst the trash, he tossed a banana peel off his head and spoke.
“…You’re here, Ian.”
Though, he seemed quite displeased.
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