After a quick lunch, Cygnus and Linius prepared to go to the academy together with Mr. C. For this visit, since it was an official affair, they rode the Ginehart family's carriage bearing the family's crest. The carriage drew attention as it passed through the streets and even more so when it stopped in front of the academy.
The guards on duty opened the gate and let the carriage enter. The students were shocked to see that one of the four great dukedoms will be visiting the academy. They were excited and stood on the side to see who would come out of the carriage.
Some of them were already giggling and whispering to themselves. The excitement in the air couldn't be hidden but before they could even see who the visitors were, the academy guards escorted them to their classrooms. But even so, the anticipation did not die down.
After the place was cleared, Linius and Cygnus were finally able to leave the carriage. They were ushered to the conference hall where Headmaster Aurellius was waiting for them. He welcomed them and ushered them to the seats that were prepared for them.
"It's good to see that you are doing well, headmaster." Linius complimented the middle-aged man who had graying hair but despite that he still remained energetic.
The headmaster laughed and patted the major's arms, "Thank you. I must say that you, major, are doing better than me. Have you married yet?"
They heard a laughter from behind Linius so Cygnus stepped forward and smirked at the major's direction. "Unfortunately, my brother doesn't have any plans to get married yet. Currently he loves his work more than anything."
Headmaster Aurellius looked at the energetic young man who had the characteristics of Ginehart. Black hair and sparkling eyes that showed his youth which he often saw when the duke was still young.
"You must be the rumored youngest son of Duke Ulysses," the headmaster spoke. He walked towards Cygnus and looked at him from head to toe. "Well, no matter how the rumors circulate around, I can still say that you are indeed a Ginehart."
"Thank you. You can just call me Rigel, Headmaster Aurellius." Cygnus slightly bowed his head before he smiled and shook the older man's hand.
Aurellius couldn't help but like the young man. "Then you can just call me uncle since I am a friend of your father and you are not as stiff as your older brother here." He gave the major a look but the major just brushed it off.
"Alright, I'll call you uncle then." His grin widened as he proceeded to act like a good nephew and asked the headmaster questions as he listened to the answers earnestly.
Time passed when they finally heard a knock and one of the guards asking for permission to enter. The headmaster gave his permission so the door was opened and the secretary ushered someone inside. Cygnus guessed that this must be the cousin that the major wanted to visit.
The child's eyes brightened when he saw who came to visit him. "Big Brother Linius!" He shouted then he ran towards the man who received the hug and even patted the child's back. "I missed you!" The child continued to fawn over the major.
"Isn't it rude to hug and fawn over someone else's older brother when the real younger brother is here," Cygnus's expression turned serious as they looked at them. He even gave the child a glare to scare him off but the child did not budge and even glared at him too.
"So what, he is also my older brother and besides I have been close with him ever since I was a child." The cousin retaliated because he was not happy to see that someone else came with Linius to visit him.
"What a brat, so are you saying that I am not close to my older brother?" Cygnus laughed and shook his head. "How childish."
Linius couldn't believe that the master would act childish in that situation. "Rigel, stop acting like that." He warned which earned him a sigh from the master.
"Alright, I won't argue with a child any longer. Can we call him over now?" The teasing tone in his voice disappeared as he was back to business mode.
Linius looked at the headmaster then at Cygnus. Aurellius noticed what was happening so he needed to ask. There must be something else why they decided to visit the academy. He looked at the brothers before he decided to ask Rigel.
"What is it?" Aurellius looked at Rigel who was sitting beside him. The laughter and relaxed moment they had a while ago turned serious the moment that he asked that question.
"I want to meet Ezio Constantine." This request caught the headmaster off guard and even the cousin was shocked to hear that name.
"Are you out of your mind? Why do you even want to meet that lunatic?" He moved away and went to stand in front of Cygnus. He gave the man a glare, "Coming and requesting such a ridiculous thing. Do you want to tarnish our family's name by associating yourself with that commoner?"
Cygnus did not understand why this person was so angry when all he said was that he wanted to meet Ezio. There was nothing wrong with that and he really didn't like how this child was speaking. He lacked manners and the bearing of a noble. He looked at Linius and raised an eyebrow.
"William, watch your words. Is that what you have learned inside the academy? To discriminate and talk bad about your fellow students?" Linius lost his smile and now he was all business. It was unacceptable for a member of Ginehart to be biased.
"Brother!" William looked back and saw that Linius was not joking. "I'm sorry brother, it's because what I said was the truth. He is a dangerous person and besides he's known for his bad personality because he had injured several students."
"Really? But what I heard seemed to be not the case. Yes, he injured students but that was only one time and yet you are talking like he has injured other students recently." Cygnus stood up and faced William who was now looking at him.
"Are you telling me that I am lying? I'm the one studying here while you only heard rumors." He still insisted and this time the headmaster stood up to intervene.
"William, Ezio injured some students but that was one time already and the academy is so wide that what you heard must be rumors. Many people don't like him and they must have spread that rumor to spread animosity against Ezio." Aurellius placed both of his hands on their shoulders to stop them from fighting. "I'd appreciate it if you can forget about that rumor."
"What?" William looked confused. He didn't expect that the headmaster would side with the major's younger brother. "But he still hurt people, that should have expelled him from the academy already and yet he is still here."
Cygnus shook his head in disappointment. He stepped back and sat on the chair once again. "You should enlighten our dear cousin here. It seems that he wouldn't even listen to the headmaster's words."
Linius also stepped towards William, "I'm sure that it is also not a secret that behind Ezio is the magic tower. Do you want to go against the magic tower and destroy our family by the words you are saying? Going against the tower is not beneficial."
William frowned then he gave the master a glare before he too backed off and stood on the side. This time Aurellius looked at the major and urged him to explain what was going on.
"You see headmaster, my younger brother here knows Ezio and wants to check up on him because he have been worried ever since he lost contact with him. When he heard the news that he is in the academy, he pestered me to visit." Linius explained and the headmaster could already understand the rest.
They used visiting Willian as an excuse so that they could enter the academy to see Ezio because they didn't want to write to the academy about the visit. "Even though you wanted to see him, it will still be difficult because there are people watching Ezio's every move."
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