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The auditorium hall was practically empty.

There was just a long table with seats that were probably reserved for the Headmaster and the faculty members. Behind the long table was a giant frame split in two. It looked classy because the frame was made from gold.

The parchment inside the frame was also oozing with magic that she wasn’t familiar with.

“The Grading Tablet behind is the device the Royal Moon Academy uses to grade the exam papers fairly,” Headmaster Salvatore explained as he sat on the center seat. “The scholars that the academy produced invented this device.”

The Headmaster politely offered her and Calyx a seat, but the two of them refused and chose to stand in front of the principal.

Then the Headmaster proceeded to explain how the grading device worked.

.....

“All we have to do is let this machine read the exam papers,” Headmaster Salvatore explained while putting her exam papers inside a transparent rectangular glass case with golden engraved symbols. When the machine “ate” the exam papers, the engraved symbols on the transparent glass case glowed. “The machine is now grading Your Royal Highness’s papers.”

[Ohh, that’s pretty lit.]

The Headmaster put Calyx Dalton’s exam papers on the other transparent rectangular glass case. What happened to the machine that ate her exam papers earlier happened to the machine that ate Calyx Dalton’s exam papers.

A grading machine was placed in front of each seat behind the long table.

[So, this is how the Royal Moon Academy managed to grade the exam papers of thousands of applicants in just a few hours.]

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a sound similar to little bells ringing coming from the giant frame behind the Headmaster.

The golden frame glowed, exposing the engraved characters on it.

[Ohh.]

Then letters forming different words began to glow on the left side of the parchment.

After a few seconds, “her” name appeared with her exam permit number beside it.

Then under her name and exam permit number, the name of the subjects of the exams she took appeared in a column. After a few seconds, numbers appeared next to the name subjects. Ah, those numbers were probably her exam score.

She got the same score for every subject.

She smiled because she got perfect scores on all subjects.

At the bottom of the column that showed her exam scores was the total score that she got overall- in short, the final result.

She was about to do a victory dance in her head when she realized that the other side of the golden frame showed the result of Calyx Dalton’s exam...

... and they had the same result.

[Wow, for real?]

“Magnificent!” Headmaster Salvatore exclaimed while looking at their exam results. “Both His Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton got perfect scores in every subject!”

She clenched her hands tight.

[We both aced the exam...]

“This is the first time that two students got perfect scores after a long time,” Headmaster Salvatore continued. “The last person to ace the exam was His Majesty Emperor Nikolai de Moonasterio.”

Calyx smiled brightly. “I’m glad that I was able to continue His Majesty’s legacy.”

Huh?

Neoma turned to Calyx with a raised eyebrow. “His Majesty is my father, though?”

[Why would you continue someone else’s father’s legacy?]

But wait.

She sounded like a jealous brat.

“I mean, although my father is a good emperor that deserves your respect, you do not have the obligation to follow in his footsteps, Lord Calyx,” she said, smiling to hide her temper that almost snapped a while ago. “You should be your own person.”

Calyx looked confused by her words. But in the end, he smiled the bright smile that she was starting to get used to. “Thank you for your kind words, Your Royal Highness,” he said. “I understand what you mean, but I simply want to express how much I admire His Majesty.”

She matched Calyx Dalton’s bright smile with a very bright smile of hers. “I’ll make sure to let my father know about the little fan of his that I met here.”

Calyx’s face turned red, as if he was embarrassed. “Your Royal Highness doesn’t have to go that far for me,” he said while scratching his cheek. “Moreover, I’ll get the chance to personally express my admiration for His Majesty on the last day of the entrance exam, anyway.”

Her smile froze at Calyx Dalton’s words.

EXCUSE ME?

The last day of the entrance exam was reserved only for the top two student applicants, and it was the day that the emperor’s presence was required.

Which meant Calyx Dalton was confident he would be one of the top two applicants.

The young lord’s strong words didn’t match his shy demeanor, and that got her wondering which among the two personalities he had shown was the real him: the humble young lord, or the confident noble that seemed to be getting on her nerves intentionally?

“If Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton get the top two best scores for tomorrow’s exam, then you’d definintely face each other on the last day of the entrance exam,” Headmaster Salvatore said in a cheerful manner. It seemed like the principal was truly happy that two applicants aced the written exam in a record-breaking time. “Student applicants who get a perfect score in the written exam are exempted from the interview, so Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton may go home now to rest.”

She was about to say something, but the doors of the auditorium hall suddenly burst open.

It was then followed by hundreds of student applicants entering the hall while talking among themselves.

[Ah, they’re probably here to see our test results.]

“Your Royal Highness, I’m looking forward to our test tomorrow,” Calyx said while smiling innocently at her. “I can’t wait to see Your Royal Highness’s brilliant Mana. Ah, just thinking about how Your Royal Highness will be surrounded by your bright Moonglow is enough to make me shudder with excitement. I want Your Royal Highness to blind me with your radiance.”

Brilliant? Bright? Radiance?

[He sounded like a child who discovered thesaurus for the first time.]

She smiled at Calyx. “Lord Calyx, do you like shiny things?”

The young lord looked surprised by her question at first. But he quickly recovered. Then he reacted in a way she didn’t expect.

Calyx Dalton smiled.

It was the kind of smile that made showed a glint of mischievousness in his green eyes.

“How did Your Royal Highness know that I like shiny things?” Calyx Dalton said, still smiling that mischievous smile at her. “My friends in my hometown often said that I must have been a crow in my past life because of how much I love shiny things.”

A crow, huh?

Neoma clenched her hands tight while maintaining her business smile.

[Is this punk exposing himself as a crow straight to my face?!]

***

“PRINCE NERO has already left for Hazelden Kingdom with the Fletcher Twins, Your Majesty.”

“Very well,” Nikolai said as he poured whisky into his glass. It was only past lunch, but instead of tea, he was drinking whisky in his office. He couldn’t help it. The appearance of the boy who could pass off as his son bothered him a lot. “Have you looked into Calyx Dalton’s background?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing in front of him, said. “But unfortunately, there’s only a little information that I could dig about Calyx Dalton. His background is clean- too clean.”

He smirked, then he sipped his whisky before he spoke. “If that child’s record is too clean by your standards, then it only means his background is fabricated.”

“That seems to be the case, Your Majesty,” the Paladin said. “And because Calyx Dalton’s record is clean, we can’t easily touch him, even if we suspect that he’s a crow. Moreover, his first public appearance already caused a stir. He already got the public’s approval in just a day.”

Calyx Dalton didn’t only look like Nero- the child was just as capable as the Crown Prince.

The fact that Calyx Dalton also aced the exam quickly spread in the empire.

A noble from a humble background getting in the same league as the Crown Prince boosted Calyx Dalton’s reputation.

“How old is the child?” he asked the Paladin.

“Calyx Dalton is fifteen-years-old, Your Majesty,” Geoffrey said. “According to his record, he started school a little later than his peers because of his weak constitution.”

“So, he’s older than my children.”

The Paladin nodded, his face showed concern. “What is Your Majesty thinking?”

“That child looks like Nero and Neoma. Essentially, he looks like my younger version,” he said, then he quietly put the glass down on the table. “But I’m not the only one who has this face.”

Geoffrey Kinsley, the smartest among the Paladins, gasped softly. “Princess Nichole...”

“Just like Neoma and Nero, Nichole and I resemble each other a lot, despite our different genders,” he said. “If Nichole would have an offspring, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that child resembled my children.”

He told Nero that he believed that the de Lucas might have used magic to alter Calyx Dalton’s appearance.

But truth be told, he had a feeling that the child might be related to Nichole- his twin sister.

He didn’t have the courage to say it in front of his child for fear that he might be right. So, in the end, he just told Nero that Calyx Dalton might be a product of magic.

“Princess Nichole was abducted by the crows in the past,” Geoffrey said, his voice shaking and his complexion pale. “They performed cruel experiments on her... and... if...”

The Paladin stopped talking.

.....

It seemed like the thought of Nichole bearing a child of a crow forcefully horrified him so much that he just shut his mouth.

“A few years ago, when the crows appeared to give the Crown Prince a birthday gift, they said something that stuck with me all this time,” he said, changing the topic that they both couldn’t bear to talk about. “The crows said they wanted to know if Nero was truly the rightful heir to the throne. They spoke as if there was another candidate that could inherit the throne aside from my child. At that time, I thought they couldn’t be talking about Neoma because the crows hated the female de Moonasterios. So, when the child who looks like my younger version suddenly appeared, the crows’ words back then entered my mind.”

“Could they be talking about Calyx Dalton?”

“The possibility is high,” he said grimly. “If Calyx Dalton turns out to be Nichole’s child, then he would have the right to inherit the throne.”

“But it never happened before, Your Majesty,” Geoffrey said worriedly. “There was never a time where the child of a de Moonasterion princess inherited the throne.”

“It’s unprecedented because the de Moonasterion princesses in the past were killed by the crows before they even reached adulthood,” he reminded the Paladin. “But Nichole is different. She survived the cruel experiments the crow had done to her. And there must be a reason why the crows didn’t kill her right away.”

The Paladin washed his face with his hands as if the current situation stressed him out. “If Calyx Dalton is really Princess Nichole’s child, then the crows would definitely use the child to challenge Prince Nero and Princess Neoma for the right to inherit the throne.”

“It also means that the crows don’t favor Nero,” he added, frowning. “If the crows think Nero doesn’t deserve the throne, then they wouldn’t hesitate to kill my son and replace him with Calyx Dalton.”

Geoffrey Kinsley removed his hands from his face, exposing his now glowing eyes. “Your Majesty, I know we don’t have proof yet about Calyx Dalton’s real identity. But he’s dangerous,” he said worriedly. “I believe we must eliminate him right away.”

“I have a feeling that Neoma and Calyx Dalton will face each other on the last day of the entrance exam,” he said, then his gaze fell down on his whisky. “It wouldn’t be strange if Neoma, who’s currently acting as the Crown Prince, accidentally kills her opponent in the match, right?”

The Paladin gasped softly. “Your Majesty, are you planning to ask Princess Neoma to kill Calyx Dalton during the match?”

A father asking his own daughter to kill a person was cruel.

But unfortunately, the Royal Family was never and would never be an ordinary family. If they didn’t kill, they would be killed.

“The match is the perfect opportunity to kill Calyx Dalton,” he said to the Paladin. “After all, there were instances in the past where the de Moonasterios had killed their opponents in the match. But if Neoma doesn’t want to do it, then I won’t force her to do so.”

Geoffrey Kinsley gulped. “Then, Your Majesty...”

“Yes, I’ll do it,” Nikolai said, his eyes turned glowing red. “I’ll kill Calyx Dalton before he touches my children.”

***

[WHAT is he doing here?]

Hanna was already wondering as to why the carriage that was supposed to fetch her was late.

Unfortunately, her father couldn’t fetch her personally because he had work to do as a duke. But her father told her that Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the Black Hawk Knights, would be her escort.

Thus, she was stuck in front of the academy’s main building while waiting. Thankfully, there were other students around them.

[He wouldn’t do anything stupid, right?]

“Greetings to the future Crown Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire,” Calyx Dalton, the boy who looked like Nero and Neoma, greeted her cheerfully. Then he extended his hand to her. “I apologize for greeting you late, Lady Hanna. But it’s better late than never, right?”

She didn’t really like to associate with Calyx Dalton.

There were eyes watching them, so she couldn’t be rude. Thus, even though she didn’t want him to touch her, she had no choice but to accept his hand...

... but just when her fingers were about to brush against Calyx Dalton’s, a pale hand roughly grabbed the young lord’s wrist.

“Who. You?”

Hanna smiled, relieved. “Lewis.”

***

***

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