The rest of the month passed by quickly for those within the Vilhorm mansion. Ray festered up the courage to inform the police about the bodies he had found while living with the regret of killing his teacher. Wolfe continued learning and growing under Richard Emblaze's guidance, raising his skills while learning important lessons along the way.
No conflict rose across Zodia and the police found no leads regarding the anonymous letters' writer. Everything seemed eerily quiet, as if something in the undergrowth was slowly beginning to consuming the country. Something sinister waiting to bring ruin to the country.
A week before entering Zychs Academy, both Ray and Wolfe would have an unforeseen meeting in the dimly lit Study. Ray had his head on the desk, his arms acting as a cushion against the hard wooden surface. He wasn't sleeping, just engrossed in thought.
Wolfe had entered the room as usual at night in order to look through other books by Ignacious Vilio. The author was dead now, but in his prime he was said to be able to perform techniques not even present day royals could. He was regarded as the most credible source of information when it came to magic, in Zodia.
Ray sensed someone entering the room, but did not lash out immediately since he didn't know it was Wolfe. Wolfe cautiously made his way through the Study, ignorant to the fact that Ray knew where exactly he was even if he made no noise.
The sound of the guard locking the door behind Wolfe alarmed Ray, who shot up and faced the door. Wolfe dropped the book in his hand at Ray's sudden gesture. It fell on his legs but he tried not to make any noise even though Ray was clearly awake now.
"What are you doing here?" Ray questioned as he stared from Wolfe's fearful face to the fallen book at his feet. "Why are you reading that?" He asked, enraged.
Wolfe, who had not come across Ray since the meeting in Haik's office, had no idea what to do. He was still scared by the way Ray would push him and the other servants around, but something about Ray's demeanor seemed off this time.
Wolfe almost felt like Ray did not care about his existence. Did not care enough to even harass him. "I have permission to be here from your father," Wolfe said, putting all his hopes into the possibility that Ray wouldn't question him any further.
Ray scoffed at Wolfe, he had no way of going against his father's wishes, but Wolfe's sudden surge in confidence pissed him off. He felt as if he was slowly losing control of those around him.
He understood why the door had been locked, but that didn't stop him from getting enraged. "That guard better pay up for locking me in here with this vile servant." He said to himself as he knocked furiously at the door.
The guard positioned outside let out a frustrated sigh. At first he ignored the knocking, but Ray's continuous thrashing was too much for him to handle. He pulled the door open, ready to punish Wolfe into subordination, but his face turned pale at the sight of Ray's angered expression.
"Young sir, I'm sorry. I didn't know-" Ray cut him off immediately with a deathly glare. Droplets of sweat formed at the man's brow as the rest of his short career flashed before his eyes.
Pushing the man in armor aside, Ray walked out of the Study, all the while ignoring the man's pleas for forgiveness. He walked to his bed and lay there for a few hours, angered thoughts flying across his conscious mind until he fell asleep.
Wolfe, not knowing what to do about the guard balling his eyes out on the floor outside the study, awkwardly closed the door and continued with his reading.
The day Wolfe and Ray left for Zychs had been the saddest day of Wolfe's life yet. He hugged his mother with all his strength, tears slowly falling out of his eyes at the thought of not seeing her for the next 4 years. He hugged his father, who was sitting still on his bed, propped up against the wall. The elderly man's eyes wandered around the room and finally fixed onto Wolfe, but a strange obliviousness was present in those eyes. Wolfe could tell that his father did not recognise him, but hugged him as tightly as he could, hoping that a day would come where he could see the man laugh to his heart's content.
Wiping away the tears he walked to the main gate of the Vilhorm residence, looking back at the servants quarters one last time before entering his personal Exilog driven carriage.
Ray had requested a separate carriage since the thought of sitting next to Wolfe for more than 2 minutes disgusted him. Wolfe sat quietly in his carriage with no complaints - It wasn't everyday when a servant had the chance to ride one of these and enjoy the scenery of the countryside.
Zodia was divided into 12 sectors, each named by the royal overlooking it. Many royals chose to name their sector after themselves in an attempt to stroke their own ego. The Vilhorms had jurisdiction over Vilheim, a sector located towards the west, blocked from the oceans by the sector Gudsnill taken care of by the Emblazes.
One of the five campuses of Zychs Academy was located just south of Vilheim in a sector known as Fothesi, a land surrounded by the icy southern mountains.
The very first campus was located at the centre of Zodia, this made it harder for people from the outskirts to access it and a need to spread out across the country arose.
After the launch of 4 new campuses and the commercial success they brought, the board of directors over at Zychs formed plans to expand to every sector in the country. This decision was immediately overruled by the principal of the first campus, the founder of Zychs - Xenos Vilio - the great grandson of Ignacious Vilio.
It took nearly 5 hours of travel for the two carriages to reach Zychs that day. Valets dressed in red and gold greeted the two at the door, carrying their bags to their respective rooms. Gasps and envious chatter flew across the air as Ray stepped out of his carriage majestically. While uneasy comments plagued the air as Wolfe walked out awkwardly, nearly stumbling and falling.
Ray walked forwards, annoyed that his image had been tainted by Wolfe's presence. Wolfe followed with his head down, all the while listening to the brash comments being thrown around about his appearance and manner.
With barely any optimism left in him, Wolfe rushed through the massive stone gates of Zychs, officially setting himself on a 4 year journey of grand highs and depressing lows.