Chapter 26: Imagination

Because of the tight schedule, Lyr chose not to return home and went straight to his office. He still had to prepare his materials for the day’s lessons before class began.

Sitting at his desk and looking at the teaching materials he had arranged, he fell into deep thought. He had taken these courses before, but now he had to use different materials to recall the information and then teach it to others.

In truth, he could have just skimmed over the pages and given the students vague explanations. After all, he had heard that some teachers were exactly like that.

However, his time in the Knights and on the Frontier had made him reflect on a certain principle.

Many problems in reality could be avoided; as long as you did your part well, others wouldn’t have to suffer because of your negligence.

This was even more true on the Frontier, where one irresponsible person could put an entire squad in danger. Lyr felt he was currently standing at a similar crossroads.

He didn’t like this job, and he could easily do a sloppy job of it. If the Academy fired him for it, it would actually be exactly what he wanted.

‘But for those students, isn’t it a bit too unfair? The one who should bear the burden of my emotions is me, not those kids.’

“And Tif is there too.”

Lyr rubbed the space between his brows. She was his younger sister, after all. He couldn’t possibly be negligent when it came to her.

Lyr didn’t even dare to imagine how Tif would look at him if he was.

After a moment of contemplation, Lyr flipped open the textbook and began to read.

Since he had no other choice, there was no point in overthinking it.

***

The Academy was always bustling in the morning, especially with the many noble carriages arriving and departing outside the gates.

Tif, who had been fuming for an entire night, dismounted from her horse.

Whether it was because she hadn’t slept well or because her emotions were getting the better of her, her face was set in a stiff expression, and her eyes flashed with obvious displeasure.

The maids beside her looked equally embarrassed. They couldn’t understand what was going on with Lyr—he really hadn’t returned for the entire night.

Tif hadn’t slept well, and they hadn’t dared to sleep much either. It had been a night without rest, and it was quite exhausting.

“My Lady, should I go look for him again?” one maid suggested. “Young Master Lyr should be here by now.”

“No need. Why bother looking for him? He can go wherever he likes.”

Tif dropped those words and headed straight for the classroom. Once she was here, she didn’t need to look for him. She didn’t believe Lyr could simply vanish from his post at the Academy after failing to return home.

That involved the reputation of the Geno Family; if he really did that, she wanted to see how he would explain himself to the Academy Director and His Majesty.

Her stomach was so full of anger that she didn’t even feel like eating breakfast.

When she reached the classroom, the girls were gathered in groups, discussing something amongst themselves, unlike the boys. Tif ignored them and went straight to her seat.

Teanya, who was sitting nearby, saw Tif arrive and was about to greet her, but seeing the girl’s furious expression, she instinctively pulled her hand back.

“Who upset you?” Teanya knew Tif well; if she was in this state, someone must have definitely provoked her.

“It’s nothing. None of your business,” Tif said, closing her eyes to try and calm her heart.

She knew that keeping such a sour face was a breach of etiquette. However, the constant whispering in her ears only made her more irritated. “What are they talking about? It’s so noisy.”

At this, Teanya suddenly perked up. “Let me tell you, something strange allegedly happened in one of the girls’ dormitories last night.”

“Something strange? How strange could it be?”

Unlike Tif, Teanya was the type who could fit into any social circle. Consequently, she knew a bit about most things. “In the middle of the night, there were strange cries and some vibrations for no apparent reason.”

“That’s it?”

Tif was uninterested. As a fellow noble lady, she felt that these girls were sometimes overly sensitive, adding unnecessary details to trivial matters until the stories became bizarre.

To put it simply, they had spent too much time in a greenhouse, so any little disturbance set them chirping.

Teanya had stayed at the Academy dormitory last night, though not in that specific building, so she hadn’t experienced it personally. However, having seen certain things this morning, she had some suspicions.

“Cries… and vibrations. That’s enough to let one’s imagination run wild.” Teanya arched her eyebrows, looking like she was enjoying herself. “Isn’t that interesting enough?”

Tif curled her lip, not wanting to deal with her. Teanya seemed inexplicably strange today.

But the more Tif ignored her, the more excited Teanya became. She nudged Tif with her elbow. “Hey, let me ask you a question.”

“…” Tif didn’t respond, continuing to organize her things. “Did your brother not go home last night?”

Mentioning Lyr only served to make Tif’s anger flare up again. Her hand on the desk unconsciously clenched into a fist. Not only had he not returned, but she hadn’t even seen his face yet.

If he weren’t already a teacher at the Academy, she would have dragged him out by now to interrogate him properly.

“Oh…” Teanya’s tone fluctuated. “So he really didn’t go back.”

The snicker at the corner of her mouth became harder to suppress as she whispered to herself, “How bold.”

She had been present when Tif insisted that Lyr return home after leaving the Academy yesterday, and she had even gone out of her way to remind him.

She hadn’t expected Lyr to actually stay away.

In her mind, she pictured Lyr, afraid of being scolded, specifically going to stay with someone he was close to to avoid the storm. The key point was that the “someone” was a girl, and they had caused quite a stir at the Academy.

Teanya’s peripheral vision drifted toward Yilu, who was not far away. She had already heard about Yilu losing the match against Beiyao yesterday.

In the past, Yilu would have definitely looked even more sour than Tif did now. But this morning, she noticed that Yilu wasn’t like that at all. In fact, she seemed to be in a much better mood than usual.

It was completely contrary to common sense.

Linking the various clues together, Teanya had already constructed a series of plotlines in her head. she even wanted to add a bit of tragic flair to it.

The feeling of knowing exactly what was going on while everyone else was guessing gave her an addictive thrill. She was ready to feast on this secret of Lyr’s for a lifetime.

“Hmm?” Tif, who originally didn’t want to pay Teanya any mind, paused. She felt something was off.

She turned her head and saw Teanya looking down, trying desperately to keep a straight face, though the expression she wore betrayed her. “Why are you suddenly asking about Lyr?”

Teanya and Lyr weren’t close at all; there was no reason for her to ask without a motive.

“That… I was just asking casually.”

“No.” Tif narrowed her eyes. “Do you know something?”

“How could I know? I don’t know anything at all.”

Tif believed her even less now. When Teanya had asked, it didn’t sound like a genuine inquiry about whether Lyr had gone home; it sounded like she already knew he hadn’t and was merely confirming it.