The King sat in the Dean's seat. His fingers were intertwined as he peered down at the two dead bodies in the center of the room. His personal guards, though useless to him, inspected the dead bodies with great care.
When they were done with their small inspection, one of them walked over with a bundle of objects. He bowed and offered the objects to the King, "Your Majesty."
The King took the objects and placed them one by one on the desk. A couple pieces of paper written in an unknown language, a strange mirror decorated with green flowers and the information of which households they were working for.
"Alert the families that a rat was found scurrying in their homes. Have their servants investigated and the families interrogated." The King pushed the names to the side and focused on the unknown language and strange mirror that they all carried.
"Right away sir."' His personal guards bowed and took their leave. They didn't need to be around him anyway. He could protect himself.
Without hesitation he burnt the mirrors. A certain Empire was known to communicate through mirrors after all. Which left him with the strange papers, he pushed them to Erik, "Have you ever seen this language before?"
Erik Frenzel sat in a set opposite of him, his head leaning on his hand as he stared at the one living intruder that had been tied up and placed on the side. With his attention called, he turned his focus to the papers presented to him. He frowned as he flipped through them.
"I can't say for certain, but this might be a forgotten Language." He threw the papers back onto the desk.
The King scoffed, "Obviously it's no longer forgotten." He placed a hand over his eyes, a headache already forming. "Send these to the history and Languages research department. I want these papers translated as soon as possible."
"Yes, your majesty." The Dean who had been sweating bullets behind the king, quickly stepped forward and partially ran out of the room with the papers in hand. Leaving only the King, Erik Frenzel, Leon, Kirtiya and Nox in the room.
The King sighed. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "So, care to explain how three individuals infiltrated the Royal Academy?"
Erik followed the King and let himself get situated in the seat, though he never let his guard down. He glanced back at Leon waiting for an answer, but to his dismay his son was not the one to speak up.
"Apologies your majesty, but with all due respect we wouldn't be able to explain how this infiltration happened. We can only answer for what we have done to catch the intruders before they could do more harm to our Kingdom." Kirtiya bowed as she spoke.
The King gazed at her. "No? You can't answer why three individuals from another Empire were able to infiltrate an Academy where only the best of students are accepted. Even though those students are trained by the best Professors, the best military personnel?" He slammed his fist on to the desk. A crack formed down the middle.
"How is it that these students, the future of my Empire are clueless enough to let three, three, intruders walk the very same halls they walk every day!"
Kirtiya frowned and lowered her head, "Apologies your Majesty, we were careless."
The King scoffed, "Careless. What a useless word. Go, fetch your Dean. Tell him that tomorrow morning I expect all students to be lined up on the training grounds, servants and guards included."
"Yes, your Majesty." Kirtiya kept her head lowered as she left.
After a moment, Erik gestured for Leon to step forward. "Tell me, what were you doing that led you to discover the intruders?"
Leon nodded unconsciously, but inside he was having a hard time figuring out how to say this without angering his father. His hands clenched and bluntly said, "I was in combat training on the grounds when I was made aware that Aether had left the premises and followed three unknown figures into the forest."
"You-what!" Erik stood up, his chair sliding back on the carpet floor. His face was red from anger as he got up into Leon's face. "You had one job. One job and yet on the very first day you failed." He had Leon by the collar.
"Calm down, Erik. I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation on why he left our little Aether all by himself." The King smiled disturbingly, his eyes once again covered by his hand.
Erik frowned at the way the King addressed Aether, but let go of it for now. He had more pressing matters to discuss anyway.
Leon clenched his teeth. He scowled at the King, but soon his scowl lessened and he let out a small smirk. "I was in a combat fight with Lucian and was only made aware of Aether's absence by Kirtiya."
Erik scowled. He roughly let go of Leon's collar and directed his anger towards the King. "So, it was your son's fault in the end." He slammed his hands on the table, cracking it even more.
Leon smiled behind his father, but quickly masked it by shooting a glare at Nox who was standing in the corner, calmly playing with a dagger. Nox did not respond, but it didn't matter, Leon knew it was only time for his fathers anger to be directed towards Nox as well.
The King smirked at Erik's sudden anger. "Although Lucian may have been the reason for your son to lose sight of Aether, my other son seems to have been the one to protect and save Aether." He gestured over to Nox with a confident and knowing smirk.
Erik frowned once more and glanced back at Nox, focusing on the dagger he was twirling in his hand. His eyes narrowed, "What was your role in this?"
Nox stopped playing with his dagger and gave a short but sweet response, "I saved Aether."
Erik's eye twitched, "I figured, but how and why?"
Nox smiled, "I heard his cry for help. When I got there he was being chased by these three."
The King's smile widened.
Erik's eye twitched once more. He eyed Nox with suspicion. Since the King had met Aether, he knew that he would do anything to get at least one of his children in a relationship with Aether. He had a thing with power after all.
At first he had hoped that the King had been too engrossed in the succession issue and looked over Aether, but the moment he received Aether's new schedule he knew the King had taken interest. It wasn't a coincidence that all the classes Aether had were with at least one of the Princes.
He had expected that Lucian or Sean would be the ones making the moves, and while it seemed like they had been on the outside, he had missed the one who had been working behind the scenes.
Erik did not know much about the third Prince. Only that his name was Nox and for some reason he favored using the shadow ability even though he was able to wield all abilities. To make matters worse, his unique ability had never been publicly announced, so he could only guess what his unique ability was.
He shifted his focus away from Nox and back at the King who was smiling at nothing with that stupid face of his. He snarled. He had enough.
"Enough of this useless banter. I take it you will take care of the living one?" He gestured to the barley breathing boy who had been tied up and sat against the wall.
"Of course. He will make an interesting subject for Ren and Rael." The King snapped his fingers and the only living intruder disappeared into the shadows.
"Good. Then I will take my leave." Without looking back, Erik Frenzel left with Leon following closely behind him.
As soon as they left the room they were greeted by Aether sitting crossed legged. He had a notebook open and was dutifully writing down whatever the Professor was saying. His eyes were wide with wonder while the Professor was smiling as he taught with enthusiasm.
The guards he had assigned to watch over Aether were standing on both sides of him. If they moved just an inch more, they would be able to touch his shoulders. One held Aether's book bag while the other had a bag of food. He seemed to be giving Aether food every now and then.
Erik Shook his head at the sight. "Aether."
Aether's head snapped up from his book. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he glanced over at Erik and Leon. "Yes, father?" He tilted his head to the side.
Erik glanced over at the Professor that had been teaching. If he remembered correctly this was the mythical and demonic beast Professor. Good, he could take Aether back to class.
"You must be Professor Bjorn."
The Professor nodded, "I am. It's a pleasure to meet one of the famous war generals." He stuck his hand out and shook Erik's hand. "I must say, your youngest here has a way with knowledge. His eagerness to learn about mythical and demonic beasts is wonderful and I can't wait to teach him."
"Hmm," Erik shook the other's hand. "The problem has been resolved. I hope you will be able to show Aether back to your class."
The Professor beamed, "Of course!" He turned his attention back to Aether and patted him on the back, "Aether your going to love my classroom. I have a few mythical beasts in the classroom for you to interact with….."
Erik watched as the two walked down the hallway, the guards he had assigned following suit. After they were no longer visible he slowly made his way towards the entrance of the Royal Academy.
"Father, there is more." Leon said once they were alone.
Erik stopped walking, but didn't turn back.
"Aether stated that the other hooded figures mentioned a rat in our household."
"A rat? In our household?" Erik glanced back, a cold and desolate look on his face, "How dare they."
Leon swallowed. "That is not all. Aether also mentioned how they had shifted their target to him."
Erik snarled. His eyes glowed an eerie red. "Gather all the servants and guards. It's time we take care of our rat problem."
"Yes, father."
The King's smile fell as soon as the two left. "Nox." He called out to his son who was playing with a dagger once again. "Let's go." By the time the two had exited the Dean's office, the Frenzel family was long gone. The King's eyes lingered on the empty hallway for a moment before turning away and making his way towards the carriage.
The personal guards from before stood by the carriage with a couple of horses. They bowed when they spotted him.
"Your Majesty, everything has been taken care of."
"Good. Head back to the Palace."
"Yes, your Majesty."
The King and Nox both took a seat in the carriage. The King took to absentmindedly flipping through some books and reports that he had pushed to the side. While also making a mental note to investigate what his neighboring Empire was planning.
"Nox." The King continued to flip through the book, but his eyes were focused on his third son sitting across from him.
Nox glanced at him, a sign that the King had learned over the years that he was listening.
His eyes narrowed at the sudden change. His third child had always been quiet, hiding in the background and only coming out when necessary. Even his…the boy's mother had a difficult time with him. Yet the moment Aether was brought into the picture it was like a switch had been made.
His third son began to show what he was capable of.
"What are your plans with the young Frenzel." He had to ask. He needed to know what his son had planned.
Nox held his gaze and smiled.