FROST
Chapter 85: When Loyalty Wavers

Chapter 85: When Loyalty Wavers

"No! Because I believe we have the right to know about all of this, Your Majesty!" Professor Cedric’s voice rang through the throne room, sharp and unwavering, like a blade hurled against stone.

He stepped forward, his boots striking the cold floor with finality, standing tall before the imposing figure seated atop the grand silver throne — the Lunar King.

The King regarded him silently, his chin resting lightly on the back of his hand. His hair cascaded over one shoulder like strands of moonlight.

His crown, a simple circlet of woven starlight, glowed faintly. His expression remained neutral— calm, distant, yet unbearably heavy.

Seated at his sides were the ten remaining Guardians. Cloud, Coast, Flash, Fall, and Tim sat to his right and to his left sat East, Sun, Cay, Blaze, and Rain, all donned in their ceremonial gold and silver robes.

Their faces bore a mixture of impassivity and wariness, save for East and Cloud, whose stony silence spoke volumes.

Frost and Zephyr’s seats remained empty — a subtle but glaring absence that weighed on everyone present.

Behind Professor Cedric, the other eleven professors stood in rigid silence, a united front. There was no fear among them now — only long-simmering frustration. Their faces reflected the same conviction: this confrontation had been long discussed, debated, and decided.

Professor Cedric pressed on, voice steady.

"Since the Winter Guardian’s apprentice caused havoc during the first trial at the arena, strange movements and phenomena have continued to surge—unexplained and unchecked," he paused and shrugged to the other professors.

"We—the Twelve Professors—were not made aware of the true risks. And now, after the simulation yesterday, with foreign mana still tainting the chambers even after the cleansing rituals... we demand to know what is happening."

The professors murmured their agreement aside from Professor Aelith who only attended out of respect.

Professor Cedric took another step forward, his blue eyes blazing

"Our apprentices’ lives have been placed at risk, by Grandmaster East’s and Highness Cloud’s decisions. We cannot—and will not—turn a blind eye any longer. We deserve the truth, Your Majesty."

For a long moment, the Lunar King said nothing. The tension thickened until even the Guardians shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

Finally, the Lunar King closed his eyes and exhaled a long, slow breath. It was not the sigh of an angry monarch — but of a weary one.

When he spoke, his voice was calm, resonant, carrying the heavy weight of regret. "You are right."

A stir among the professors.

"You deserve answers. And I apologize... to each of you."

He rose from his throne, descending the steps with a grace too practiced, too perfect that even he Professors who had seen him almost every day still gasped in admiration.

The light of the great chandelier above reflected off his golden cloak as he stood before them, no longer speaking as a king from a pedestal — but as a leader face to face with his people.

"Our actions were made in haste... not to deceive you, but to protect you," he continued. "The forces that move against us now are greater than any of you have encountered before. Greater than any threat our sanctum has ever prepared for."

He paused, his majestic eyes sweeping across the professors. "We are just considering the casualties among the mages if we did not act as fast," his words were heavy with truth. And yet, they did not fully ease the tension.

Professor Cedric did not waver.

He bowed stiffly, more out of duty than reverence, and straightened, voice taut with restrained emotion:

"Then if protection is your goal, Your Majesty... I demand to know why the Winter Guardian, Frost, has not returned to guide his apprentice yet. Miss Evermore had greater risks that potentials. She needs guidance from his highness Frost than any other Guardians."

There was an audible ripple of shock among the professors. They did not expect for Professor Cedric to actually mention in in front of the King and Guardians.

Even some of they had exchanged glances. Everyone had wondered—whispered behind closed doors—why Frost remained absent. But none had dared voice it so directly before now.

Professor Cedric pressed on, ignoring the tension in the room.

"Miss Evermore has been left vulnerable. Alone. It is the Winter Guardian’s responsibility to stand by her side to suppress the growing magic inside her as an apprentice," his words were sharp and calculated.

His gaze, once cold and unwavering, now locked with the Lunar King’s. He stiffened his bow even more, his posture as rigid as a soldier preparing for battle.

"Perhaps," Professor Cedric continued, his voice slightly softer but tinged with a dangerous edge, "is there anything more that we are not made aware of on top of all of this, Your Majesty?"

The words resonated in the throne room like a challenge, a demand for answers that could no longer be ignored. The Lunar King’s expression remained unreadable, though his eyes flickered with something fleeting — frustration, sorrow, perhaps even regret.

If only he had not turned a blind eye about the growing unease in the Academy, this tension never would have happened in the first place. The kind of tension which had divided his father’s kingdom once.

Cloud, who had been silent up to this point, exchanged a quick glance with East. The brief exchange spoke volumes, both of them understanding that this moment could no longer be delayed. They had kept the truth hidden long enough to cause distrust to the Professors.

East shifted slightly, his presence imposing as he stood up and took a step forward, his voice resonating with quiet authority.

"The truth is far more complicated than you realize," he began, his words measured. "We—" he paused, glancing at Cloud, who nodded in silent agreement, "—we attempted to peer into the past to understand the origins of the foreign mana you all must have already sensed. This... was necessary."

The professors looked at each other, confusion and shock flickering across their faces.

"What do you mean, you peered into the past, Your Grace?" Professor Alaric Duskwatch asked, his voice sharp, a flicker of disbelief in his normally calm demeanor. "Tampering with the past... that’s a dangerous endeavor."

"Indeed," East replied with a nod, his eyes not quite meeting the professors’. "But it was the only way to understand where this mana came from and now we had discovered its lineage which has been reduced into three souls which has been placed into three vessels, yet their connection, and why they are so powerful, remained unknown."

A heavy silence fell. Cloud remained still beside East, his expression unreadable. The mention of "tampering" with time left the professors on edge. It was a violation of the natural order — a practice that could unravel reality itself if done recklessly.

Tim, ever the wild card, had taken the risk himself, yet he remained so calm, you won’t even spot it was him who did it. East explained further:

"Tim tried to glimpse the past, to see what had happened... to uncover how and why these souls were fragmented, scattered across different beings. What we discovered... was far more than we could have imagined."

The room was electric with the weight of those words. A few professors shifted uncomfortably, while others tightened their grip on their robes, as if preparing themselves for the next revelation.

"The past is not something we can simply look into," Professor Cedric said, his voice steady but laced with concern. "You might not be taking the the consequences so seriously, Your Highness. Manipulating time is... forbidden. It’s too volatile. You might have even ended up taking something with you from the past."

East, without flinching, nodded solemnly.

"I know," he said quietly. "But we had no choice and I believe you know what the Guardians are capable of, Professor Hollowmere. Everything we had done before until now is merely for the sake of everyone including you."

There was a long pause as Professor Cedric could not argue with the Guardians dedication to all of them and yet he still pressed on, his suspicion still growing.

"And the vessels of these Three Souls, who are they, Your Highness?" he asked bluntly, his gaze unwavering, a quiet challenge behind his words.

East hesitated, his lips curling slightly downward as if struggling with an uncomfortable truth.

"We do not know yet," he admitted.

The room fell deathly silent. It was a sharp, brutal admission — one that cut deeper than anything else.

Professor Cedric’s eyes narrowed, his lips pressing into a thin line. His thoughts raced, a cold realization settling over him. The Grandmaster had lied. He could feel it in his gut. He could see it directly on the Grandmaster’s face. There was something was holding back.

Professor Cedric, smiled, nodded, and bowed stiffly, his movements precise, controlled. He did not question further in front of the Lunar King.

"We understand, Your Majesty," he said, "and I believe we should be taking our leave now to attend the apprentices. The professors will excuse themselves."

With that, Professor Cedric turned, his robes sweeping behind him as he led the way out of the throne room, the other professors bowed before following suit.

The Lunar King remained standing, his gaze distant, lost in thought. Cloud stood quietly and walked to his father’s side.

"Please do not bother yourself more about this, Father," Cloud said. "Leave it to us and travel back to the gods’ realm."

The Lunar King only glanced at Cloud and sighed. "History might really repeat itself, child," he muttered. "That’s what humans always say."

In the corridor outside the throne room, as soon as the heavy doors closed behind them, the tension broke, and the whispers started immediately.

Professor Mordric Vale, his hands still clenched into fists, was the first to speak, his voice low and conspiratorial.

"Professor Cedric," he asked cautiously, "do you believe the Grandmaster? That they don’t know who those three vessels are?"

Professor Cedric’s expression was blank, a mask of control, but his blue eyes gleamed with something far darker as they walked across the empty corridors.

"No," he replied, voice cold. "They know more than they’re letting on. The Grandmaster East... has always been secretive. I’ve seen him withhold information when it suits him."

The professors stride closer beside him, hanging on his every word.

"I don’t trust this," Professor Cedric muttered, his eyes narrowing. "The truth is right under their noses. But they’re playing a game — one they think we’re too blind to see."

Professor Aelith Redbourne, always the flirtatious one, bit her lip but didn’t speak. She simply glanced at Professor Cedric with a mixture of admiration and wariness.

Professor Thaddeus Wrenmoor trailed a bit behind, still slightly stunned by what they’d just learned — but far more stunned by how ridiculously tiny Professor Sylphaera’s waist was up close.

He stumbled over his own feet, his mind caught somewhere between trying to make sense of the information about the Three Souls something and wondering how her waist was so impossibly small and sexy.

He immediately shook his head when he remembered they are into something serious.

"You don’t think they’d really leave us in the dark, do you, Cedric?" Thaddeus asked, trying not to glance at Professor Aelith’s bums. "Grandmaster East... is Grandmaster East. Surely he has his reasons."

"No," Professor Cedric snapped, cutting him off, his voice sharp as he raised a finger to prove his point. "His reasons are his own, Thaddeus. And I intend to find out why he’s lying to us."

The other professors fell silent, eyes flicking between one another. Some, like Professor Sylphaera, nodded with quiet agreement, while others — like Professor Verena — looked uneasy.

"And what of thy Highness Frost?" Professor Sylphaera finally asked, her voice like ice, cold and hard. "None of thy Majesties even answered that part."

"Right?! I just know there’s more going on here than we realize," Professor Cedric said with finality, nodding. "And I will find out the truth. The vessels of the Three Souls... I’ll uncover who they are. Even if it means I have to go behind the Grandmaster’s back."

The professors exchanged uneasy glances, some reluctant, others more eager.

Professor Aelith raised an eyebrow, casting a sidelong glance at Cedric.

"And what exactly do you propose we do, Professor Cedric?" she asked, her voice dripping with a mix of challenge and intrigue.

"We start looking into it ourselves," Cedric replied darkly. "We’ll find out who they are. We have to do something about it before the apprentices get hurt again."

The group of professors silently disagreed in their own way — their faces betraying the internal conflict they felt. They knew the dangers, knew the risks involved, but they also recognized Professor Cedric’s sharp instincts and the drive to uncover what was being hidden.

And with that, the first seeds of dissent had been planted.

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