First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

The question from the purple-haired woman in front of her made Erica Duquois feel uncomfortable.

She didn’t know who the woman was, but there was a mysterious aura about her.

Subconsciously, Erica didn’t want to answer.

Besides, she couldn’t let her father know where she had been!

Seeing Erica avoiding Caifla’s gaze, Duke Rivierre’s tone tightened:

“Erica, did you go to the academy today?”

Upon hearing her father’s guess, she didn’t dare to lie. Her voice was as tiny as a mosquito humming.

“Yes…”

“But I didn’t enter the academy. I met an acquaintance along the way, so I chatted for a while and then returned.”

Seeing this, Erica bowed her head, muttering:

“He’s a Duke, a grown man yet so petty.”

“If someone hadn’t helped you out, you wouldn’t be a Duke now.”

Hearing Erica’s words, Duke Rivierre stiffened, coughed lightly, and pretended not to hear it.

To be honest, Duke Rivierre felt a bit embarrassed. Regardless of Victor’s intentions, he had indeed helped him in the palace.

But Victor’s final words really irritated the Duke.

Something about having to do something to Erica.

What did he plan to do?

As a father, his guard suddenly went up. Duke Rivierre would never allow Victor to do anything inappropriate to his daughter.

Caifla, covering a chuckle, said:

“I heard about what happened in the palace from my sister.”

“But after all, the Duke is still sitting in this position. If he takes help from others for granted, it’s indeed not good.”

As for Victor, no matter what his character is like, he’s her sister’s fiancé, essentially family.

Of course, Caifla would help him out a bit.

The Duke, now sandwiched between the two, turned beet red. Luckily, under the cover of night, no one saw.

He closed his eyes, coughed lightly, and said casually:

“I’ll find a way to repay Victor.”

Only then did Erica raise her head, looking quite satisfied. At the same time, she seemed to have a higher regard for her sister Caifla.

But who was this woman?

Erica showed a curious expression. Duke Rivierre quickly caught onto his daughter’s confusion and introduced:

“This is the eldest daughter of the Delin family, Caifla Delin.”

“Delin?”

Erica’s mind spun, immediately associating with the beautiful sister on the volcano.

Her surname seemed to be Delin too.

“So, Miss Gwen is…”

“My sister.”

Caifla replied with a smile, eyes narrowed.

Erica gaped, a bit surprised.

In Erica’s eyes, Gwen was a good person.

The Delin family was a knightly family, and knights were always righteous.

So the purple-haired sister in front of her must be a good person too, right?

Even though she seemed a bit mysterious.

Seeing the enlightened look on Erica’s face, Caifla asked:

“Erica, can you tell me where exactly you went?”

“And who is the acquaintance you met?”

Erica didn’t hesitate, spilling all the day’s events.

Caifla learned that Erica had gone to the back hill of the academy and encountered Victor’s assistant.

The rest was as Erica had previously described.

“Oh? Victor’s assistant?”

Caifla paused for a moment, then smiled sweetly and patted Erica Duquois’s head gently, just like an affectionate elder sister.

“Thank you, Erica, but you must not sneak into the academy in the next few days.”

“Duke Rivierre, you have a fine daughter.”

After complimenting Erica, Caifla left with a smile.

Her purple hair seemed enchanting under the cover of the night sky, gradually disappearing into the darkness as she boarded her carriage and departed.

Erica was still somewhat puzzled.

Why did Gwen’s older sister ask her these questions?

And why was she forbidden from going to the academy?

She wanted to ask more, but when she turned her head, she saw the Duke’s furrowed face.

“Erica, tell me what you’ve been sneaking into the academy for,” he demanded.

Erica immediately wilted.

…….

The next morning, a somber mood enveloped the Royal Magic Academy.

The sky was heavily overcast, and the air was so heavy that it was difficult to breathe.

Many people were somewhat afraid when they saw Victor enter the academy.

Victor had made quite a name for himself the day before.

He had dragged a very alive Devon Raser around the entire academy, an incident that had spread like wildfire among the nobles.

Many of the nobles were quite interested in the feud between Victor and the Raser Family.

Devon Raser’s disappearance had also enraged the Raser Family, who declared overnight that they would demand an explanation from Victor.

And then? That was it.

The Raser Family seemed only able to make empty threats, making a couple of statements to show their stance.

Yet, Victor swaggered into the academy the next day without a care.

He returned to the Mage Tower and dragged out Professor Devon.

He dumped a half-dead Devon Raser in the academy’s square, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

The incident caused a frenzy among the students and faculty.

The news traveled from one person to ten, then to a hundred, attracting more people to the square.

Soon, the square was so packed that it was almost impossible to move.

After all, some people hadn’t seen what happened yesterday and had only heard about what Victor had done.

The truth was still in question – what if it was just exaggerated gossip?

Many people didn’t take it seriously.

But today was completely different. Today, they saw it with their own eyes.

Those who had come to investigate the rumors were shocked on the spot.

To hell with the rumors!

This was too shocking!

No one knew how poor Professor Devon had ended up on Victor’s bad side.

Under such a gloomy sky, the academy’s square seemed more like a place of punishment. Victor had Devon up on display all morning.

All the while, everyone else just watched.

No one dared to say anything to Victor, not even the few third-tier mage professors.

Just like what Devon had done to Hennie, public humiliation.

In fact, after Victor had done this, they understood the dean’s intention due to his hesitation to intervene.

Victor was allowed to vent his anger.

After all, the reminder of what could happen, Professor Devon, was still hanging there.

No one was willing to provoke Victor and become the second person hung up for display.

Finally, it was noon.

The sun did not break through the clouds as everyone wished.

Clip-clop-clip-clop!

A clear sound of hooves slowly approached. Everyone present was attracted by this sound, and Victor also raised his head.

The Knight Corps had arrived.

Led by Gwen, the Knight Corps with hundreds of knights surrounded the academy.

At this moment, all the onlookers automatically cleared a path.

Wearing silver-white armor, Gwen led her knights with an imposing air.

She looked at Victor, her eyes terrifyingly fierce.

“Victor Clayvin, do you understand what you’re doing?”

“Intentionally injuring someone in the Academy, are you disrespecting the laws of the Empire?”

Gwen said with righteous indignation to Victor, her eyes devoid of any personal emotions.

As a knight of righteousness, even if the perpetrator is Victor, her betrothed, Gwen would not tolerate it, nor would she ignore it.

Victor silently looked at Gwen, and asked:

“Did the Leiseth Family send you to save people?”

Hearing Victor’s question, Gwen calmly responded:

“The Knight Corps only serves Your Majesty, we don’t take orders from anyone else.”

Victor has already violated the law, and the impact is severe.

As a knight, she must uphold the laws of the nation, she must take Victor away.

However, her hand could not stop trembling.

Indeed, she had received a plea for help from the Leiseth Family, but in reality, this job did not require her to personally lead the team.

But she still came, because the offender, was Victor.

Lia told her that this time, Victor might have committed a grave crime.

Lia had many informants and knew as soon as Victor had upset the Leiseth Family.

Who is Devon Raser? He is the nephew of the Emperor.

And she also informed Gwen, who had been unaware of this.

Even if Victor had recently stopped a volcano eruption, which was a huge merit.

And Victor is also a Fourth Order Mage.

Logically, the Emperor would not casually dispose of such a strong person of the Empire.

But the person Victor attacked, was the Emperor’s kin.

Gwen didn’t dare to bet whether the Emperor would severely punish Victor, so she wanted to take Victor away in advance and set the charge of intentional injury.

Only this way could Victor be protected to the greatest extent.

“Victor! Do not resist! Do not act rashly!”

She used these words to hint at Victor, and she believed that Victor, with his intelligence, would understand.

Indeed, that last word, rashly, caught Victor’s attention.

He looked at Gwen, his face devoid of any strong emotions, but Gwen still felt that he had noticeably relaxed.

Just as she thought Victor would trust her and let her take him away.

Boom——

A deep, dark barrier suddenly rose from the ground, quickly enveloping the entire academy.

The originally dim sky became even darker, even the night sky was not as dark, it was as if ink was overflowing from the sky.

Everyone under the barrier felt a sudden wave of weakness, an urge to sleep.

Gwen also felt this, and she even felt that her strength had diminished a little, including a sense of weakness in her heart.

The Righteous Heart had lost its effect.

Everyone present thought it was an array set up by Victor. When they looked up, Victor seemed to have lost some of his arrogance.

If it was really done by Victor, no one would notice when the array was set up.

It’s too conspicuous.

Doesn’t make sense.

Victor looked up and there was a bit of surprise and admiration in his eyes for the barrier.

Veega’s eyes were wide open, her voice only audible to Victor.

“What an excellent compound array.”

“She who can use magic, might be a real genius.”

Victor also responded softly to it.

“Yes.”

“It seems that the time has come.”

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