Lucien left the Student Council Room behind, leaving Nyx, Dahlia, and Sari with more questions than answers, because even after everything he had explained, none of them truly understood how he had managed to gain control over the artifact.

Dahlia leaned against the wall and sighed. "That guy is hiding enough secrets to fill a library."

Sari nodded immediately. "And somehow every answer creates three new questions," while Nyx remained silent, and behind her blindfold her gaze lingered on the closed door, because something told her Lucien’s mysterious source would eventually shake the entire academy.

Before anyone could continue the discussion, the council room door opened and Meghan entered. Her silver hair swayed behind her as she looked around. "You said I should meet you here," her eyes settled on Nyx, "so let’s talk."

Nyx crossed her arms. "The results will be announced soon, we might as well wait until then," and Meghan thought about it before nodding. "Fine."

---

Outside the council building, students had already begun gathering near the central plaza because everyone was waiting for the finals and then the rankings. Lucien found an empty seat and sat down, but not even ten seconds passed before a familiar voice rang out.

"LUCIEN!" Nadia appeared from nowhere and launched herself at him, and before he could react she wrapped her arms around him. "You idiot! You disappeared!"

Lucien laughed. "I’m literally sitting right here."

Nadia pouted. "That’s not the point," and a second voice immediately joined in.

"Move over," Riley said as she pushed Nadia aside and hugged Lucien from the other side.

"I saw him first."

"No, you didn’t!"

"Yes, I did!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Lucien rubbed his forehead because the two girls were already arguing. "You two realize I’m not going anywhere, right?" but neither listened.

---

Several minutes later, Nyx, Dahlia, and Sari arrived, and behind them walked Meghan. The moment Lucien saw her he paused, because she looked familiar.

When Meghan saw Lucien, her expression changed, not anger, not hatred, something closer to disappointment, because the truth was simple.

She had expected something after what they had experienced together during the exam, instead nothing had happened.

Lucien treated her the same as everyone else, from her perspective he had altered her fate, turned her world upside down, then continued walking as though nothing had changed, and somehow that irritated her far more than anger ever could.

---

Riley noticed her first. "Who’s she?" Nadia looked confused as well, only Lucien seemed completely unsurprised, but before he could answer, Nyx did. "She’s Azazel’s daughter," and the surrounding students immediately looked over.

Mira blinked. "One of the Primordials?"

Riley frowned. "I thought they were dead."

Nyx shook her head. "They aren’t dead, they’re sealed, and she’s going to help explain everything," and the group immediately became interested, but before anyone could begin asking questions, Nyx raised a hand. "The results are about to be announced, let’s sit first," and everyone reluctantly agreed.

---

Meghan took a seat nearby and at first she tried focusing on the stage, but it didn’t work. Every few seconds her eyes drifted back toward Lucien, and eventually he noticed.

He turned slightly, their eyes met, then Lucien smiled, only briefly, a small smile, then he turned back toward the stage. That was all, but Meghan’s heart immediately betrayed her.

Thump.

Her face got warmed, and a faint blush appeared.

Mira noticed it instantly. "...Are you blushing?"

Meghan’s head snapped toward her. "N-none of your business!" but Mira stared, then stared harder, and the blush somehow became worse.

Meghan immediately looked away and crossed her arms, her expression resembling an angry doll, which only made the others more suspicious.

---

Meanwhile, Riley continued clinging to Lucien and Nadia wasn’t happy about it. "Stop sticking to him!"

"You stop sticking to him!"

"I was here first!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Lucien sighed because the two girls looked seconds away from starting a war, so he gently separated them. "Relax," and both girls crossed their arms.

"Hmph!" then immediately returned to clinging to him again, so Lucien simply accepted his fate.

Meghan watched the scene and for some reason her face grew hotter, not because she disliked Nadia or Riley, no, the problem was much simpler, she wanted to be sitting there too, which annoyed her greatly.

Ryan looked between the three of them. "Since when did they get this close?"

"Shut up," Mira answered immediately.

Ryan blinked. "What did I do?"

"Everything," Mira said.

Lucien suddenly looked toward Mira and a grin appeared on his face. "You know..."

Mira immediately became suspicious. "What?"

"You look jealous."

"I am not."

"Then come here," Lucien said as he patted the empty space beside him. "If you want a hug too, just say so."

Silence followed, several people immediately looked toward Mira, her face turned bright red. "You are unbelievable," she said as she stood up, then stormed away.

Ryan stared after her. "What happened?" but nobody answered.

Nadia shrugged. "What’s wrong with her?" then she immediately resumed holding Lucien’s arm as though nothing had happened.

Nearby, Dahlia quietly chuckled because she found the entire situation entertaining, then she noticed Nyx staring toward Lucien, or more specifically toward his face. Dahlia smirked. "Why are you looking at him?"

Nyx instantly replied. "I wasn’t."

"You were."

"No."

"You are curious to see what he looks like, don’t you?" and Nyx adjusted her blindfold. "Shut up," but Dahlia laughed softly like her voice so no one could hear them, because her answer had been all the confirmation she needed.

A/N: If you’re enjoying the novel, please consider supporting it with your Power Stones and Golden Tickets. Every vote helps the story reach more readers and motivates me to keep releasing new Chapters.

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— Author ^⁠_⁠^