CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 556 - OFFICIAL START OF THE NEW TERM

As the new day broke, I woke up Marius for a bit and told him that I would be leaving for the early morning assembly and my classes. He lazily hummed in response and quickly went back to sleep after a brief kiss on the lips from me. Well, he is tired and he is pregnant so he would be sleepy most of the time from here on.

I changed my clothes and had breakfast which was dutily prepared by Arthur. He also got a goodbye kiss from me which made him blush again. I wonder when he will get used to this small act of intimacy from me when we will be doing much much more than this after this year ends.

I went out of the villa and joined the crowd of students walking, slowly making their way to the great hall where all the opening announcements happen every start of the term. The headmaster would again say his very long speech and most likely, he will have another group of people he would be introducing to the whole student population because this academe also acts as a huge matchmaking organization.

As I always did, I conveniently stood at the back most area of the hall, right by the exit to avoid unnecessary attention and also to escape when needed. You will never know who is going to appear on that stage this term. I should know since I already had several doses of those surprises before.

I was part of the batches of students that arrived early so we had to wait about another half an hour before the headmaster appeared on stage to start the assembly. Following the grandmaster were a new batch of young priests from the Church of Lumienere and as promised, Clarence was leading them again as I saw him standing to one side, trying to be inconspicuous.

On the other side of the stage, a weird group appeared comprised by men who looked to be in their early 20s. They were dressed up casually but from their stances, I know they had military training. I did live in the northern camps for a while so I should know.

Compared to the number of priests which was about the same as last term, the other group had very few people. There were only have six of them and they honestly do not look like commoners witht their bearing. Their formation was also weird as they seemed to have kept a spot empty on purpose. Is there someone missing from their group?

With the number of people on stage, I sighed since it seems like we will be staying in this hall for a long time again. As I was trying to keep myself busy, staring at the ceiling and at random objects inside the hall, I felt a familiar presence approaching me from the side. There was no killing intent or malice so I just let it be.

The presence stopped just one step away from my side as if consciously respecting my personal space. I did not look sideways but continued busying myself on useless things. As for the presence, he kept his silence too.

It took about another hour and a half before I saw the end of this torturous assembly. The headmaster was finally done introducing the priests, a few nobles that will enroll for the semester and finally, he was in the group of the weird group.

Headmaster Friedrick addressed one by one with their names and as expected, they were also nobles but with military backgrounds. Surprisingly, they were high ranked too and was assigned to different camps. No wonder I have not seen any of them before.

As the last person’s name was called, the one who’s supposedly standing on the empty spot in the row of the soldiers, I heard a very familiar name. I couldn’t help but wince then click my tongue in annoyance.

The familiar presence next to me walked forward in confident and wide strides until he went up the stage. He faced the whole student population with that oh-so-familiar cold and damn gorgeous face of his.

I heard the voice that I have not heard for almost a month as he spoke, "My name is Caius Astrantia, general rank assigned to the northern camp. I came here to learn etiquette and other classes in preparation for my marriage. As to the one I am going to marry, you will never get away from me in this life."

After his introduction, the whole assembly was silent. Those few sentences sounded more like a death threat than a friendly first time greeting.

The headmaster coughed to break the awkward moment and in a jolly tone said that we should treat the temporary students well and that the term has officially begun. I sighed once again and turned around to leave the doors but the headmaster’s booming voice called out to me from one side of the hall.

With no choice, I turned around again and looked at the headmaster straight in the eyes. He looked guilty so he was he one who walked to where I was instead of the other way around. As he was walking, I asked him telepathically as to what he needs. He then responded that we need to meet in private at his office so I nodded. As soon as I nodded, I teleported straight to his office without any warning.

Back in the headmaster’s office, I simply sat quietly in his comfy chairs and the headmaster appeared seated on his office chair after barely a few seconds. Upon his arrival, I simply stared at the headmaster with one of my eyebrows raised.

The headmaster hurriedly explained that those seven high ranking soldiers were nobles from the empire and the nearby allied territories. They arrived early this morning without warning and said that they are willing to enroll in the academe, pay all fees and complete all necessary documents within this week. I am quite sure, they can complete all procedures in two since this looked quite planned.

I couldn’t help but ask directly, "Does General Astrantia have anything to do with this sudden enrollment?" It was the headmaster’s turn to look at the whole picture as he pondered the possibilities.

Having waited several minutes without getting any answers, I stood up from my seat with an exasperated sigh and sent a telepathic message to Noir for an urgent request. I asked them to investigate everything about the seven individuals and the reason why they suddenly enrolled in the Academe of Gnosis even if they have already established their own careers in the military. I quite understand why Caius is here since he never accepts defeat but for the other six, who knows what they are up to?

I turned around to exit the office while murmuring, "I guess you can really do anything if you have the power, money and connections, huh? Even the enrollment process of the academe can be bent to cater to your whims."

I quickly turned around and looked at the headmaster again, "Since that is the case, I can use my power and connections too, right? Oh, by the way! I only enrolled to a few short term classes for this month but I did not enroll for any for the last two months of the term. Probably by the 2nd week of the next month, I will be leaving the academe for a while since I have to assist my husbands in giving birth to our children. I have completed the curriculum early so I can do that, right?"

The headmaster nodded his head immediately as he replied, "You only need the last immersion class to complete the graduation requirement so you have the option to just take "hobby-type" or short term classes to kill the remaining months you have left in the academe before the end of the year. I will give a special permission to do so."

I smiled sweetly at the grandmaster as I told him that I have three mystique husbands who are about to give birth to our children with just one week apart from each other. His eyes widened at the main reason why I wanted to leave the academe temporarily and he gave me his obviously congratulatory greetings. He even asked me when he can see Ioannis and the twins again. I did not give him an exact time frame but simply answered, "Soon".

He said that he is thinking about at least giving me points for each child I have successfully add to the population of this world and I told him that I won’t say no to offer that but I want to keep the identities of the children and the mystique husbands hidden. He understood my worries and agreed but said that he had to report the total number of husbands and children for transparency which I am fine with since they will only reveal this detail at the week before the official graduation, a condition I asked from the first day I became an official student.