I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy chapter 77

77 – Viscount Ashe 8

“Your Majesty, why are you not in the bedroom? What are you doing here?”

The emperor listened to the empress’s words as she entered the study and checked the time.

“It’s already that time, huh.”

Normally, at this hour, he would already be in the bedroom, but due to the ongoing events, he hadn’t even noticed the passage of time.

“Is it such a big deal that you forgot the time, knowing I’m waiting in the bedroom?”

“Nothing is more important than the empress. Still, it’s a bit of a serious situation, so to speak.”

He spoke as if feigning indifference, then embraced the empress from behind.

The warmth felt comforting. So much so that I wanted to continue like this.

But to maintain this warmth, I had to deal with the bugs remaining in the empire.

“So, what’s this slightly serious situation about?”

The empress, seemingly wanting to continue, firmly grasped the hands clasped around her waist.

“It seems that the drugs Ash Marquis had were provided by the Necromancer.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous for Lucas to be there?”

The empress anxiously squeezed the emperor’s hand.

The knight commander who trained Lucas spoke highly of his exceptional talent.

Lucas himself claimed he could handle his own safety.

But to her, he was just a child.

“Ruska is also there, so it should be fine. Please don’t worry too much.”

The emperor embraced the worried empress even more tightly.

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

Fortunately, hearing his name seemed to alleviate some of the empress’s concerns.

“Right now, he goes by the name Elysia.”

The emperor and empress knew Elysia’s true identity as a dragon.

If Elysia hadn’t been there at that time, the emperor might not have ascended to the throne.

He might not have met the empress either.

So, when Lucas was born, they adopted the name Ruska from Elysia.

“Did Marquis Ash make a deal knowing that his counterpart was a Necromancer?”

“I don’t know. But what’s certain is that by tomorrow, Marquis Ash won’t be a Marquis anymore.”

“Does that mean Marquis Ash will seek help from Rus, no, Lady Elysia?”

“I originally intended to do that, you know…”

The Empress turned her head to gaze at the blurry Emperor at the end of her words.

Then, she gently wiped the Emperor’s lips with her hand.

“Do you have some pleasant news that I’m not aware of?”

The corners of the Emperor’s mouth lifted.

As if he knew that something enjoyable was about to happen.

“I heard Loki is once again using the Cardinal’s identity.”

“The Cardinal?”

The Emperor looked at the surprised Empress and smiled, embracing her more tightly.

It hadn’t been long since they bathed, and a fragrance wafted through his nose.

Of course, the Empress knew that the Emperor was the true identity of the Cardinal.

After all, the first time she met the Empress was not as ‘Casten Leonhardt’ but as ‘Cardinal the Phantom.’

He briefly recalled those memories and gently stroked the Empress’s head, who looked at him with a worried gaze.

“Do you think that child won’t be found out?”

Last time, when Loki disguised himself as the Cardinal and stole drugs from Count Ash’s mansion, there was only the count’s security.

But now, there were special forces students in the mansion.

“Unlike last time, this time, not only my two shadows but also Lady Elysia decided to help Loki.”

From the moment Lady Elysia decided to help, no one in that place could catch Loki.

Now relieved, the Empress relaxed her body and leaned her head against the Emperor’s chest.

“If Eirika finds out that Cardinal the Phantom has reappeared, she will surely inquire a lot from Lucas, who was there.”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, but now I should ask Loki. It seems like he still talks loudly on the communication device every night before falling asleep.”

When the Empress mentioned Loki and Erika, the Emperor furrowed his brow.

Seeing this, the Empress lifted the corners of her mouth and gently tapped the Emperor’s furrowed brow.

“hehehe, does Loki not please you that much?”

It wasn’t that Loki didn’t please him.

In fact, he was rather pleased.

Loki had ample talent and skills, and he didn’t slack off in his efforts.

As for his appearance… well, the Emperor wasn’t sure, but his personality wasn’t bad.

That’s probably why Erika enjoyed talking to him every night, as if it were a delight.

‘He seemed to act like he enjoyed it for the money and medicine.’

It didn’t seem like he was after money.

Perhaps money was just a means to an end for Loki.

But if he were to think of him as his daughter’s partner…

“To be honest, you wouldn’t be pleased with anyone, would you?”

Upon hearing the Empress’s words, he thought of the other men who had their eyes on Erika.

Princes, dukes, and the son of the Grand Chancellor of the Holy Kingdom.

Compared to them, Loki was more…

“Tsk.”

The Emperor furrowed his brow, clicked his tongue, and changed the subject.

“But why is Erika still searching for Cardinal just because of what you said?”

One day.

After a conversation with the empress, Erika began searching for Cardinal.

No matter how many times she asked Erika, she didn’t reveal anything.

“hehehe.”

The empress laughed at the emperor who deliberately changed the subject.

“What was said then is forever a secret to Your Majesty.”

* * *

“Cardinal has appeared!!!!!!”

No one knows who said it.

But it didn’t take long for those words to spread throughout the mansion.

Students who were already asleep. Students on the verge of falling asleep. Or students doing something else.

Special class students heard the sound spreading inside the mansion and gathered outside their rooms.

Rocky and Elysia were not seen.

“Where’s Rocky?”

“Don’t know! Checked his room, but he’s not there!”

“A while ago, he told me that he and Professor Elysia went outside to check something related to the mysterious Cardinal.”

“Why now of all times…….”

Thump, thump.

Small footsteps echoed through the mansion.

The students stopped talking at the faint sound of footsteps and raised their weapons.

From Noble mtl dot com

Step by step.

Cardinal ascended to the second floor, completely uncharacteristic of a thief, slowly climbing the stairs.

Like a shadow, neither the face nor the body was visible.

No one could tell how tall they were, or even if they were a man or a woman.

Finally, Cardinal reached the second floor where the Special Class students and Lord Ash were. All the students were on guard, holding their weapons, as the opponent was a criminal that even the Empire couldn’t catch. Everyone paid close attention to every move Cardinal made. What they were going to do. Why they had come. No one knew.

“Lord Ash.”

“!!!!!!!”

Just one word, and everyone around trembled. An alien voice, as if scraping metal. Could a person produce such a voice?

“Now.”

When Cardinal was looking at Lord Ash, Lucas swiftly charged towards Cardinal.

“I’ve got this.”

Just before the spear reached Cardinal, they vanished, as if they had never been there in the first place.

Thud.

A touch on the abdomen made contact with a human hand.

“The Crown Prince.”

The Cardinal, who had reappeared unnoticed, now had his hand resting on Lucas’s stomach.

“Your father forced me into a similar position when he was about your age.”

Boom!!!

Before understanding the words, a tremendous shock exploded with a deafening sound.

“Compared to your father, you fall far short.”

A voice echoed, and in a brief moment, Lucas lost consciousness.

When he regained his senses.

Cardinal was moving away.

‘No.’

He realized he was flying through the air.

Just before his body slammed into the wall, he comprehended it.

Kwaaang!!!

After breaking through several more walls, Lucas finally crashed to the ground.

Thump.

Since the moment Lucas rushed at the villainous Cardinal, Clara had quietly gathered mana. Just as she had gathered enough mana and was about to unleash her magic.

“Fallen short.”

An alien voice descended like lightning.

‘The mana is disappearing!’

An experience never encountered before.

The gathered mana vanishes to invoke magic.

Attempting once again to cast a spell, but the mana still fails to accumulate and dissipates.

“Everyone, come out!”

Unable to precisely discern what happened, Ansephia summoned all the spirits as Clara failed to activate her magic.

“You’re inexperienced.”

Cardinal nonchalantly remarked upon seeing the spirits.

Goooooo……

A grayish aura enveloped Cardinal.

The spirits trembled as if facing Elysia for the first time.

Not only the spirits but also other special-class students were intimidated by the grayish aura, just like back then when they faced Elysia.

“Are you alright, Viscount!”

More than ten knights entered the mansion.

All of them were clad in armor, wielding their swords.

“There’s still plenty.”

At that hopeful moment when Viscount Asher looked at the knights.

Cardinal, unfazed, casually spoke when seeing the armed knights.

“I have no interest in any of you.”

Cardinal’s finger, shrouded in shadows, pointed towards the armored knights.

Through the Cardinal’s fingers, two black beams flew towards the knights.

The black beams moved as if they were human, and each time they touched a knight, one fell.

Ten seconds passed. All the knights lay fallen on the ground.

“Did you think you could stop me with this?”

* * *

Elysia sat perched on the mansion’s roof, obstructing Clara from using magic.

Her ash-colored hair swayed gently in the wind.

The open air displayed the entire situation inside the mansion.

“You speak as if my power is your own.”

If being shameless was a talent, I wonder if that’s one too…