A woman sat on the chair of a table and looked at the city surrounding her in the distance.
The table was set in the balcony which was made of many expensive materials giving it a vibrant glow. There was a huge garden between the city and the mansion.
The floor of the balcony was made of black and white tiles. The table was near the white-goldish marble railings.
The woman seated in the table was named Vancenin derspea, the chairman of the academy. She wore a comfortable white dress, she had black hair and deep blue eyes giving the impression of the view deep within the ocean. She looked to be in her 30s even though she was more than 50 year old.
In this world, there are many ways to preserve one's beauty or youth. There were also ways of extending lifespan. With her influence and money Vancenin was easily able to get her hand upon this means.
She was currently in the middle of the academic city where this huge palace-like mansion was located. The mansion was very huge. It was a palace which looked beautiful and made people feel at awe. It was more than ten stories high. This made the people in the city look like ants when looked upon from here.
Picking up the cup of tea from the table, Vancenin sipped it gracefully and savoured it. There was a vase in the middle of the table with white-purplish flowers in it. The flower gave out a strong soft scent giving people a feeling of peace.
CLINK!
Placing the cup back on the table, Vancenin thought upon the students who will be attending this year. She had gone through all the information about the students even though it wasn't necessary.
There were many reasons for this. Vancenin was going to retire soon from the seat of the chairman in a few years. She had a daughter who she was planning to raise as the next chairman, but for that immense support would be needed.
Even Vancenin singlehandedly couldn't raise a person to be the next chairman. A chairman is decided by the joint voting of all the duke rank nobles, kings and emperors of all the three ruling forces and her own vote.
The vote of the kings or emperor held more value, if a person received two votes from them then they would be appointed as the chairman immediately.
To be selected as a chairman, not only did a person need to be quick-witted and resourceful, they had to dedicate their life for the development of the academy. Even strength matters in the selection process.
Vancenin herself was a peak rank mage.
Right now, Vancenin's daughter would be attending the first year of the academy as she had turned 15. This was the best chance to gather more backers for her.
Vancenin had raised her daughter very strictly from a very young age teaching her almost everything that could be helpful in the selection process.
Vancenin had married politically to the person with high talent just to get a talented heir. And as expected a daughter with exceptional talent was born.
Vancenin had already selected some potential husbands for her daughter too from the list of the people attending this year in the academy.
'Aureo is the best candidate for now and I am sure he wouldn't reject me even if I offered a hand in marriage with my daughter.' Vancenin thought to herself with her eyes shining eerily.
Vancenin had already collected all the information about the second prince of the Cravion kingdom, Aureo. She knew that he was an opportunistic person so he wouldn't reject this offer.
'The other people who can become a backer to her are the Duke's sons and daughters....Melvix family.... Zick was it?'
Vancenin actually found him to be the most interesting in the first year. She also knew that it would be impossible to make Zick marry her daughter. She had already collected as much information about him as she could.
'His heart is made of steel forged from countless setbacks, this kind of person is very rare.....and they are hard to control too. He is fearless and thinks about his future moves meticulously and rationally, there doesn't seem like he has a goal yet...or he might just be hiding it....'
Vancenin had a lot of experience in deducing other people's personalities. She has been the chairman of the academy for many years after all.
Vancenin knew about him a lot, he was known as a talentless garbage in younger age and treated with spite by everyone around him. His talent only sprouted a few month before he turned 9.
And then how he was sent to the battlefield at the age of 12 and was made to stay there for two years. So Vancenin was able to tell little about how Zick turned into such a person. But still she didn't know what he planned on doing in the future.
Vancenin had considered marrying off her daughter to him initially but after she got to know about his personality this idea was discarded.
Though there was a chance that someone with immense talent could be born between Zick and her daughter. Vancenin still wanted someone she could control and predict about.
'He probably won't cause any problem for no reason in the academy.....I should tell Celine to try for a friendly relationship with him at least.....'
Vancenin rang the bell which was kept upon the table. A maid with red hair entered the balcony through the glass door and bowed towards Vancenin.
Conveying her message to the maid, Vancenin sent her away coolly. Her bearings were even more refined than an emperor or king.
**************
Sitting upon a black chair which looked expensive at a single glance, Celine looked at herself in the mirror in front of her.
She had black hair reaching till her waist, her eyes were the same as her mother's deep blue. She wore a white gown with exposing shoulders.
A maid stood behind her and adorning a necklace with many blue jewels on Celine's neck.
Celine had an expressionless face while staring at herself in the mirror. She was preparing to take a stroll in the festival which was going on currently.
KNOCK-KNOCK~
Suddenly the sound of someone knocking in the door rang out. The maid beside the door opened it, exposing the same maid with red hairs standing in front of it.
"I have a message from the madam." Bowing her head towards Celine, the maid with red hair spoke respectfully.
"Come in." Celine spoke condescendingly in a calm voice, making people follow her orders.
Entering the room, the red maid started conveying the message given by Vancenin.
"You can go now."
Sending away everyone in the room, Celine started pondering to herself.
'Zick Melvix.....the greatest talent of the current generation....Mother wants me to keep a friendly relation with him for now.'
Celine was not interested in becoming the next chairman at all, but she still respected her mother's wishes and complied with her. After all she didn't have any personal goal or so she thinks.
Getting up from the chair, Celine started walking towards the gate where her guards would be waiting. They couldn't let her go out without any protection in case of assassination attempts.
In the novel, Celine Derspea was one of the harem members of the protagonist.
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