Chapter 701: Girl’s Stuff

"To be honest, not to sound out of place or anything."

Starke Drakes, who had been quietly listening to the conversations during the meeting without interrupting once, finally decided to share his thoughts.

"I believe we should just focus on the Second-Year General Representative."

He said calmly.

"Ehnn... Starke, don’t you believe in me?"

Prince Charles Aethelmont looked at Starke in disbelief.

He had probably expected some support from his fellow faction members, but Starke had just made his opinion clear without showing any hesitation.

"Not that I don’t believe in you. Well, I don’t."

Starke replied straightforwardly.

Charles immediately held his chest as if a dagger had pierced his heart.

The look on his face made his reaction clear, but Starke remained as straightforward as ever.

He hadn’t even tried to soften his words.

"Apart from even Lady Vera Ashenlocke, we have Lady Willow Derlis amongst the First Years going for the same post."

Starke continued.

"Then there is Sir Ravenor Burnwick, representing the Ivory Circle Faction."

Chester Kane added calmly.

"Him too."

Starke pointed at Chester, acknowledging his addition.

The list of candidates was already troublesome enough.

Vera Ashenlocke and Willow Derlis were both competing for the same position, and Ravenor Burnwick had also entered the race.

With those names alone, the First-Year election was already looking like a difficult contest.

"I was really surprised when I saw the Young Lord of Burnwick’s name on the representative list on Susannah’s Faction Zphone Tablet."

Prince Aldric Aethelmont said with amusement.

"I’m even wondering how she managed to convince him to be the First-Year representative."

Princess Victoria Aethelmont said with an impressed expression.

Ravenor Burnwick was known to be one of the hardest people to communicate with because of his indifferent personality.

He rarely showed interest in things outside his own pursuits, making it difficult for others to get through to him.

Ravenor only cared about Alchemy and combat training.

However, his political side was actually top-notch, since he was the Young Lord of Burnwick.

It had to be.

As the heir to the Duke house of Burnwick, he couldn’t afford to be ignorant of politics.

His personal interests might have been limited, but he understood the importance of the people he associated with and the positions he chose to pursue.

The only issue with him was that he was always clear about his statements, the people he chose to become politically involved with, and the positions he found useful to his own political growth.

Ravenor wasn’t the sort of person who would casually involve himself in something without considering what he stood to gain.

If a position had no value to him, convincing him to pursue it would be difficult.

The General First-Year Representative position wasn’t particularly useful in Ravenor’s eyes.

He already had his Young Lord title and was, without a doubt, going to be one of the Royal Academy’s top graduating students.

His social standing was also already solid.

Ravenor was basically like Vera, who didn’t need any positions in the Academy to solidify her standing.

Both already possessed a level of influence that made an Academy position unnecessary for establishing their names.

So, the thought of seeing him as the Ivory Circle Faction’s First-Year representative really did surprise many people.

"I need to ask Susannah how she got him to even join her faction."

Patricia Hawthorne said, biting her thumbnail, with envy written in her eyes.

"Not only would we have gotten the First Years’ Prince-Gem Number Two in our faction, but with Number One already in our group, then our faction would have been solid with the top handsome gentlemen amongst the First-Years."

She muttered to herself, speaking quickly.

"Ehn? Prince? Gem?"

Prince Aldric pointed at himself, confused by what Patricia was saying.

He looked towards the ladies, seemingly unable to understand how their discussion had arrived at that particular topic.

The conversation had started with the candidates for the representative positions, yet Patricia was now talking about Prince-Gems.

"You won’t understand."

Princess Victoria said calmly, while waving her hand dismissively at her elder brother.

"Yeah, it’s girl stuff."

Claris said, gently taking another sip of her tea.

The conversation didn’t seem particularly difficult for the ladies to follow.

Aldric, on the other hand, was left trying to understand what they meant by Prince-Gem.

"Patricia is right. How did Lady Susannah pull it off?"

A Third-Year Lady, who was a close follower of Aldric, said thoughtfully.

She clearly seemed to understand what Patricia was talking about.

"You know, if not for the scandal on Prince-Gem Number One, we could have made use of him to draw in the First-Year girls."

Another lady added.

"Even without that, do you think the Jewel of Ash would allow any of that?"

A Second-Year Lady said, narrowing her eyes at the lady who had spoken earlier.

The discussion had taken a direction that left the boys struggling to follow.

The ladies continued exchanging their thoughts, bringing up names and matters that seemed to make sense to them, even if the connections weren’t clear to everyone else.

Ezra looked between the girls quietly.

Prince-Gem?

Is that me?

What is Vera’s name even doing in this conversation?

He thought to himself, trying to understand what he was even listening to.

The conversation had left him with more questions than answers.

He could understand the words themselves, but the reason for bringing them up in the middle of a discussion about the faction’s campaign was another matter.

Veda looked completely lost.

Starke just kept quiet, listening even though he could barely process anything the girls were saying.

All the boys in the room were the same.

The ladies’ discussion continued to move between the subjects they found interesting, leaving the boys with little understanding of how the conversation had reached that point.

"Ladies, we are straying off."

Prince Aldric said gently, giving up on trying to understand what the ladies were talking about.

The meeting had already spent enough time on the election and the candidates they would have to face.

Although he had tried to follow the ladies’ conversation, he couldn’t see the point in continuing to do so.

"Okay, we’ll continue the Prince-Gem talk later, ladies."

Princess Victoria said calmly to her fellow ladies.

Claris laughed lightly, finding something funny.

"Can I say something?"

Veda raised his right hand calmly.

His words drew the attention of the room.

"Oh, bless us with your wisdom, Young Lord of Ash."

Prince Aldric turned his attention to Veda.

So did all the members of the faction.

Veda had been quiet during the discussion, but he now had something to say.

With the attention of the room on him, he began by addressing the concern that had been raised about Charles’s chances of winning.

"First, I do believe Prince Charles can win."

Veda spoke calmly.

He looked at Charles with reassuring confidence.

"Veda."

Charles called Veda’s name with teary eyes.

He was already beginning to lose confidence in his chances of winning after hearing what Starke and the others had said about the popularity and influence of the representatives from the other factions.

Vera Ashenlocke, Willow Derlis, and Ravenor Burnwick were not names that could be dismissed lightly.

Their positions and reputations made them difficult opponents, and the discussion had only given Charles more reasons to doubt himself.

It was clear to him that his loss would be without grace.

But Veda hadn’t given up.

"You have the presence of a leader, and we just have to make the path for you to show that side of you during your campaigns. We can convince our fellow First Years if we do things in the right format."

Veda said confidently.

He looked at the other members, especially the board members of the Golden Circle Faction.

His confidence hadn’t disappeared simply because the opposing factions had influential candidates.

Instead, he believed they could still make a plan that would give Charles a chance.

"We of the Golden Circle are already a big faction. Of course, it doesn’t mean being part of the faction would influence the other members’ decision to vote for another faction representative, but we do also have First Years who can play a good part in drawing our fellow First Years into voting for Charles."

He continued speaking confidently.

Being part of a large faction did not automatically mean every student would vote for its representative.

The First Years still had their own choices to make, and the rival factions also had people capable of attracting support.

However, the Golden Circle Faction wasn’t without its own advantages.

Veda began listing the people who could help Charles during his campaign.

"We have Starke."

He pointed at Starke, who looked at Veda with an expression of understanding.

Veda continued pointing towards the other few First Years who had come to the meeting.

"And finally, we have the creator of the Phantom Rolls, as well as the one given the name, the Thousandfold Mind of Ash... Ezra."

He pointed at Ezra with a bright smile on his face.

Ezra remained quiet as Veda brought him into the discussion.

His name was already associated with the Phantom Rolls, and he had also earned the title of the Thousandfold Mind of Ash.

Veda believed they could put those connections to use when planning Charles’s campaign.

"We surely can plan something together if we try."

Veda clenched his fist.

The faction members looked at him.

A few had widened eyes, while others felt something stir within their chests.

His words had given them something else to consider.

Rather than focusing entirely on the influential candidates in the rival factions, they could also look at the people standing on their own side and determine how to make use of their strengths.

They already had members who could contribute to Charles’s campaign.

What remained was to plan how they could work together.

"Wow, what a motivational speech."

Prince Aldric said with an impressed tone and expression.

"That actually makes me feel a bit confident."

Starke said, nodding in agreement.

"As expected of the Young Lord of Ash, my half-brother."

Bella said proudly.

Veda placed his right hand behind his head and scratched it, feeling awkwardly happy.

Ezra narrowed his eyes at Veda.

"You do realize my influence can’t help with drawing students, right?"

He said plainly.