Before Frederick's thinning patience could finally snap, he kept his eyes fixed on Ashok's twitching lips, watching for any hint that the boy would speak.
Then, at last, Ashok opened his mouth and delivered his answer with the calmness of someone commenting on the weather.
"The reason I picked this class is not something very great," he said smoothly, his tone casual to the point of insolence.
"It was simply to fill the Academy's course quota."
The words hung in the air for a long, empty moment. Frederick's eyes blinked once.
Then twice.
Althea and Isolde exchanged a blank look, both at a complete loss for words. The silence felt almost heavy, as though the air itself was trying to process what had just been said.
'Quota?'
The single word echoed through everyone's mind simultaneously. Was that it?
That was his reason?
After all the buildup, the silent standoff - this was the grand revelation?
