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12. Battles in the Shadows
🕑 Added 2022-01-13 18:27:19 +0000 UTC“Father!” August exclaimed with a piece of juicy steak embedded in his fork before taking another hearty bite. His wide and creepy smile threatened to split his face in half.
A tired old man sat half slumped in his chair. He glanced at his ‘son’ and let out a deep sigh.
“What. August,” he said in a tone one would use when speaking to a thing rather than a person.
“I met the most fascinating individual today at university. He disrespected my authority, so I suggested he had a duel with the Head Professor. I had to offer him a position as Head Librarian for him to agree, so I hope you can apply some pressure on the Dean.”
Edward just gave his son a disgusted glance, “August I have told you many times, authority is earned not given. If the man shows disrespect, it means he does not respect you personally or has a higher station in life than you.”
“How can some loser nobody working as a teaching assistant in my university be of higher status than me?” August roared while slamming his cutlery hard on the table. The maids surrounding the table didn't even bat an eyelid at the display, except from one timid maid behind August called Evelyn.
A human woman with the same blonde hair as August patted him on the shoulder, “You are right to be mad my little August, how dare some nobody disrespects my boy?”
Edward raised his voice a little at the duo, “Elizabeth stop allowing and encouraging your son's behavior, also young man, you do not own the university as much as you try.”
August's face twisted in many ways before relaxing and being replaced with his normal, dazzling smile. “You are right, dear Father, I still don’t own the university, at least not yet.”
Elizabeth noticed that her husband had ignored her son's heartfelt request to apply political pressure on the Dean, so she whispered “Don’t worry Aug I will have a personal talk with the Dean.”
She said it in a low whisper, but the long pointed ears of the two women sitting opposite Elizabeth and August twitched as they heard everything.
August then said the same thing he always did, “Father I am simply preparing the university for my precious little sister, if I don’t have total control over all the staff working how can I make sure nobody bullies her?”
Edward had a visible frown on his weathered and aged face, but it softened when he peeked at his beautiful elf wife, Kaylessa, and their only daughter Emilia. Compared to August, who is a sinister bastard, Emilia is like the golden light of his life.
Despite knowing August is leading him by the nose, the idea of Emilia being bullied in university caused him to turn a blind eye to August's slow takeover of the university. He only noticed how deep his son's reach really went recently. It was quite frightening that a 20-year-old had such capabilities to win over so many people to his side.
The meal continued in its usual awkward silence until King Edward addressed Emilia,
“Emi dear, how are your studies going? Still having trouble with magic?”
Emilia saw her brother's mocking gaze, at only 20 years old he already had A grade in necromancy and B grade in Aerokinesis. The necromancy was a secret as it was banned, Emilia knew her brother's secret but didn’t wish to reveal them just yet.
“I am still stuck at C grade with Luna magic” she admitted sadly. Edwards' heart ached to see his precious daughter sad, but there was nothing he could do. The books for Luna magic were still back in the Silvermoon clan's base, which had been raided and destroyed by the Oshal empire 20 years ago. It was also such a rare type of magic.
King Edward had found a few tutors over the years that helped Emilia raise her magic from F to C grade, but they all mysteriously went missing. Edward had a slight suspicion it was the work of his son August but had no evidence, and he seemed to like his sister…
After another 10 minutes, the meal was finished and the Royal family of Kassinki bid each other good night and left towards their respective areas of the palace.
Emilia watched as the seductress with short blonde hair left with her disgusting son towards the western wing of the palace, flanked by an army of maids, including Evelyn. She then turned to see her mother's kind but worried eyes. She had long silver hair that curved around her pointed ears, she was rather short but had a large presence that matched her Royal background.
Although she is called Kaylessa Greentail now, she was once Queen of the Silvermoon clan that resided near the Kazimir mountain range in the north.
“Dear, don’t worry so much,” she said, tracing the back of her silky smooth hand across her cheek. “I am still looking for a suitable teacher or any records that survived the war, I have my agents working around the clock. I'm sure something will come up soon!”
“Sure, I appreciate it,” Emilia answered with a slight smile. “Goodnight.”
The two departed ways and Emilia entered her own room. She made sure to lock her door before sitting at her desk. Her previous smile had completely vanished.
“Imryll,” she said in a low voice. The room hummed for a moment, but then went silent. A woman clad in black appeared kneeling next to her.
“My brother's influence has grown too much lately,” Emilia stated in a cold tone.
“It has my Princess” she answered in a professional and subservient tone.
“Do you have any news on my brother's shadows?”
Emilia had been given access to a portion of her mother's agents as an 18th birthday present. She had control over around 100 highly trained elites that guard her against the shadows and also gather intel on her enemies.
“Princess, Prince August's intel network is large and powerful, the bad part is that none of them were gifted to him by his mother, Queen Elizabeth also has her own intel network. It's effectively a two versus one situation, and our resources are spread thin while trying to track down those missing Luna teachers and books.”
Imryll seemed to hesitate for a second and continued after seeing Emilia nod, “My Queen is also fighting some enemies from Oshal in the dark, further spreading our people thin.”
Emilia let out a deep sigh, “The sentinels of Oshal are making a move?”
“Yes Princess, it seems Duke Henson is behind their deployment, they are trying to gather intel on someone inside our borders, but we don’t know the identity of the target yet, except that it's an escaped Baron's daughter.”
Emilia entered deep thought but couldn't think of any Baron daughters inside Kassinki that could cause the Duke to move Oshal’s special forces. “Do you have any intel on that assistant professor that August mentioned at the diner table today?”
Imryll shook her head, “August has complete control over the school, 20% of the students are estimated to be agents working directly in his intel network, they make sure any news regarding August's movements within the university is kept a secret.”
“I know our resources are spread thin Imryll, but can you get some information on this teaching assistant? I feel August had an unusual obsession with him from the glint in his eye.”
“Your wish is my command.” The room hummed again, and the woman disappeared as if she was never there. Neither the window nor the door opened or closed to allow the women to leave.
