In the Kingsley Estate, the Kingsley family sat together at their dining table, eating their evening meal just like every other day. But tonight, the Duke, Cedric Kingsley, noticed something amongst his children.
Adrian moved his food around with his fork. Raven kept glancing at Luke’s empty chair, while Vivan stabbed her food with force, her gaze on Adrian.
"What grievance stands between you all tonight?" Cedric asked, breaking the silence.
As sharp as a blade, Vivian looked at both siblings, trying to warn them not to speak. Yet, Adrian smiled and looked at Cedric, refusing to be silenced.
"Father, Luke has returned to the academy," Adrian said.
He said it intending to unleash his father’s wrath, hoping to end Luke before he could claw his way back to prominence at the academy.
Cedric swallowed the bait. He was so outraged by what he had just heard that he dropped his cutlery and slammed his fist on the dining table.
"What did you say?" he demanded, darkened by rage. How was his useless son able to survive the streets, and why would the academy ever let a disgrace back inside their gates?
"He came back the day before," Adrian explained. "And instead of the teachers and the principal dragging him out as they should have, they just let him stay. They even let him practice with us, and he almost killed a classmate. Now, he’s going to be among the students in the exchange with Rubverton High, where the winner gets to be the next Dux."
"Adrian, that is enough! You are making your father angrier," Roselyn snapped at her son.
Adrian had already told her about Luke, which explained her calmer reaction to the information. This allowed her to be Cedric’s soothing foil as always.
"Honey, please relax. We cannot have rumors spreading outside these walls. Let the academy handle it for now, and we can deal with him privately."
"Quiet, Roselyn!" Cedric roared like a beast. "I don’t care who hears! That waste was supposed to be dead or begging on the streets! If the academy won’t throw him out, then I will personally make sure he never breathes the air of this city again.
I will not let a crippled dog drag the Kingsley name through the dirt! I will end Luke."
"It will be over my dead body before I let you take Luke away or do something bad to him!"
Raven: ?!
Adrian: ?!
Roselyn: ?!
Cedric: What?!
No one at the table could believe what they had just heard, nor who had spoken it. Vivian was standing, her fists folded and her chest heaving with anger, all while staring down at her father ferociously.
"I will disown myself from this family and take Luke to another city far away from here. If you touch even one hair on his head, I swear on my real mother that today will be the very last day you are ever a father to me!"
"Whoa, sis, chill," Raven thought, her eyes searching the table for the ripple effect.
This was the first time Vivian had ever rebelled against the Duke, showing just how far she was willing to go to protect her brother from harm. Cedric and Roselyn could only watch in silence as she turned around and stomped away.
Her departure left the air too thick to sit in, prompting a retreat for the other children.
After excusing himself, Adrian walked casually toward his bedroom, satisfied with the chaos he had orchestrated. He didn’t hear Raven close the distance until her hand caught his and forced him to face her.
But he didn’t look at her unarmed.
The aura of the Golden Griffin illuminated Adrian’s eyes, telling Raven to back off or face the consequences. Yet Raven countered as a smoky mirage of her wolf backed her shoulders.
"I hope you are happy with the mess you have made," Raven spat. "What a great Duke you would be."
She released his arm, turned around, and walked away to her room without looking back.
The malice between the Kingsley siblings continued on the following day.
Inside the car, no one spoke a word. Vivian couldn’t wait to find Luke and make sure he was safe from their father’s threats, while Adrian couldn’t wait to see Luke’s gauntlet again in another fight with a stronger opponent.
As for Raven, she remained the neutral one. When the car dropped them off at the academy, she was the first to notice that the campus had started making preparations for the arrival of Rubverton High tomorrow morning.
A group of students approached the siblings as soon as they arrived.
The students were Jax, Leo, Mark, Miquelon, and Chloe.
All the boys wore bright faces, making Adrian wonder what they were so pleased about. Only Chloe looked gloomy. Ever since her elf almost got killed by Luke, she had been depressed.
"Raven, my wife," Miquelon sang as he embraced her and pecked her on the cheek, but Raven didn’t reciprocate.
Miquelon’s family had been trying to arrange a marriage alliance with the Kingsleys for months, which was why Miquelon acted like they were already a couple. However, Raven thought otherwise.
Some students rumoured that she wasn’t into guys because Miquelon was the best-looking in the academy. Almost every girl crushed on him, yet Raven didn’t care about his existence.
Leo wanted to get a piece of the action too. He tried to embrace Vivan, but she slapped him so hard that she left her handprint.
"Damn, Vivian, you didn’t have to hit that hard! I was just saying hi!"
"Shut up, Leo, you deserved it," Jax and the rest laughed.
"Cut to the chase," Adrian said. "Did you guys just meet up with us to fool around? Did the principal agree to the petition to expel Luke?"
"From what we have just learned, expelling Luke is actually far from possible now," Miquelon answered, irony in his tone.
"What did you learn? Speak clearly," Adrian demanded.
Silence fell over the group as Miquelon and the others collectively looked at Vivian.
The urgency in Adrian’s voice had drawn a line in the sand, and they all knew she stood on the wrong side of it. Vivian shouldn’t be anywhere near a plot for Luke’s downfall. She was 100% in support of him.
"We can’t talk in front of his fan club," Mark whispered to Miquelon, and Miquelon nodded.
"Vivian, I don’t want you present for this conversation. Please, leave us."
Vivian spat on the ground near Miquelon’s feet.
"I don’t even want to be here with you idiots anyway," she growled angrily and walked away without looking back.
Once Vivian left the circle, Adrian stepped forward anxiously, suspecting that this news was a threat to his status in the family and in the academy.
"Tell me right now," he said, and Miquelon gestured to the back of the group.
"Chloe is the source. She stumbled onto the truth on her way to submit the petition."
Chloe breathed in and out as the other six students looked at her.
"I heard it from the office door," she began. "The principal, her vice, and the Dean were reviewing the awakening results...
Luke isn’t a weakling. His soul is Ancient-tier... with Mythic potential."