“He was asked to become a professor of the Apex Class?”
“Wasn’t he just a normal soldier in the war?”
“Just who is he?!”
I could already hear everyone reacting, and I hadn’t even talked to any of them yet. I needed to find a way to put an end to this conversation. The Emperor simply couldn’t keep his mouth shut, revealing everything that I had tried to keep somewhat hidden. The director had also asked me to keep my recruitment under wraps, so why was the Emperor saying it to everyone?
I shook my head. Everything made no sense, and I didn’t even know what to say next.
“Ah, right. Thanks for the offer,” I muttered quietly. “Well, it was nice meeting you in person. I’ll go talk to some of my students’ parents now.”
“Sure, let’s talk again later.”
I didn’t even want to do that, but it was the only excuse that could work right now. As much as I hated them, those rich parents were my only way out. Still, having the daughter of the Emperor in my class was truly something to think about. Perhaps that was why he had asked for me to teach her.
Seeing that I was slowly walking away from them, the Emperor and the Empress just waved at me with a smile, also saying goodbyes. It seemed the Emperor had finished revealing information about me.
The good part about all this was that he hadn’t revealed that I was a Sage. Oh god, if he had said that, then I wouldn’t have been left alone for the rest of the night.
Well, actually. That’s already the case.
I looked down and saw rows of people trying to know me because of everything the Emperor had just revealed. A sigh escaped my mouth as I went down the stairs. I couldn’t believe that a night where I was supposed to stand in a corner quietly had turned into this. I looked around, practically screaming for help, but it seemed no one had noticed my call for help. Well, it was either that or they had ignored it completely.
When I finally reached the end of those stairs, I was met with the first family that wanted to talk to me.
“Darla, funny to see you here!” I said with a smile.
I already knew her parents treated her badly, and I was making sure that my hatred for them wasn’t showing. She had told me over the first week of my arrival at the Royal Academy just how horrible they had been. I couldn’t lie when I said that I just wanted to punch them right in the face, especially the man standing in front of me. Vladimir, the world’s number one douche.
Imagine torturing your own daughter.
I gritted my teeth as I raised my head. “Hello, Professor Caedrel. And you are?”
“Vladimir. This is my wife, Evelynn.” He pointed toward his beautiful wife.
They guided me to a calmer spot, and some of the parents nearby slowly but surely moved a few meters away from us, letting us breathe for a small moment.
“So, we heard that you were asked to become a professor at the Royal Academy. How did that happen? Did the Emperor personally ask you?”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t anything like that. It was actually quite a dull moment. I just received a letter asking me to become a professor. There wasn’t anything else to it.”
Vladimir nodded as he glanced at Darla, who was right under him, being held by both his hands. She didn’t seem comfortable, and I could tell she wanted me to do something.
“You know,” I said with a forced smile at that vampiric douche. “You don’t need to hold your daughter like she’s a toy. She can stand on her own.”
He laughed right in my face. “You’re right. Darla sure is a smart and independent girl.”
“Is she doing well in your class, Professor…uh…”
“Caedrel. Professor Caedrel.”
“Right, sorry. I just never heard of your name before.” He smirked.
‘That bastard, look at that smile. He really wants me to punch him, huh?’
My actions and my thoughts were widely different as I returned a smirk in his direction. “Ah, it’s no problem. Well, your daughter is amazing. I even got to meet her before the start of the semester. From what I was told, she was sent to the Royal Academy in advance. It was probably a mistake, right?”
“Ah. Yes. It was totally a mistake on our end. We would never do something like this on purpose.”
I nodded and noted in the back of my mind that on top of being a douche, he was a liar. “I see.”
As I uttered those words, I felt an intense gaze on me. It was so intense that I turned around to see who it was, and I just smiled when I saw him.
It was Derek, probably jealous of the attention I was getting since no one was trying to go up to him. Seeing him like this, sitting in the corner, I suddenly had a great idea to “counter” the rumors he had spread about me.
“Is there something bothering you?” Vladimir asked, noticing that I looked behind me.
“Ah, just an annoying fly staring at me. Nothing to worry about.”
He nodded. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. It’s great to know that our daughter is doing so well under your tutelage.”
I just raised my eyebrows and let them go. I wasn’t really in the mood to entertain them any longer. I wanted to entertain myself. However, to do what I wanted to do, I needed the Emperor to allow it.
I looked over to my left, and he was still talking with his wife and the director. ‘Perfect.’
“Hey, Mister Emperor, can I make a request?” I shouted into the room, and everyone turned to look at me, probably thinking that I was a dead man or something along those lines.
However, when they saw that all I received was a smile, they simply couldn’t believe their eyes as even more mutters resounded.
“Anything you want, Professor!”
“What about a friendly spar between two highly regarded Professors of the Royal Academy?” I smiled while glancing at Derek. “Wouldn’t that be a great show of the Academy’s strength for everyone who came here?”
