"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" I said, looking around the classroom.
All my students were obviously extremely stressed as they made sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Still, I had no choice but to pressure them slightly; we had to leave before Alexandra or the other professors noticed us.
I trusted Ava not to tell anyone what was happening, but even then, the hardest part of leaving the academy for the Snowy Mountains was doing so without being spotted.
Honestly, it seemed impossible.
But hey, I would give it a shot. It's not like I had another choice, like waiting for the Emperor to say "yes" or "no." I wasn't at his mercy, and I never would be.
"We are..." they finally responded.
However, there wasn't much energy in their response. They clearly weren't as excited as when they went to Atlantis.
"Still, before we leave for the Snowy Mountains, I have to introduce you all to some people you might have seen over the past few days but had no idea who they were."
After saying that, Ariella, Nymira, and Lirael walked through the door. They had been patiently waiting for me to call them in.
Over the past few days, they had followed me pretty much everywhere, and I hadn't let any of the students talk to them even once. I had even changed Ariella's appearance so Isolde wouldn't recognize her until Ariella was ready to speak with her.
Nevertheless, they all walked in with bright smiles. Ariella still had her disguise on, but Nymira and Lirael weren't disguised at all. I knew of their beauty, but I didn't expect the students to be so affected by their appearance.
Even the proud Jackson was blushing like crazy.
Actually, the only person in the class who didn't seem interested in any of them was Art. But, well, that wasn't a surprise, considering who he was.
"Why are they so pretty...?" one of the male students muttered.
"I won't move until you tell me where you're going. Also, I'm just warning you—Alexandra already knows about this little trip with your students."
I smirked. Did he really think that would scare me? The director knew where I was going... big deal!
"Is that it? Alexandra knows?"
Behind me, my students started whispering among themselves, clearly confused by the situation.
"What's happening? Who is this professor?"
"I don't know... What's this about? Does the Royal Academy not know about all of this?"
I turned around. "Silence. I don't want to hear anyone speaking."
The teacher before me continued to smile.
"Alexandra will be here any minute. When she is, all of this will fall apart, and you'll get punished again."
I sighed again. "Look, I warned you. Either move out of the way, or I'll make you move."
He spat on the ground. "Make me. I know you can do it. We all saw what happened to Derek when he opposed you."
The students once more started whispering as they all knew about what had happened to him at the Emperor's Banquet. He had died under my hands. However, no one knew the full story; even now, everyone ignored it, thinking that the Emperor had been lenient on me.
"Do you think what that professor is saying is true?" Someone muttered behind me.
"Who knows...what really happened? We couldn't even see anything back then."
I heard my students but I just ignored them as I walked forward, cracking my knuckles.