“I... huff... I... I won’t... I won’t allow it...”

  “Easy, Eleanor. Take a second. Catch your breath, then speak.”

  Eleanor had clearly sprinted here at full speed. Sweat had soaked her hair, and that flame-red mane now looked like a tangled skein of yarn. Her bangs clung to her forehead, her face was bright red, and she looked a complete mess.

  Antonio flinched at the sudden roar, but he recovered quickly. With a flick of magic, he produced a chair and gestured for Eleanor to sit and steady herself.

  Jules stood at once, tea in hand, and hurried over. He pressed a cup of warm tea into Eleanor’s hands and patted her back gently when she started wheezing like she had a stitch in her side.

  Eleanor took a quick, careful sip, regained a little composure, handed the cup back to Jules, then rose and performed a proper curtsy.

  “Good afternoon, honored deans. I apologize for appearing before you in such an undignified state. I’m Eleanor Francisca, third in line of the Francisca family. I know barging in like this was improper, and I’m deeply sorry.”

  Antonio stood and returned a formal noble’s salute.

  “Think nothing of it, Eleanor. Seeing you this flustered is a first for me. Still, it suits you. Young people should look alive once in a while. It’s a moment worth remembering.”

  His tone shifted, just slightly.

  “However, you do need to explain why you stormed into a council chamber. Otherwise, I’ll have to regretfully inform you that this sort of behavior comes with lost credits and several weeks of detention.”

  “Please don’t believe that woman’s lies! Professor Innis didn’t break a single rule. Please don’t impeach her!”

  “Hm... what? Excuse me, could you...”

  “Please, Headmaster! Professor Innis’s class is incredible! I learned more than I ever expected. I’m asking you in the name of the Francisca family, please don’t dismiss her!”

  Antonio glanced at Enid.

  Enid glanced back.

  Just one look, and they exchanged an entire conversation, the kind of silent understanding you only got after five hundred years of teacher and student.

  Antonio’s look said, Not bad, teacher. You won them over fast. Still got it.

  Enid’s look said, She’s a good kid. If you dare bully her, I promise you’ll regret it.

  Antonio’s look said, Me? Bully? That hurts. After all we’ve been through?

  Enid’s look said, I know exactly what you’re like. Stop playing around and comfort her. She’s about to cry.

  After that single glance carried far more than it had any right to, Enid stayed where she was and watched Antonio handle it.

  Antonio, who had been tempted to tease Eleanor for half a second, decided he liked having his spine intact. He continued calmly.

  “Before we decide anything, I have to ask. How did you know we were meeting here, and how did you know the topic was Professor Innis’s impeachment?”

  Eleanor answered honestly.

  “I went to Professor Innis’s office because I wanted help and guidance on the course material. The door was locked. I waited for a long time and no one came. I was about to leave and try again later when Cassim found me and told me everything that was happening here...”

  She didn’t get to finish.

  The chamber gained another guest.

  “Huff... huff... Eleanor, please don’t run that fast. It’s not very ladylike, and it forces me to break a gentleman’s duty to protect a lady. Also, pushing the magic lift into overload is genuinely dangerous...”

  Cassim stopped short the moment he saw who was in the room.

  “Oh... um... deans? Headmaster. Miss Innis. And... Margot. Good afternoon?”

  Cassim had chased Eleanor and accidentally sprinted straight into a room packed with the school’s heaviest hitters.

  Realizing how badly he’d just blundered, his legs went weak. He wanted to kneel. He also knew he absolutely shouldn’t.

  The Empire’s hierarchy was brutal, sure, but the Academy loved to talk about equality. Besides, everyone knew the saying. A man’s knees were worth more than gold. If he knelt now, he might as well pack his bags and vanish.

  Caroline chose that moment to speak, voice perfectly timed.

  “Well, Margot’s ‘witness’ is here. Let’s hear how he plans to smear Professor Innis.”

  Felicité followed, crisp as a drill sergeant.

  “Cassim, choose your words carefully. Anything you say may be treated as formal testimony.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Howard added, sounding irritated and winded in equal measure.

  “Don’t choke at the important part, Cassim.”

  Komas, who hadn’t spoken once and had been writing in a book the whole time, finally lifted his head and offered his first words.

  “Begin your... story.”

  Cassim knelt anyway.

  Honestly, who was he kidding. No matter how brave he thought he was, being stared down by this many deans was enough to make anyone’s heart try to climb out of their throat.

  Compared to this, Miss Innis was terrifyingly impressive. She was still standing there like it was just another Tuesday.

  Before Cassim could say a word, Jules answered Antonio in Eleanor’s place.

  “I called him here. I also slipped him a note and told him to bring my niece. I just didn’t expect Professor Innis to... ahem... also be summoned here at the exact same time.”

  Jules put extra weight on the words exact same time. It was obvious he’d already seen Antonio scribbling a magic letter and tossing it out the window.

  No one in that room was naive. Everyone understood what “exact same time” really meant.

  Caroline reacted the hardest. Had Professor Innis seen her losing her temper? Professor Innis didn’t seem like the type to eavesdrop. Right? Probably not. Hopefully not.

  Antonio’s expression turned serious, though the corner of his mouth still twitched upward. He cleared his throat, making it clear he wanted everyone to pretend none of that happened and get back on track.

  In the end, it all circled back to the same issue, whether there was a witness who could prove Innis had used curses.

  Margot looked at Innis like she’d already won.

  What she didn’t expect was Cassim calmly stating he hadn’t seen Innis use any curses, or even magic at all.

  Margot stared at him, stunned, but Cassim stuck to his claim.

  Margot snapped, cutting him off as her voice climbed into something almost manic.

  “No! Cassim, why are you lying? You were there! You saw that bizarre way she teaches, the way she treats the students!”

  Cassim answered smoothly.

  “Margot, don’t accuse people out of thin air. I watched the entire class, which is exactly why I’m clearing Professor Innis’s name.”

  Margot’s face twisted as she pushed on.

  “I know you want the Natural Faculty Dean seat! Why wouldn’t you kick her while she’s down right now? This is the best chance you’ll ever get to drive her out of the academy!”

  Cassim replied like it barely mattered.

  “Yes, I do want that position. But I’m only a lecturer. Things happen step by step, by procedure.”

  He paused.

  “As for Professor Innis, I’ll admit I came in with my own questions. I did test the waters. But...”

  He lifted his chin slightly. His gaze sharpened, steady and decisive, and the air around him seemed to tighten with a presence that made people instinctively listen.

  “I want to be dean because I want to fix what’s wrong with the Natural Faculty. Professor Innis is genuinely excellent. And it’s pretty obvious that compared to me, a dream studies lecturer, she’s the one who’s actually suited to lead.”

  Then Cassim looked straight at Margot, and something in his eyes turned unsettlingly cold.

  “And I can’t stand people who hide in the shadows and smear others. Especially the kind of arrogant little person who thinks they’ve got everyone figured out. Are we clear, Margot?”

  Antonio tapped his cane against the floor, a sharp sound that ordered the room back into silence.

  Eleanor also spoke up. In class, Professor Innis hadn’t used any magic. Eleanor had been the one casting. The other students could confirm it.

  As for the “brainwashing” accusation, a priest from the Holy Faculty could check their minds and settle it easily.

  Just as the situation swung in Innis’s favor and Margot’s expression started to crack in increasingly satisfying ways, Howard finally spoke.

  “Even if Professor Innis is innocent of these claims, she still hasn’t proven she didn’t use improper means to enter the academy. Antonio, you said you’d explain.”

  Antonio thought for a moment.

  Then, with everyone watching, he announced the final resolution.

  Professor Innis would give a public lecture on the last day of this week. Faculty and students from all academies would attend and vote. If Professor Innis earned more than half the votes, she would remain as a professor in the Natural Faculty. If not, impeachment would proceed immediately.

  The four deans present all agreed.

  Howard clearly hated it, but with Antonio’s unfriendly stare pinned on him, he had no choice but to accept. With five of the nine deans already in agreement, there was no need to drag the remaining four into it. The decision was sealed.

  Afterward, as Enid stepped out of the chamber, Margot swept past her and shot her a vicious glare.

  Enid still had no idea why Margot had it out for her. She chose to ignore it. She’d always hated arguing with short lived people, especially the stupid ones.

  “Professor Innis!”

  Eleanor jogged up to her. Before Enid could say anything, Eleanor wrapped her arms around Enid’s waist and buried her face deep against Enid’s chest, as if she’d been holding her breath this entire time and finally let it out.

  Enid could only hug Eleanor back in an awkward way, gently patting her head and stroking her back to calm her down. She honestly hadn’t expected Eleanor to react like this.

  Just as Enid was starting to feel completely at a loss, Jules walked up to them.

  “I read Eleanor’s letter. She said your teaching style, and the way you treat students, are unlike anything she’s seen. I assumed she was exaggerating a little,” Jules said. “But seeing her like this, it’s pretty clear you’re someone she trusts, and that you’re the real deal.”

  Only then did Eleanor finally, reluctantly let go of Enid. She stepped behind Jules and started fixing her appearance, which was already a mess.

  Jules and Enid exchanged a formal handshake. After a few polite lines, Jules continued.

  “You already know the Natural Faculty’s teaching quality has been... disappointing for a long time. Eleanor’s love for natural magic goes beyond what you usually see. So meeting a professor like you is, frankly, a rare kind of happiness for her.”

  He sighed, tone softening.

  “That’s why the idea of you being forced out of the academy was unbearable to her. It led to that outburst. I can’t decide whether to call her brave or simply too impulsive.”

  Enid said she didn’t mind at all.

  “It’s fine. Honestly, I admire how much she cares about natural magic, and how hard she works. Talent and effort together, that’s the only way a true prodigy is made. To me, Eleanor is a lovely little genius.”

  Jules’s expression visibly brightened.

  “Hah... I think she’ll be thrilled to hear that.” He gave a small nod. “Speaking as Eleanor’s uncle, I owe you another apology. And speaking as the dean of the Arts Faculty, I want to wish you luck with the public lecture in a few days.”

  His eyes held a quiet interest.

  “I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you bring to the room.”

  Now that Jules had made it clear he was Eleanor’s uncle, Enid couldn’t help noticing how similar their hair colors were. So that was the family resemblance.

  Which also meant Eleanor’s father was the Duke of Francisca, and her mother was the Duke of Drasco’s younger sister. Two ducal houses at her back, and an uncle who clearly doted on her, she had protection on every side.

  And yet Eleanor didn’t act like most noble girls. She was modest, diligent, a little stiff around the edges.

  More importantly, she was softer inside than she looked. That sudden hug earlier, she’d probably been worried the deans would corner her professor and make things ugly.

  A child like that didn’t come from careless parenting. If anything, it spoke well of the Francisca family’s household, and it made the Leroy family look even worse by comparison.

  After saying goodbye to them both, Enid returned to her office.

  The last day of the week was coming fast. Counting today, she only had one full day left.

  She needed to decide on a topic for that public lecture, and soon.