SSS Legendary Knight: I Will Surpass Them All

Chapter 81: Who is the Principal

’Wh-what stupidity have you done, Seraphina? How could you lose your... in-in-indirect kiss to your er-errand boy?’ Seraphina murmured inwardly, her eyes rolling in panic, her face burning with intense heat as the two cones trembled in her hands.

"Why are you eating my ice cream?" Vlad asked, his brows furrowing at her in confusion. His gaze dropped to the cone in her hand, then back to her flushed face.

It took her more than a moment to compose herself enough to respond. Her voice was shaky, barely controlled.

"I-I only wanted to check what was so good about this flavour," she replied, her lips trembling as she fought to keep her voice steady. "There is nothing special about it at all." She avoided his gaze, staring intently at the melting cone.

"But I just ate from there," Vlad said, his voice even, matter-of-fact. "Are you fine with that?"

"I-it was revenge for the cheek k-kiss you stole!" Seraphina declared, forcing a smile of victory onto her face despite the tremor in her voice. "Now do you understand how it felt?" She held her chin up, trying to look triumphant.

"You do realise that it’s you who is eating my ice cream, not the other way around," Vlad answered with a sigh, shaking his head slowly. "How is that any revenge?"

Seraphina flinched slightly at Vlad’s question, her victorious smile faltering. ’Why does he always have to have the last word?’ she muttered inwardly, her fingers tightening around the cone.

"Be-because my revenge only starts now!" she declared, extending the rose-flavoured ice cream towards Vlad. "Now eat it from where I have already eaten." Her hand trembled slightly as she held it out.

Vlad just gave her a silent stare. He was not even angry. He was just... confused by her actions. His expression was completely unreadable.

She turned her face forward and muttered, her voice dropping, "Too much for you? Alright, I will let you go only this time. Throw it away and buy another one for yourself. I shall pay for i—"

Her words came to an abrupt halt as she realized the cone was missing from her hand, its head being licked by Vlad, his expression unreadable, his eyes fixed straight ahead as if nothing had happened.

"Wh-why are you eating that!?" Seraphina demanded, jumping from the bench, her composure shattering again.

"I can’t just throw it away. A little gremlin once told me to never waste food," Vlad answered, his eyes lowered to the cone. His voice was soft. "Besides, I really don’t mind it."

He spoke the last sentence in a lower tone, scratching his temple, only a very faint, but unmistakable, redness creeping onto his cheeks.

Seraphina silently took her seat on the bench and decided not to speak for some time. Her heart was a frantic drum against her ribs. It was the second time she was getting butterflies all over her stomach from the same person on the same day.

"Only ten minutes remain until the scheduled time," Seraphina finally spoke up, after finishing her cone. The cold sweetness had helped calm her frantic brain. She had regained some semblance of her noble persona, though a faint blush still lingered on her cheeks.

"So it’s finally time for the meeting, huh," Vlad said, rising from the bench. Even he was feeling ridiculous calling it a meeting now, given everything that he had experienced since afternoon.

After a few minutes’ walk on the stone path under the fading sunlight, the duo arrived before a high-end stone building with a gleaming glass front, its surface reflecting the warm hues of the setting sky. The structure rose as the tallest building in the city, towering over the surrounding rooftops with over twenty stories of polished elegance.

As Seraphina and Vlad entered, two men in velvet doublets, white gloves, and knee-high boots greeted them with a bow before pulling open the double glass doors, their movements smooth and practiced. The lobby beyond was spacious, adorned with marble floors and golden chandeliers.

From there, the duo took an elevator, a magical contraption that allowed people to reach the higher floors of the building without the need for stairs. It was Vlad’s first time seeing something like this, his eyes widening in both excitement and intrigue as the doors slid shut behind them, the faint hum of magic filling the small space.

"Sera, how does this thing work?" he asked as the elevator glided upward, the numbers above the door ticking steadily.

A smile formed on Seraphina’s lips at the childlike curiosity blooming in Vlad’s eyes. "Magical circles are engraved on the top and bottom of this shaft that manipulate gravity to make this elevator move up or down," she explained in as simple words as possible, her tone patient and warm.

"Hmm..." Vlad nodded, grasping the gist of it. He asked a few more questions about its mechanics, his brow furrowed in genuine curiosity, and Seraphina patiently explained each one as the lift continued its ascent.

When they reached their destination, the wooden door of the lift slid smoothly into the walls, opening to a view that left Vlad frozen for a moment. Wooden tables and chairs carved in ornate medieval designs were arranged across the spacious hall before him, their surfaces gleaming with a polished sheen. The wall on the opposite side was formed entirely of glass, revealing the sun setting on the horizon, its golden rays casting long reflections across the marble floor. Waiters dressed in formal attire welcomed the duo at the elevator’s entrance, their postures impeccable.

"Stop spacing out," Seraphina said, lightly elbowing Vlad as she elegantly locked her arm with his and stepped out of the elevator, her heels clicking softly against the floor.

A female waiter guided them to a seat by the window that had already been reserved for them. Her face, head, and hands were covered in disposable gloves and a surgical mask, her features obscured. She placed the menu card on the table and said, her tone respectful, "Please call me once you have decided on your order."

As she turned and moved towards the opposite wall, Vlad kept looking at her retreating figure with an unreadable expression, his piercing crimson eyes fixed on her for a moment longer than necessary.

"Is this place something more than a simple luxury restaurant?" Vlad asked Seraphina, who was reading through the menu, her pink eyes scanning the elegant script.

"High nobles often come here for dinner whenever they visit Velarum to meet their children studying at the academy," Seraphina answered without looking up, her fingers tracing the edge of the menu.

"Is that so..." Vlad murmured, his gaze lingering for a moment longer on the masked waitress before he turned his attention back to the table.

After a few minutes, Seraphina called the waitress and ordered their dishes, her voice flowing with familiarity. All the names Vlad heard were unfamiliar to him; they sounded less like names of dishes and more like titles for some legendary hero. Why was a dish even named Adeptus’ Awakening? His brow furrowed in bewilderment.

While their food was being prepared, Vlad could not help but keep his gaze fixed on the scenery outside the window. He could see the entire city sprawling beneath him, and beyond it, the open land, a winding river catching the last light of day, and the dense forest stretching toward the horizon. The view was breathtaking, vast and serene.

"Do you like this place?" Seraphina asked, her chin resting on both of her palms as she leaned onto the table, her pink eyes softly fixed at Vlad.

"Yeah, the scenery here is beautiful," Vlad murmured with a faint smile, his eyes still fixed on the distant horizon.

He turned his face forward and said, his voice soft, "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Do not be so full of yourself," Seraphina scoffed, her eyes turning sideways, gazing out the window. "I only came here for the one-on-one meeting with the Crownbearer. How could a high noble such as myself meet you at a place beneath this one?"

"So we are not on a date?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow with a playful smile tugging at his lips.

"Hah! As if I would go on a date with a commoner, not to mention my errand boy," she replied in an exasperated tone, as if Vlad had said something completely ridiculous.

"In that case, let’s start the meeting," Vlad said, leaning back on the chair, his posture shifting to one of seriousness. "Could you tell me about the location of Arcane Academy? Is it built in some other dimension?"

His tone was serious, carrying a genuine curiosity, as if he had really decided to treat this as a formal meeting.

Only for a moment, but a slight frown appeared on Seraphina’s face at the sudden change in Vlad’s tone. Nonetheless, she answered his question.

"There is not a dimension vast enough to build an academy as large as Arcane Academy," Seraphina explained, her fingers tracing the rim of her water glass. "Even if there is one, other dimensions are often unstable, with twisted space and time. Managing the day and night of such a place and ensuring that the people living inside would not fall into the void is not possible, even for someone as mysterious as the Principal."

"Then why can’t we see any trace of the academy from here?" Vlad’s next question came in an instant.

"There is a massive barrier surrounding the entire academy that prevents any outside threat from entering. It also completely hides the academy from the eyes of the people," Seraphina revealed as she pointed outside the window. "The open land beyond the city is actually the campus of the academy, hidden by the illusion of the barrier."

The revelation left Vlad with parted lips as he stared outside again, his eyes scanning the horizon, trying to find any hint of the barrier.

"Did the Principal cast the barrier as well?" Vlad asked, his syllables dripping with shock and awe.

"Naturally. Only a Primordial Dragon such as herself is capable of such a feat," Seraphina said in a casual tone, as if it were a universal fact.

"Oh, she is a Primordial Dragon..." Vlad said absentmindedly, his gaze still fixed on the window.

A moment later, his eyes widened.

"Hold on."

His hand slammed onto the table as he rose from his seat, the cutlery clattering.

"She is THE Primordial Dragon!?"