Amien was currently face-down in the dirt, snoring softly while small, residual wisps of black lightning crackled weakly off his uniform.
The dragon scales that had briefly coated his arms had retreated back into his skin, leaving behind a scholarship student who looked like he had just been run over by a high-speed magical carriage. Thrice.
"Well," Kazriel said, casually dusting off his pristine white uniform jacket. He hadn't even broken a sweat. "For a first attempt, he didn't die. I'd call that a resounding success in pedagogical theory."
"You literally beat him until his ancestral genetics panicked and forced a mutation, Kaz," Aria said, stepping out from the shade of a nearby tree. She was holding a clipboard, her long silver hair catching the sunlight, looking entirely too beautiful for a desolate training ground. "Mariela looks like she's about to faint just looking at him."
A few feet away, Mariela was indeed trembling, clutching her healing staff like a weapon, looking at Kazriel as if he were a legendary raid boss disguised as a handsome senior.
"Nonsense, Mariela, go patch him up," Kazriel waved his hand dismissively. "Think of it as real-time clinical experience. His mana pathways are completely fried, his muscles are torn, and his ego is shattered. Perfect conditions for a high-tier healer to practice."
Author's Note: Please do not report Kazriel to the Imperial Department of Education. He does not represent the views of the author. Mostly because the author is terrified of him.
As Mariela rushed over to cast high-density refreshment spells on a groaning Amien, Aria strolled over to Kazriel, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly with that familiar, possessive glint. She reached up, her delicate fingers adjusting his collar with unnecessary precision.
"You didn't have to show off that much," she murmured, her voice dropping into that sweet, dangerous register that usually meant Kazriel's heart rate was about to double. "Dodging a Conqueror's awakening without even using your hands? The students in the stands are going to start making rumors about you again."
"Let them talk," Kazriel laughed, naturally bringing his hands down to rest on her waist, pulling her just an inch closer. "As long as the rumors mention that I'm completely taken by the most terrifyingly gorgeous wind mage in the empire, they can say whatever they want."
Aria's cheeks flared a light pink, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned into his chest, her hands resting against his shoulders. "We have a lecture in twenty minutes, Duke Heir. If the Emperor finds out we skipped classes again to 'cultivate disciples,' he's going to write another public decree complaining about his workload."
"The Emperor has a whole council of nobles he can abuse for paperwork," Kazriel scoffed, his gaze drifting down to Aria's lips.
The air in the training clearing suddenly grew thick. The romantic tension hit a solid 9.8 on the Richter scale. Mariela, who was currently dragging a semi-conscious Amien by his collar into a sitting position, immediately froze. She took one look at her mentors, grabbed Amien's arm, and began back-pedaling into the bushes with absolute tactical silence. She knew the golden rule of the Duchy: If Kazriel and Aria look at each other for more than five seconds, evacuate the blast zone.
Kazriel leaned in, his internal monologue screaming at him that they were in public, that they were technically supposed to be teaching, and that they had promised to wait until the grand wedding. But frankly, when your fiancée looks like a literal goddess and you have the power to alter localized gravity, logic tends to take a backseat.
Aria's eyes fluttered shut, her breath hitching—
RINGGGGG!
The giant, enchanted bronze bell of the Royal Academy echoed across the grounds, shattering the silence and vibrating through the dirt.
Aria instantly snapped her eyes open, placing her hands firmly on Kazriel's chest and pushing him back with a gust of localized wind magic. "Bell rang! Class time!"
"I am going to dismantle that bell," Kazriel muttered, his eyes narrowing toward the distant academy tower with genuine, homicidal intent. "I will atomize the bronze. I will turn it into a coat hanger."
"Come on, monster," Aria giggled, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the academy path. "We have to go see the look on the elite class's faces when they realize our scholarship disciple just unlocked a legendary bloodline because his mentor is a psychopath."
Behind them, Amien finally blinked his eyes open, coughing up a small puff of smoke. "Master... did I pass?"
Kazriel didn't even look back as he walked away, hand-in-hand with Aria. "You survived, Amien. In my class, that's an A-plus. Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, we practice dodging flying boulders."
Amien immediately closed his eyes and chose to pass out again.