12 Royal Academy

After seeing the two get out of the room, Raymond immediately went out of his house and headed to the castle.

A few minutes later, in the king chamber.

*Bang Bang!*

Someone actually had enough courage to bang the king's door while the guards didn't even dare to stop this person.

"Brother, Brother! I have excellent news for you!" An excited voice resounded across the door.

"Hmm? Is that brother-in-law?"

The king gradually opened his eyes after hearing his wife speak. He rose from his bed and sighed. "Yeah. You should sleep again. I will talk to him for a minute."

"Alright."

The king fixed his messy blue hair and walked toward the door. As soon as he opened it, he was pulled by a hand and disappeared from the room.

He was dragged to the balcony, so no one could hear it before Raymond finally shook his body continuously.

"What is it, Raymond? You do know that it's very late, right? I still need to hold a meeting tomorrow."

"Brother Carollus, I have news that will keep you awake for the rest of the night." Raymond grinned, teasing the king.

Carollus Van Zelle Acacia, the king, never expected his sudden visit, so he couldn't get excited no matter how he looked at it. It was just full of annoyance.

"Just speak. I am too tired."

"Hehe… If you know what I want to say, you won't be able to speak like this." Raymond snorted.

"Alright, alright. It's my fault." Carollus sighed.

"Fine." Raymond shrugged before continuing. "You know that Alicia has come back today, right?"

"Yeah. She returned in the afternoon if I remember correctly."

"My daughter brought a man home. She said he became her travel companion because he saved her when they were ambushed by orcs."

"Don't beat around the bush. Just say what you want to say because I want to go back to sleep again." Carollus patted Raymond's shoulder.

"You are not fun." Raymond sighed. "I will cut to the chase then. I used Mana Crystal to test his element, and it glowed in a bright red color."

"Is that so? Isn't that good?" Carollus nodded in half-asleep. It took him a whole minute before he realized what he just heard. His sleepy face instantly faded and was replaced by astonishment. Blinking a few times as if he heard it wrong, he stared at Raymond with a dumbfounded look. "Glowing?"

Raymond grinned and nodded. "Why would I rush into coming to your castle in the middle of the night if it's not for such big news? There's no way I would be this excited if it was for something else."

"Is it really a Pure Element?" Joy filled Carollus's heart as he laughed out loud. "Our Kingdom has a Pure Element? The second Pure Element in history?"

"After our founder, we finally have another Pure Element." Raymond nodded while smiling from ear to ear.

"Our Founder can't do it, but there is still someone that has the potential to become a God, Brother." The king wanted to leap out of joy but refrained himself by shaking Raymond back and forth.

"Brother! Please calm down for a second." Raymond chuckled as he would also do this when he found out Alex's element. But all of them were kids, so he refrained himself earlier, and the excitement had dimmed down a tiny bit, albeit only after a few minutes the king finally calmed down.

"Raymond, where is the boy? I will visit him right now."

"I don't think that is a good idea? He has probably slept by now since he just came after traveling for a few months with my daughter."

"Ah! I almost forgot." Carolus took a deep breath. "Still, a Pure Element, huh… Heaven bless my Acacia! To think we now have another Pure Element. The Zircodina Kingdom has a hero now, while the Holy Kingdom has a priestess. I thought Heaven had abandoned us, but a Pure Fire Element user suddenly appears."

"You are too excited, Brother." Raymond smiled.

"Wait! You said your daughter, right? How is their relationship right now? How about marrying your daughter to him? I know about your principles, but there will always be an exception." The king glanced at Raymond. "Ah. How I wish I have a daughter right now."

Raymond laughed as he knew this would happen. "There seems to be a connection between my daughter and him. I thought my daughter would be interested in their hero, but she clearly hates him when I asked earlier. Whatever, I don't care about it anymore because my daughter has taken a liking at Alex, so it's not like I am making an exception to him."

Carollus grinned slyly. "Indeed. Now you also get someone who will succeed in the house."

"I don't think that is possible." Raymond shook his head and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Eh? Why not?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"He seems to view nobles negatively. Even when I observed him, he looked like someone who loves freedom and won't be trapped in the nobility system." Raymond sighed.

Carollus thought for a moment and said, "Still, we should have a reign of him. If others know about it, they will start flocking him. And the moment it happens, another big family that might rival our royal family will appear."

"I understand. I am planning to ask Alicia to get closer to him." Raymond nodded in agreement.

"That is not enough. I will force the marriage between him and Alicia. Even if Alicia hates me, I will still do it." Carollus pumped his fist with a pained look.

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"No! They might hate me, but that hate can be fixed with time. After that, we will be a big family. Besides, Alicia doesn't know we are planning this, so she should be able to react naturally. I believe her charm will be able to melt his heart." There was no trace of doubt in Carollus's eyes when he stated this.

"Then, we should have him go to the Royal Academy and have the Dean to be his teacher. After all, he is a rank 8 Fire Mage." Raymond added.

"That's a good idea. Besides, we can do this…" Carollus whispered something to his ears before the two grinned as if they just got the perfect plan.

After talking for another hour, Raymond then left the castle.

…

The next day,

*Knock Knock!*

"Who is it?" Alex reached the door and opened it. He saw two maids bowing in front of his room.

"We are coming to guide you to Master." Said one of the maids.

"Alright. I am going to prepare myself a bit." The master she mentioned must be the Grand Duke, so Alex felt he needed to fix his appearance a little bit.

"Let us help you, Mr. Alexander." The maids entered his room.

"No need." Alex still remembered what happened in the bathroom and managed to react before they could help him like yesterday. However, the maids started sweating profusely as they begged him.

Raymond already instructed them to make sure to serve him well if they didn't want to get fired from the mansion, so they had no choice other than to beg him.

Alex didn't know the reason, but he finally gave in and let them change his clothes.

After coming out of the rooms, the maids guided him to the previous study room, where he found Alicia, Mia, and Raymond waiting for him.

"Please sit, Alexander." He pointed at the spot beside Alicia.

Not suspecting him having any other intention, Alex nodded to Alicia and sat beside him.

Alicia flinched for a second as she already knew what they wanted to talk about.

After that, Raymond asked. "What do you think about our Royal Academy?"

"Royal Academy?" Alex was slightly astonished to be asked this question. He contemplated for a moment and answered honestly. "I am sorry, but I don't know much. As you can see, I am just a commoner from the Zircodina Kingdom."

"Then, do you want to enter the academy?"

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. If he enrolled as a student, there might be a possibility to increase his strength in a peaceful environment. It might be more effective than training by himself, so he thought it was a good opportunity.

"I would love to… If that's even a possibility." On second thought, he believed it was impossible for him to enter the academy because of his status.

"Then it's decided. You will enroll this year alongside Alicia. And call me Uncle from now on." Raymond nodded.

"What?" Alex was startled, never expecting the conversation ended just like that.

"Why do you look very shocked, Alex?" Alicia pouted. "Are you saying you don't want to enroll with me?"

"No. It's just like a dream. I never had a thought of entering the academy before." Alex shook his head furiously.

"It's fine. You can enter the academy without any issue since I will handle all the matters. Inside the academy, I am sure you can learn how to utilize your Fire Element… Of course, be careful not to show it to others."

"I understand. Thank you very much." Alex repeatedly nodded as excitement filled his heart before he looked at Alicia. "Please take care of me."

Alicia smiled brightly.