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Chapter 40: And The Trap Closed

Freya's entrance caused an uproar in the room, no one remained silent.

"L-Lady Freya?"

"What is she doing here? Will she also participate in the ceremony?"

She walked forward, accompanied by the strange gentleman, observing the students with indifference.

"What is she doing here?"

"It looks like she's looking for something... Oh! Could it be that she still doesn't have a knight?

Voices rose again and the agitation resumed. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a person showed up.

With short black hair and his pair of glasses, Thomas crosses the room until he stands right in front of Freya, then puts one knee on the ground.

"Lady Freya, it's an honor to be graced by your presence, even though I didn't expect to see you so quickly."

Thomas, although he was second in rank in the academy, prostrated himself before the Duke's daughter, testifying to the superiority of Saint Nova's students.

However, Freya didn't look at him, continuing to look around and eventually responding in her graceful voice.

"I had a change of mind, I think today is the perfect day to proceed with the ceremony."

"Is that so?... Does that mean that you're finally ready to accept a knight?"

Every gaze was focused on her, it seemed that it was a highly anticipated event.

"Accept? Not exactly, I don't do concessions, I'm here because I've already made the choice and I'm only making it official."

The room was in an uproar, mostly from the students of Nebula. Many wished to become Freya's knight but had given up on the possibility. Thomas, more determined than ever, placed a hand on his chest.

"If this is the situation, then I, Thomas Jarlene, am ready to assume this responsibility. In the name of Nebula Academy and the house of Jarlene, I swear to protect you and serve you with my life."

He lowered his head, eyes closed, and held out his hand for the traditional hand kiss, symbolic of the signing of the contract between the knight and his lord.

Thomas' attitude reflected his distinguished lineage and no one dared to raise their voice, not even Moonra.

"Ksss... This bastard... He did it after all."

Despite his strong opposition, Moonra could only accept this situation. Like Hope mentioned earlier, he was a prince, and a prince doesn't serve a lord.

Freya smiled and turned her gaze to Thomas.

"I really appreciate your offer, Thomas, you are the first son of one of the most popular families of Knights in the kingdom, if I'm not mistaken, so I'm very sure that you would be a good choice."

"Thank you for your words, I won't disappoint you."

"But sadly, I'll have to reject your offer."

Silence settled in the room. Thomas raised his head, his eyes widening.

"... What?"

"You hear me right, I'm honored by your proposal but sadly I've already contracted someone."

Dora's ears flinched, from the moment Freya entered until now, he had walked backward across the room and dragged Zuri sideways, hoping to escape through the only entrance once the Duke's daughter had gone far enough away.

For his part, Thomas couldn't believe Freya's revelation.

"Contracted?! What do you mean? You have contracted someone else? When?! How???"

"Please, refrain from yelling in front of me will you?"

He lowered his head, but couldn't hide the tremor in his body.

"But... My lady, it was decided that the student council would be in charge of the highest rank of Saint Nova, Prince Moonra and Princess Solaria have already been introduced to Lady Iris, and you as the 3rd rank in status, should be associated with me, the Vice council President."

Whispers rose once again, Hope, stunned, glared at Moonra who looked away, holding back his laughter.

Freya's face remained impassive.

"Thomas, are you perhaps questioning my decision? Is this behavior worthy of knights?"

Thomas flinched and lowered his head, he had no way to counter this kind of attack. This girl was really dangerous.

"My... My apologies... But then, who is the one that you've chosen? Without trying to brag, I'm second to Iris only, so who did you deem worthy?"

He gave a glance at Hope.

"Interesting, it may even be desirable that we do not associate, our opinions are far too divergent. I believe that the strong isn't the one who considers himself strong, nor the one who, by modesty, says that he has a lot to learn. The strong doesn't talk about his power because his only rival is the one stronger than himself, he doesn't think that he has a lot to learn, not because it's common nature but because he knows his own weaknesses, but he knows his worth."

"... So you're saying that I'm not strong enough?"

"We're living in a world of warriors, Thomas, you are strong, but in the long term, someone with a bigger potential will surpass you, this one isn't just strong, this one picked my curiosity and offended me like I've never been before. This is not about the academy program anymore, this is now very personal."

For the very first time, many people in the audience witnessed Freya's smile as she spoke.

Her cheeks reddened a little and her eyes were full of emotions.

Many hearts skipped a beat, at the sight of this beauty, but her target was growing anxious because he knew that beyond this lovely figure, she didn't want him as a knight but as a possession.

She raised the documents in her hands to present them to the assembly.

"I, Freya Astaroth, in the name of the crown, use my Veto on this day and declare the student Cid Barron as my knight."

Terrible exclamations erupted in the room, the signal for Dora to flee.

Cid, sitting alone in his chair, jumped.

"What?... Wait what???"

Thomas, with his head down, was shaking, while Moonra and Hope exclaimed in amazement.

Freya handed the documents to the gentleman behind her, a satisfied smile on her lips.

The gentleman coughed for silence.

"Following article 13 of the royal charter, by use of the veto, the student Cid Barron from Nebula Academy is now officially assigned as Lady Freya's knight. Please move forward."

Cid stood up and walked forward, a little smug on his face.

"Well, I couldn't be assigned to the princess because I'm not the student council President but I guess the most beautiful girl and duke's daughter will be fine too."

He walked forward and passed between Hope and Moonra, giving a mocking look at the latter, and arrived in front of Freya.

"Well, to use your veto for this, you must have feared a lot that I pick someone else, isn't it? But don't worry, I wasn't very interested in anyone, so let's proceed shall we?"

He held out his hand without prostrating himself. The girl observed his hand silently and looked up to see his face.

"... You are..."

"Hm? What is it? I would like to get over with it so can we go already?"

She looked at Cid without even blinking, the previous smile having completely disappeared from her face and looked away at Thomas, who was walking away.

"Thomas, I need your service one second, who is Cid Barron?"

Thomas stopped and looked at her, an exhausted expression on his face.

"Huh?... What are you asking, Lady Freya, this is Cid Barron."

After this response, Freya showed a new expression. Her mouth opened, but no words came out, her arms lowered but she did not let go of the documents.

"This... Little..."

Her head lowered, she seemed to be shaking slightly. In front of her, Cid was growing annoyed.

"What's your deal? You asked for me and here I am so what are you doing?"

"Hey, watch how you talk to her!" Hope interjected. "Don't you know how to talk to a girl?"

"Stay out of this!"

As they argued, Freya flinched as she saw Hope out of the corner of her eye and called out to him.

"You, you are the one from earlier, the Balder's son."

"M-my Lady? You remember me?... Please, reconsider choosing this guy as your knight, he is very unbearable!"

"I don't care about this, the boy you were quarreling with, the one who made you surrender, what is his name?"

Hope was taken aback, stunned both by the fact that she talked to him for the first time but also that she revealed publicly the outcome of his pathetic fight.

"My Lady... It wasn't really a surrendering, I was just delaying the fight for..."

"Don't make me repeat myself."

A drop of sweat ran down his forehead.

"Dor... Anesidora Carper... But in a melee, I'm far stronger, and usually he is the..."

She turned her back and walked toward the gentleman, no one could understand what was happening.

"Mister Reed, I want to make a change to this document, there is a mistake with the student, the one I've chosen as my knight isn't Cid Barron but this Anesidora."

The room almost exploded in an uproar.

"What the... Are you kidding me?!"

Cid couldn't maintain his composition, and neither could Thomas.

"My lady, with all due respect you can't be serious, is this the one you're expecting to see surpass me?"

"Wait, you stay out of this! Oi, Miss, you've picked me as your knight so what the hell are you saying now?!"

The agitation was at its maximum but when everything seemed to be about to explode at any moment, the gentleman rearranged the documents and sighed.

"Lady Freya, I regret but this is impossible, you used your veto to designate Cid Barron as your knight, plus you specifically requested to make the arrangements necessary before coming here and the Dean has already put his crest on the document, we can't revoke it now."

She gave him a cold gaze growing more and more as a murderous gaze but surprisingly started to laugh gently.

"I see... Very good... You've outsmarted me... How sad."

She regained her composure and took a little breath then looked at the gentleman once again.

"If I use my veto the next week, I can still break our contract, can't I?"

Cid's face was injected with rage and incomprehension. The gentleman nodded in response to Freya who sighed.

"It won't be done today, but now I have the name so prepare yourself to pay for that."

Thomas walked towards her hesitantly.

"Um... My Lady... So you wish to use your veto to make Anesidora your knight, am I correct?"

"Correct, it will take longer than I imagined but you need to make sacrifices to get what you want."

"I'm sorry, but it will be impossible."

He said cautiously. She glared at him with a sinister expression, as if his response could be the end of him. However, he had a revelation that she wasn't anticipating.

"The veto can't be used against another noble, right? But Anesidora has already been chosen as someone's knight, so you can't do that."

"... Pardon?"

In all this commotion, one person has turned silent from the moment Dora's name has been mentioned. His gaze was on the floor, but he could only see the darkest abyss, invisible once again after the attention went again to his former rival.

He eventually looked at the crowd, as if wanting to be mocked to have lost once again, but he couldn't find Dora among the people, little did he know that the latter, like a perfect opportunist, had already left the place followed by his treasured toad.