The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 304: Chapter 299 — Show

Zephyrion wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling. He only knew that it wasn’t good. Lumi tapped him again, worriedly signing,

Are you okay?

”Yeah. I’m fine.” Zephyrion nodded, then bent down slightly, staring straight into her eyes. ”Listen. That thing you heard about boys getting tired of clingy girls? It’s true.”

Lumi immediately panicked. She even began inching away from him, as though suddenly terrified of being too close.

But Zephyrion caught her hand, stopping her.

Meeting her panicked gaze, for once, he gave her the unfiltered truth.

”But that’s some boys. I’m not them. If you want to cling to me, Lumi, then cling.”

...

Zephyrion left the room soon after.

Lumi, as he expected, had initially reacted with skepticism, but he’d assured her he meant every word. After a bit of back and forth, she finally accepted it.

Then, she had broken into a beautiful smile that seemed to light up the entire room, practically bouncing in her seat.

Smiling, he’d ordered her to get some rest.

One of the reasons he’d left was because of the strange, unexplainable feeling that had suddenly begun coursing through him.

The other reason, though, was the faint presence he’d sensed outside.

”P-prime!”

Zephyrion regarded Horus with narrowed eyes. His presence outside had been extremely faint, far more concealed than Zephyrion had ever realized the boy was capable of. Yet now that Zephyrion was outside, it had somehow returned to its usual, painfully obvious state.

”Why are you lurking outside the clinic?”

Horus scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

”Lurking is a strong word, Prime. I came to inform you that the head cadets are waiting for you in the warroom.”

”I see...” Zephyrion slowly nodded, walking past Horus, who immediately fell into step behind him. ”Then let’s go.”

”Oh, just you, Prime? What about Lady Lumi?”

”I told her to rest.”

”Oh! Right...” Horus trailed off, then muttered under his breath, ”Still... I have to say, I’m a little surprised.”

Zephyrion threw him a sidelong glance. ”...by what?”

”You, Prime. I didn’t think you were the type to get so... attached.”

Horus had a strange look on his face, staring down with a faint smile as though deep in thought.

Zephyrion held back a frown. Then, after a moment, he turned his gaze forward again.

”...neither did I.”

...

The warroom was gloomy when Zephyrion entered.

Kaelion, Kaelith, Draven, and Lucien were still covered in the blood and dirt of the battlefield. Each of them wore dark expressions, clearly still dwelling on the outcome of the battle they had just fought.

Though the northern side had lost several cadets, neither side could truly claim to have won that exchange.

Nedra, however, wore a furious expression, like she wanted nothing more than to march over there and beat the crap out of them herself. Tobias was silent, as he had been for a day now. And Fiona had a strange sadness in her eyes.

The moment Zephyrion entered, she avoided his gaze entirely.

’Another one I need to deal with.’

As with Lumi, he was done ignoring things and allowing them to fester. He would face them directly and deal with them.

Still, now was hardly the time for that.

As he reached his seat, Zephyrion’s aura suddenly blanketed the entire room, snapping everyone out of their thoughts.

He slowly swept his gaze across the head cadets who had just fought in the battle, lingering especially on his cousin, Kaelion.

”You all did well.”

Kaelion immediately clenched both fists. ”No, we didn’t. We walked straight into an ambush and barely made it out. I should’ve handled it better. I could’ve—”

Zephyrion placed a reassuring hand on his cousin’s shoulder, meeting his gaze.

”You handled it as well as anyone could have. You kept your composure, adapted to the ambush, and brought everyone you could back in one piece. There was nothing more you could have done, Kaelion. You didn’t fail them.”

Kaelion stared at him, his eyes trembling slightly.

A moment later, he lowered his gaze and released a deep breath. But Zephyrion didn’t miss the way his posture straightened afterward. It was as though the weight pressing down on him had finally been lifted.

”That goes for the rest of you too. You all did well out there. Given the same situation, I doubt anyone could have done much better.”

”Alright, who are you, and what have you done with Zephyrion?” Kaelith asked, but even he couldn’t hide the smile tugging at his lips.

It wasn’t every day that Zephyrion gave out praise.

”I am simply stating the truth,” Zephyrion replied.

Pleased smiles appeared on every face, even Nedra’s. Only Fiona’s still carried a trace of sadness.

”Our initial plan failed. I won’t pretend otherwise.” Zephyrion spoke as though he hadn’t expected the development. ”But that changes nothing. We’ll still take the fortress, so none of you need to worry.”

As though suddenly remembering something important, Kaelion’s eyes widened.

”Kaiden! If the plan failed, then what about him? He’s still in there. We have to—”

”Kaiden is fine.”

Kaelion frowned. ”How can you possibly know that? Zephyrion, we can’t just leave him there—”

”He’s fine.” Zephyrion met his eyes. ”Trust me.”

Kaelion stared at him for a moment. Seeing the seriousness in Zephyrion’s gaze, he clenched his fists, then finally nodded.

It just went to show how much Kaelion trusted Zephyrion’s judgment. In fact, the others had also held their tongues, each choosing to trust him.

”Alright, then I believe it’s time to address the tomato in the room.” Nedra finally spoke up. ”That nonsense about defeating Malach by noon. You were bluffing, right?”

The others immediately perked up their ears.

Truth was, after their battle with the northern army, and Lumi practically failing to break through the fortress barrier, several of them had lost hope of an easy victory.

It was already past 9 a.m.

How the hell were they supposed to take the fortress in less than three hours!?

”I wasn’t bluffing. We’ll take the fortress before twelve.”

Several of them frowned. But everyone here knew their Prime didn’t make such claims lightly.

Kaelith narrowed his eyes.

”How exactly do you plan on pulling that off?”

Zephyrion remained silent for a moment, feeling the gazes of the head cadets on him, along with those of practically the entire Ferran Empire.

’Especially you.’

”Rather than explain it...” Zephyrion’s gaze remained calm. ”I’ll show you.”