Chapter 839: I Would Rather Trust A Venomous Snake

A week before the student exchange program...

Theo Ashborne, Frieden Academy’s student council president, read through the document in his hand word by word.

The dormitory rooms assigned for their incoming guests from the Aetherion Empire were already ready for their arrival.

Preparing for the arrival of the exchange students went smoothly.

After all, the process wasn’t new to him and his secretary, Cassandra. They had simply applied everything they learned last time from arranging the accommodation for the delegates of the Solara and Faelarun Academies.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. After all, they were about to welcome students from the Aetherion Empire.

If possible, he would rather not deal with the guests finding fault with their accommodations, which would badly reflect on the student council’s reputation.

"You’ve been staring at the same page for nearly ten minutes," Cassandra said in a teasing tone. "Do you want me to make you some tea to help you calm your nerves?"

A sigh escaped Theo’s lips before he finally put the document down. "Please."

The secretary nodded and went to brew the tea their president liked.

A few minutes later, she placed the cup on ?the table and watched as Theo took a sip.

"Thank you, Cassandra." Theo smiled. "Your tea-making skills are as good as always."

After consuming half of his tea, he placed it down on the table and checked the names of the students who would be coming to their academy.

Their pictures were also included in the document, which would allow the student council to memorize their names before their arrival.

Naturally, Theo’s gaze focused on the VIP who was going to lead this exchange program.

The Crown Prince of the Aetherion Empire, Asta Von Vademont.

There were three princes in the Aetherion Empire, with Asta being the second prince.

Theo had no idea about the situation in the Aetherion Empire, so he simply assumed that Prince Asta’s talent had surpassed his older brother’s, earning him the title of Crown Prince.

Theo himself was a prince of the Solara Kingdom.

Although he was the third prince, he believed that his talent surpassed his brothers. Not only that, but their father had yet to appoint a prince to inherit his throne.

Since that was the case, Theo believed that he still had a chance.

As long as he maintained his reputation at Frieden Academy and graduated with honors, his father’s evaluation of him would drastically increase.

Also, the kingdom that bordered the Aetherion Empire was the Kingdom of Solara.

They were the ones that pushed for the alliance of the three kingdoms.

Thinking that they would be next if the Kingdom of Solara fell to the Empire’s aggression, the Kingdom of Avalon and the Kingdom of Faelarun agreed to the alliance.

In fact, all three Kings shared a common phrase.

"I would rather trust a venomous snake than trust the Royal Family of the Aetherion Empire."

This saying proved that regardless of how civil and righteous their Royal Family may seem, they shouldn’t be trusted no matter what.

Because if you did, you wouldn’t even know how they managed to invade your lands right under your nose.

The only reason why they didn’t dare to invade the Kingdom of Avalon was because of the Headmaster of Frieden Academy.

He had declared that if the Aetherion Empire were to make a move against the three kingdoms, he would not stand by and let them have their way.

That deterrent had given the Solara Kingdom some breathing room, so they made sure to be extra careful not to upset their neighbor.

There were even talks about Prince Theo marrying one of the princesses of the Aetherion Empire as a symbol of goodwill.

Although they didn’t outright reject the offer, Theo and his father, the King, had no intention of accepting this marriage arrangement.

"I wish I could get some information on these students that are listed here," Theo muttered.

He could have done it, but didn’t dare to do so.

Thinking the Aetherion Empire might discover him and take the opportunity to blackmail him, he trashed the idea. Remaining ignorant sounded much better.

"By the way, Cassandra, have you talked to the troublemakers of our academy?" Theo asked. "Especially those from the First Year division."

"I only managed to talk to Chuk No Rizz and his brother," Cassandra replied. "Both promised to behave when the students of the Aetherion Empire arrive."

"Then... how about Alex Stratos?" Theo asked in a serious tone.

"I talked to him a while ago, but his reply was strange." Cassandra frowned.

"What did he say?" Theo arched an eyebrow.

"He said that I don’t have to worry about him since he has no intention of getting chummy with the students from the empire," Cassandra answered. "When he said those words, he sounded and looked very serious. He might have some kind of history with them."

Theo lightly tapped his fingers on the table as he pondered his secretary’s words.

Frankly, Alex had been in the spotlight as of late. Although he wasn’t really a troublemaker and only reacted to people who brought him trouble, his comeback was always explosive.

The incident of him blackmailing the other clubs was still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Truth be told, Theo was very worried that Alex might suddenly get into a conflict with the exchange students. If that really happened, then things might spiral out of control.

"I’ll personally talk to him after his class ends," Theo stated. "Is there anything else that you need to report, Cassandra?"

"No." Cassandra shook her head. "Aside from our regular duties, only the matter with the student exchange program remains. Well, if there really is something worth noting, it’s about Dim Dim, Daisy, and Rex. Those three have become the mascots of the academy."

"Ah, those three." Theo nodded.

For some reason, those three had become really popular with the students. Back then, everyone was afraid of approaching the Doom Cow and the Forest Wolf since they looked like they would attack anyone in sight.

But since the polite, respectful, and adorable Dim Dim was always with them, the bias of the students had gradually disappeared.

They no longer feared Daisy and Rex. In fact, they now approached them boldly and even went as far as to pet or touch their bodies, which none of them would have dared to do in the past.

"Do you think we should tell them to stop patrolling the academy when the students of the Aetherion Academy arrive?" Theo asked.

Cassandra pondered because she was taking this question seriously. A few minutes later, she gave her personal opinion.

"I think letting those three continue to patrol is a good thing," Cassandra replied. "They are one of the attractions of the academy, so letting the students of the Aetherion Empire see them is a good thing."

"I see." Theo neither agreed nor disagreed with Cassandra’s opinion.

Deep inside, he understood that those three wouldn’t harm a single student of the academy. In fact, they had helped plenty of students in the past, especially while looking for things that they had accidentally lost in the academy.

In the end, Theo set this matter aside and returned to reviewing his documents.

There was only one more week before their guests from the Aetherion Empire arrived, and he wanted to make sure that they would have no complaints throughout the duration of their stay in Frieden Academy.