Pride and Sanctimony - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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[Empress] “How is it that every story of the Imperial family always seems to start with you?”

The Empress had a stiff expression on her face, but her eyes were kind. Even her words, partially exasperated and filled with reprimand for his actions, were gentle sounding.

[Lexus] “It’s not a good one, either.”

Lexus was ready to admit that much.

[Empress] “Why must I keep hearing such bad stories about you?”

[Lexus] “It’s due to my own inadequacies.”

[Empress] “You’re a grown man. You mustn’t cause so much trouble.”

[Lexus] “My apologies for making you worry.”

[Empress] “Tell me what you did wrong.”

[Lexus] “I spoke harshly.”

[Empress] “Have you any excuses to speak of?”

[Lexus] “None. This was my own mistake.”

Lexus didn’t have any excuses to make, nor did he want to make any at all. 

Even if he did, any excuse would end up coming out lame anyway because the fact of the matter was that his words and actions were inappropriate.

[Empress] “Then the Imperial family will not interfere with this matter.”

[Lexus] “Yes. That is most obvious.”

[Empress] “We would not be able to intervene, even if we wished to.”

The Imperial family had too much to lose if they were to tell the Academy to handle this. Even asking for a fair punishment to be meted out to the person involved, that would only welcome wary eyes upon them.

Which meant this was something that Lexus needed to figure out entirely on his own.

[Lexus] “I can handle it.”

Only then did the Empress smile, reaching out and putting her hand on her second son’s arm. The appearance of the Empress and her son walking together was indeed picturesque.

[Axion] “Mother, if you move on so quickly…..”

[Empress] “Your brother is no longer a child that requires nagging. Stop worrying so much about him.”

[Axion] “No, I’m not worried…..”

Axion was about to say something, but eventually he just sighed and turned quiet. After that, the two men escorted their mother and young sister to the Empress’ Palace.

[Empress] “So I will not speak on this any further. I can do that, yes?”

[Lexus] “Of course, Mother.”

In the end, this incident seemed to peeter out like this. Hoping to change the atmosphere, Axion turned to the Empress, speaking in a friendly manner.

[Axion] “It’s been a while since we’ve all been together. Shall we have a meal together? And of course Father should come as well.”

But Elizabeth was young and lacked the sense a more mature lady would have, and she wanted to keep giving her second brother a hard time.

[Elizabeth] “Good idea! I’ll go get Father!”

Lexus’ first scolding came from Axion, then he went on to be teased by Elizabeth, and then he was carefully cautioned by their mother. 

Now, she was dying to see her brother face their father’s more strict and far harsher punishment.

Seeing Lexus’ frowning face, their mother burst into a small smile.

[Empress] “It seems that my second son has no intention of dining.”

[Lexus] “That’s not it. It’s for the whole family.”

[Empress] “Then let’s have a meal together next time. When the mood is better. Go on.”

[Elizabeth] “Yeah, rest.”

Just before disappearing past the door, Elizabeth turned her head back, sticking her tongue out at him through the gap in the door. Then Axion gave a joking jab to Lexus’ side, causing him to cast a glare towards him as he rubbed his side.

[Lexus] “What are you doing?”

[Axion] “You should live more modestly.”

[Lexus] “If that were possible, do you really think I’d be living my life like this?”

[Axion] “That’s true. Then at least keep out of trouble, okay?”

[Lexus] “I’ll do my best.”

But he said that very insincerely. Axion took his hand, ruffling up Lexus’ hair in a teasing manner, causing his neat blond hair to become messy.

[Lexus] “Am I a kid?”

[Axion] “A kid would understand.”

[Lexus] “Quit nagging me. I’m going.”

Leaving behind the sound of his brother clicking his tongue loudly, Lexus turned on his heel, heading off towards his palace. He’d spent so long at the main palace that by the time he returned, it was already dark.

Throwing off his jacket, his butler, Hugo smiled kindly as he received it.

[Hugo] “You’ve returned, Prince.”

[Lexus] “Hmph.”

[Hugo] “I will prepare your shower and then your meal.”

[Lexus] “Ah, I don’t want to eat. I don’t have an appetite.”

[Hugo] “Then I will have something simple made.”

[Lexus] “Alright.”

The servants crowded around him and helped him take off his clothing.

Truth be told, he felt like this was a troublesome and unnecessary thing, but he had no choice but to let it happen. Something like this was considered an old tradition, burned into the position of a Prince. Once he was fully unclothed, he brought his body under the pouring water.

[Valentia] —’You’re able to speak so freely. You must have broken a tongue.’

Lexus widened his eyes, roughly looking up, but what met him was his own reflection in the mirror, showing his well-kept blond hair, scattered across his forehead.

He was more shocked than he thought he was. He wiped his hand across the mirror, clearing away the humidity, and what he saw now was the him that was worth the praise of everyone.

He swept his fingers along the cheek that received the vicious slap, but there was no sign of it left and it didn’t hurt in the slightest. Pulling back, he threw on a robe and left the bathroom.

Lexus sat down on the sofa, eating a little bit of the food that Hugo brought. Upon the silver tray was an ornate and gracefully made silver fork, but he was too lazy to even pick it up right now. Instead, he ate like it was finger food, tossing pieces into his mouth.

[Servant] “I will dry your hair for you.”

It was incredibly irritating to have several people gather just to undress him, but it was fine when he needed people to deal with his hair. Though honestly, even that was irritating today.

Losing his appetite after eating so little, Lexus threw himself back on to the sofa, but then jumped right back up and sat on the bed.

[Valentia] —’You’re able to speak so freely. You must have broken a tongue.’

Why can’t I stop thinking about that?

Those words were so shocking, he could hardly believe it. All he could really do was laugh, but with enough time, he couldn’t even do that anymore.

And that was because no matter how hard he tried to ignore them, those words would not stop echoing in his ears all night.

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The Principal and the professors gathered within the Principal’s office at the Academy.

They sat at a roundtable, one that lacked a head seat. They touted their equality rules within the Academy, and thus could not have a head seat in a place where there was to be no status among the students.

And the reason why the Academy board gathered so suddenly when they usually only met twice a year was because something happened that afternoon.

[Principal] “What should we do about this situation?”

The Principal spoke with a gloomy voice, letting out a isgh.

Such a sigh was unavoidable. It wasn’t just a few students who saw the Prince being slapped within the Academy. It happened right there in the main entrance, where countless students witnessed the terrible deed.

[Principal] “What do you all think?”

[Professor] “We must deal with this in accordance with the Academy guidelines.”

The Academy’s rules were a matter of concern for them. When the suggestion of merely following the usual protocol came up, another professor responded sharply.

[Professor] “According to the guidelines, this would be considered a minor dispute among students, so are you suggesting we should mediate the conflict and simply move on?”

[Professor] “Is there any reason why we shouldn’t? This is something that exists between the students.”

This was a situation that called for delicacy.

If it weren’t for that, they could simply charge the student responsible with contempt and assault of a member of the Imperial family. However, if it was a simple fight between students, then the excessive punishment could lower the Academy’s reputation.

There was too much of a grey area.

If they don’t treat this with the severity fitting of an Imperial royal, then the Imperial family was sure to take notice. But at the same time, if they punished the student too severely, then the Academy would be seen as falling to the whims of the Imperials.

They had been delicately protecting their precious education system, so if it suddenly became rumored that they were bowing to power, that very system would collapse. The respect they had garnered for being professors who fostered equality would crumble and their roots would die.

[Professor Morit] “But the person who was struck was the Imperial Prince. We cannot let this pass.”

However, the student that was slighted was one that could not be treated using the Academy guidelines. It was the Imperial Prince of all people, well deserved slap or not.

[Principal] “Then what do you want me to do? Expel Miss Valentia from the Academy?”

[Professor Morit] “Is that not the correct course of action?”

Some at the Academy were proud of their position, viewing this place as an honorable one where they could teach students, but there were also many who were still wary of the Imperial family.

One of them was Professor Morit. After Valentia slapped the Prince, he wanted to expel her in order to quickly cover up the problem.

[Professor] “But she is an honest student. She’s more focused and motivated in her studies than anyone else. How could we expel such a student?”

Back and forth their arguments went, and the meeting only went on longer the more they failed to reach a conclusion.

[Professor] “Has anyone contacted the Imperial family?”

One the professors thought it might be a good idea to look at what the Imperial intends to do, following up the conversation with a question.

[Principal] “I received a message as soon as it happened.”

[Professor] “From the Imperial family?”

[Principal] “To put it bluntly, they stated they did not care what happened.”

[Professor] “What do you mean?”

[Principal] “It’s exactly as it sounds. They told the Academy to handle it at our discretion.”

[Professor Morit] “Does that mean they won’t ever care about it? But look at what’s happened!”

[Professor] “Do you intend to insult the Imperial family?”

[Professor Morit] “Insult? How could you think that of me?”

Professor Morit had always been wary of the Imperial family, and once he was asked if he was insulting them, he widened his eyes and quickly stepped back.

[Professor] “Then do not interpret the words of the Imperial family however you wish. Keep your dignity as a professor of this Academy.”

Those words were harsh enough to cast Professor Morit into silence.

At this rate, if the honor and dignity kept by the professors was damaged, life within the walls of the Academy would quickly become difficult.

[Principal] “We cannot come to a conclusion like this.”

The Principal muttered in a heavy voice.

[Professor] “Then what shall we do, Principal?”

[Principal] “I’m saying this is an issue that we cannot conclude easily.”

[Professor] “Are you saying we should just leave it as is?”

[Principal] “That won’t be possible.”

Even so, they could not leave this alone, moving on while doing nothing. Other students would notice how quietly this passed by, and it could potentially set a dangerous precedent later on down the road.

[Principal] “For now, let us call upon the two people involved in this situation tomorrow. Be sure to call them in when neither of them are in lectures to ensure there are no abnormalities within their records.”

[Professor] “What will you do then?”

[Principal] “I will listen to their stories. Perhaps they can simply apologize and move on from this.”

[Professor] “Hah, hopefully.”

The meeting was terribly long, but it was dense with nothing.

They came to no meaningful conclusion, and the rare case of an Imperial family member being slapped ended like that, causing the problem to deepen.

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