“Have a good journey ahead. Even though you were here for only a few days, your presence would be missed by us and-“

“Shut up man. Go back and live your life as you were doing before meeting us. You don’t have to be so emotional to see us going back now.”

Aurora looked on amused as Noctus and Rita duked it out one last time. The Duke had his arms around Aurora’s waist to try and stop her while Rita was trying to pull Aurora out of his grasp.

It was a funny scene and the atmosphere was finally broken by Mary’s innocent comment ‘what is going on here?’

“You know what Mary, I have no idea what is going on here. Aurora, are you sure you want me and Ur to stay behind for a little longer in the eastern continent?”

Aurora nodded from in between the two people trying to drag her away.

“I need you to stay here and take charge of the operations. Now that we have the East’s cooperation, we can finally move the Viera out of the Rocx valley and out of the tower’s nose. I don’t want them anywhere near when the inter-academy competition starts.”

Aurora had given it some thought and had realized that she needed to start making preparations to empty the academy.

She had gotten away so far with hiding both the outlanders and the Viera because she had not faced any major academy people.

But it would be a different case now. The Rocx academy was about to gain a lot of pressure and momentum all of a sudden because of the upcoming competition.

“Alright, you can do that. It will be nice to have another race who worships dragons nearby. I am sure the temple would appreciate the help as well.”

Aurora did not doubt that the temple would help her out regarding this. The temple was already informed of what was going to happen next anyway.

“Aurora, let’s leave now. I don’t want to spend any extra second in this lunatic place. I feel like I am losing brain cells by being here.”

Rita finally managed to push the Duke off Aurora and right in time for her to take Aurora’s hand and whisk her away from him.

Aurora gave a wave behind her before she was out with Rita. the other girl had an annoyed but honest look on her face.

“You seemed to not like the East that much. Did you not have fun on this trip?”

Aurora herself did have fun on this trip but it was difficult to say in Rita’s case. The girl did not often let her true feelings let out when it came to Aurora.

“Fun is a subjective thing. I cannot say that I had fun but I did not hate it either. Oh, by the way, can we take the train to the central continent this time? I don’t want to spend extra time going through the Nacross Valley again.”

Rita was avoiding the answer so Aurora did not push her.

The train came and the journey back was peaceful and quiet. The central continent was as messy and full of people as ever but it was much easier to navigate.

Rita had a wistful look on her face when she looked at the tower and Aurora had a feeling that she was not quite over things as much as she said she was.

“Do you want to have a look at your old home? I know you miss your maids sometimes. Besides, I also know that you want to take a look at the maid we saved before.”

“No, it’s alright. I feel like I would make a foolish decision if I go back now. It would be better if we move on back home.”

Aurora wanted to tell Rita to be selfish at that moment but then she held herself back. She could see that Rita was already struggling to hold her tears back.

Aurora did not need to make it tougher for her by egging her to do anything.

“Yeah, let’s go home. I think we’ve got enough excitement for now.”

The pair took the train back to the Rocx valley and then they were back home. There was a week left before the main event of the year, the inter-academy face-off but there was much to be done.

===========================

“I cannot believe that this is happening to me. Why did they decide to hold the Academy fights on the Rocx campus? It hasn’t even been a year since we set up.”

Rex looked stressed and tired when Aurora saw him after coming back.

She had chosen to help Rex out instead of resting after coming back. And Rex’s tired complexion and dark circles told Aurora that it had been the right decision to make. The man needed all the help he could.

“It must be a ploy to get you into trouble. But I don’t see the problem here. You can always hire outside help to manage. If you beg nicely then I will even consider helping you out.”

“And why are you here in the first place? I don’t remember inviting you in here with us. Just go back to your relaxing trip, mother.”

Aurora opened her mouth but her voice was buried in between the arguing pair in front of her.

She could understand why Rex was sounding so angry at Lady Violet’s presence. And truthfully, she had no business being in this small meeting right now.

But Aurora also felt that it would be nice of Rex to swallow his pride and ask his stepmother for help. If there was one person who could stop this madness then it was Lady Violet who had a goddess’s support.

However, Aurora knew Rex well. And because she knew Rex well, she could tell that he would not ask his stepmother for help.

‘I guess I will have to be the one to ask her for help.’

“Lady Violet, please help us get some more time on our hands. I promise we will do anything and everything in our power to compensate you for your help.”

Those powerful eyes turned toward Aurora and regarded her with an openly hostile stare. At the same time, Rex’s ‘not we, just you’ reached Aurora’s ears.

“I guess at least one of you has enough manners and mind to know what is good for you. Now if only my good for nothing son realizes what I can do for him, he would stop being this petty and -“

“I will never forgive you for what you did to my mother. I will not lower myself to beg for your help ever.”

Rex and Lady Violet’s eyes clashed which caused Aurora to sigh out in annoyance.

‘Well, there goes out the chance to convince Lady Violet to help us out.’

“Fine, if you don’t want my help then I won’t give you any. But I will let you in on a secret since we are still family.”

“Out of all the academies out there, only 8 agreed to this year’s stand-off, and that also for obvious reasons. Now, I won’t tell you what they are but you should know that your burden will not be as big as you think it will be.”

Rex looked suspicious at his stepmother’s words but Aurora chose to believe Lady Violet.

Someone like Lady Violet would not go out of her way to lie for momentary gains. So her word was one Aurora chose to trust.

“I see. We will keep that in mind.”

Aurora nodded toward the elder lady who looked to be deep in thought before she stood up and walked away.

But not before she turned back to look Aurora in the eye. Aurora’s hands went up to clutch at the pendent she had sacrificed a lot to acquire.

“You can’t keep running away from what you don’t like. You should think about facing your past head-on instead. Who knows what new secrets you might find in there.”

Lady Violet’s words sounded personal and Aurora felt sirens start blowing in her mind. A low growl escaped her chest which caused Lady Violet to smile.

‘She’s enjoying my misfortune.’

“Well, I guess since I’m no longer needed here then I should return to the South now. I should have reported a week ago but I got busy here. I did enjoy my stay here and I also liked the hospitality.”

“Oh, and I am glad you and Lady Mei are getting along. I always thought that girl was a bit lonely deep down. It is nice to see her go out and make friends with people.”

‘She knows. But how does she know about me and Mei? Did she spy on Rex to get this information? Or did she spy on me?’

Aurora did not know why she felt so off about being Lady Violet but Aurora had a weird feeling around the female.

Maybe it was because Lady Violet was a part of Aurora’s past she did not want to remember but seeing her leave filled Aurora with relief.