*Grit*

  Xena gnashed her teeth at the Chair Lady's mocking tone. Zaroth had broken his promise to her until the very end. He had achieved his success by stealing and exploiting other people's talents, never repenting for his miss deeds and corruption.

  He didn't even have the courage to do so, leaving Xena with no choice but to finally give up on him.

  "You're no fun today Xennie. Well, take care! I'm leaving!" The chair lady said, pouting her lips like a toddler as she left.

  Xena still stood as if her legs were etched to the marble surface of the floor. A whirlpool of emotions swirling inside her, seemenly pulling her into the epicenter.

  With Zaroth's magic skills and Xena's natural talents as a knight, their marriage was expected to be beneficial to both families, politically and in terms of family lineage—desirable genes.

  But both families, The Kaldars and The Apophasisites eventually realized Zaroth's talents to be only mediocre. He had deceived the world by claiming to be the genius behind Spell Interpretation and became a renowned professor, but his outstanding achievement seized after a certain event.

  If either families had fewer political connections, one would have surely reacted violently. Both were proud noble families so they swept it under the rug. The engagement wouldn't break unless one family refused, and even if they did, Zaroth's deceit wouldn't still be exposed to the public. Therefore, Xena thought Zaroth had to clear himself.

  Because of Zaroth not heeding to his promise, she decided to end this wretched engagement herself. The end of their relationship drew closer by the second.

  "Are you okay?"

  Her junior knight spoke in a low voice from behind. It was Ashure, a man with jet black hair covering most part of his face. Xena shook her head without looking at him.

  "I'm fine, it's time for my lecture. Let's go".

  She continued walking, with a couple knights trailing behind her.

  Xena being a direct descendant of the prestigious Apophasis family, known by both the masters and holy land of knights, was scheduled to give a lecture. Unlike Zaroth, who only explained with words, hers was going to be a real lecture where she demonstrated her skills and engaged in swordplay with her students.

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  Among the knights following her, one suddenly stopped out of pure instinct. His red eyes gleamed through his long black hair. He slowly turned around, gazing at Zaroth as he walked away in the distance, his cold and murderous intent focused on Zaroth's neck.

  Xena's knight Ashure thought to himself as of today, he had found the answer to his countless anguish and agony. It was his resolution for his master, an act only he could perform. He decided to kill that vile, dirty man to make his master happy.

  ***

  In the campus cafeteria, Seraphina Nightshade sighed, poking her omurice.

  "Sigh..."

  She had tried to embarrass Zaroth today at the lecture to which he evaded cleverly. His Spell Interpretation ability was an obvious fraud that originally belonged to her father. She thought he would have panicked if asked to interpret such a new and rigorous spell without any tricks he had in that split second.

  The risk of becoming Zaroth's target was quite obvious, but she had been countered instead. No one would have expected him to humiliate her in front of the entire class for not stating her name. He was not someone to be underestimated and she acknowledged that.

  "That was embarrassing..."

  The laughter of those sitting around her in the lecture still rang in her ears.

  "Pfft. Enchantment Category my foot..." Seraphina smirked.

  Clearly, he was inexperienced in this kind of situation, saying it was Enchantment magic. It made no sense, as it was definitely one of the most incredibly difficult categories of magic. It required an enormous amount of mana to deceive and disrupt a person's perception, making it highly inefficient. Most enchantment magic requires a medium, making the idea of performing it without one nearly impossible.

  "What an fool... Seriously, he's a total fool".

  She said to her in satisfaction, suddenly a loud voice called out her name and approached her.

  "Seraphina! Seraphina!"

  She looked toward the source of the noise. It was her colleagues from the freshman mage orientation the previous week.

  "Thanks to you, we figured it out..."

  "Huh? Figured out what?" Seraphina blinked, unsure of what they were talking about.

  "That magic spell at the entrance of the dorm last night!" One of the freshman mages shouted, placing a hand on her shoulders.

  An unfamiliar spell formation was found at the entrance of the Mage dormitory the previous night, drawn in red blood like substance. Initially thought to be the work of a demon because of its eerie nature, it had become a competitive project among freshmen from the different majors, all eager to interpret it.

  "What do you mean I didn't do anything,"

  "Come on. You asked Professor Zaroth about it," one of the mages replied.

  "Huh?"

  Seraphina was puzzled. She hadn't asked anything. All she intended was to mess with him, but now their conversation had taken a completely different turn.

  "Huh? Hold up! No wait a second!... That magic was really a barrier? As in Enchantment Category: Domain Manifestation?"

  Seraphina asked, shocked.

  "Yeah, it was. When we restructured the spell assuming it was a barrier, it fit perfectly. Wow, Zaroth Kaldar is truly amazing, isn't he? I wonder how he knew it was an enchantment magic without any medium in the spell?"

  Seraphina's jaw dropped. She could only gasp at what she just heard.

  "Thanks for the help, Seraphina. We're going to submit the research report soon and include your name as well," one of the freshman mages said.

  "Ehhh? Oh gosh you don't have to do that... But, okay you can include my name..."

  "Okay"

  They all left the table, exiting the cafeteria enthusiastically. Seraphina blankly stared after them. They were kind people. They could have taken all the credit for themselves, but they chose to share it with her. However, the situation wasn't ideal for her. Due to her attempt at hammering Zaroth reputation, it only improved it far beyond what she has hoped for and it wasn't good for her cause.

  "Lucky man huh!... Got it right in the first try just by guessing it?"

  Denying the reality of the situation, Seraphina pulled her paper from her backpack. It was a syllabus written by a professor for the upcoming semester at the Mage tower.

  Understanding The Properties Of Elemental Magic

  Grade: Advanced Class For Debutants Only

  Professor: Zaroth Kaldar (Lord/Master Aries)

  It was Zaroth's class. Her properties weren't an element, but there was no reason not to attend. Elemental Magic is fundamental to all magic, as the senior mages say. And by attending this class, she would be even closer to Zaroth so as to carry out her revenge plan.

  "You just wait..." Seraphina growled, staring at the paperwork.