Harem Of Eternal Yandere Beasts: My Legendary Wives

Chapter 61: The Hidden Library

The remainder of the assessment passed without much incident—mostly. The administrative team quickly replaced the shattered crystal, but the damage to Orion’s anonymity was already done. Several students kept throwing nervous glances his way, and one particular instructor stared at him with an intensity that suggested a long, upcoming lecture. Apparently, exploding expensive academy property during an entry exam made a lasting impression.

By late afternoon, the grueling evaluations finally ground to a halt, and the ocean of students dispersed across the campus. Some cheered and headed off to celebrate, others muttered bitter complaints, and a few simply looked shell-shocked. The academy had a brutal way of correcting overinflated expectations right out of the gate, a reality check Orion thoroughly approved of. Reality was always educational.

Selene appeared exactly three minutes after the final assessment concluded, her precision telling Orion everything he needed to know. She hadn’t just been keeping track of the time; she had been tracking *him*.

"Ready?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

Orion stood up, stretching his shoulders. "For answers?"

"For *some* answers," Selene clarified.

It was an interesting distinction—not all answers, just a select few. Inside his chest, the Sovereign Core stirred with a rare flicker of anticipation. He usually preferred complete certainty, but today, certainty was off the menu.

They crossed nearly half the massive academy grounds in relative silence, both lost in their own thoughts. As they walked, the bustling atmosphere of the student districts gradually faded. Crowded training fields gave way to manicured gardens, which bled into quiet stone pathways that grew progressively older the further they went. The architecture shifted from decorative to practical, built with the kind of heavy, unyielding stone that survived centuries simply because it had been crafted correctly the first time.

Eventually, they reached the library district. Up close, the white towers were far more imposing than they appeared from the carriage. Thousands of windows caught the glint of the evening sun, and layers of protective mana formations hummed across every visible wall. Researchers, instructors, and upper-year students streamed through the main entrance continuously, a bustling city of information. Selene, naturally, ignored the grand doors entirely.

She led him around the western perimeter of the massive complex, navigating past a neglected courtyard and an abandoned, dry fountain until they faced a stretch of wall that appeared entirely ordinary. Then, she stopped.

"This is it," she announced.

Orion stared at the blank masonry. "You’re sure?"

Selene rolled her eyes. "Very."

"It looks like a wall."

"It is a wall."

"Helpful."

"I try," she replied, her dry sarcasm carrying a dangerously familiar cadence. Orion realized with a trace of alarm that he was spending entirely too much time around people who shared Luna’s personality traits.

Selene stepped forward and placed her palm against the stone. For three seconds, nothing happened. Then, the ambient pressure shifted. The Sovereign Core inside Orion thrummed in response as ancient runes bled through the surface of the rock, shimmering with intricate recognition sequences. Within his spiritual space, Cipher stirred violently, the little owl desperately wanting to emerge and analyze the ancient spellwork.

"The entrance only responds to a Sovereign signature," Selene said, stepping back to clear the space. "Your turn."

Orion stepped up and pressed his hand to the stone. The reaction was instantaneous. A warm, golden light erupted across the wall, illuminating the courtyard as the dormant formation fully awakened.

*"Sovereign Signature Confirmed,"* a genderless, ancient voice echoed softly through the space. *"Lineage Access Granted."*

The stone groaned, shifting backward to reveal a hidden corridor that slowly swung open. A draft of cool, stale air drifted out, carrying the distinct scent of aged parchment, old ink, and centuries of preserved knowledge. The System hadn’t been exaggerating after all; the hidden library was real.

The illuminated corridor descended deep underground, lined with soft guide lights and ancient defensive formations embedded in the walls. The deeper they went, the older the air felt, carrying a heavy gravity that felt as if the stones themselves remembered centuries of history.

When the path finally opened up, Orion halted. The hidden library wasn’t a mere vault; it was a massive subterranean complex. Thousands of overflowing shelves spanned multiple floors, intersected by private study alcoves, massive archival research halls, and dedicated cultivation chambers. His first thought was that the academy administration would be furious if they found out this existed under their feet—closely followed by the realization that they probably already knew, and that he wanted to read every single scrap of text in the room immediately.

Selene caught his expression and smirked. "You have that exact look."

"What look?" Orion asked, pulling his eyes away from a shelf of ancient scrolls.

"The look everyone gets the first time they step down here. It means you’re about to become a library addict."

"Don’t count on it."

"Trust me," she murmured.

A slow, rhythmic clapping echoed through the vast chamber, drawing Orion’s attention toward the central staircase.

A tall, elegant woman stood near the steps, dressed in a sharp academy instructor’s uniform. She possessed deep blue hair and piercing gray eyes that exuded immense, undeniable power—a presence that far exceeded the Gold Rank instructor from the courtyard. Standing near her felt like standing at the base of a sheer cliff face.

Selene immediately straightened her posture, showing a level of genuine respect that Orion hadn’t seen her grant anyone else. The blue-haired woman studied Orion carefully, a small, measuring smile appearing on her face.

"A little younger than I expected," she noted, her voice carrying a calm, natural authority.

Orion recognized her instantly from the context of his earlier notifications. This was Instructor Vale—the woman the System claimed had been waiting for his arrival.

"Orion Ashbourne," she said. "Welcome. You survived."

Orion blinked. "Was my survival in question?"

"Always," Vale replied smoothly.

As Vale descended the staircase, the casual atmosphere of the library sharpened into something far more focused.

"For forty years, this lineage has operated in scattered fragments," Vale explained, her gaze cutting between Orion and Selene. "We had pieces of records, historical research, fragmented techniques, and a highly partial understanding of our own heritage. And then you appeared."

Orion remained perfectly still, listening and evaluating. Vale gave a small, approving nod at his restraint.

"The Sovereign Core effectively vanished from the empire nearly two centuries ago," she continued, her expression growing solemn. "There were no successful awakenings, no viable inheritors, and absolutely no progression beyond the second stage. Until you."

The weight of her words hung heavily in the subterranean air. Orion felt Selene watching him closely, but the revelation wasn’t a total shock; the System had dropped enough hints for him to infer the situation. Still, hearing it stated plainly by a master of Vale’s caliber made the reality of his position much more tangible.

"You aren’t here because you are uniquely special, Orion," Vale added calmly. "You are here because you are *possible*."

Orion narrowed his eyes. "What exactly does that mean?"

Vale’s smile turned genuine. "It means the next stage of our path exists again."

She turned and pointed toward a heavily reinforced, sealed vault door at the far end of the archive. Every inch of the metal was wrapped in ancient, pulsing security runes that hummed with a terrifying amount of power.

"What lies beyond that threshold is every scrap of knowledge our lineage has managed to salvage regarding Stage Three," Vale said.

Orion felt his heartbeat steady, his focus locked onto the vault. The next breakthrough, the next leap in power—it was exactly what he had come to the capital to find.

Vale folded her arms, her gray eyes narrowing slightly into an expression Orion typically associated with mentors who were about to make his life difficult. "But before we open up discussions about your advancement... you are going to explain to me exactly how a first-year student managed to shatter a high-grade academy testing crystal on his very first day."

Selene instantly burst out laughing, and Orion quietly closed his eyes. Of course that was going to be her first question.