The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 80

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 80
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll understand once you return to your residence.”
Lucas said nothing more. Instead, he extended his hand toward Rachel. Rachel gazed at it, uncertain, and he offered his hand a little further, as if asking her to take it.
“The waltz will be starting soon.”
Lucas spoke gently. He was asking her to dance. Rachel, as if enchanted, took his hand.
The two walked toward the center of the ballroom. She felt all eyes converge upon them. After all, dancing a waltz with herself instead of Katie—his betrothed—was precisely the sort of gossip that would set tongues wagging.
‘What can I do about it.’
From the moment she’d arrived at the ball in that pink dress beside Lucas, she should have steeled herself for the attention that would follow. Rachel gathered her resolve and faced him.
The music began. A gentle melody filled the air, and Rachel danced the waltz with Lucas as they had practiced, as naturally as she could manage. She barely had the composure to glance at those around her. She simply listened to the music.
Somehow, the waltz came to an end. Rachel exhaled in relief. She looked toward Lucas, half hoping there would be no next dance. He was watching her with warm eyes.
“Lucas.”
Just as their eyes met, the Chief Steward quietly called out to Lucas. Lucas’s brow narrowed slightly, as though he already knew what the Chief Steward meant to say.
“Your Majesty wishes to speak with Rachel Swan.”
“Me…?!”
Rachel’s eyes widened in shock. At that, Lucas tightened his grip on her hand.
“I thought our conversation had concluded.”
Our conversation concluded? Rachel’s confusion deepened as she looked between Lucas and the Chief Steward in turn. The Chief Steward cleared his throat with an uncertain expression.
“How could I presume to know His Majesty’s deeper intentions? Miss Swan, you should go at once.”
Though his tone was respectful, his meaning was clear: the Emperor’s word was law.
“I’ll accompany you.”
Lucas said at once that he would go with her. But Rachel shook her head.
“That’s all right. I can go alone.”
Rachel smiled somewhat awkwardly as she spoke to Lucas. Her expression betrayed her tension, but her heart was sincere.
“There’s something I wish to discuss with His Majesty as well.”
“Something you wish to discuss with him?”
“Yes. Regarding commoner mages.”
How often did one get the chance to speak with the Emperor himself? Rachel saw this not as a crisis, but as an opportunity. So even as she gripped her dress tightly, she smiled.
‘You can do this, Rachel.’
With her resolve steeled, Rachel began to walk.
The Chief Steward led her to the Emperor’s side. For some reason, the Empress was not present—only the Emperor sat in his ornate chair, his gaze fixed intently upon Rachel.
“Your Majesty. I am Rachel Swan, who served as tutor to princes Theo and Noah. I am also currently one of those studying Mana Manifestation within the Tower of Magic.”
Rachel concluded her rather lengthy introduction. The Emperor then opened his mouth with apparent interest.
“I noticed you standing beside Lucas today. In Katie’s place, no less.”
That remark was inevitable. Rachel carefully composed her expression, appearing unbothered.
“I believed I could serve a purpose in Katie Teison’s stead, and so I dared to stand beside the Crown Prince.”
“Serve a purpose?”
“Yes. As I belong to the Tower of Magic, I hoped to use this opportunity to speak with Your Majesty about the current circumstances the Tower’s apprentices are facing.”
“You presume to speak to me about the Tower’s apprentices’ circumstances?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor made no effort to hide his displeasure. After all, the current state of the Tower of Magic was his own creation. He had arranged it so that only those with imperial blood or high rank could enter.
“Every Tower apprentice except myself comes from high station. I do not mean to criticize this. However, I humbly believe that if we were to lower the Tower’s threshold somewhat, we could welcome a far greater number of talented individuals.”
“Lower the threshold?”
“Yes. If we admitted lower-ranking nobles with Mana Manifestation ability, or even commoners, a positive wind would blow through the Empire’s Tower of Magic.”
“Spouting nonsense at length, are you.”
The Emperor let out a hollow laugh. Cupping his chin, he continued to cough while fixing Rachel with a terrible gaze.
“I did not summon you here to listen to your crude notions. You manipulate but a pittance of mana and yet conduct yourself with such arrogance. Tiernes is not a place where one of your standing may behave as you do.”
“Yet to make Tiernes stronger still…”
“Tiernes is already strong. It is not your concern.”
“Is Tiernes truly as strong as all that?”
Lucas appeared behind Rachel without warning.
“Your Majesty. The fact that Tiernes is the greatest empire on the continent remains unchanged. Yet you must also be aware that Anarleo is expanding its mage corps.”
“What?”
“Anarleo has increased its mage corps to ten times what it was five years ago. The mage corps includes commoner mages among its ranks.”
“Must we follow suit simply because Anarleo does? We possess the Blessing of the Sun God. The cavalry corps blessed by the Sun God shall never fall in war.”
“I do not doubt the Blessing of the Sun God. Yet we cannot ignore endless conflict and the alliances between Anarleo and the duchies.”
“Lucas! Do you truly believe we would fall to Anarleo?”
“In our current state, it is entirely possible.”
Lucas answered the Emperor point by point. At this, the Emperor’s hands clenched into fists, trembling.
“Not long ago, one of Anarleo’s mages was caught attempting to map our entire territory of Tiernes.”
“What? Something like that happened?”
The Emperor, isolated from the world during his recuperation, trembled at the shocking news, his pupils dilating.
“The fact that Anarleo sent not just anyone but a mage as a spy suggests they harbored far more sinister intentions. Yet Tiernes’s soldiers failed to detect the mage’s use of Mana Manifestation.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor fell silent, breathing deeply. Lucas did not miss the opening.
“Your Majesty, it is already too late once Anarleo’s mage departs with all the Empire’s secrets. You must lower the threshold of the Tower of Magic and increase the number of mages. Without doing so, we cannot hope to prevail in any conflict with Anarleo that may come to pass.”
The Emperor coughed in succession, prompting the Chief Steward to swiftly bring a handkerchief and present it to him. Even as he coughed, the Emperor’s gaze remained piercing as it fell upon Lucas and Rachel.
“I know that Your Majesty cares for the Empire more than anyone. If you truly care for it, I beseech you—lower the threshold of the Tower of Magic.”
Lucas understood the Emperor’s nature well. The man was more sensitive to others’ judgment than anyone. Lucas had draped upon him a mantle of words—”you are one who cares for the Empire more than anyone”—and done so before the assembled nobility.
To refuse lowering the Tower’s threshold now would make him appear one who clung to bloodline purity at the Empire’s peril. That was something the Emperor would desire above all else to avoid.
“Lucas.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“If I lower the threshold of the Tower of Magic, what will you relinquish in return?”
As expected, the Emperor would not simply yield. He gazed at Lucas with a most intriguing smile.
“What would you have me relinquish, Your Majesty?”
“Surrender your Authority over Capital Military Forces.”
Authority over Capital Military Forces—Rachel, standing beside Lucas, clamped her mouth shut.
It was the right to command the soldiers stationed in the Capital, a privilege granted to the Crown Prince since the reign of the first Emperor.
Because it granted enormous military power, it was the greatest of all the Crown Prince’s authorities. Yet the Emperor spoke the demand without hesitation.
“If you cannot relinquish it, you will hear none of what I have said today.”
The Emperor drew a firm line.
It was then that Lucas opened his mouth.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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