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Chapter 407 134 - Meeting by the crystal lake (part 3)

"Truth be told, I don\'t really need compassion. Together with Burushi we have figured out that the queen wants to ruin the reputation of both the first and the second prince, and her plan includes tarnishing Horeo\'s image through his association with me."

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and said with a rather calm and indifferent expression.

"...that\'s unfortunate..."

Aspakeony\'s shoulders slumped and she lowered her head apologetically.

"I kind of don\'t know how exactly all of that will affect me personally, besides the possibility of being shunned... How can the opinion of others affect me when I am the owner of the prosperous territory that functioned perfectly fine on its own? Can the royal family take back the title they let me inherit? Or maybe vilify me and launch an attack to remove me from the position of power by force?"

"!!!"

Zoemi asked, tilting his head curiously – he wasn\'t actually all that bothered, but judging by the gray-haired necromancer\'s shocked reaction, maybe there was something to worry about in the end...

"Don\'t even joke about it! That could spark the internal conflict that would eat the Bellcephora kingdom from the inside!"

Aspakeony gasped in horror, shaking her head vigorously.

"...although... if enough nobles would believe in the rumors that are being spread about you and they all unite in order to bring you down..."

It looked like she didn\'t like the sound of her own words, but still, the gray-haired girl ended up biting her lips and muttering in a worried voice.

She didn\'t want to think about either option.

Aspakeony was the very person who helped create the Bellcephora kingdom and could be considered its guardian.

The kingdom itself was sort of her apology to the world for many things she did in the past...

Still, she also tried to stay away from the spotlight as much as she could – after all, she had long learned that people who thought they have a backing of an overwhelmingly powerful being tended to grow vain and reckless, which in turn leads to their downfall.

That is why most of the time only the kings and queens were aware of her existence, and she would only lend her help in the most dire cases.

Unfortunately, although she favored the black-haired boy, a single noble house being the target of slander wasn\'t enough to cause her to get involved.

At least for now.

"Do you think they would be able to bring down Benevirau and me?"

"(And all of us!)"

"(Yeah! We will not abandon you, master!)"

Zoemi raised his brow and smiled slightly on the mocking side, but then immediately grinned after hearing the feisty cheers of the sentinels residing within his shadow.

"As long as little Benevirau isn\'t taken down by surprise in one shot, he can take down everyone in the battle of attrition because of his ability to use the mana straight from nature... also, I\'ve heard that you got stronger too..."

Aspakeony shook her head and spoke in a hesitant voice while looking switching her position a bit and looking up at the easygoing black-haired boy.

"...but if I have to be honest... being too strong is a problem too. If people will fear you enough, they will unite to destroy you like the mischief of mice killing a cat. I fear the destruction that could be brought back upon this world..."

The gray-haired girl sighed and lowered her gaze to hide her tearful eyes.

"...I already asked you would you like to return to the Academy and I am really happy that you confirmed it. I believe that with you being there the other nobles would see that you aren\'t involved in the rampart kidnapping going around and..."

"Aspy."

"...!?"

The gray-haired necromancer spoke sounding apologetical for having an ulterior motive and not being focused on her student\'s wellbeing, and that\'s why she flinched when the boy reached out his arm and lightly touched her face.

Aspakeony did not move back from the physical contact...

She just looked up in silence, worried about the boy\'s reaction.

"I might be paranoid again, but don\'t you think that the kidnapping will stop the moment that I will show back up in the Academy? In a way that will only add to the rumor\'s credibility."

"..."

He said and the girl\'s worried expression was more than enough of a confirmation that she expected that outcome too but was trying to not think about it.

"I can always start kidnapping people for real but make it so it seems like someone else is doing it. Since it works for the queen, why wouldn\'t it..."

"DON\'T!"

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and jokingly came up with a very questionable idea that made Aspekony actually scared, and she suddenly leaned to the side, reaching for the black-haired boy.

*thump*

What she did not expect was that Zoemi\'s body was only beginning to recover from staying motionless for over nine months and wasn\'t augmented by any enchantments, so when she got him, she ended up pushing the boy down and landing on top of him.

"...oww..."

Zoemi breathed out, furrowing his brows as he smacked his head against the ground pretty hard.

"...come on, Aspy... please be gentle with me, I am vulnerable around people I trust..."

He complained reaching to the back of his head and massaging the sore spot.

"...eh...?"

"Hmm?"

The black-haired boy opened his eyes and looked up because of the tone of voice the gray-haired necromancer made and ended up surprised seeing how flustered she was.

"Oh...? Has someone missed the attention? As long as I can get back to the Academy without going through the process of enrolling again, you can think of me as a very big plush toy. I might be not as soft, but I am warmer and hopefully just as cuddly."

The boy smiled and spread his arms as if waiting for the necromancer to be the one to make another move.

"...don\'t be stupid, we weren\'t that close, to begin with..."

Aspakeony scoffed and turn her head away from Zoemi\'s face.

"Says the girl who was cozily sitting in my lap, fully aware of what she was doing."

"...khhh...!"

The black-haired boy pointed out, which caused the gray-haired girl to let out a troubled voice as she turned her head even further away.

"Weren\'t you supposed to be dense about hose things...?"

She muttered in embarrassment, glancing at the softly smiling boy.

"(Master, what about telling her about killing the darkness magicians?)"

"(Shh! Don\'t disturb them!)"

|...|

Zoemi was about to come up with a response, when the sentinels within his shadow contacted him via the message spell, making sure that he is still in contact with reality.

Well, at least one of them did.

"(What, are you fine with that? Wasn\'t master already taken?)"

"(Don\'t be such a prude! It\'s master, he can do whatever he wants!)"

The two sentinels continued to argue within Zoemi\'s head, making the black-haired boy\'s eyes widen

|...I was just teasing a friend, you know...?|

"(You heard that?!)"

"(...master... you don\'t really have any boundaries, do you...?)"

Zoemi shook his head and tried to defend himself, and once again, one of the sentinels had his side by the other one was doubtful...

"Eh?! Zoemi? Are you feeling okay? Did you seriously got hurt?!"

The change in the boy\'s expression made Aspakeony gasp in a worried voice and she finally got off of him and helped him get up.