Chapter 150: ¹⁵⁰: A trained Alpha

Chapter 150: 1??: A trained Alpha

"Good," Kael said. There was a strange smile on his face, almost as though something I had said had amused him. "Now I am clear that you won’t really have any problem when the time comes."

"Yeah." I lowered my gaze from his face to my food. "I won’t care about anything," I said quietly.

I picked up my spoon and put another bite of the food he had prepared into my mouth, deliberately keeping my face lowered so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes.

Those stupid eyes of mine were getting wet on their own and that too for a reason even I couldn’t understand. I quickly blinked, hoping the moisture would disappear before Kael noticed. Why was I even reacting like this?

I had already told myself that none of this mattered to me. I had accepted the terms of our agreement long ago. There was no reason for these anything to affect me now.

And yet, the dull ache inside my chest refused to disappear. I needed to change the subject.

"By the way..." I finally managed, forcing myself to swallow before speaking again. "How is your work going?"

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

"You were away for so many days," I continued, trying to make my voice sound casual. "Did something happen?"

Instead of answering my question, Kael looked directly at me. "Why are you looking down while talking to me? Is the food more interesting than my face to you now?"

"There is nothing like that," I quickly replied as I put another spoonful of food into my mouth, partly because I was hungry and partly because chewing gave me a few extra seconds to think of something to say.

I couldn’t tell him that I was avoiding his eyes because I was afraid he would notice mine. "It is just that you cook really well," I said after swallowing. "Everything you cook turns out to be delicious."

"Thank you for the compliment." His words were polite enough, but they were accompanied by a quiet scoff.

I immediately looked up. What was he scoffing at? "What is so funny?" My voice had become slightly stern without me intending it to.

Kael merely glanced at me. "Nothing." He took another bite of his food, completely unbothered by my question.

I stared at him for a moment longer, waiting for him to say something else.

He didn’t, instead, he casually changed the subject. "How are your days at the academy going? Aren’t your exams starting?"

I wanted to ask him why he kept avoiding my questions, I wanted to know why he had been acting so strangely since so long now.

I wanted to know why every time I tried to understand what was happening inside his mind, he simply redirected the conversation somewhere else.

But I didn’t. Or rather, I couldn’t. What authority did I really have over him? I was sitting across from the Alpha of the Starlight Empire, a man who had every reason to make decisions without explaining himself to me.

Whatever my personal feelings were about anything, I had no right to demand answers from him. So I simply sighed and decided to answer the question he had actually asked.

"Academy is going pretty well." I gathered the last bite of food on my plate while Kael had already finished eating. "And our exams won’t start like they used to."

Kael’s eyes shifted toward me. "What do you mean by that?"

I put the final bite into my mouth before answering. "How else will they start?" I swallowed and looked at him."Do you not know?"

Surprise crossed my face before I could hide it. Kael was the Alpha of our Empire. How could he not know about a reform being implemented in the Empire’s biggest educational institution?

Then again, perhaps this was simply too small a matter for someone like him to personally care about. The academy was important to students like me. For Kael, there were probably hundreds of matters that demanded his attention every day.

"Instead of the conventional exams, we’re being given an assignment this time," I explained, an excited smile naturally appearing on my face as I told him about it.

I had been looking forward to talking about the new exam format with someone, and now that Kael had finally asked, I found myself becoming more animated.

"We have to solve it as an advisor within a given time of seven days, and we’ll be completing it at home. So technically, we get seven days away from the academy to work on our assignments."

Kael listened quietly. I expected him to say something about the new system, but instead, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "You seem pretty excited about the assignment for a—"

He stopped. His expression changed for the briefest moment. Then he shook his head and stood up from his seat, picking up his plate.

I blinked not understanding his words. "For a what?"

Kael didn’t answer. He simply walked toward the kitchen.

"Wait!" I immediately got up and followed him. "What were you about to say?" He continued walking as though he hadn’t heard me.

"Why didn’t you complete the sentence?" I placed my plate beside his in the dishwasher and turned toward him fully.

Kael calmly closed the dishwasher. He pressed the button and started it before finally turning his attention toward me.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I meant to say that you don’t have seven days for a vacation just because the academy has given you time away from classes."

I stared at him, listening as he continued.

"If you’re getting seven days for an assignment, then trust me, it will take every ounce of that time to complete it. Our academy teachers are pretty strict."

"Really?" I couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on my face. "Nah. It won’t take me that much time."

I shrugged, feeling considerably more confident now that we were talking about something I actually understood. "I’m pretty good at handling diplomatic situations, so this shouldn’t be that hard for me."

The confidence in my words wasn’t completely unfounded. I had spent practically my entire life being trained for the responsibilities expected of an Alpha.

My education hadn’t been limited to combat or pack management. Diplomacy, negotiations, alliances, political relationships, handling disputes between territories, those were all things I had been taught because an Alpha couldn’t simply rely on strength to govern.

Sometimes words could accomplish what an army couldn’t. I knew how to approach difficult situations.

I knew how to read the interests of different sides and find a solution that could benefit my own people without unnecessarily provoking the other party.

So if the academy wanted me to act as a diplomatic advisor and solve a political crisis, I couldn’t imagine why it would take me an entire week.

In fact, if the assignment was based on what I had already studied, it would almost be strange if I struggled with it.

"Why are you so confident about that?" Kael’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts and only then did I realize that I had been speaking about my abilities far more confidently than I normally would around him.

"You’re just a fresher," he continued, raising an eyebrow. "You shouldn’t think so highly of yourself." His tone wasn’t exactly harsh, but there was enough skepticism in it to make me reconsider my words.

"Yeah..." Igave him a slightly nervous smile. "I was just saying that because I’ve studied my classes regularly."

I quickly added another explanation before he could question me further. "And this new system was proposed by Gamma Derek, not the academy teachers, so I hope it won’t be that hard."

The moment I finished speaking, Kael’s expression changed. It was subtle. So subtle that someone else might not have noticed it. But I did.

"Who did you say proposed this?" His question came immediately. The casual tone from moments ago had disappeared.