txolops Chapter 264: Do You Love Her?
Chapter 264: Do You Love Her?
The next few weeks fell into a surprisingly mundane rhythm.
And I got to experience the profound, exhausting boredom of being a regular student.
We attended lectures, sparred in the combat halls, and spent the evenings studying, or in Kyle’s case, complaining about studying while Sira threatened him with physical violence.
The fallout from the Valen estate was old news now. Marcus was gone, Emma was back to her self, and my business in Oakmere was thriving.
It was almost too peaceful.
And of course, at the Royal Academy, peace never actually lasts.
It started on a Tuesday morning. We were sitting in Professor Vance’s theory class.
The hall was filled with the usual scratching of quills and low murmurs, right up until Vance deliberately set his chalk down on his heavy oak desk. The sharp clack instantly silenced the room.
Professor Vance turned to face the tiered seating, sweeping his strict, analytical gaze over the students.
"Settle down," Vance commanded, though the room was already dead silent.
"We are suspending the standard curriculum for the remainder of the week. It is time to discuss your mid-term examinations."
A collective, synchronized groan echoed through the back rows, immediately followed by the frantic rustling of parchment as the more studious pupils, Emma and Tobias included, readied their quills.
I just leaned back in my chair, casually spinning my pen between my fingers.
Here we go.
"Your mid-terms will commence exactly one week from today, and they will be divided into two distinct phases," Vance announced, his voice projecting easily to the back of the hall.
"Phase one will be a comprehensive, six-hour written examination covering every theoretical concept, historical timeline, and all we have discussed thus far."
To my left, Kyle slowly lowered his head until his forehead hit the wooden desk with a dull, defeated thud.
"Six hours," he whispered in absolute despair. "I’m going to die."
"Phase two," Vance continued, completely ignoring Kyle’s existential crisis, "will be your practical field evaluation. Next Wednesday, the entire first-year combat and magic divisions will be transported to the Obsidian Woods, a sealed, high-density magical biome bordering the western mountains."
The room suddenly buzzed with a tense, nervous energy. The Obsidian Woods isn’t just like a training dummy ; its a live, enclosed wilderness zone populated by actual magical beasts.
"You will be deployed in assigned squads of four," Vance explained, pacing slowly in front of the blackboard. "Your objective is survival, tactical assessment, and resource acquisition. Hidden throughout the woods, as well as embedded within the cores of the magical beasts roaming the perimeter, are specialized Academy tokens. Your squad’s final practical grade will be entirely determined by the number of tokens you secure and bring back to the central extraction point within a forty-eight-hour time limit."
Vance stopped pacing. He leaned against his desk, his eyes narrowing slightly as he delivered the final, harsh reality of the exam.
"Be warned. This is not a cooperative exercise between squads. Tactical subterfuge, ambushes, and stealing tokens from rival teams are not just permitted,.they are expected. You are allowed to use any spell, any weapon, and any strategy at your disposal, so long as you do not inflict lethal or permanently crippling injuries on your fellow students. The faculty will monitor the grounds via aerial familiars and artifacts. If your emergency flare is popped, or if your physical vitals drop into the critical zone, you will be forcibly extracted, and your team’s score will be halved."
Vance picked up a thick stack of sealed parchments from his desk.
"Your squad assignments, the grading rubric, and the topographical maps of your starting zones are in these packets. Come to the front and collect them. Dismissed."
As the classroom erupted into chaotic chatter and students scrambled out of their seats, I just let out a quiet sigh.
A competitive, free-for-all combat survival test in a hostile woodland environment with localized PvP.
"Six hours of sitting in a hard wooden chair answering questions about dead scholars," Kyle groaned, dramatically rubbing his face as we packed our bags.
"I’m going to actually turn away into dust. My brain isn’t built for that kind of torture."
He slung his bag over his shoulder, but as we filtered out of the lecture hall, his customary, massive grin aggressively returned.
"But the practical exam?" Kyle punched the air with a victorious fist.
"Now that is what I’m talking about! A forty-eight-hour survival free-for-all in the woods? We get to hunt monsters and beat up the other class snobs for their tokens! We’re going to completely crush it."
I just stood up, raising my arms above my head to stretch my stiff muscles until my spine let out a satisfying, muted pop.
Kyle immediately slung his heavy arm over my shoulder, completely disregarding my personal space as he leaned half his body weight on me.
"Let’s hit the dining hall," he declared loudly. "Just thinking about fighting magical beasts is making me starving."
I let out a heavy, long-suffering sigh, adjusting my balance.
"Yeah, fine. Let’s go."
As we moved out into the crowded academic corridor, joining the sea of students heading for the lunch, a sudden, familiar warmth pressed against my other side.
Emma quickly stepped in, seamlessly latching her hands onto my free arm.
She didn’t hesitate or look embarrassed like she would have be; it was just a natural, comfortable movement.
She leaned in close, her bright blue eyes practically sparkling with contained, infectious excitement.
"Jin," Emma whispered, pitching her voice low so only our group could hear over the chaotic din of the hallway.
"I did it. I finally managed to stabilize the advanced-level Light Aegis spell I’ve been practicing."
I blinked, genuinely caught off guard. Light Aegis was a high tier defensive barrier. It required an incredibly complex manipulation of mana pathways, something most students didn’t even attempt to learn until the middle of their second year.
I looked down at her beaming, proud expression, the cold calculations of my mind pausing for a moment.
"That’s amazing," I said, completely sincere and gave her an approving nod. "With that kind of output, you’re not just a standard support anymore. That’s going to be a massive advantage for the upcoming exam."
Kyle, who possessed the hearing of an absolute bloodhound the moment anyone mentioned combat magic, leaned entirely over my shoulder to look at her. His green eyes went incredibly wide.
"Wait, seriously?!" Kyle gasped, staring at Emma in sheer awe. "An advanced-level Aegis? Emma, you’re officially our classes VIP! If I do something stupid and get mauled by a dire-bear next Wednesday, you are on permanent shield duty!"
Emma let out a light chuckle at Kyle’s dramatic declaration.
"Well, that’s assuming we actually get placed on the same team," she pointed out, though she looked highly amused by his absolute confidence.
"Professor Vance said the squad assignments are randomized."
"Yeah, yeah," Kyle waved off, completely unbothered as we continued our walk down the bustling corridor.
As we navigated through the crowd toward the massive double doors of the dining hall,
Emma suddenly slowed her pace. She was looking down at my hand, where her fingers were still comfortably looped around my arm.
A slight frown creased her forehead.
She reached out and lightly tapped the silver band resting on my finger.
"Jin," Emma asked, her head tilting slightly to the side in genuine curiosity.
"Why are you wearing a ring on your ring finger?"
I glanced down at my hand. It was the ring Zen had given me. And Tessa put in my finger.
"Oh," I replied easily, completely missing the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure. "It’s actually an engagement ring."
The reaction was instantaneous.
Both Kyle and Emma froze dead in their tracks, as if someone had just cast a high-tier paralysis spell on the entire corridor.
For three seconds, there was absolute, ringing silence.
Then, Kyle burst into a booming, echoing laugh.
He lunged forward, throwing his arm around my neck in a vice-like headlock, and began aggressively grinding his knuckles into the top of my head.
"Hahaha! Good one, Jin!" Kyle roared, completely missing the absolute tension radiating from the girl standing next to us.
"You had me for a second! Engaged! Yeah, right, like a rock like you has a secret fiancée stashed away somewhere!"
"Get off me, you overgrown ape," I gritted out, prying his heavy arm off my neck and fixing my messy hair with an annoyed sigh.
I looked at him dead in the eye.
"I’m not joking, Kyle."
Kyle’s laughter instantly died in his throat. His jaw practically hit the floorboards.
But I wasn’t looking at Kyle anymore. I was looking at Emma.
She was standing perfectly still. The vibrant energy she had been radiating all morning had completely vanished, replaced by a hollow stillness that instantly set off warning bells in my brain.
Her were wide, staring completely through me.
"Engaged?" she whispered. The word barely made it out of her throat.
I shifted my weight, suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable under the sheer intensity of her blank stare and rubbed the back of my neck.
"...Yeah," I confirmed quietly.
Emma didn’t blink.
She just stared at my eyes and asked a single question.
"Do you love her?"
I blinked, completely caught off guard.
My mind instantly flashed to Tessa. I thought about her sharp, teasing smirk, the brilliant, ruthless letters she sent me. Our time together.
I thought about the warmth of her lips the last time we were together.
Did I care for her? Absolutely. That’s for sure.
But did I love her?
"I..." I hesitated, my usual quick, analytical mind failing me. I looked at Emma’s intensely focused eyes and gave the only honest answer I had.
"I don’t know."
The air in the corridor seemed to hold its breath.
Then, abruptly, the rigid stillness in Emma’s posture completely shattered.
And a bright, sweet smile stretched across her face.
It was so sudden and so flawless that it gave me a mild sense of whiplash.
"Oh?" Emma hummed, her voice entirely light and airy again.
Without another word, she stepped right back into my space and happily latched both of her hands around my left arm once more.
But as she smiled up at me, my jaw clenched slightly. Her grip was completely different this time.
Her small fingers were clamped down with a startling amount of force, and I could feel the sharp edge of her fingernails digging aggressively through the thick fabric of my uniform jacket, pressing almost painfully into my skin.
What the hell is wrong with her?