Even though Ziu felt better after seeing Adrianna, he was still a little irritated. "Where were you? Why did you come so late? Can't you see that you're wasting everyone's time?" he chided her mildly.
"Professor Ziu, I was already here for a while - I came in just before the class was supposed to start, but you were surrounded by so many students…" she replied, wondering why he would not start the class without her.
Ziu looked at her while inwardly cursing himself for not noticing her earlier. He didn't say anything and walked back towards the front of the classroom. For the next hour, he taught more complicated spells to the students. While most of the class was able to follow his instructions, some girls were doing it all wrong, including Zola who couldn't do anything right. All of her concentration was on Ziu. When the class ended, she ran straight for him.
Professor Ziu was in a hurry to leave and go after Adrianna who had already packed up her notebook and exited out of the class with Liam following her. Ziu collected all of his stuff hurriedly and was about to go when he heard Zola calling for him.
"Professor Ziu, are you free in the evening?"
Ziu became irritated because he had to stay back, even for a second, to answer her. "I am not!"
He started to leave, but Zola stopped him again. "I am free and my mom wanted to meet you tonight. Could you please come over to our house?"
Ziu was slightly curious as to why Lia would want him to come over. "Tell your mother that I will come when I find time. Give her my regards." Having said that, he rushed out while shouting Adrianna's name.
Zola became green with envy. She stomped her foot and walked out after him. She saw how he followed Adrianna to her next class. It was unbearable.
For the whole day, Ziu didn't go anywhere and just focused on teaching Adrianna. He taught her some basic spells and then a few advanced ones. As lunch time approached, instead of going and eating with the staff as usual, he ate with Adrianna and Liam. How he wished that Liam would go away.
"Liam, I think Adrianna is capable of taking care of herself. You don't have to accompany her to the academy all the time," said Ziu, hinting that he should leave.
Liam took a bite of a chicken leg and replied, "Adrianna is my alpha's queen. I will stay by her side as long as she is alive if that is what my alpha wants."
Adrianna smiled at Liam.
Ziu cringed when he heard 'alpha'. "She's more of a witch..." he murmured.
When her evening class concluded, Adrianna returned to the royal palace, while Liam headed straight for Fleur's place. By this point, he had basically started living in Fleur's house, much to Ed and Howard's chagrin.
In the evening, Professor Ziu was summoned by Lia and he had no choice but to answer to the summons. When he reached their house, he noticed that Lia wasn't there. Instead, Zola greeted him.
"Where is your mother?" he asked.
"She has gone for some urgent ministry work. She will be back quickly. Please sit Professor Ziu," replied Zola as she fluttered her eyelashes and made herself look almost like a kitten. She was absolutely mesmerized by his good looks.
Ziu sat down and a servant was summoned to serve him wine.
While he sipped on his wine, Zola said, "Professor Ziu, you are so handsome. No one in the kingdom measures up to your brilliance and looks. Why have you been hiding all this while? And why did you decide to come out of hiding?"
Ziu smiled as dimples showed on his cheeks. "For someone..."
It took two minutes for Zola to understand who that someone was. "That someone is married?"
Ziu didn't answer.
Zola boiled in anger inside. She would have killed Adrianna then and there if Adrianna were in front of her. She was about to say something when Lia entered.
Lia was also stunned by Ziu's appearance. "Oh my my! Who do we have here!"
She sat down opposite him. "What a beautiful man your professor is Zola."
Ziu smiled and said, "Thank you Lia. How can I help you?"
"Oh! I was just talking to Ilsa. We brought up the idea that we should hold a competition in the academy for all students," she said with a glint in her eyes.
"What for?" asked Ziu.
"Just to have a healthy competition amongst kids. The ministry also wanted to know who are capable ones amongst the kids."
Suddenly, Zola interrupted, "Great idea Mother!"
Both Lia and Ziu turned to look at Zola.
"Mother, you have always said that only the most capable should be the queen or king of the wizard kingdom. Why don't we have a competition that will prove the capability of all those in the school?"
Lia smiled at her daughter's thought process. It was a perfect chance to eliminate Adrianna because Adrianna hardly knew any spells. "I love that spirit Zola! I will talk to Ilsa and the ministry about it!"
Burning with jealousy, Zola had been looking for a chance to pull Adrianna down. "Half sister! My foot!" she murmured.
Ziu frowned. "But Adrianna still doesn't know all of the spells..."