Chapter 277: The Owl Princess Has Taken an Interest in Luke!

Author Note:

Everyone, thank you so much for all your donations! And a huge thanks to my Priv Readers for continuously supporting this novel. ❤️

Your support truly means a lot to me, and I am genuinely grateful to every single one of you. ❤️

---

After traveling for a few minutes, they finally reached the meeting room.

Two guards clad in heavy armor stood before the entrance. Seeing them approach, both guards immediately bowed before opening the gates.

The female servant also stepped aside, allowing Luke and Selene to enter first.

They nodded toward the guards before walking inside.

The room was enormous—grand enough to rival the size of a football field.

Yet despite its massive size, it didn’t feel empty.

Bookshelves, detailed maps, ancient portraits, and various mysterious artifacts had been placed throughout every corner.

’Space magic?’ That was the only thought that came to Luke’s mind.

Although the entire island of Horizon Academy was enormous, it certainly wasn’t large enough for a single room to reach this size.

Therefore, his earlier assumption seemed to have been correct.

This room had most likely been expanded using space magic.

Then, Luke shifted his gaze toward the center of the room.

There, a large round table occupied the middle, surrounded by hundreds of seats.

Roderan, Drevian, Isaria, Estelle, and the representatives of the Empyrean Academy were all present.

Among them were Zeyr, Karon, Marius, Fael, Joria, Kira, Nolan, Ivar, and Alia.

There were also a few more professors whom Luke hadn’t seen earlier.

Meanwhile, the moment everyone noticed Selene, they nodded toward her in greeting. However, seeing Luke accompanying her made several people momentarily surprised.

Yet after recalling his earlier display of strength, his status, and even Estelle’s personal invitation to the academy, they quickly found his presence here perfectly natural.

Still, not everyone was pleased.

Marius, Arwen, and Lirael’s expressions immediately turned ugly. They clearly hadn’t expected Luke to appear here.

Ivar was no different, though he managed to conceal his displeasure much better than the others.

"Welcome, Sir Luke and Miss Selene." Roderan smiled warmly as he welcomed them into the room.

Selene merely nodded in response. She was already accustomed to receiving such respect, especially when carrying out her duties at the academy.

Luke, on the other hand, returned the greeting with a polite smile.

After that, a woman approached him with a bright smile.

"Sir Luke, it’s a pleasure to meet you."

"I’m Alia."

She introduced herself with only her first name as she gently stepped closer to him.

Luke blinked.

He didn’t know her at all.

Even so, he returned her greeting with a smile—or at least tried to.

Since, before he could say anything else—

"What do you want?" Selene suddenly stepped between them.

Her tone remained calm, but the slight narrowing of her eyes made her wariness toward Alia obvious.

Not because of Alia’s strength, but because Selene had heard certain rumors about her.

Rumors that Alia had been searching for handsome and powerful men from different races.

To outsiders, the reason seemed obvious.

They assumed she simply wanted to mate, something that wasn’t particularly strange for demi-humans.

But they didn’t know the whole truth.

Selene had uncovered something far more concerning through her assassin organization.

Demi-humans—especially those possessing royal blood, whether descended from an Emperor or a King—possessed a unique ability known as Dual Cultivation.

Through this ability, the demi-human could cultivate alongside their partner and receive half of their partner’s cultivation.

However, the same benefit did not apply to the other party.

And that wasn’t even the most frightening part.

The partner who entered into such a bond would gradually become addicted to the demi-human.

Once that happened, they would essentially fall into the demi-human’s control.

Whether they were nurtured, drained of their cultivation, or completely used up would depend entirely on the demi-human.

It was an ability that only two races possessed.

Demons.

Demi-humans.

Ironically, both races even began with the same letter.

D.

Selene narrowed her eyes as she recalled this information.

Her grip around Luke’s arm tightened slightly.

"Squeeze..."

Of course, Selene still didn’t know the entire truth.

It was true that demi-humans could gain half of their partner’s cultivation progress through Dual Cultivation, but the ability came with many limitations.

And there was one particularly important detail.

A demi-human could also willingly transfer half of their own cultivation progress to a partner from another race.

However, this information was a closely guarded secret, known only among the highest-ranking nobles, Kings, and Emperors.

Even Selene’s step-sister and step-brothers were aware of it.

Selene, however, had never been told.

She had only managed to uncover part of the truth through her own investigations.

Seeing Selene’s reaction, Alia’s mouth twitched.

"Selene, you’re acting childish. You’re not usually like this."

Rather than backing away, Alia deliberately stepped closer to Luke.

Although Selene was the daughter of an Emperor, her mother also belonged to the royal bloodline of the Demi-Owl Kingdom.

Because of that, she wasn’t particularly afraid of Selene.

"Back off." Selene’s voice immediately turned cold.

"Hiss..."

Her fangs slowly emerged as she stared at Alia, leaving no doubt about the warning behind her words.

Don’t you dare come any closer to my husband.

The atmosphere around them suddenly became tense.

Seeing the scene unfold, everyone exchanged glances.

Some of those gazes even contained traces of jealousy.

After all, they were also aware of the rumors surrounding Alia.

They knew about her reputation for approaching handsome and powerful men from different races.

And now, seeing her deliberately approaching Luke—

A man who had already demonstrated astonishing strength and possessed the status of a former Hero—

several people couldn’t help but feel envious.

Of all the men here, she chose him?

Meanwhile, Selene’s grip around Luke’s arm tightened even further.

’Lucky bastard.’ Arwen cursed inwardly.

He had once tried to get close to Alia himself.

After all, she was undeniably beautiful. As, every member of the Half-Owl race was known for their striking appearance, and elves naturally appreciated beautiful things.

If Luke weren’t a human, then with his current appearance alone, every elves would probably be willing to marry him—even among the higher noble families.

Meanwhile, Zeyr simply smiled as he observed this.

He had no interest in Alia or her rumors, however.

To him, only strength and battle mattered.

The others also watched the scene unfold, each displaying a different expression.

’Why does another woman have to appear?’

Isaria felt a faint dissatisfaction upon seeing Alia’s obvious interest in Luke, though she kept her feelings to herself.

Alia, however, merely shook her head at Selene’s warning.

"Selene, Sir Luke isn’t some kind of animal you can simply put on a leash."

Her completely white eyes shifted toward Luke once more.

There was an unmistakable desire in her gaze.

"Such a fine specimen should be allowed to run wild."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone fell completely silent after hearing Alia’s words.

Their expressions were practically identical—speechless.

After all, Luke was already married.

And despite being bound to Selene, his reputation as a womanizer had already begun spreading far and wide.

Now Alia was actually suggesting that Selene should set him free?

’Then would there be any women left for us?’

Several of the men silently looked toward Luke’s handsome face.

For the first time, they were genuinely grateful that the man was already married.

Otherwise, they might not have had any chance at all.

Meanwhile, Selene’s expression became colder.

"Alia."

She stared directly into Alia’s completely white eyes.