The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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For as long as Rochester had known Harlan, he had never been able to guess what the man was thinking or planning to do It had always made him feel apprehensive, despite being the sole crown prince of Terra at that time.

Even though he knew that, logically, a lowborn son of the Stonehardt family could never really pose a threat to him, Rochester had always felt like he needed to guard against this man.

That had all changed, however, when Harlan himself volunteered to stay at the ancient academy permanently as a professor. Many of his friends derided the man for being cowardly and abandoning his home country for a life of leisure, but as the heir to the throne, Rochester knew better.

Because he was the only one to whom Harlan confided his real reason for staying at the academy, along with his life goal.

Just like himself, Harlan wanted to see Terrazyme become the undisputed strongest in the continent.

Looking at the once talented man's sorry state, Rochester couldn't help but sigh. "Forget it, then. I just hope there wasn't any traitor among our upper echelons."

Harlan chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about that so much. Aurora has always been a little strange, I couldn't quite figure her out. It's possible that she has some trick that allowed her to detect your presence."

The Terran King nodded grimly. "Enough about that. Now tell me… where's Craig?"

Harlan hummed. "I'm not sure myself. I know that the pillars scoured the forest for a few days, but I had assumed they failed to find the boy. For now, it's better to assume he's either trapped in the Wonderland of Doom, or, most likely—"

Rochester gritted his teeth. "Don't say it!"

Harlan shrugged. "You can't put it off forever. The inheritance ritual needs a lot of preparation, and the later you start, the worse. But never mind that. There's something far more interesting that I have to tell you."

Although he'd already tried to make peace with it in his mind, having someone else put it out there so plainly still made the king's expression turn dark. "What?"

The crippled man smiled. "I'm not sure if you know, but there's a little girl that Aurora has taken in as her student recently."

Seeing the uninterested look on the man's face, Harlan chuckled. "What? You think it's a trivial matter? Then… what if I told you her identity was beyond your expectations?"

Rochester frowned. "Is she… not from our continent?"

After all, with his identity as the Terran King, even if the girl was the next heir to the throne for any of the other kingdoms, there was no need for him to care.

The crippled man smiled. "No, your majesty, not at all. I didn't mean that she has a special identity in terms of who she is or where she's from… but what she is."

The Terran King smacked his thigh in anger. "Stop screwing around, Harlan! My day has been bad enough already, just spill it out if it matters, or I'll leave you here to rot!"

Harlan shook his head wryly. "You're not fun at all, your majesty. Let me just say it, then. That little girl… is probably a throne."

Rochester's expression immediately turned to one of disbelief. "A THRONE? She's training a throne?!"

The crippled man nodded grimly. "Yes. I've already determined it's very likely to be true. And that girl isn't being trained to be a throne… she most likely is one already. Just a young and weak one."

An oppressive silence enveloped the two as Rochester mulled over the revelation.

It wasn't the first time that rumors of a throne had reached his ears. But every time, it came from unfounded sources, and looking into them always led to a disappointing result.

Just another genius with a little better growth rate, ultimately still the same.

However, Rochester knew that Harlan was no fool. Had he not been sure of it, he would never dare spout such nonsense in front of him at all.

The Terran King had to admit that his old friend was right. This matter, if true, was indeed much more important than his son's life and death. "You said she's only started recently, then… shall we try to poach her to our side?"

Harlan shook his head, the expression of regret clear on his face. "Unfortunately, it's impossible now. Your son and a few other Terrans made a terrible impression on her from the start, and as I hadn't known about her identity either, I also ended up being influenced to do the same."

Rochester frowned. He knew Craig better than anyone else. His son would never bully the weak for no reason, and young as she was, this girl was akin to a bug to his son. If there was a conflict, there had to be something wrong. "What happened?"

Harlan sighed. "Forget it, I'll tell you about it some other time. Anyway, even if that hadn't happened, her loyalty has already been secured by Aurora. She dotes on her too much, and their relationship is too strong already for our interference to have any impact."

The Terran King could only accept it reluctantly, though he made a mental note to have his people look into the matter separately. He had a feeling that this conflict was perhaps a clue to his son's disappearance. "What do you suggest, then? Should we kill her? Or inform the great temple?"

Although it was impossible to do so under Aurora's watch, Rochester didn't believe that the girl would never leave that woman's sight. If she was really a 'throne', she had to have her own pride, after all. How could she allow anyone to stunt her growth?

The crippled man smiled. "No need to rush. If she's really what she seems, wouldn't it be a pity to waste such a good resource?"

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Meanwhile, back at the academy, Evelyn had no idea about the great conflict that the academy had with the Terrans, nor did she know that the new principal had already run away.

She couldn't be blamed, however, as even the senior professors had no idea that something had changed, and except for the pillars, life in the academy was the same as it had been the day before.

In Aurora's absence, Evelyn continued practicing her cultivation technique in her room, and attended classes with Amber whenever she got the time, but never managed to catch a sight of her increasingly elusive teacher.

It wasn't that she hadn't gone to her tower, either. But Aurora never seemed to be 'home', though she had apparently keyed her into the arrays to allow free entry and exit. 

Her teacher had even left her a note by the bedside, but that said no more than she might be unable to meet her student for a while.

Evelyn endured it for a few days, but she couldn't help but be worried. The possibility that something went wrong due to the death of either Craig or Mantis kept lingering in her mind, and she decided that she couldn't just ignore it anymore.

The pink haired girl nodded to herself. "Aurora must return to her tower sometimes, at least. I'll just stay here until she comes, then."

Of course, she knew that her teacher mustn't want to meet her, or she could have easily come to the White Lily Palace at any time. But since Aurora hadn't forbidden her from doing so, Evelyn decided to do this anyway.

In fact, even if Aurora had forbidden her, she might still have done it.

It took nearly a full day of 'camping' for her to spot her teacher's returning figure.

Evelyn frowned immediately at the tired look in the platinum blonde's eyes.

Aurora blinked in surprise when she saw her student waiting for her at the tower, but then shook her head with a smile. "Did you need something, Evelyn? I'm sorry I haven't been around much."

A thousand thoughts ran through the pink haired girl's head before she nodded. "I did, actually."

"Mhm?"

Evelyn rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "Teacher, actually, I've been a little depressed recently. I need a hug. Can I?"

Aurora stared at her blankly. "A… hug? Don't you have so many friends? Why not ask them?"

The pink haired girl coughed. "I-I feel like my pride will be hurt if I ask to be comforted by them?"

Aurora shook her head with a smile, feeling a little amused. "Fine then, come here."

Evelyn immediately darted into the platinum blonde's arms with a grin. "Teacher is the best!"

Feeling the pink haired girl rest her chin on her shoulder and pat her back gently, Aurora couldn't help but relax after a few moments as she closed her eyes with a sigh.

Even though it was to comfort her student, she couldn't help but feel that she was the one being consoled.

Evelyn smiled when she felt Aurora relax in her embrace. "Teacher… what have you been so busy with, recently?"

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