Carlos bowed before making his way out of the room to prepare for the given task, while also understanding that the Marquess didn't want government officials to disturb him while he stayed in the city for at least two weeks.
"Marquess, are you preparing for treason?" Aecilia, not caring about how her words sounded to others, directly inquired, since from the start, Avendial had been hiring a military strategist, accumulating wealth from the IT company, enlisting 20,000 soldiers from the pharmaceutical sector, and creating weapons through construction groups.
All of this was too confusing and could lead to misunderstandings if not cleared up firsthand. So she just asked instead of making wrong assumptions.
'?!'
'T-treason!' Rihane, standing near the door, heard Aecilia mention the taboo word and felt as if her world had shattered in an instant. Hearing a nobleman preparing for treason made her feel like an accomplice.
'What should I do now!' Rihane yelled inwardly as she thought that just a moment ago, she was preparing to join the royal family as a military strategist, but now she found herself allegedly becoming one for a military that was being prepared to go against the royal family, making her the final boss who would lead these soldiers toward betrayal.
"Of course not, are you kidding me?" Avendial shook his head and looked toward Aecilia as he raised his brow, feigning ignorance and showing confusion at Aecilia's incorrect assumptions.
"Eh? Then why all the funds, soldiers, and weapons?" Aecilia cast her gaze toward Avendial, noticing his serious demeanor in response to her remarks. With her hands folded, she locked her golden eyes on him, scrutinizing his expression but finding no signs of deceit.
"Because I want to have a private army of my own?" Avendial stated before turning toward Rihane as he gestured for her to send others away, while Aecilia felt her mouth twitching but controlled herself from uttering abuses and curses in front of Avendial since she didn't want to appear unfitting as a noble lady in front of him.
In the end, doesn't forming his own private army amount to an act of treason?
"Greetings, Marquess, it will be an honor to be of some help to you," the Director, accompanied by his assistant and the remaining two professors, entered the room before bowing while anticipating the task they would be assigned, given how other CEOs reacted hastily without telling them what task they were assigned.
"Hm, now that I think about it, it's a great idea," the director said, considering the possibility of the Marquess teaching students about business while making his ethics and principles remain undamaged, since it would be beneficial for the students.
"No, I would like to teach in the art and culture class," Avendial interrupted as the director had clearly suggested him to teach in the business department.
'?!'
"Sir? Why arts? It would be better if you taught in bu—" The director was taken aback by the Marquess's declaration, prompting him to grip his cane tightly as he considered how to make the Marquess change his mind.
Doing so would not be profitable for the academy and would instead leave a dent in his 40-year career, during which he had never allowed anyone to enter the faculty based solely on a recommendation.
"And in exchange for accepting my offer, I will donate 10 million Imperial Crowns to the academy." Avendial, seeing how the director was just wasting his time while also caught in a dilemma between his principles and ethics, made him an offer that would help him make a correct decision.
"Ahem, I would like to have a moment to think about—" The director, hearing the amount, which had just shaken his ethics, controlled himself. Even though he knew the academy was indeed in need of funds, he coughed and tried to think calmly before acting hastily and making decisions that could hurt his principles.
"20 million Imperial Crowns," Avendial once again made an offer as if it were an auction to purchase this man's so-called ethics.
Naturally, academies like the Elite Academy were known among prestigious universities where no one could simply gain admission based on their donations.
But considering that in the past decades, due to advancements in AI and technology, most donations were made toward universities focused on advancements in AI and technological prospects, rather than the Elite Academy, where the focus was on business, the arts, and traditional studies like social science instead of fully concentrating on robotics or engineering.
So the flow of donations was not very frequent; of course, there were always contributions from the academy's alumni.