Hearing that someone from the Sertsul family, who had supported her, was arriving made her feel as if she were achieving her dream right now.
Instead of applying to other countries outside the Empire, where most of them were offering her the position of second-in-command as a military strategist, she accepted an offer from the royal family.
Even knowing that she would hold the position of only third-ranked military strategist—given that the upper two positions were already reserved for the aristocracy—she still wanted to join them so that she could at least meet or thank the people due to whom her life had changed.
Though she was aware that for a wealthy person, it might not seem like much, considering that they might not even know her, in the end, she was grateful and wanted to be of some help.
"Ahem, yes," the Director said, upon hearing Professor Rihane referring to someone of aristocracy as 'Lustress.' He coughed, but since he was already aware that the widely used title for the main bloodline of the Sertsul family was referred to as such without carrying the literal or derogatory meaning, he further added, "But she is not alone. Marquess Croceaus himself is arriving today."
"Sorry?" All the professors, including Professor Rihane, stopped in their path as they heard the name of someone whose arrival in this academy was unbelievable to them. They glanced at each other before again confirming, "Pardon, Director, but is it someone from the Croceaus family arriving here?"
The intent of their words was simply that it was possible for someone from the Croceaus family to arrive at the academy, but for Marquess Avendial Croceaus himself to come was impossible.
It seemed unfeasible, given the public awareness of how focused Marquess Avendial was on business; he had never set foot in the Free Cities since he began to expand the Croceaus enterprises. This led to several rumors circulating throughout the Free Cities.
A few of them were like:
They say Marquess Avendial never visits the Free Cities because the last time he considered it, the real estate prices tripled overnight, just from speculation that he might buy property.
Or
Marquess Avendial avoids stepping into a Free City; the previous time he considered it, the local economy collapsed when all investors withdrew to focus on financing his soon-to-be-launched initiative.
Of course, these were just rumors, but there were so many that they had become a normal topic of conversation, effectively becoming a tag attached to Marquess Croceaus, so the professors were definitely doubtful.
In hidden positions, there were already several bodyguards and security personnel walking hastily to ensure that nothing went wrong during Marquess Avendial's visit, while the government was also slowly getting the news of his arrival, prompting government officials to board helicopters or whatever necessary means to arrive here.
All their actions were influenced by the fact that right now they were able to have a chance to meet the world's richest man. No one wanted to miss this opportunity, whether they were high-ranking officials, academic professors, or even chief executives who rarely got to meet the Marquess.
"Just trying to find someone," Avendial replied, remembering the events of his past life, where the most he could get from the woman whom he had killed after getting entangled in a small battle was that she had studied at the Elite Academy.
Short story time: The same young man who loved another woman, preferring her over the one who truly loved him, started to grow exponentially stronger after gaining powers.
However, while doing so, he collided with a Marquess on the fifth floor of a tower.
While the young man possessed strength and power, the Marquess had brains and was able to utilize the resources around him to their maximum output, making things difficult for the young man. The enmity kept growing, ultimately leading to an all-out war in which the woman who secretly loved the young man from afar decided to sacrifice herself to trap the Marquess.
But it all ended in the deaths of the young man, the woman he loved, and the third woman who loved that young man, while the Marquess remained victorious.
In the present, the Marquess was only aware of the ability that the woman possessed and her location being the Elite Academy—nothing else.
It was simply because the woman had used a pen name, and due to her face being completely burned, Avendial did not even know how she looked.
So here he was, himself acting as a trap to catch that woman, given that her ability was able to see through someone.
"Who exactly?" Aecilia asked as she finally turned the steering wheel, arriving at the academy gate where she pressed the brakes before glancing at Avendial, who was sitting beside her in the seat closer to the entrance.
"I don't know." Avendial turned his face towards Aecilia, meeting her golden eyes, glancing with a smile, making Aecilia look at him for a few moments. Before long, in the same line of sight, her eyes fell on the window where four or five people were running towards them.
After pursing her lips and releasing a sigh, she turned to look forward, resting her head against the steering wheel and reflecting, 'Sigh, I should have simply taken a nap instead of coming on this date.'