Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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And the emperor... smiled after sighing.

"That being the case... then we can take another route," he said suddenly, not allowing anyone else to speak. "All of the top 10 students from all branches of the different academies will participate, right now, in the Battle of the Hierarchies. Those who obtain the top 15 positions will be rewarded with these lands and various other rewards. I already have the approval of the other academies, and I believe I have this one's approval as well," he declared.

Director Miroc stepped forward to speak and smiled at him: "You have my approval, Mr. Emperor. That sounds like an excellent idea to reward these young students who have worked so hard to get here," he declared and looked at Robert Priestley. "What do you think, Mr. Priestley?" he asked.

In saying this, the emperor was practically opening the door for whatever he wanted to be done, and with Miroc taking that stance, although it seemed that they were thinking in favor of the students, in reality they only wanted to lead the other party into a dead end.

If Robert refused, the students, who were already upset by his intervention, would naturally become even more upset, and strange rumors might even spread.

But if he agreed...

The academy throughout the empire would move according to what the emperor said.

Seeing that none of the administrators opposed these arrangements by the emperor, Robert could assume with certainty and without fear of being wrong that all of this useless high command was working for the emperor.

So that would mean that the emperor is the one in command. Perhaps on paper and in the eyes of the public, nothing would change, but at the Governing Table, in every castle, and in every noble house, the pressure would be enormous.

The emperor could finally rule the empire completely. It was a violation of the rules, but one that was exploiting a loophole in the rules.

Robert had to admit that they had made a very good move this time.

Louis noticed the sparks flying between these two leaders and sighed. It was a plot he couldn't get out of.

Although it sounded interesting.

"A decision as big as bringing forward the Battle of the Hierarchies is simply being made by one of the castles and the academy's board of directors?" Louis suddenly asked, joining the conversation. "I don't think that's right. I may be young, but I am aware that decisions like this should be made at a table, weighing the pros and cons. After all, several of us are too injured to go to it right now," he asserted.

His words struck a chord with the students, and the desire to punch this bastard in the face arose among them.

But then they stopped to think.

They were injured. They were the last of the academic branches to hold the ascended tournament. That meant the other academic branches had an overwhelming advantage over them in terms of recovery.

Starting the Battle of the Hierarchies at this moment... didn't seem right, did it?

Robert felt as if he had been struck on the head with a hammer, and a light bulb went off in his head. He didn't remember that he could use that excuse to refuse.

Everyone took what they needed... or what directly affected them.

The same thing happened with the emperor's side.

They frowned.

"A castle?" asked the emperor, looking at him. "Young Habsburg, I understand that you don't know much about the empire because you've been away during this time, but there are now three castles in the north and one in my capital," he said, ignoring the rest of his words.

Louis smiled softly. 'Everyone takes the bait that suits them,' he thought.

"That is true, Your Majesty. I am aware of that. But do you believe that the four of you have more say and can choose for the castles in our Southern Region?" he asked directly.

The emperor frowned. "I don't think so..."

"Then why are you trying to override what they say, so that what you say is done?" Louis interrupted him. "The North and the Capital, do they think they carry more weight than our Three Castles? It seems that... they want to threaten Lockward's supremacy."

Neither Laura nor Hardrial, much less Priestley or Evergreen, expected Louis to speak to the emperor in such a manner.

Even Robert Priestley was silent. But there he was, attacking the emperor from all sides, using his own words against him and managing to get him into a big mess, one that now even the Lockwards were caught up in.

No one knew how they came up with the idea that they were trying to override Lockward's supremacy, but the idea hit hard among the spectators and those new to the world, who began to realize that something was going on.

And that something was no small thing.

These castles...

Perhaps they were engaged in a mental battle.

Lady Loren looked at the emperor speechless and sighed. 'What a disgrace of a man you are. How can you call yourself emperor if you remain silent over a minor attack like that?' She sighed.

If she could depose him, she would do so right now.

"Young Louis von Habsburg, right?" She suddenly spoke.

"I am." He nodded.

"Haha, a brave and imposing young man, just like in the arena. Your words certainly imply something beyond our plans. We are not trying to step over the Lockwards, we are simply trying to help young people grow better," she said. "It's not just a castle. My church also agrees with this."

She placed special emphasis on the words "my church" so that he could understand. She knew that this boy was an intelligent and capable young man. He would understand.

And Louis naturally understood, he smiled.

"We respect your church and you, Your Excellency. But I am quite sure that you, the largest church on the continent, know that this is not the way to improve students," he said.

Lady Loren stared at him without reacting.

He continued. "You tell me that you want to improve student quality to prevent neighboring kingdoms from surpassing us in strength. But your concern only extends to the current top 18. What about distributing the profits from those lands and those troops among all the students? Or better yet..." He stared at her. "Allow a teacher whose mission is collective improvement to teach what he knows? Collective improvement does not come from benefiting 18 students out of thousands."

She smiled a little, menacingly. It was a smile that lingered for a second, then faded away.

"It's not good for young people to know certain things so early, otherwise they won't be able to grow up properly," she said. "That's why we don't allow certain things."

Louis smiled. The threat to him was clear, only she knew how to camouflage it within the conversation.

But he had already taken the step and opened a path.

Robert smiled at that moment and stepped forward to stand in front of him, placing a hand on him as if to protect him.

"Hey," he joked. "Why this sudden attack on our young student?" he asked.

"The battle of the hierarchies cannot happen yet. And if it is to happen, then it will be under the strict supervision of all the castles equally... without the intervention of a church. Is that what you want? I'll have to call the Lockwards then, because without them this won't start," he declared.

The emperor sighed when he heard this. Even Lady Loren remained silent, so he had to respond.

"I didn't want to say this so as not to alarm you, but..."

Robert shifted his gaze to the emperor. "Were you saying something, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "There is an important matter that I did not want to mention, but it is the reason why the Battle of the Hierarchies must take place today."

"We have found traitors in the ranks of the academy, hiding among the crowd. Recently, especially during the tournament, the attacks in the Alchemy District and the attacks in the Industrial District have been orchestrated from within the academy. We cannot continue like this. The church is concerned with stopping the chaos, as innocent people are dying, and we are concerned with finding the traitors so that nothing like what happened long ago with the Habsburg family ever happens again."

He looked at Louis when he finished.

Perhaps she was trying to stir something in him when she mentioned his family. It would have worked if he were a Habsburg and not a Lockward.

He had heard before about the problems that were happening in the Scientists' District; several attacks and more. In that case, he had questions, as he had no idea what was happening on that side.

But as for what was happening in the Industrial District, was there anyone better than him to know?

There wasn't. Because those "attacks" were created by him to maintain chaos, so that the north would stay out of it in the meantime. Some were even financed by the Houses, others by businessmen... no one had died in any of them.

Mentioning the subject of the Industrial District made Louis think that this guy was really unaware of many things that were happening in the territory of the empire he ruled.

Even Lady Loren frowned... it wasn't a good idea to say that, so she stared at him.

Robert suddenly smiled. "Really? If that's the case, we're willing to cooperate," he said.

Words that stunned the Emperor and Lady Loren.

'That easy?'

But Robert wasn't finished. "But, obviously, you must show me proof of what you claim. With traitors coming out of the academy, I fear this will really affect our reputation. So please, name those traitors, and I will bring them here to alleviate your doubts. If possible, give me proof of their treason and that they are participating in it, as I do not want to kill innocent people due to human error."