After going through so much in her past life, Aurora had thought she had conquered the feeling of nervousness.
But the aura around the hall was making her nervous. The chosen board members were not going to accept Aurora easily.
At least she had Rex on her side during the meeting. Her adopted brother had arrived not too long ago and had taken charge of things.
“Don’t worry so much. I will take care of things if anyone goes overboard. You just focus on maintaining your composure.”
That was not the main issue Aurora was facing. Her nervousness stemmed from the fact that her inner goddess found the lack of faith satisfying.
It wanted to fry these small flies and be down with this meeting. That way, no one would be able to oppose Aurora’s decision.
“No, I am alright. I need to solidify my position right now or these members will never accept me.”
Aurora knew why her goddess was provoked so much by the presence of this new company.
It was because these followers belonged to another god and help no respect for Aurora inside their minds. Their aura was a ticking time bomb for Aurora’s aggression.
“When did you become this wise? You still feel like you were that young child I and Lucy used to play with. And now look at you. Lucy would have been proud of you.”
Rex sounded equal part reminiscent and sad.
It suddenly drew on Aurora that she had never told him about Karana and his connection to Lucy. But in Aurora’s defense, she had no time to contact him for a leisure talk.
She had been too busy.
“Hey, Rex. Stay here after the meeting. I have something important to tell you regarding Lucy.”
Rex looked a little confused at Aurora’s words but he did not make much fuss. Instead, his face had a knowing smile.
“I know what you want to tell me? You got me the thing I wanted, right? The Elixir of life is with you, right? You don’t need to tell me about it.”
“Well, yes. But that is not what I…”
“You don’t have to be shy and considerate. Even if the elixir does not work, you did your part. Don’t worry, I will not go back on my words as well.”
“Anyway, just stay back after the meeting.”
Aurora gave up explaining her side of the story. It was clear that Rex was not going to listen to her anyway.
The elder didn’t even look ashamed to interrupt Aurora as she tried to convey something important to him.
==========================
The room felt stiffening to Aurora. The people inside were making it easy on her as well. Their suspicion and hostility were visible on their face.
“Rex, you are finally here. Is this our chairwoman and principal? Isn’t she too young for this post?”
Aurora had not expected to get a nice greeting. But she was taken aback by the quick question thrown her way.
The elderly who had asked this didn’t even have the decency to question her. Instead, the question went to Rex.
“Don’t be like that Donna. Aurora is more than capable of handling her post.”
Rex’s smile was impeccable when he countered the woman’s claim. His lack of hesitation gave Aurora hope that the others would accept her based on his words alone.
But then her hopes were dashed as the others in the council started to show their true colors.
“No, I agree with Donna. She’s too green for her role. I would also prefer someone older and more mature than her to take the job. Why don’t you take this job, Rex?”
“That’s true. I will feel much more comfortable having Rex as the one in charge than this woman. Rex is also a public figure so it’ll be good for us.”
“Rex will be better in this post as well.”
“I feel so too.”
“Rex…”
“Too young…”
The talks continued without any input from the main pair. Aurora felt her temper loosen at the accusation but she did not say anything just yet.
She had to bide her time and not lash out.
“That is impossible. I am not the right person for this job, but Aurora is. She did all the work of convincing the people to build this place and scouting the teachers. I will not take her right.”
Rex was exaggerating a lot. If one looked at the things Aurora had done for the academy, there was nothing much that came to mind.
Most of the things in the academy had been finalized by Rex. Even the permission had been acquired by his connections.
So Aurora could see why the resistance was so up in the arms about this topic.
“But still, you need our support to finalize this place. We will only give it to you if Rex is the one to take charge and not Aurora. Frankly speaking, I cannot trust an outsider with our resources.”
“Right, it’s not about you but our stability in the long run.”
Aurora wanted to rage at the injustice but life had taught her that some fights were unwinnable if you also wanted to win the war.
Compromises were very important in the grand scheme of things and Aurora would have to make one right here and now.
“I won’t take…”
“It’s alright Rex. They are not wrong to say you will be a better public face than me when it comes to the academy. You might also get to reconnect with your family if you become the ringleader now.”
“Besides, I need to be in the shadows to do most of my work. If I become a public face then it will complicate things for me.”
Now that Aurora thought back to it, quite a few people knew her face. It could be disastrous if they recognized her while she was out on a mission.
“You cannot say that all of a sudden. How am I supposed to cope with a sudden leadership I am not even prepared for? How is that fair to me?”
Rex looked equal part scared and hopeful.
Aurora knew the man wanted to take this opportunity and establish his position in the resistance.
As much as resistance tried to be a liberal group, it was not immune from the in-fights and sabotaging strategies. It was very much like an organization one needed to climb up in.
Even Rex, who had a solid footing, needed fundamental establishment to solidify his role in the group. And his position would be needed by Aurora in the long run.
Aurora had not planned this outcome but it might turn out to be a better alternative than the original thing Aurora had thought.
“So, if we are all in agreement, let’s solidify the deal. I have the papers ready to stamp. And it’s not like we will ignore Lady Aurora either. She can still be a share-holder on our board.”
Aurora knew those were empty words to make it seem like she had power. But she didn’t mind playing the puppet in their hands for now.
This academy was a means to the end, not Aurora’s end goal. As such, it was fortunate that Aurora would not have to bound herself to this place forever.
She wanted to explore the abyss and find Clove’s soul. And then she wanted her wife back with her in this life.
“Did you all plan this? I have a feeling like I’m being set up right now. Can I quit?”
Rex sounded uncertain but Aurora could feel his happy aura radiating out of him.
No matter what these people said to him, they did care about him a lot. Rex was lucky to have such people at his side.
Aurora wanted to give Rex a little more time to come to terms with what he had accepted but she did not get a chance to do that.
A small earthquake shook the building they were in and caused several objects to fall and break.
“W-What happened? An earthquake? Isn’t Rocx valley a protected place?”
What Donna said was the truth. The Rocx valley was a goddess’s domain. Natural disasters like earthquakes should not be happening without the goddess’s permission.
Unless this earthquake was magical, its existence should not be possible at all.
“Aurora, come out now. You need to see what is happening.”
The council room door opened with a bang and Rita ran past it in a hurry. Her expression did not look assuring to Aurora and she felt a headache from behind her temple.
“Is it something important? Is it related to the earthquake?”
Aurora just had a feeling that it might be. Whatever could cause such a panic in Rita had to be something massive.
“Of course it is. There is a chaos-level threat heading this way. There is no way to take it out before it reaches us.”
Aurora wanted to curse the tower for their interference but she could not even find it in herself to do that.
A chaos-level threat on the surface? How did the tower even manage that?
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