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PHYSIENTS WILL ALWAYS OFFER BEST STORIES AND LIVE STREAMING ALL TIME
LUCIA
Side Story 1.1: Damian
DAMIAN(1)
Philarch was a city-state with a population of less than 300,000 people. Rather than the country itself being famous, Ixium, the comprehensive Academy that operated within Philarch, was more famous.
The amount of people living in Ixium had grown to over 70,000, including the professors and staff affiliated with Ixium, and once the employed manpower was included, there were nearly 150,000 people living mainly in Ixium. The Academy, Ixium, was a national project of the city-state of Philarch.
People flocked to Ixium to build the best connections and get the best education. They paid the expensive tuition and spent a considerable amount on living expenses. A part of the money went into investing in the Academy’s faculty and facilities. As the quality of Ixium was constantly being improved in order to avoid losing their position as the best academy, a virtuous cycle repeated in which more students flocked to the school.
Chris, a 15-year-old this year, enrolled into Ixium to complete a six-year mandatory course. The mandatory course curriculum combined 3-4 school year courses of the preparatory grade and 1-4 school year courses of the regular grade.
Ixium’s curriculum was based on a 12-year course with 4 years each, of preliminary grade, preparatory grade, and regular grade, and students were able to split or combine them as they wished, according to their age and standards. Chris had been enrolled for a year now and was a 3rd year student of the preparatory grade.
The learning curve in Ixium was very difficult, but even if your grades were at the bottom, you were given your certificate of graduation. Receiving the costly tuition and dealing with the profits was the Academy’s riddle. In exchange, the certificate for course completion was only given to students with a certain grade(results) or higher. If someone wasn’t familiar with this system, you could publicly claim to them that with only the certificate of graduation, you had completed the academy’s courses magnificently.
Unfortunately for Chris, his father was very familiar with this cheating of the system. When he sent Chris to Ixium, he threatened that if Chris came back with only the graduation certificate, he would strip him and chase him out of the house.
Chris had just finished his 3rd school year and his grades were barely managing. Still, it wasn’t too bad. He was merely happy with the fact that he could go home without having to take additional semester courses.
As Chris was passing by the campus, he turned his gaze to the subject of the students’ stir. A hot topic of discussion in the school was passing by. It was a dark-haired boy, too young to be called a youth and too mature to be called a child.
‘The heavens are unfair.’
Chris thought every time he saw Damian. Damian has a remarkable appearance that stood out among the thousands of boys that infested the Academy. And that wasn’t the only thing. He was an outrageously brilliant guy that had never run for head position in the school.
‘And what’s with that out-of-place fox?’
Chris felt like a bigger and fiercer animal would be more suitable for Damian to carry around. However, the yellow-furred fox that was always following after Damian was tiny. Interestingly enough, the fox looked very haughty for a mere beast. At times, it seemed like it was showing off to people but Chris told himself he was just imagining things.
‘Same as usual, eh.’
Today as well, Damian completely ignored the students’ leering gazes. He didn’t look like he was putting on airs, he just had no interest, whatsoever.
‘…No matter how many times I see it, they look so alike.’
Whenever Chris saw Damian, there was someone that always came to mind. That person was someone famous in Chris’s home country, Xenon. There was almost no one that did not know him.
Chris had made his official social debut at this year’s New Year party. Many nobles made their official debut at the new year party held by the royal family. This was because the party was huge, and many nobles attended the party. Chris’ family was not poor, but Chris’ father did not want to spend money on holding a separate debut party.
It was at this party that Chris first saw the ducal couple; the Duke of Taran and his wife, who were attending. The Duke of Taran’s particular features were quite famous, so Chris was well aware of them, but the person he saw was quite different from what he had imagined.
The rumors surrounding the Duke of Taran painted him as a fearsome, crude, terrifying person, but the appearance of the Duke of Taran dressed in a tailcoat, was a very well-built, refined aristocrat. The impressive sight of the Duke of Taran had continued to float around his head. Which is why when Chris first saw Damian, he was overrun with shock.
Chris wasn’t the type to be privy to rumors but soon after he was enrolled, he heard rumors about Damian. A monstrous genius who was boarding in the dorms. It was said that he had never not gotten first place, and even for a skill like swordsmanship that had to be cultivated, he was proficient enough to compete with the professors for dozens of times. When he saw Damian, Chris realized that there were really geniuses in this world.
‘We are completely different species.’
Maybe because the gap between them was so wide, Chris didn’t even envy him. Rather than envy, he was more curious about the connection between Damian and the Duke of Taran.
‘There’s no way they can look so alike if they didn’t have a blood connection.’
In Ixium, there were many comments going around about Damian’s obscure identity, but no one mentioned the Duke of Taran. At first, Chris wondered why, but now, he knew. They were all being careful with their words.
‘For the Duke of Taran to have such a big son…it’s too young, isn’t it?’
Chris didn’t know Damian’s exact age. Physically, Damian looked like he was the same age as Chris or perhaps even older.
‘I mean, I’ve heard that the Duke of Taran has a daughter, but I’ve never heard of a son.’
If Damian wasn’t the Duke’s son, then a relative maybe? Chris wanted to grab Damian who was walking farther away and ask.
“Can’t you look where you’re going?”
As Chris was turning around, he heard an abrasive voice and turned back again. When he saw the scene occurring a little distance away from him, a frown formed on his brow.
‘With the way these bastards are picking a fight, you have to wonder if he is really related to the Duke of Taran…’
The books Damian were holding had fallen to the floor and two boys stood in front of Damian, blocking him.
‘Those guys again, huh.’
This was a frequent occurrence. Once those two boys saw Damian, they were itching to pick a fight.
‘Ai, the fact that guys like these are from my country is a disgrace.’
Damian’s country of origin, let alone his status, was obscure. His family obviously had enough money to cover for Ixium’s tuition fee, but seeing as he was boarding in the dorms, people guessed that he was probably not from a noble family. When the boys coming after Damian were not penalized or put at a disadvantage, the idea that Damian’s status wasn’t anything much, became more concrete.
Chris didn’t see why Damian’s nobility or lack thereof, was a reason to pick a fight. He also couldn’t understand why there were a lot of people who were secretly unfriendly towards Damian. He accidentally overheard his classmates talking and learnt that there were a lot of people bitter at Damian.
Regardless of the circumstances, Damian had never shrunk or looked intimidated in front of anyone. Apparently to them, such an attitude was arrogant. They didn’t bluntly say ‘arrogant’, but Chris felt that his classmate, who were dancing around their meaning, were really pathetic.
‘It’ll end the same way, today too.’
This frequently occurring scene had never led into a fight. The saying was ‘it takes two to tango.’ Damian didn’t go against them at all. So the bastards picking a fight had no choice but to fume and step back. Chris admired Damian’s choice to ignore them. They weren’t even opponents worth facing.
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LUCIA
Side Story 1.2 - DAMIAN(2)
DAMIAN(2)
‘These two again.’
Damian inwardly clicked his tongue. These bastards never got tired of this childish attempt of theirs. He wanted to tell them to go and read a book with this tenacity of theirs.
Damian’s eyes were frosty. These were the same guys that would fall to the floor and lick his feet if they knew who he was. They were not worthy to be his opponent.
Damian never forgot the experience he had a few years ago at the garden party. He learnt that not all older adults were wise. He knew that the boys harassing him at the academy were still kids that were yet to mature, and he had also learnt that age didn’t matter when it came to the cowardice of human beings, which differed on the outside and inside.
He wanted to see what kind of attitude people would have towards him when he was a person with only skills and no background. Which is why he was purposefully attending the Academy quietly.
It was impossible to climb to the seat of ‘Shita’ that he wanted, with just skills by itself. It was a thoroughly political position. He wasn’t arrogant enough to claim that he would do it with his power alone. He would gladly use the name of the Duke of Taran when he needed it. He planned on revealing his identity as the Duke’s successor during the next year.
No one knew Damian at the Academy. There were a few from the north among the enrolled students and they had made a rough guess, but when Damian told them to shut their mouth, they were careful with what they said. Thanks to that, the secret was well kept.
Krrar. Feeling threatened instinctively, Asha exposed her teeth and her fur hardened. However, despite Asha being grown up, she was small enough to be sent flying from a kick. As expected, the boys harassing Damian laughed jeeringly at the fox.
“Asha.”
Damian called her name and restrained her. Asha looked up at Damian with her meek eyes then she turned back to Damian. Damian was worried that Asha might get caught up in this and get hurt. Asha was the first gift his mother gave to him and she was also Damian’s first friend. If something happened to Asha, he felt like he might not be able to keep to his father’s request.
[Don’t kill people at the Academy.][1]
The reason why Damian didn’t respond to their constant annoyance was because it was too troublesome. To get angry, you have to be made angry. Like usual, Damian chose the option of silently picking up his book from the floor. Tak. The book he tried to pick up was kicked and fell to the floor again. Damian’s line of sight followed the owner of the foot, looking up to find a brown-haired boy, smiling spitefully.
“You can’t hear me? I said look where you’re going. If you make a mistake, you have to apologize, don’t you think?”
They were going a little overboard today. Damian’s red eyes flatly stared at the boy with brown hair. Why were they consuming such unnecessary emotions? Upon receiving Damian’s tranquil gaze, the boy who had picked a fight, flew into a rage. The boy felt like Damian was mocking him as pathetic with his eyes and also discovered his brother’s sneer.
“You—” (?)
“Stop it.” (Chris)
Chris interrupted, unable to watch any longer.
“Why are you attacking someone who’s just passing by?” (Chris)
“Who are you to butt in?” (?)
The brown-haired boy was unhappy, but he was also cautious since he knew who Chris was. Although Ixium was relatively free from nationality and status, one’s background could never be ignored. Chris was the son of a well-known Marquis, in the same country where the brown-haired boy was from.
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“I’m saying don’t make an issue out of nothing. The path is obviously wide enough, but you left that alone and intentionally bumped into him. You’re obviously picking a fight.” (Chris)
“What do you mean intentionally!”
While the two of them were quarrelling, Damian diligently picked up his fallen book and stood up. He took out his handkerchief from his coat and wiped off the footprints on his book. He was slightly annoyed this time. This was a special book.
It was a present from his mother; she always sent him a book when she found a good one. When the guy—Damian didn’t even know any of their names—stepped on his book, Damian had unknowingly clenched his fists. If Chris hadn’t intervened, he might have thrown a punch.
The other guy harassing Damian, the ash-haired one, stretched his hand towards Damian. Rather than an attack, it was a move to grab Damian’s shoulder and make Damian face him.
Damian was already a little alert, so he reflexively drew back and fiercely whipped out his hand. With that, the book he was holding was aimed at the boy’s neck. Every motion he made took place almost simultaneously. It was a swordplay move that he had done subconsciously. Damian slowly lowered his hand, but the ash-haired boy had already turned red with anger.
The fuming ash-haired boy caught something white at the corner of his eyes. He picked up the handkerchief that had fallen onto the floor. Honestly, the boy wasn’t that ill-natured. But the moment he was about to ask, ‘Is this yours?’, he met Damian’s agitated eyes.
Damian’s apathetic gaze which always seemed like he was looking at lifeless organisms, had changed at some point. However, upon seeing Damian’s restless for the first time, the ash-haired boy’s intent twisted. His nastiness flared.
“Give that back.” (Damian)
That was the handkerchief his mother had personally embroidered and sent to him. When Damian stretched out his hand and took a step forward, the ash-haired boy took the same step backwards. As Damian reached for it, he waved his hand around so that Damian couldn’t get the handkerchief. After that repeated itself a few times, Damian’s eyes got redder.
The ash-haired boy felt a glow of pleasure. He dropped the handkerchief onto the floor in a flaunting manner. Then he fixed Damian a contented grin and slowly trampled the handkerchief under his feet. Damian’s eyes burst into a blaze.
The ash-haired was suddenly struck by a strong force and tumbled down. He was momentarily dazed as he collapsed to the floor. He touched the area of his lips that was tingling with pain and blood rubbed off on his hand.
“You want to fight, huh?!”
As soon as he realized he was hit, he clenched his fist and dashed at Damian. The brown-haired boy who wanted to go there to help him was blocked by Chris. Chris slightly avoided the fist coming at him angrily and also swung his fist. But the punch he threw really connected. The two of them began to go at it for real.
“Argh! This damn fox!”
Even Asha joined in to assist against her master’s enemy. She used her small body to nimbly dodge and bit their arms or feet. The fact that she didn’t attack Chris showed her intelligence in distinguishing between enemy and friend.
A rarely seen spectacle in Ixium was happening right now. The students gathered around in a circle to witness the scene of four boys and one animal exchanging blows.
Only after an order supervisor ran over and forcefully pulled them apart, did the dogfight stop.
* * *
Unless the issue was related to a student’s grade or that of conduct i.e. insulting one’s teacher, the primary disciplinary right was within the Conference’s scope of authority.[2] The conference exercised their disciplinary power over the four students that had broken order in the school.
They were suspended from classes for 3 days, had to write a reflection, and also reflect on their attitudes. But Damian alone was punished to be suspended for 7 days. The reason was that Damian threw the first punch and also didn’t manage his pet properly, causing it to attack people. Of course, the real reason was something else. With the exception of Damian, the other boys had remarkable identities. In particular, a friend of the two boys who had picked a fight was a member of conference.
“This is ridiculous.”
Chris was angry. The treatment was extremely unfair. Those guys were the ones who came looking for trouble first. It was low and childish.
“Don’t just stand there, make a complaint! Submit a formal objection to the Appeals committee!”
If you have any complaints against your first disciplinary hearing, you could file for a trial with the Appeals committee. Damian’s face was deadpan as he watched Chris, who was rampaging around after coming all the way to his dorm room, then he briefly replied.
“It’s fine.”
His fingers were gently combing through Asha’s fur in a leisurely manner as she lay on his knees.
“Fine?! What’s fine! Those kids started it first.”
Chris learnt Damian’s age for the first time due to this incident. He thought Damian was at least as old as himself, but he was surprised to find out that Damian was only 12 years old. Those boys were fifteen and sixteen years old, respectively. They had attacked and harassed a boy who was much younger than them.
“Do you know how big a one week suspension is at Ixium? It’s a huge red line on your school record!”
Damian was calm. His father never told him that he shouldn’t cause any trouble. He wouldn’t say anything for passable incidents as long as it wasn’t expulsion. Which is why Damian didn’t care if his school record had a red line or not. That much red line wasn’t even going to be a block on his road to becoming Shita. (1)
“And you?” (Damian)
“What?” (Chris)
“You were drawn into this because of me. Isn’t that a problem on your own school record?”
“This degree of suspension is okay. It’s basically a warning for a first-timer.”
Damian looked at Chris who had now become a ‘knowledgeable person’ in his books and wondered why the guy had even interfered in his business. They had not had any exchanges before this and were basically strangers.
“Thank you.” (Damian)
Chris, who was fuming, looked at Damian in surprise. It was obvious from his expression that he didn’t expect to hear that.
“Wh…for what?”
“For trying to help me, back then. Although you didn’t need to.”
Chris’s mouth was in a wide grin at the first sentence, but the second sentence ticked him off. He glared at Damian for a bit but soon tossed his annoyance aside.
“Are you really not going to appeal?”
“I won’t.”
“If you’re suspended, the notice will go home, though.”
“…”
He didn’t know that.
___________
LUCIA
Side Story 1.3 - DAMIAN(3)
DAMIAN(3)
Damian went into the administrative office to look into the situation. The staff there told him that he was one step too late.
“For a disciplinary action beyond suspension, a notice of the punishment is immediately forwarded to the necessary address, regardless of whether or not an appeal has been filed.”
Damian’s address was listed as Philarch, not the north or the mansion in the capital. The office meant for handling all matters regarding the young master, such as Damian’s guards and reports, was located in Philarch. It was this office that was officially registered as Damian’s address.
The office manager received all the documents sent from Ixium and forwarded the documents to the Duke along with the written reports. In other words, all of Damian’s documents went to the office first. Damian considered going to the office that he had never been to before, but he changed his mind.
‘Father’s the one receiving it, anyways.’
Damian figured that his father wouldn’t care much about a few days of suspension, especially since it wasn’t expulsion. Damian’s speculation was correct. Before Ixium had even sent a notice of Damian’s suspension, Hugo learnt of it from his subordinate’s report. After getting the report, Hugo mumbled disinterestedly.
“Suspension? No big deal then.”
There were two things that would make Hugo have interest in Damian’s academy life. Damian being terribly harmed (or killed), or something happens that would prevent Damian from graduating. Apart from these, everything else was left to Damian. This was also why he left the guys that were disturbing Damian alone. If Damian couldn’t handle things like the guys trying to pick a fight with him at the Academy, then he wouldn’t be able to handle becoming the lord of the north.
‘What is he thinking…?’
Damian was attending the academy in a state where his status was uncertain. At first, this was Hugo’s intention. When Damian first enrolled, Hugo registered his name as ‘Damian’ only. He didn’t leave any trace that would lead to the boy’s true identity. At the time, Damian was too young, and had no power befitting of his status as the heir to a Duke. Once people became aware of his identity and focused their attention on him, unexpected and dangerous things could happen, so Hugo took appropriate measures.
Once Damian grew older and was capable of discernment, if he asked to reveal his identity, Hugo had no plans of stopping him. However, Damian was still enduring the attacks on him with bated breath and letting them pass. Judging from the line-up of the bastards looking for trouble, it was obvious that they were empty husks that wouldn’t dare to speak rashly if they knew that Damian was the son of the Duke of Taran.
The Academy was a small society made up of children, but that was also why there were more thorough in the pecking order amongst themselves. When they got out into society, they would realize that status was not a perfect solution, but as of now, the children’s world was still narrow. In the eyes of the arrogant children, the Damian, who wasn’t the Duke of Taran’s son, was a stone on the floor that they could step on as much as they liked.
‘If he has the conceited idea of not using his background at all, then that is rather dull.’
If Damian’s status was elevated due to the knowledge that he was the Duke’s son, then that was thanks to his background, not his ability. If Damian hated that and was in the process of being stubborn, then Hugo would be quite disappointed. Background was also part of one’s ability. This was a world where one could never rise above a certain height without a background.
‘There’s still time, so I’ll just have to wait and see.’
It would be fine to simply call the boy and ask him what he was thinking but Hugo did not do that. He had no plans of spoon feeding the boy. The boy had to be strong. If something happened to Hugo by any chance, he had to be capable of protecting his mother and younger sister. He didn’t originally intend to let Damian grow in a greenhouse like a flower, but after his daughter was born, he was thinking of making Damian stronger.
Hugo was not interested in the suspension. But he was interested in the fact that the suspension was caused by a fight. The boy wasn’t the type to be easily provoked to come to blows. As he chuckled, thinking ‘a child is a child, as expected’, he read the attached document which gave a full account of the fight.
Hugo’s expression gradually turned ominous. When he got to where it stated that they had trampled the handkerchief, his hand gripped the document in his hand tighter.
‘These young bastards are excessive.’
His wife did not accept his request to make a handkerchief for him when she was making one for Damian.
[When the one I gave you gets old, I’ll make you a new one for you.]
Hugo didn’t use the handkerchief Lucia gave him because he felt like it was too valuable. So, there was no way it was getting old. He just had no choice but to watch Lucia make a handkerchief for Damian. With the birth of Evangeline, Lucia was busy making things for her daughter to use too. Hugo didn’t know why he couldn’t get his wife to make something for him too when she was making stuff for their daughter.
Hugo checked to see which family the perpetrating child came from and committed it to memory. He wasn’t going to do anything currently, but if anything came up for him to find fault in, he would remember this day. He could hold grudges for a very long time.
* * *
The organization of the mails that poured in was one of the important things she had to do. Lucia checked the mails that came in for her. Most of them were invitations but occasionally, there were personal letters. The mails she usually waited for were letters from Damian or the occasional letter from Norman.
Lucia picked up an envelope, brought out its contents and as she read through it, her expression became increasingly strange. She checked the envelope again to verify who the sender was. It had the official seal of Ixium, signifying that it was sent from there.
This mail was not originally sent to Lucia. Today, Jerome was busy with something else so he left the sorting of the letters to another person, but that person mistakenly put it in the Madam’s mails. Lucia looked through the contents again.
“Suspension…”
It was a notice stating that Damian had been punished with seven days of suspension.
“What do they mean Damian has been suspended?”
She read the official notice several times, but it did not say the exact reason for the suspension. It only stated that he disrupted order in the school and violated the rules. There was no way her well-behaved son would cause enough trouble to be suspended. Something was wrong here.
Thankfully, her husband didn’t go out today; he was in the office, grappling with documents. Lucia took the notice in her hand and headed to her husband’s office.
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LUCIA
Side Story 1.4 - DAMIAN(4)
The door opened quietly and the mild scent of tea wafted in. Hugo was buried in his work, not lifting his head, but when the sign of someone approaching didn’t disappear, he lifted his gaze. He discovered his wife, standing there with a tea tray in her hands and his eyes grew wide.
“How come you’re here?”
“Did I interrupt you? I would like some of your time. Is now okay?”
“Ah. Yes, now is fine.”
Hugo swiftly got up and sat opposite of her on the sofa. Lucia filled the two teacups with tea and placed one in front of her husband and herself.
“I felt like it would be right to talk with you here because it’s both a personal matter and formal matter.”
Lucia placed the mail she had brought with her on the table. Hugo looked through the contents of the mail with an indifferent expression and as Lucia watched him put it back inside the envelope, she said:
“You know what this is about, right?”
“It’s nothing big. He seems to have fought with his classmates.”
“Is Damian hurt?”
Hurt? Damian’s swordsmanship was at a professional level. The sword skills he learnt were the standard one, so they couldn’t surpass the killing skills that Hugo learnt as a mercenary slave, but it would be difficult to find his match among his peers.
According to the reports, he could even win against his seniors that were three to four years older easily. By the time he graduated, he wouldn’t lose to anyone in a pure swordsmanship match. The generations of men in the Taran family had sturdy constitutions. Equipped with the skill of innate ability, they had no opponent.
“It’s fine. Kids fight as they grow.”
As he watched Lucia breathe a sigh of relief, Hugo thought that she treated Damian too much like a child. He didn’t know what she was so worried about when her son was already so much taller than her.
“So why is he suspended for a simple fight? What’s going on? Was the child he fought greatly hurt?”
“It’s not really that.”
Hugo couldn’t help but briefly explain what Damian’s current situation was like. He explained that Damian lived hiding his status so there were guys who often came to look for his trouble and that this time, he received an unfair punishment. Hugo spoke lightly but Lucia’s expression gradually hardened as she listened.
“So you’re saying that Damian was ridiculously and unfairly punished.”
“…Sounds about right.”
“So what do you plan to do?”
Hugo didn’t care much about it. He was going to just let it pass by. But when he was about to reply with, ‘what am I supposed to do,’ he felt like his wife’s eyes would turn up sharply, so he quietly shut his mouth.
Lucia’s maternal love was at its peak after giving birth and raising Evangeline. The knowledge that Damian was being oppressed at the Academy made unbearable anger surge within her. How dare they— to my son!
“Actually, I have been thinking about things regarding Damian.”
Not long ago was Evangeline’s first birthday. Hugo borrowed a hall in the royal palace and held an extravagant and grand birthday party. It was big enough for the attendees to insinuate that the party was bigger than Princess Selena’s. Despite receiving a swarm of congratulatory messages, Lucia was disheartened by Damian’s absence throughout.
When she sent Damian an invitation to attend, Damian replied that he was sorry, but it was difficult because he was in school. Damian truly couldn’t spare time during the semester so he couldn’t attend. However, Lucia took it differently, in that, she thought that Damian was averse to presenting himself before other people.
The capital’s high society did not know of Damian’s existence. The people who were always in-the-know with rumors definitely knew, but because they were caution of the Duke and Duchess of Taran, they didn’t spread it.
Lucia did not intend to hide Damian. However, Damian was too young to make a social debut and because he went to the academy, he was never at the capital, which meant that even if she said anything, it would just cause useless rumors to spread so she just kept to herself.
Lucia’s mind began to change due to the New Year party this year. Every year at the New Year’s party, many noble children made their debut in the social circle. She watched as the parents of the children busied around everywhere, trying to make sure their children who were debuting, made even the slightest good impression.
Lucia had smiled as she greeted the young boys and girls of fourteen years who were just making their debut. And then, there was a boy who strikingly stood out to her. It was Chris, the son of Marquis Philip. People’s attentions were focused on the debut of the child of a family in power. He wasn’t greeting people, rather, they were greeting him.
As Lucia watched the confident and brightly smiling young boy, Damian came to her mind. She thought to herself, that Damian was as qualified as the Marquis’s son to be standing there confidently, with people’s attention on him.
“Do you really want Damian to stay in the dorms until he graduates?”
“I promised to let him graduate from the day he entered.”
“I’m not saying that he shouldn’t graduate. I’m just asking if he needs to be on the boarding course? Other kids are on vacation while Damian had to have dates annually issued for him to go out. This cannot go on until his graduation.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“Change his course. It shouldn’t be boarding course, but something that allows him to come home on vacation like the other kids at the academy.”
“I don’t think that’s possible within the Academy’s regulations.”
“I know you can change it.”
Hugo was shocked speechless by the fact that such words came out from his wife’s mouth.
“In addition, there is now a need for Damian to introduce himself into the social circles.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
Damian’s social debut wasn’t something he had considered. Damian would be eighteen years old when he finished his 12 years of boarding. At that point, he would have learnt what he needed to do at the academy, plus he would be at the proper age, so he would then be taught what needed to be taught. That was Hugo’s plan.
“It’s not all of a sudden, this is something I have been thinking about. When Damian graduates, his social debut will be too late.”
Social debuts usually happened at fifteen, and at the earliest, it was one or two years earlier. However, there weren’t many cases where someone made a debut considerably late. Families who followed the rule of succession mostly kept to this principle.
“It’s not that necessary. A social debut isn’t that important.”
“It is important. Damian’s birth had a weakness. So I think it will be better to have him debut very early and make people recognize that he is definitely your successor.”
Until now, the Taran family had gone by without participating in many activities in the social circles. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they had locked themselves up in the north. In this generation, Hugo unusually broadened their activities. According to his precedents, social activities in the capital were meaningless.
However, there was a possibility for changes in the way the Taran family ran when Damian took over. In addition, the social debut arrangements of the children was the Lady of the House’s responsibility. Therefore, Hugo couldn’t find any reason to oppose his wife’s idea.
“I want to hold a debut party before the end of this winter.”
“I think that’s early.”
“By the time New Year comes around, he will be thirteen. He’s taller and more mature than those his age so it’s fine.”
“Do what you want.”
“Ask His Majesty for use of the hall like you did for Eve’s birthday.”
“Borrow what hall. The New Year party is soon after this winter anyways. It can be done then.”
“But Damian isn’t the focus at the New Year’s Party.”
“It isn’t good if he stands out too much on his first debut stage. Especially since to the other people, his existence isn’t even known and then, he suddenly appears.
“Is that so…you have a point. I’ll think about it again.”
Hugo borrowing a hall in the royal palace to throw an unprecedented grand ball for Evangeline’s social debut was still something in the distant future.
“So, you’ll resolve Damian’s suspension issue, right?”
“…Sure.”
“Thankfully, the semester has just finished so you should go bring him back.”
“Me?”
“Are you busy?”
He was busy indeed. Plus, he didn’t know why he needed to go there personally and pick up the boy. He had already bought a pass for the gate, and using the gate, it was a half-a-day distance from the Academy to the ducal residence.
However, Hugo couldn’t win against the pressure of his wife, who was looking straight at him. This was his wife who took every opportunity to talk about building the relationship between father and son. Hugo thought that he and the boy had just the right amount of distance between them. Of course, he kept this thought to himself.
“…I will go.”
Since she had cleanly solved the issue at hand, Lucia lightly rose to her feet.
“I took more of your time than I thought. I won’t bother you anymore.”
Hugo quickly hooked an arm around his wife’s waist as she hurried to leave.
“Since we’ve already been talking so far, let’s keep on talking.”
“Talking about what?”
Hugo held her waist firmly, keeping her close in his arms and his other hand went down to her behind. He wove his knee between her legs and squeezed it between her thighs then he pressed down his lips on her slender, long neck. Lucia’s face flushed red.
“Th—you’re nuts.”
“I’m absolutely nuts for you.”
“This is where you work!”
“It’s not like this is the first time.”
Lucia’s face burned even redder.
She remembered the night when he carried her to the second floor in the middle of the night, her nakedness wrapped with a bedsheet, and she was so afraid that someone would see that even her fingertips were tense. It was a thrilling night. But the fact that she committed such a messy act in her husband’s workplace continued to make her feel awkward and embarrassed.
“It wasn’t daytime then!”
When he hugged her, Lucia pounded on his chest. Holding her to his chest, Hugo used his arm to push away all the documents on his desk then he placed her on it. Some documents and writing materials fell to the floor but he didn’t care.
“Hugh! Someone will come!”
“No one will come unless they want to die.”
Hugo leaned on his desk with both arms and kissed her before she found more things to nag about. He enjoyed tasting her full lips and her small, soft tongue. He sucked on her chewy, soft lower lips then he pushed his tongue deeper into her mouth. Her mouth felt feverishly hot to him.
His tongue scoured her mouth and swept over her gums. Their salivas mixed together in both a hurried and calm manner. Kisses with him were always hot and pleasuring. Lucia tasted sweetness in his mouth just like how he swallowed her saliva like sweet honey.*
Their tongues slid against each other, tangling and untangling. His hand held the back of her neck supporting her, while her two arms were wrapped around his neck. Their lips momentarily separated before coming together again. At some point, Lucia had become so absorbed by the kiss that she clung to him. She felt electrified to her fingertips and heat rose in the area between her thighs. She couldn’t stop his hand as it came into her skirt and pulled it down. Rather, she lifted up her butt to help him remove it.
“Haa…Haa…”
She was short of breath thanks to the unceasing string of kisses. Hugo’s red eyes flickered with dark desire as he watched her try to catch her breath with her slightly swollen lips.
He groped along her thigh then he lifted her skirt and place his hand between her open legs. As soon as she felt cold air brush against her bare lower abdomen, something hot rubbed against her entrance. Her mouth watered at the thought of his blazing red eyes, his lips glistening with saliva, his erotic scent and the pleasure he would give her.
“Hnng!”
His hot manhood broke through her flesh and entered. He gripped her butt and vigorously thrust into her. Her privates had already begun to get wet during the kiss so she swallowed his huge size with no resistance. As he filled her so much that she almost couldn’t breathe, he moved in and out of her with ferocity. Lucia’s body shook all over the place as she hung from him with her arms around his neck. The intense stimulation between her legs quickly brought Lucia to her climax.
“Aah!!”
Lucia put her arms around his shoulders and leaned back. Her shoulders shuddered as her sight blacked out for an instant before becoming clear again. The orgasm that came in less than no time was as short as it was intense.
As the tremors of her inner walls around his member lessened, Hugo bit her ear.
“Is that all?”
“Ah!”
Before she could even reply, he moved. Lucia moaned and began to move up and down again. Every time he plunged in deep and touched somewhere, something deep inside her body grew hotter. She was captivated by a sense of contradicting hopes and fears in that she wished for the thing to come and at the same time, she didn’t want it to come.
_______________
LUCIA
Side Story 1.5 - DAMIAN(5)
DAMIAN(5)
A chill began to crawl up her spine. Recognizing what this feeling was, Lucia tried to hold back a tearful moan. The worry that someone might knock on the office door at any time brought her even more excitement. Not long after, just as something erupted inside her, he moaned and hot semen flooded into her. Lucia’s mouth was open as her inner walls spasmed carelessly, but she couldn’t even utter a moan. Her head was turned to mush from the incessantly rising pleasure.
“Hn…Hng…”
Lucia clung to him as she sobbed. Her whole body was trembling. Hugo buried his face in her neck and drew in a deep, rough breath. He had never seen a woman as sensitive as her. The moment he entered her, her entire body quivered. Her body was a lewd one that orgasmed over and over again.
She hit her climax in her second or third orgasm faster than in her first. Her entire body quivered, her chest was swollen, her nipples were perked, and her inner walls, especially, which clung tight to his member, was no joke.
Her tender and hot insides had clamped down on his thing and gripped him tight. He was almost unable to resist and cummed inside her in surrender. And then the spasms of her inner walls were almost endless, like a heartbeat.
Even though he was just staying still inside her, he couldn’t help but moan. As time passed, the spasms of her inner walls gradually lessened. Every time it clenched around him very slowly and gripped him tight, small creases formed on his forehead.
He began to plant light kisses along the line of her neck. He moved up her neck, to the bottom of her chin, before reaching the side of her lips. He lightly kissed the top of her lip then he enveloped her lips, put his tongue in her mouth and pressed them into a heated kiss.
He moved his waist backwards, pulling out of her, then he lifted her and placed her down facing the desk. When the cold wood of the desk touched her cheek, Lucia felt embarrassed, but her body shook with excitement.
His thick manhood brushed past the flesh of her thighs and penetrated her deeply. He only came to a stop when his thighs slowly came to touch her butt. Now fully inside her, he let out a rough breath.
Her extremely sensitive insides squeezed his intruding member tight. His view felt giddy causing him to grit his teeth. He couldn’t move. After giving birth to a child, his wife’s body had become so much more mature. He took a few hard breaths then he pulled his waist back and rammed in strongly.
“Ung!”
His movements began to grow a little faster. As flesh smacked against flesh, the sound of liquid splashing could be heard. Lucia pushed against the desk in an effort not to fall, but both her body and the desk were rocking back and forth. Whenever his hard flesh intensely filled her up to the brim, Lucia screamed, moaning with pleasure.
“Ah! Ahh!”
When it hit deep inside, her vision flickered. When her vaginal walls clenched, he groaned. His hands on her hips gripped her a little harder. He thrust in a few more times then he rammed all the way in and sprayed into her womb. As he heaved, fighting for breath, he bit her earlobe and licked it. Her insides went into a fit of spasm and her body shook from the pleasure.
“I won’t…come to your office again.”
Hearing her say that as she panted, Hugo burst into laughter.
* * *
The last semester of this year ended, leaving about a month or so until the first day of the new year. And about two months after the vacation marks the start of the first semester of the following year. In the summer, most students returned home within a day or two after the summer vacation begins, so the campus would get very quiet. However, the winter vacation tended to remain crowded even a week into vacation due to graduation.
Today in particular, was the day of graduation and densely packed carriages kept filing into the campus.
The day that Hugo decided to visit Ixium was the graduation day, of all days. Two carriages with the vivid symbol of a black lion, mixed with numerous other carriages and entered Ixium. Unlike the other carriages, it didn’t head to the auditorium where the graduation was in full swing but to the Head Office.
The entrance of the Head Office was relatively quiet. But there were a few people standing outside as if they were waiting for someone. Waldo, the Dean of Ixium, had been nervously rubbing his hands and once he caught sight of the carriage, he promptly flew down the stairs, skipping a few steps on the way. As he watched the two carriages stop and attendants came down from the rear carriage to stand beside the carriage in front, he swallowed nervously.
The door of the carriage opened, and a dark-haired man stepped out. The man stood out, with hair as dark as shadows and a height and frame like that of a fierce knight. The pupils underneath his thick eyebrows were as red as blood and the bridge of his nose was straight on his symmetrical features. In all, he was a man with a rarely seen beauty.
However, the people that saw him were overwhelmed by the atmosphere around him rather than his appearance. They could feel a ferocious energy beneath his cool gaze and ice dripped from his expressionless face. The feeling emanating from him was as though as one would be cut down if they dared to approach him.
Waldo respectfully bowed his waist and seeing Waldo move to escort his guest and entourage inside, the staffs of the Head Office that stood with him, whispered amongst themselves as they didn’t know who the guests were.
“The Dean’s nose almost touched the floor. Who in the world has come?”
The students of the Academy were either royal descendants, aristocrats, or a least the child of someone with enormous capital. As someone who had dealt with all kinds of people in high positions, the Dean of Ixium’s pride was high.
“It must be Xenon’s Duke of Taran.”
“Duke of Taran? You mean that Duke of Taran?”
“Is there any other Duke of Taran in Xenon?”
“To see someone, you’ve only heard of through rumors is quite amazing. I didn’t expect him to be so young. His aura is frightful, indeed.”
Waldo wasn’t nervous just because his guest was the Duke of a nation. He was nervous because the Duke of Taran had great influence over the board of directors, which was capable of replacing the Dean of the Academy, in addition, the Duke was a sponsor that gave a considerable amount of scholarship to the school every year.
As a standard, Ixium received huge tuition fees and enrolled royals or nobles from around the world, but they also paid attention to attracting scholarship students with outstanding academic ability, regardless of status, in order to produce future professors. Having outstanding faculty members has raised the Academy’s quality to a higher level. Therefore, how much scholarships the Dean can attract was also a measure of his ability.
“If I had been notified in advance, I would have taken more care to make sure nothing would inconvenience you. Things are a bit rowdy due to the graduation and the preparations are insufficient. I apologize.”
Waldo was only abruptly informed of an important guest’s visit this morning. Because it was the day of graduation, he was very busy, he had many people to meet and his schedule was packed, but he postponed everything, including his speech at the graduation, and focused on receiving the guests.
Some might say that Waldo was being servile. In actuality, some parts of him was. Waldo had only the reasonable capability for his position, but he had kept his seat as the Dean of the Academy for nearly a decade because he was outstandingly tactful and astute.
Waldo secretly took notice of Hugo frowning minutely after taking a sip of the tea served to him and putting it back. He immediately knew that his secretary had screwed up the tea. He had been tolerant because it was a relative with special consideration, but from today onwards, they were fired.
“Please tell us what you need, Your Excellency and we will promptly sort it out for you.”
“I am here to meet my son who is enrolled here in Ixium.”
Waldo felt his back go cold. He had never heard that. Never. If he had heard it, there was no way he would have forgot. Waldo kept a special record of royals or high-ranking noble students that he needed to pay attention to. The Duke of Taran’s son would have been at the top of that list.
“I was sent this thing.”
Waldo took the envelope the Duke gave to him and when he looked at its contents, his hand trembled. 7 days of suspension? What crazy bastard—!
“I personally looked into it and found that there was a problem with the procedures.”
How dare you give my son 7 days suspension. It looks like you’re tired of playing Dean. That’s how it sounded in Waldo’s ears.
“I will investigate this and fix it right away.”
Waldo’s mind was scattered. He was agitated and wanted to quickly find out how such a huge incident had happened.
“My son is in the boarding course. I would like to take him home, but he hasn’t received permission to go out. Moreover, he’s still in confinement…”
“There is no problem at all. You can take your son with you right away, Your Excellency. Shall I bring him here now?”
Hugo thought about it for a moment then he shook his head. The waiting time was boring.
“I’ll go meet my son and take him from there.”
“If he’s in confinement, then he should be at the dorms. I will take you personally…”
“There’s no need for that.”
As Waldo sent off the Duke of Taran, he emphasized his statement.
“Please do not worry about the matter concerning your child. I will definitely look into it and correct the mistake.”
Waldo’s face was rigid as he watched the departing carriage. This incident was a huge threat to his position as Dean. His schedules for today that he had postponed was none of his business.
He was going to find out how this ‘7 days of suspension’ came about, why he didn’t know that the Duke of Taran’s son was enrolled in Ixium and he planned on dealing with his staff who didn’t do their work properly.
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