Chapter 96 - 30
Katherine stepped across the threshold of Room 204 with hesitant, fluttering steps, as if walking into a sacred temple. The room was immaculate—simple, elegant, and filled with the clean, faint aroma of cedar wood and subtle mana-infused breeze coming through the slightly opened glass window.
Arthur set the small package of freshly baked berry tarts beside his own bakery bag on the oak desk. With practiced, effortless grace, he pulled out the desk chair for her, gesturing smoothly for her to take a seat while he stepped over to the compact kitchenette to boil water on the small mana-induction stove.
Katherine sat down on the edge of the chair, her knees pressed tightly together, her hands clasped nervously over her massive, cardigan-covered lap. Her heart was beating so fast and hard against her ribs that she was convinced Arthur could hear it over the quiet hum of the kettle. She looked around the apartment in quiet wonder. There were no extravagant tapestries, no golden ornaments, and no grand displays of wealth—just neatly organized stacks of commerce journals, runic diagrams, and clean textbooks.
"Your room is so peaceful, Arthur," Katherine whispered softly, her deep violet eyes glistening in the warm lantern light. "It feels... so safe."
"It’s practical," Arthur replied smoothly, pouring hot water over a blend of high-tier moon-tea leaves into two porcelain cups. He brought the tray over to the desk, placing a steaming cup before her along with a plate containing her homemade tarts and his artisan pastries. "A place to think clearly away from the noise of the academy."
He took a seat on the edge of the desk across from her, leaning back comfortably with his arms crossed, his dark, mesmerizing eyes resting calmly on her flushed face.
Katherine picked up her teacup with trembling hands, taking a tiny sip. The rich, soothing warmth melted through her body, instantly calming the raw anxiety that had plagued her all day. She looked down at the table, taking a quiet breath to gather every ounce of courage in her body.
"Arthur..." she started, her voice barely above a whisper, filled with genuine, vulnerable emotion. "Why are you so kind to me? I’m just an impoverished commoner from a border village. Everyone else looks at me with disgust... or sneers at my body... but you sat next to me on the first day, you saved my inkwell, you protected me in the arena, and now... you’re sharing tea with me."
Arthur looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable yet undeniably gentle. He reached out, his long, slender fingers gently closing around her soft, trembling hand resting on the desk.
"Because you are genuine, Katherine," Arthur said, his deep, smooth voice carrying an absolute, captivating sincerity that sent a shiver straight down her spine. "In a world filled with noble titles, superficial status, and arrogance, you are honest, hard-working, and sweet. Your background doesn’t define your value to me. And as for your body... there is nothing vulgar or shameful about absolute perfection."
Katherine’s breath hitched violently in her throat. Her face exploded into a fiery, radiant crimson that spread all the way down her delicate neck and chest. Tears of pure, overwhelming joy welled in her eyes. Her whole life, she had felt like a cursed outcast, mocked and shamed by everyone around her—yet the most brilliant, powerful, and remarkably handsome boy in the entire world had just validated her existence with complete, effortless charm.
"A-Arthur..." she choked out softly, a stunning, breathtaking smile breaking through her tearful eyes. "I... I think I’ve fallen completely in love with you..."
Arthur offered her a low, captivating smirk, his thumb softly tracing the back of her warm hand. "I know."
While Arthur and Katherine shared an intimate, heartwarming evening in Room 204, a far darker storm was settling over the aristocratic quarter of Aegis City.
Inside the grand, marble-pillared mansion of House Julian, Lord Julian sat in his private study, nursing a glass of strong spirits with shaking hands. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, and his heart filled with an ugly, festering poison of humiliation and rage.
"That filthy peasant!" Julian slammed his glass onto his desk, shattering the crystal. "He humiliated me in front of the entire academy! He made me look like a sniveling coward while he tamed that beast! I am a high-born noble! My family owns three major mana-stone mines in the northern province! I won’t let a low-born commoner ruin my name!"
Before his father, Duke Julian, could speak from the plush armchair across the room, the heavy iron-reinforced doors of the mansion’s study were shattered into splintered fragments with a bone-rattling BOOM.
A sudden, suffocating wave of heavy military aura crashed through the room, forcing the guards outside to collapse onto their knees, coughing up blood.
Stepping through the ruined doorway was Valerie, the Grand Marshal of Security, dressed in her full black-and-gold executive armor. Her sharp blade was half-unsheathed, her cold, murderous eyes glowing with a terrifying, absolute bloodlust. Behind her stood forty elite shadow operatives, completely sealing every exit of the estate.
"W-What is the meaning of this?!" Duke Julian shouted, springing up in terror, drawing his decorative sword. "This is the noble estate of House Julian! You cannot invade our grounds without an imperial warrant!"
Valerie didn’t even draw her blade fully. She tossed a thick, crimson-sealed parchment folder onto the shattered desk.
"House Julian," Valerie announced, her voice as cold as absolute zero, echoing off the stone walls like a death sentence. "By executive decree of the Central Bank and the High Sovereign Council, your regional mining concessions are hereby liquidated and seized. Your aristocratic titles are stripped, your assets frozen, and your entire bloodline is banished to the outer borderlands by midnight."
Lord Julian’s jaw dropped in absolute horror. "S-Seized?! By whose authority?! You can’t do this to us!"
Valerie stepped closer, her shadowy aura pinning Julian against the wall, her razor-sharp eyes narrowing into a dangerous, dark glare.
"You bribed the arena beast-masters to put an uncontained monster in the path of the continent’s sovereign," Valerie whispered, her voice laced with deadly promise. "You should be begging on your knees that our Lord is currently enjoying his student life and feeling merciful. If he hadn’t explicitly ordered us not to cause public massacres during his school term, I would have fed your entire house to the wyverns before sunset. Move out by midnight, or face total liquidation."
Within two hours, the grand mansion of House Julian was cleared, stripped of its crests, and sealed under the heavy gold locks of the Central Aegis Bank, serving as a brutal, silent warning to any noble house that dared to cross the shadow monarch.
The next morning, news of House Julian’s sudden, absolute collapse sent shockwaves through the entire student body of the Aegis Academy.
When Arthur walked into Lecture Hall 101, the room was filled with hushed, terrified reverence. The remaining noble boys kept their heads down, trembling at their desks, not daring to make eye contact with him. The female students looked at Arthur with even greater awe and burning fascination, suspecting more than ever that the calm, mysterious commoner possessed unimaginable, shadow-level backing.
Arthur walked up the stone stairs to the back row, taking his seat beside Katherine.
Katherine was already sitting at her desk, wearing a fresh cardigan, her face glowing with a brilliant, radiant happiness that completely erased her old, anxious posture. When Arthur sat down, she leaned close to him, offering him a sweet, breathtaking smile, her deep violet eyes filled with complete, unshakeable devotion.
"Good morning, Arthur," she whispered sweetly, her heart fluttering as her shoulder gently brushed against his.
"Good morning, Katherine," Arthur replied smoothly, opening his notebook as the lecture began.
From the stage, Director Celeste delivered the morning announcements, her eyes occasionally stealing flustered, longing glances up toward Arthur in the back row, her heart hammering as she thought about the grand marriage plans being drafted at the Apex Estate.
High up in the shadows of the top tier, Arthur leaned his jaw on his hand, looking down at the stage with a cool, satisfied smirk. His empire was absolute, his enemies were erased, his sister was orchestrating his future harem, and his adorable desk partner was holding his hand beneath the wooden desk. Life as an overpowered commoner student was turning out to be very sweet indeed.