Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: Dark Elf Arc

Chapter 55

"Caspian?" Soren balked for a moment before his eyes became blood red with rage. "You have some nerve coming back here after everything you've done!"

"Huh?" Caspian tilted his head. He had no idea what this man was talking about.

"Do not play dumb with me!" Soren hissed. "This school has been abandoned, and it's all your fault! Yours and that sorceress with you!"

Caspian didn't know what this man was talking about, and he honestly wasn't sure he cared. Rage flared up inside of him as Soren blamed whatever happened to the academy on Elincia. He wouldn't be so bothered if this man talked about him, which happened so often it was no skin off his back, but talking about Elincia like that was the surest way to piss him off.

Yet just before he could lay into the man, the door he was standing before opened, and a voice spoke out from beyond it.

"That is enough, Soren."

"But Headmaster--"

"I said that is enough." Headmaster Stratello glared down at Soren, causing the man to cower. "What happened here was not the fault of Caspian, Lady Elincia, or anyone else. Also, you need to watch your tongue, or have you not recognized whose presence you're in?"

"Whose presence?"

It was only after Headmaster Stratello talked that Soren finally caught a glimpse of the people with Caspian, all of whom had pulled back their hoods. He gasped when his eyes landed on Sylvia. The man looked like someone had zapped him with lightning as he went ramrod straight.

"L-Lady Sylvia! I had no idea you were also here!" he squeaked.

"Perhaps you should pay a bit more attention to your surroundings then," Sylvia responded in a cool, emotionless voice.

Soren blushed down to the roots of his hair.

"I can take a guess why all of you are here," the headmaster said, saving Soren from further humiliation. "Come inside my office and we will talk more."

Everyone entered Headmaster Stratello's office, which Caspian noticed was even more barren than usual, and that was saying something since this man's office had always been Spartan. The weapons that used to hang from the wall were gone. The desk situated before the window had vanished. Bookshelves were missing. It looked like this entire place had been cleared out.

"Stratello," Sylvia began, "I would like you to inform me of what happened here."

For once, the headmaster really did look his age. His shoulders sagged as though the world was weighing them down. He had a haggard face, with bags under his eyes and hollow cheekbones. Running a hand through his hair, the old headmaster carefully explained what had happened.

"It was a few weeks ago that it all started. A few of the students were withdrawn from the academy. This was a few days after you had been denounced as a traiter, Lady Sylvia, but I hadn't put much stock in what was happening. I figured it was just a small rebellion from a minor noble faction. It wasn't until later that I realized the one who had arranged all this was Duke Callisto De'Falco Genitore."

Hearing that name caused Erica to growl deep within her throat, which actually made everyone look at her. They all knew why she was acting that way. She had informed them about what happened in the Avrondale mines.

Headmaster Stratello continued. "It wasn't long after the duke declared that you were a traitor who'd been working with the elves that a final notice was delivered to the academy. It stated that the academy would be officially disbanded. All of the students were withdrawn, the instructors were laid off, and the servants were sent back to their homes."