“I will be leaving,” Aster said.

            “Come back anytime, we always have time for you,” Mariette said.

            “Never!” Tuskan rebuked his sister’s invitation. Aster shook his head and said, “I will visit sometimes for Mariette, not for an unhinged man who cannot initiate a normal conversation.”

            Tuskan was fuming in rage and cursed at him, but Aster nonchalantly turned his back and left the twins. Aster returned back to Esther who waited anxiously. When she saw Young Lord Aster returned intact, she took a deep relieved breath.

            “How did it go, sir?” Esther asked.

            Aster side-eyed Esther for a second and replied nonchalantly, “It went well.”

            “May I know whether they are enforceable by student council or not?”

            “… before I give you an information, you must follow me first,” Aster replied coldly. Esther was surprised with the sudden change of behavior, she was afraid that someone gave Young Lord dangerous ideas or slandered her in front of him.

            Aster saw the change of expression in Esther’s face and his blood ran cold. He was expecting it, but the reveal always hurt him.

            ‘As expected, no one should be trusted.’

            After the accident in golden palace, the schemes against him, and the fact that Ramuja lied to him, made him expecting nothing more than betrayal. Aster clenched his fist silently.

            ‘Cannot be trusted. I should not trust anyone.’

            Aster led Esther to his office, the chairman office.

            The office wasn’t particularly spacy or fancy, but it was always well kept and tidy. Aster sat on his chair and Esther sat on the opposite side. Esther felt like she was being investigated.

            She fidgeted uncomfortably and her eyes were casted down. Aster stared at this shy woman in disgust. He was used to see this trick of shy woman that tried to harm him later on, or an alluring man or woman trying to seduce him. They were all the same and he knew their tricks.

            ‘That reminds me of that nanny…’

            Aster clenched his fist and his anger almost blinded him. He calmed himself, then opened his mouth, “You are Helene’s little sister, right?”

            “Yes, Young Lord—I mean, sir…” Esther replied nervously. She saw Aster’s eyes and almost pissed herself.

            ‘His eyes… turned almost black entirely.’

            Aster wasn’t scary, he was far from it. But those eyes made Esther gulped in fear. It was almost hypnotizing.

            “Miss, you see, Kingdom of North Fort wasn’t particularly adept in politics.”

            “Yes, sir. We are a military house,” Esther replied. She was starting to catch the direction of this investigation. But if that was true, what was the point of it?

            “I see that you are well aware of your position,” Aster chuckled mirthlessly, “Please elaborate, what did you do to be the student council president?”

            Esther raised her head, she looked confused and infuriated at the same time.

            ‘What is this? Was that supposed to be impossible for me?’

            “Sir, I won the election fair and square,” Esther said firmly.

            “You know that Clearwater Academy has clear set of rules to be student council president, he or she should have important position in Golden Camellia or its neighboring countries. But you…” Aster scoffed, “You are a second princess from North Fort Kingdom, a military kingdom set to protect the north border. You are under direct order of Emperor!”

            Esther rose from her seat and hit the table, “Sir, you think I have an internal agenda, don’t you?”

            “A military kingdom does not partake in politics of the country, also military kingdom is under direct order of Emperor and his descendant. Those are our laws, Military law number VII and IX. Military law hasn’t been amended, not even once, and definitely doesn’t need to. People like you might try to exploit the change to get in position like this,” Aster said harshly.

            Esther was boiling with rage, with this accusation pointed towards her by her own idol, it made her angry and disappointed, “So, Sir Aster thinks that someone sponsored me to get in position? Probably Emperor or Crown Prince?”

            Aster nodded firmly.

            “Sir, if I am sponsored by Crown Prince, I wouldn’t report about the Mariette and Tuskan to you, also not telling you about the truth of Clearwater Academy’s state after Crown Prince interference. I will not try so hard to restore the student council cabinet to its original members!” Esther pointed at Aster boldly, “You should also know that your disappearance made you almost got replaced by Golden Princess Rosalie as the new Chairman!”

            “What?!”

            “You don’t know, right? Golden Princess has been visiting this place for half a year already. She was giving proposal to the principal about it. Of course, Mrs. Alembert wasn’t the principal, the real principal is Crown Prince Charles!”

            Aster was dumbfounded with this information. He didn’t know that Rosalie would have her eyes on this academy. He thought that Rosalie had been passive this whole time.

            “H—how much control did she gain until now?”

            “She hadn’t gotten any control yet, because I was using my veto as student council president only to stop this madness! How could she leisurely enter Clearwater Academy and replaced you as Chairman! That is utterly ridiculous!”

            “Why would you go that far?”

            “Why? Because I cannot let anyone but you to be the Chairman! I study every day, trying hard to get supports from everywhere, because I want to be the students and a leader here!” Esther wiped the pool of tears in her eyes.

            “I… I still don’t see any reason why would you use your sole veto to protect my position…”

            “Are you stupid or what? Because you are my idol!” Esther proclaimed. Then, she instantly blushed and closed her mouth with her two hands. She looked at the dumbfounded Young Lord and decided to run away.

            Aster sat alone in his room. He was still stunned because he couldn’t find any logical reason how could someone sacrifice an important tool for him. That veto right for student council president was once in a lifetime right, people usually use it to get recommendation letter, so they might enter the higher aristocrats circle or get a good job with huge income.

            ‘But this girl… she gave her veto to protect me, why?’

            ‘I don’t remember that we have meaningful relationship.’

            Aster tried to recount whether there might be some incidents when people tried to use this trick on him, but he found nothing.

            ‘If it’s not a trickery… then what is it?’

            ‘A sincerity? A heart?’

            Aster doubted his own principal, because he was used to the world of trading, he never expected this. Now that Ramuja, whom he trusted so much, even hid something from him, how could he believe some random girl who cried in front of him and blabbered.

            “No, there must be something behind this. No one would selflessly sacrifice themselves to the likes of me. No way…”