Edited by: ASaltedFish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Aster's nap, he woke up to a message from Mr. Yun, the adviser from the Imperial Military Academy, and Edros.
Mr. Yun wanted to talk to him about graduation and the results of the investigation. They had found the person who pushed him as well as who hired them.
It was best to talk about that in person, so Aster scheduled a time in the morning to see Mr. Yun.
As for Edros, he said that Emperor Eliane was free in two weeks on their day off. Aster let Ellery know, and they scheduled a meeting for that day.
With all the important messages answered, Aster got off his floor bed and made his way downstairs to order some food for dinner.
He spent the night in complete silence, but to him, it was something that he and Ellery needed to mentally recover from everything that had been going on lately.
*****
The next day, Aster showed up at Mr. Yun's office. Mr. Yun was already there, but he had a grim expression on his face.
"Hello, Mr. Yun," Aster greeted before sitting down in front of his desk.
"Thank you for coming on short notice, Mr. Aster." Mr. Yun put away some of the stuff on his desk and turned on his business terminal to bring up documents that he had prepared for Aster. "Would you like anything to drink before we start?"
"Can I have some water?"
"Of course."
A housekeeper robot that was in the office got them water and they talked about graduation before they finally started talking about the investigation findings.
"Take a look at these documents." Mr. Yun sent an encrypted email with five attachments on them.
Aster and Ellery took a look and carefully read them. First, they read about the incident. Aster was able to read what happened from an outside perspective. Secondly, he read the eyewitness reports that saw what happened to him. Many more people came forward about what happened than Aster and Ellery had initially thought. Finally, they read about the person who pushed Ellery and a summary of the interrogation.
Darian was the one who paid the student to push him. There were chat records and bank statements as evidence.
Ellery sighed because he had already told Aster about the results from his previous life. In that timeline, Ellery was just an orphan. He had no one to back him up and no one to help him fight against Darian and his rich family. The academy was also on Darian's side. In the end, they paid Ellery to keep his mouth shut.
Knowing that there was nothing he could do, Ellery just accepted the money and tried to pretend nothing had happened.
[It is different this time.] Ellery gritted his teeth. [Maybe this time, I will get justice, and Darian could leave me alone. If he doesn't mess with me further, I won't retaliate, but if he insists on trying to make my life worse or tries to kill me again, then I won't be nice.]
'I agree with this. Sometimes, if you are too nice, you will get hurt or even killed. We have to protect ourselves.'
After they finished reading the report, Aster turned off his terminal and looked at Mr. Yun.
"Do you know why this student was hired by Darian?" This was not included in the report so he was wondering if this was to protect the student's privacy.
Mr. Yun hesitated but still told Aster what happened. "His name is Lucas White. His family was very poor and needed money for his little sister's hospital bills. Darian promised to not only pay for the treatment she needed but also for all the medical debt they had accumulated… If you want, we can press charges against him as well. You have that right."
"Did Darian pay for the medical treatment and debt?"
"He only paid for the treatment, but not the debt… Why do you ask?"
'Can we pay for the debt but still hold him accountable?'
Ellery knew that Aster was asking him because this was an attempted murder on his life. [That is fine… He was in a desperate situation and did everything he could for his family, even if it was against the law. I also helped his family in the past but made sure he was held accountable for it.]
"I would like to help Mr. White's family's debt and whatever other treatment his sister may need in the future, but please, hold him accountable for what he had done to me. Make sure that the law is fair and just…"
"Of course, Mr. Aster. I will be sure to convey what you said here today to the academy's lawyers and Mr. White's lawyers. I am sure no one would deny your request."
"How about Darian? What will happen to him?"
Their status had changed in the Empire, so Darian and the Velenet family's intervention would definitely be different this time.
"The Velenet family wants to settle out of court, but hiring someone to commit murder is against the law. If Darian was a normal person, he could face up to five years in prison. He is a guide, though, so his sentences may not be that harsh… Still, they want to use his status as a guide to settle this out of court."
[Still trying to use their money and power to avoid the law, huh? Well, I still want Darian to get some sort of punishment, even if it's not prison time. Just having him do community service will be a huge stain on his reputation.]
Aster agreed with Ellery on this one. If Darian was allowed to do whatever he pleased without any consequences, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth. Plus, Darian would think it was okay to step on and push him around.
Ellery and Aster wanted Darian to know that their status had changed, and it would be best if he knew that he was not the center of the universe!
"Mr. Yun, do not let the Velenet family settle this outside of court. If the Academy's lawyers need help, you can contact Adjutant Ito. I will be sure to let him know after this discussion that he needs to pay attention to this.
"Just because Darian is from a rich, noble family, it does not mean he can avoid consequences. Let this be a lesson for him."
Mr. Yun also thought about this and felt what Aster said made a lot of sense. He would be sure to pressure the Academy and not let them be complacent when it came to Darian.
"I understand and will let the Academy know. If there is anything else, please let me know.
"Thank you, Mr. Yun. This is all I wanted to say for today. If there are further updates about this case, you can send me an encrypted message…"
Aster didn't want to go anywhere he didn't have to. Sometimes, conversations could be held through email.
"Of course, of course. Stay safe, and if you need anything, let me know. I will do my best to help you."
"Thank you!"
After that, the two said goodbye. Aster still had some time before his class, so he went to the cafeteria to get breakfast.
When he got his breakfast, he quickly messaged Akimitsu about the situation and told him to follow up with the Imperial Academy to make sure everything went smoothly.
Akimitsu gave him an okay, and Aster felt better knowing that there were capable and reliable people helping him made things a lot easier for him.
He didn't struggle as much in this life as he did in his previous life. Before, he didn't have any support and did his best to be a working adult, even if he felt burnt out every day. Now, if he needed a break, someone was there to take over for him. When he needed help, he had people who he could rely on.
[Aster, how are you feeling? Do you need me to switch with you?] Ellery was worried because he knew this was a lot of human interaction for Aster.
'I am still okay. You should rest up a bit more. I can hold on a bit longer.'
[Alright, but if you feel you are tired, let me know.]
'Hmm… Thank you, Ellery.'
Aster slowly ate his food after he finished talking with Ellery. If someone saw his plate, they would see that he had portioned his food in a way that made everything equal. He put one of each thing onto his spoon and into his mouth so he had a perfect bite of everything.
Ellery was baffled every time he saw Aster eat. He just didn't understand how he would still have the same amount of meat, veggies, and carbs near the end of his meal… Sometimes, there were more vegetables than meat or more meat than vegetables in the beginning, but he still ended the meal with an equal amount of food in each section…
Before he could finish his meal, he saw a tray of food being placed down in front of him. When he looked up, he saw a grim look on Leonard's face.
"I didn't realize you ate so weirdly after you lost your memories." Leonard couldn't help but say as he sat down.
When Aster looked around, he saw there were plenty of seats Leonard could have sat at, but he purposefully chose to sit in front of him.
Aster didn't respond and continued eating his meal. He pretended Leonard didn't exist, which made Leonard irritated.
"Don't you think it is rude to not respond to someone when they are talking to you? You didn't even greet me."