Chapter 11: The Currency of Power
The Imperial Royal Academy’s Central Registrium was less an administration building and more a fortress of bureaucracy. Floor-to-ceiling vaults made of white star-stone housed thousands of enchanted parchment ledgers, recording every noble lineage, mana capacity rank, and tuition transaction in the Empire.
At the head of the polished marble desk sat Administrator Vane, an aging man whose thin silver spectacles glistened beneath the glow of mana-lamps. He scanned the parchment sitting before him, his brow furrowing deeper with every second.
"Lady Lyra," Vane spoke, his voice dry and measured, "as a rising 2nd Year student entering with top-percentile marks, your academic standing is beyond question. However... I am looking at an official freeze placed upon your family’s house account, signed directly by Duke Frostguard."
Lyra stood erect, her chin held high, not a single drop of composure slipping from her icy facade. "My father’s legal authority over my personal bank accounts was severed the moment I turned eighteen, Administrator."
"Under normal Imperial code, yes," Vane countered, tapping a frail finger on the desk. "However, the Grand Church has submitted a petition claiming you are under the influence of dark compulsion. Until the Inquisition clears your core, all independent assets under your name are frozen for your ’protection.’"
A cold breeze swept through the registration hall, frost instantly crackling across the legs of Vane’s wooden desk. Vane winced, pulling his robes tighter, but before Lyra could speak, a light, rhythmic clap echoed behind her.
I stepped forward, my dark, tailored cloak sweeping behind me. As an upperclassman in my 3rd Year a position of significant authority within the academy’s ranks I carried a weight that made even the old administrator sit up a little straighter.
Aria stepped smoothly out from behind my shadow, clad in her quiet attendant’s garb. As my personal servant, she wasn’t officially enrolled in the student roster, keeping her true identity and lethal capabilities completely off the Academy’s books. No one here knew who she was, and that was precisely how we wanted it.
Aria placed a heavy, silk-bound velvet pouch onto the desk. It landed with a dense, metallic clunk that caused the administrator’s spectacles to slip down his nose.
"How fortunate, then," I said smoothly, "that Lady Lyra does not rely on the Church’s charity or her father’s allowance."
Vane reached out with hesitant fingers and untied the silk string. When he peeked inside, his eyes widened so far they threatened to pop out of his skull.
Inside were not standard Imperial gold crowns. Resting at the bottom were twelve glowing, uncut Astral-Aether Crystals ancient, unrefined mana gems of extraordinary density. A single one was worth a small barony’s annual tax revenue.
"This..." Vane swallowed hard, his hands trembling. "This is ancient currency. The valuation "
"Is more than sufficient to cover tuition, private estate quarters, and unlimited training arena access for Lady Lyra’s 2nd Year enrollment, as well as settling my own 3rd Year dues," I interrupted, resting my hand lightly over Lyra’s glove. "I assume the Imperial Royal Academy still honors raw, unadulterated mana assets over Church-controlled paper notes?"
Vane looked from the glowing crystals to my dark, unwavering eyes, then back to Lyra. The Academy was autonomous precisely because it ran on mana, not political favor. Refusing ancient high-tier crystals to appease a Church petition would undermine the very foundation of the institution.
"The... the payment is accepted, Lord Vance," Vane muttered, quickly pulling out two heavy silver keys stamped with the crest of the Obsidian Quadrangle the highest tier of private student residence. "Your quarters are in the Sovereign Wing. Residence Nine."
"A pleasure doing business with you, Administrator," I smiled, sweeping the keys off the table.
As we walked away from the desk toward the grand arched exit of the Registrium, Lyra let out a quiet, subtle breath she had been holding, glancing sideways at me before looking toward Aria.
"I was wondering where you managed to acquire such absurdly high-grade mana gems, Victor," Lyra murmured, her icy blue eyes turning toward me with genuine intrigue. "Astral-Aether Crystals of that purity haven’t been mined in the Empire for over two centuries. Even my father’s vaults don’t hold raw gems like those."
Aria’s lips curved into a faint, predatory smirk beneath her hood, her slitted golden eyes glancing up at me. "Lady Lyra isn’t the only one curious, Master. I carried the pouch, but even I didn’t see where you retrieved them from before we boarded the carriage."
I smiled faintly, spinning the silver keys around my finger with practiced ease. "Let’s just say... I have my ways."
Lyra raised a single silver eyebrow, but seeing the calm, absolute confidence in my eyes, she didn’t press further. She didn’t need to know at least not yet that using the memories of my past life, I had discreetly took some treasure from the suken Temple hidden vaults.
"Whatever secret hunting ground you raided," Lyra said softly, a rare, impressed glint flickering in her eyes, "it completely paralyzed Archbishop Varos’s financial chokehold."
"Because the Church expected us to beg or bargain," I replied smoothly. "Instead, we bought the most secure stronghold in the Academy outright."
"And judging by the watchers lingering in the high rafters behind us," Aria added, her sharp ears twitching as she scanned the upper balconies, "our friends from the Sol-Guard Society are positively boiling."
The heavy oak doors of the Registrium swung open, bathed in the deep amber glow of the setting sun. I stopped right at the threshold leading back toward the grand quadrangle, blocking us from the line of sight of the Church shadow-watchers behind us.
Without a word, I reached out, my hands sliding smoothly around the waists of both women before dropping lower, firmly cupping and squeezing the plump, tight curves of their rear ends right through their silk and leather attire.
Lyra let out a sharp, breathless gasp, her cheeks instantly flushing a delicate, brilliant rose as her icy aura flickered in surprise. Beside her, Aria’s cat ears twitched violently beneath her hood, a low, purring gasp escaping her lips as her tail coiled around my thigh.
"V-Victor...!" Lyra whispered, darting an embarrassed glance toward the open courtyard, though she didn’t pull away.
"Now that the tedious paperwork and tuition fees are settled," I purred softly into the space between them, giving both of their backsides another slow, possessive squeeze that made Aria bite her lip, "a proper celebration is long overdue tonight in our new private estate."
Aria’s golden eyes gleamed with sultry, uninhibited heat. "Residence Nine has private warding, Lord Victor. No Church spies will hear a single scream..."