The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 87

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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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Chapter 87
The temple stood silent. It was as if the air itself knew of Lucas and Rachel’s arrival—not another soul was to be seen.
Rachel glanced around the Temple of the Sun God before turning to Lucas with a question.
“The High Priest doesn’t seem to be here. Do you happen to know where he is?”
“He waits for us in the deepest chamber of the temple.”
“Ah….”
Lucas had already informed the High Priest of their coming. Just how much had he prepared? Rachel steadied herself, pushing down a flutter of embarrassment as she took her place at his side.
“Once we announce our betrothal to the High Priest, others will have far less to say about it.”
“I suppose so…?”
“Certainly. And it will set my mind at ease.”
“Set your mind at ease?”
“The fact that you are my betrothed—I still can scarcely believe it. I worry someone else might seize their chance.”
Lucas had simply spoken what Rachel herself felt. She burst into laughter, a soft peal that echoed through the space. This man was utterly smitten.
She wanted to take his hand, but this was a temple—a place demanding reverence. Rachel gathered herself and moved closer to his side instead, hoping even that small proximity would suffice.
“Lucas.”
A voice rang out. Rachel’s head snapped around.
An elderly man with ash-grey hair stood before them. Rachel recognized him at once as the High Priest.
“I have made all the preparations you requested.”
The High Priest smiled warmly and welcomed Rachel with genuine kindness.
“Greetings. I am Rachel Swan.”
Rachel bowed respectfully.
“Is there anyone here unfamiliar with Miss Swan? Ha, ha.”
The High Priest received her greeting with gentle humor. Rachel found herself relieved—he seemed a man of good heart. She offered him a small, warm smile, which he returned in kind.
“Please, come this way.”
The High Priest beckoned them forward. Lucas and Rachel rose and walked together, as if by unspoken agreement.
He led them to a place before the altar. Rachel examined it carefully. The altar of blue stone bore witness to countless centuries—that much was unmistakable.
“In the name of the Sun God, two souls now swear a bond most profound.”
The oath began quietly, yet with absolute clarity. Rachel understood the weight of what was being spoken. She closed her eyes and listened intently to every word.
“Both shall place trust in the other….”
Once begun, the ceremony flowed without interruption.
They swore to the burden of mutual trust, to a shared future where their steps would align. And with those oaths spoken, the ceremony drew to a close.
“Now, look upon the eyes of your betrothed.”
At the High Priest’s words, Rachel slowly opened her eyes. There, reflected in her gaze, was Lucas—his expression utterly sincere, his eyes clear and unguarded as he regarded her.
“…Lucas.”
His name escaped her lips unbidden. In response, he offered a smile so genuine it made her cheeks flush crimson.
“I accept you as my betrothed.”
“I…I too accept you as my betrothed.”
Two simple words exchanged. The High Priest, listening quietly to them both, placed his hands on Lucas and Rachel’s shoulders—a gesture marking the ritual’s end.
* * *
The fracture began at the Border.
“Gods, I’m bored out of my mind.”
Thomas, a soldier of the Tirnes Empire stationed at the Border, let out a wide yawn. No matter how he thought about it, guard duty was mind-numbingly tedious.
The cowardly Anareo forces made no provocation, launched no offensive. Honestly, it felt as though one could sleep through the whole watch without consequence.
“You hear about it?”
Mary, a soldier stationed beside him, whispered softly.
“On the far side of that river—that’s Anareo territory. In a city not far from the Border, there’s the Moon Temple. And they say an enormous Diamond is hidden inside it.”
“An enormous Diamond?”
To Thomas’s drowsy ears, the words sounded impossibly tempting. His eyes widened; he hung on every word Mary spoke.
“That’s right. A truly massive Diamond. With just that, you could live more lavishly than most nobles.”
Mary’s words dripped with seduction.
Thomas had lived a plain, unremarkable life. To him, Mary’s words fell like honeyed wine. He stared at her, scarcely blinking.
“Why don’t we slip across into Anareo for a moment?”
The true meaning hidden in ‘slip across for a moment’ was clear: go steal the Diamond. Without hesitation, Thomas nodded his agreement.
The two soldiers waited for full darkness to descend. Fortune favored them—the new moon meant weak moonlight, and under cover of shadow, they crossed the Border.
The fire that two foolish soldiers accidentally set to the Moon Temple occurred that very same day.
The incident spiraled beyond all control. The fact that the fire had been set to the Moon Temple—and not some lesser shrine—sent the Emperor of Anareo into a fury. And not the Emperor alone: every citizen of Anareo fixed their attention upon this transgression.
Not long after, the Emperor of Anareo issued an official Declaration of War against the Tirnes Empire.
* * *
“A Declaration of War from Anareo!”
The assembled nobles had turned ashen. These were men and women who had devoted their entire lives to their own comfort and ease. To such people, war was terror incarnate.
How many knights had fallen in that last continental war, how many nobles had been sacrificed? The thought of it was enough to jolt him awake at night.
“It is already done. I fear there is little hope of undoing it, Your Highness.”
Duke Reus exhaled the words like a sigh.
He was right. What was done could not be undone; now there was nothing for it but to prepare.
“Nine duchies have sided with Anareo in this war, or so we’re told.”
“Surely that cannot be true!”
“Even those who maintained neutrality have now taken Anareo’s part. For Tirnes, the circumstances could hardly be more dire.”
Several nobles clutched their heads. Until Crown Prince Lucas had agreed to surrender Anareo’s mines, war had been nothing but an abstract concept, something distant and unreal. But now it had arrived. It was here, tangible and undeniable.
The threat loomed, wearing a face of absolute certainty.
“Will the Crown Prince himself take the field?”
Someone ventured quietly into the crucial question. Would Lucas Maksim actually fight?
“Ought we not put this matter before the Crown Prince himself?”
A noble aligned with the Crown Prince faction, who had remained silent until now, sought agreement. The fate of them all would hinge on Lucas’s decision.
“There is nothing to ask me.”
In that moment, as the chamber’s mood had begun to sink, Lucas entered the hall.
His face was unreadable—not a flicker of emotion. So the pro-Crown Prince faction and the anti-Crown Prince faction alike held their breath.
“Your Highness, I trust you have already heard the news.”
Duke Reus addressed him. Lucas walked toward the center of the chamber and spoke.
“So the Emperor of Anareo has issued a Declaration of War. How confident he sounded.”
A hollow laugh escaped Lucas’s lips.
To him, the Emperor of Anareo was as contemptible as his own father, the Emperor of Tirnes—a man consumed by greed, ruining his realm. No more, no less. Worse still, he was a fool who trusted only his mages and issued a Declaration of War unprepared.
“If they want war, I will not shrink from it.”
Lucas spoke plainly. The chamber stirred.
“I will conscript the Knights. The Mages as well.”
At Lucas’s resolute words, the nobles tensed, hardly daring to breathe. Most of their sons assembled here were Knights, and none could know how many would be called to the front.
“I see you are all wondering who will go to the lines.”
……
Lucas continued.
“The firstborn sons of every duke present here will depart with me for the Border.”
“Wh—what?!”
Even Duke Reus, who rarely lost his composure, stared at Lucas with eyes wide. The other dukes needed no elaboration. Their faces had gone ashen, as if the world itself had crumbled.
“I mean this war with complete sincerity.”
Heedless of the nobles’ distress, Lucas smiled coldly.
A new phase had begun.

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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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