While being escorted to the disciplinary room, Edmund realized that Lucian was not playing along with him, as there was no sign of him seeking revenge against his sister, who had bullied him.
"Who could have kidnapped her?" Edmund asked, accompanied by a guard on each side as if he were a respected criminal, ready to be dragged to the cells, "Who dares to commit such a heinous act?"
The students in the crowd started whispering, looking at each other suspiciously. Some of them pointed at Mathieu with their eyes, whose bloody knuckles told a story of their own.
As two armed guards attempted to hook their arms under his shoulders to escort him to the infirmary, Mathieu violently wrenched himself free, "I can walk."
He then glanced at the crowd, noticing how the students were looking at him, "Isn't Young Master's relationship with your sister a little bit strained, if I may say so? You can't blame me for thinking you might have something to do with it, can you?"
"I am deeply concerned for her well-being, regardless of our familial differences. Accusing someone, who hasn't stepped a foot outside of the academy in months, of being involved in such a crime is ludicrous," Edmund's aristocratic calm remained absolute as his fierce blue eyes shifted toward the merchant, who also had an enmity with his sister, "Isn't Mr. Arclight the one, who seems to have the easiest access in and out of the academy grounds?"
"Everyone saw me running out of the academy empty-handed. How would I manage that?" Lucian replied, and a few guards nodded, remembering him running out of the academy. They kept track of people leaving and entering the academy's grounds. "Lady Lily was feeling unwell, so I didn't want to keep her waiting for long."
"Lady Lily?" A lady asked, and Lucian explained.
Yes, Edmund's secret lover was now in Lucian's hands. The lady, who was Edmund's loyal supporter. It didn't matter if Edmund cared for her or not; she was a valuable pawn to the Rochefort heir.
Edmund showed no signs of distress, but Lucian knew Edmund didn't expect Celine to take a defensive mode instead of violently attacking him, and was now paying the price for his miscalculations.
After providing his alibi, Lucian let out a helpless, harmless sigh and pulled out a bag of neatly wrapped mango slices from his coat's inner pocket. "You wanted to try the imported fruits Lady Rochefort had been eating, right? I have asked my people to get some."
The ladies gasped in surprise and delight, thanking him. A rare treat from a foreign land was a gift they would never reject.
The last one to have an enmity with Lady Rochefort was the Crown Prince. He stood slightly apart from the crowd with his signature 'aloof air', looking annoyed that his peaceful afternoon had been disrupted.
Three students from the most powerful families in the Kingdom, and an exclusive guest. All of them had motive, means, and opportunity to make Celine disappear.
During situations like these, it would usually be scapegoats like the assaulters who would take the fall, and the true culprits would go free. Maybe not even the assaulters, but someone from the commoner class.
Lucian had to make sure not to let that happen. He wanted conflict, not a false resolution.
The Duke must have left the dent for a reason. If he questioned the Academy's safety, they would only increase the protections, making it even harder for Celine to leave the academy grounds in the future.
A dent. In the ground. A crater. An impact.
"We have to look for the savior, not the perpetrator," Lucian suddenly said, "There should be signs on their body from the impact of the gravitational pressure. We might not find the perpetrator, but we would definitely find the savior. Someone who tried to save Lady Rochefort, but didn't report her missing."
Edmund was still trying to recover from the impact of his father's powers. Lucian realized when he fought him with Mathieu, that Edmund couldn't obliterate them because of his weakened state. He was hiding it well, but there was no doubt that the impact had affected him.
Now Lucian also knew why Edmund eagerly joined the fight with Mathieu and allowed himself to be beaten. It was to cover the tracks left by the Duke. He would have been suspected otherwise.
"I agree," the Crown Prince finally spoke up from behind the crowd, "The savior would also have a strong reason to stay silent."
"They could also be in danger if they spoke up," Mathieu agreed, not trusting a single noble around him for sure. The corruption in the academy went deep, and everyone was involved somehow.
Edmund didn't look happy, but he didn't object either. His fierce blue eyes bypassed Mathieu entirely and landed squarely on the hay-head hiding among the ladies, as if he had finally realized that he had an opponent to be wary of.
Lucian bowed slightly to the ladies, "My Ladies," after he was done assuring their safety, "Until we meet again."
He told them how they could read the books they picked for next time he came to tend to the greenhouse, not as a teacher but as part of the gardening staff.
He asked if he should strip to prove his innocence as well, but they didn't take him seriously and laughed, believing he was joking. He wouldn't be able to walk properly; that gravity force would have caused serious damage to his body. They even thanked him for looking out for the female students, even the bad ones.
"Of course," Lucian said, smiling brightly at them, "It's my job to care for all the flowers, even the thorny ones," he left, leaving the ladies giggling and whispering among themselves.
Whatever the Duke planned, Lucian made sure everyone kept an eye on the other, so nobody would get a chance to clean after Edmund's traces.
Edmund's fist clenched at his sides as Lucian disappeared from his sight.
'Why don't you pack your bags and move into his head, Voice? He is much stronger than I am, and much more gifted too,' Lucian laughed in Voice's "face" and suggested it go possess Edmund.
Lucian never had the luxury of waiting until he was more powerful to take revenge on someone. He had been dealing with people stronger than him his whole life. He had to strike first, weaker or not.
That's how the weak survive, after all. Use the strong to protect them, and make them fight each other, weakening them in the process.
'What a Sissy, no, a sorry excuse of a man,' Voice always found a way to insult him and his abilities, no matter what Lucian did or how hard he tried. It would never be enough.
Nothing would ever feel like a win to Lucian. Every time he felt like he had accomplished something, like right now, Voice would always find a way to make him feel insignificant again.
'Maybe that's why I am still standing here while everyone else died. I didn't chase your advice like them.' Lucian rushed to feed his son.
He was thinking of making a wooden horse with a tail made out of Edmund's hair, which he had just ripped out. A perfect battle trophy for his son to play with.
'Maybe I will return and let Edmund beat me to a pulp, so we can both get a good laugh,' he continued, successfully silencing Voice for a time being.
Voice had no idea what it meant to be weak, to be helpless and powerless, and thus could never understand why some people could not follow its advice. It was the same as telling a beggar, who was starving to death, to "just go buy food." Or telling someone, who was drowning, to "just swim." Or telling a cripple, "Just use your leg."
Lucian had tried to prove to Voice that the weak had a place in the world, too, but along the way, he gave up on trying to impress Voice and often did the opposite of what it told him to.
Humans were rebellious by nature. Some would do the exact opposite to feel a sense of control over their own lives and decisions.
It was a way to make themselves feel better about their own weaknesses and powerlessness, to feel like they were doing something to change their fate.
Lucian was a little rebel like that, too.