Sigil Online: I became the duke's third son
Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Chapter 92

It had only been fourteen days since the engagement, but Luan already felt like he’d aged a year. Between all the meetings, studying old territory records of Velmire, and discussing plans of action with Liana, sleep had become a luxury.

Yet here he was about to face the first of many trials the empire expected of its future nobles. He rolled his shoulders. It was now time to demonstrate what a Meskevela looked like in action.

He had heard the stories about how his brothers had been at the top of their class during their time in the imperial academy, but they had it easy in Luan’s eyes; he would, after all, be attending with Liana and her brother, Benjamin Alderon.

Luan and Liana both stood outside the academy gates as they were admiring the massive academy; people continuously carefully avoided them when they saw the imperial guards surrounding them.

"Who are they?" A young man asked his servant if he was also here for the entrance tests.

His servant, a man looking to be in his forties, glanced at Luan and Liana, and the moment he saw the crests on the guards badges, his eyes widened.

"They’re from the imperial family!" he blurted out.

The young man’s eyes widened slightly as well as he quickly entered the premises of the imperial academy, making sure he wouldn’t bump into them.

Luan had a massive grin on his face while looking around. "This is nice," he muttered while glancing at Liana.

She just rolled her eyes, and together they quickly entered the premises as well, making their way toward the assigned classes for the entrance exams.

While they were strolling toward the classes, everyone around them was gossiping, some guessing their identities while others knew who they were because they had attended the engagement party.

"So there were a couple of exams, right? Which ones were they again?" Luan casually asked Liana; he personally didn’t really care that much, but he had to know he couldn’t make a fool out of himself after becoming her fiancé.

Liana sighed, "I have told you many times. Pay attention, Luan," she said, puffing her cheeks slightly.

"First it will be the theoretical exam, then a couple practical tests, but they depend from year to year, so I’m also not sure," she explained.

"Tsk, I hate theoretical. But I guess it can’t be helped. How about this: the one who becomes the top student gets a single favor from the other?" He suddenly proposed, a massive grin on his face.

Raising an eyebrow, she looked dubiously at him. Even though she was confident she could ace the theoretical after spending some time with Luan, she knew for sure he would most likely get extremely high scores on the practical, more than making up for the deficit with the theoretical.

He might even outclass her own brother, who was also enrolling today. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she was deep in thought for a while, and right when they stood in front of the classroom where they would take the exam, she turned toward him.

"Deal, but if you win, don’t ask anything outrageous, or I will refuse. And maybe even tell your parents that you’re already bullying me," she stated with a smug look on her face.

The last two weeks were rather refreshing for her, traveling to Velmire to assess its current state and living at the duke’s castle instead of the imperial castle. It was liberating not to have any of the court politics or need to have her act together perfectly.

She could be herself and do silly things, and she had formed a rather close bond with Hana and Hana’s mother during those two weeks. She had warned her about Luan’s troublesome behavior and also emphasized that if he ever went too far, she could always contact her for help.

Luan just rolled his eyes at her words, "Don’t come crying when you lose."

Like that, the two entered the classroom and went toward their assigned seats. Everyone else had already arrived; even her brother, Benjamin Alderon, was already seated at his place.

The two quickly sat down and waited for the instructor to enter so they could get this exam over with. Outside stood a lot of servants and guards. All the classrooms were divided by noble rank; the current one was for everyone above the rank of count.

"Hello everyone, I am Abigail Feylian, and I will be overseeing your exams," she introduced herself while walking through the door; she wore a long black skirt and a white shirt. With long black hair and black eyes, she sternly looked at everyone and closed the door behind her.

Luan and the other students all nodded at her introduction; this woman was a rather big shot. Being the vice-principal of the Imperial Academy and from the prestigious Feylian family, she had built an impressive career for herself.

"I will quickly go over the rules, even though they should be obvious," she said, while distributing stacks of papers to every student.

"There is a zero tolerance policy for cheating, so if you’re caught using your sigil or cheating, you will be denied access forever. And absolutely no talking during the duration of the exam. Have I made myself clear?" She declared while slamming the blackboard behind her.

All the students nodded simultaneously, nervously looking around at each other.

"That’s good, you may start. And until the last person hands in their test, I don’t want to hear a single word. If anyone speaks a single word, you will be banned from attending and immediately fail!" With that, she sat down at the desk at the front as she glanced at all the students that were nervously filling in the exam.

Luan glanced at the first couple of questions and immediately rolled his eyes, just thinking about how long this whole stack of papers will take to solve and fill. He almost wanted to just turn it in empty, but then he remembered the bet he made.

He had to at least fill in some questions, or it would be impossible to make up the difference with Liana. With a sigh, he started to fill in the easier questions, skipping the harder ones.