Honestly, putting everything else aside—
Lady Crownguard's "a bet is a bet" attitude really did deserve some praise.
Even though her beloved strawberry cake was being eaten by Luke bite after bite right in front of her—like he was deliberately rubbing it in her face—
She only teared up and didn't say another word.
After eating and drinking their fill, Luke leaned back in his chair, completely satisfied.
By now, the cafeteria had basically emptied out; most of the students were done and gone.
After Lux finished eating, she didn't keep dwelling on the cake either. She leaned back in her chair as well, resting.
After a while—
"Go?" Luke asked.
"Go!" Lux answered.
They both stood up and headed outside.
Luke asked, "What class do we have this afternoon again?"
"I think it's outdoor class," Lux replied.
And before Luke could even say anything, she suddenly added, "Since we already skipped the morning classes, why don't we skip the afternoon one too?"
Luke looked at her in surprise, a trace of approval in his eyes.
Lady Crownguard… you've grown.
Luke nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If we already skipped the morning, what's the point of keeping the afternoon class?"
"Precisely!" Lux nodded excitedly.
"Then where are we going this afternoon? Let's find somewhere fun to go play," Lux asked as she lowered her head to think.
But then she heard Luke suddenly say, "What are you talking about? Did we come to the academy to play? We came here to learn useful knowledge, improve ourselves, and become pillars of the nation in the future. Your mindset is… a little questionable."
Lux: "?"
She slowly produced a question mark.
You little—
What are you even talking about all of a sudden?
Confused, she lifted her head, about to ask—
Only to find Luke acting like nothing was wrong, still talking as he casually changed direction.
And at that moment, a bad feeling hit her.
Instinctively, she glanced toward the end of the corridor—and her whole body jolted.
"That's right. The nation's future needs us. This afternoon, we study hard—starting with me!" Lux suddenly got inspirational too, also acting like she knew nothing as she followed Luke and changed direction.
"You two," a familiar voice spoke from behind them, "want to explain what you did for the nation this morning?"
They stopped.
"Isn't this the High Marshal? What a coincidence—running into you here," Luke said as he turned around, smiling brightly.
Lux turned around too, putting on an adorable smile, trying to cute her way out of it. "Auntie, why are you here?"
"I came to take a look at the two future pillars of this nation."
Tianna smiled, and at the same time, reached out with both hands.
"You're really making me look good."
Now this was the true ruthless iron grip.
Luke's sixth sense was screaming danger, but his instincts told him he couldn't dodge.
Dodging would only make it worse.
The next second, Tianna grabbed both of them by the backs of their collars and lifted them up like chicks.
"Do you know how it felt," Tianna said in a gentle tone while carrying them along, "when I was in the royal palace in a meeting with His Majesty and the ministers, and Teacher Mors stormed in furious—telling me that the prince of this kingdom and my precious niece skipped an entire morning of classes?"
Even she had been stunned on the spot.
In all her years, she had never seen such an absurd stunt.
And now, the upper circles of the entire capital had probably all heard about Luke and Lux skipping class.
Luke, still incredibly bold, replied, "Probably… complicated?"
Tianna was so mad she almost laughed. You brat still have the nerve to talk back?
She didn't even have to ask to know who started it.
Lux might have thought about doing something like this, but she absolutely didn't have the guts.
"Then what do you think," Tianna asked, regaining her composure and smiling in a way that showed no emotion, "I want to do right now?"
Luke didn't dare answer. He glanced at Lux beside him—this one was smart. She shut her eyes and just played dead.
Like she had plenty of experience.
So Luke gritted his teeth, shut his eyes too, and went all in.
Fine. If I'm dying, I'm dying.
Watching the two of them dangling there, playing dead, Tianna felt both helpless and amused.
These two idiots, seriously…
"First, you're going to apologize to Teacher Mors. Then this afternoon, you're going to class properly."
As she spoke, she'd already carried them to the office.
She set them down and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Mors's voice sounded from inside.
When Tianna opened the door, they saw Teacher Mors sitting behind his desk, sorting through extra class materials.
"High Marshal, you're here," Mors said, quickly standing up to greet her.
"Teacher Mors, we're sorry," Luke and Lux apologized in unison.
"I caught these two for you," Tianna said with a smile. "Punish them however you want. I'll watch."
"No need for punishment," Mors shook his head and smiled.
Just as the two of them lifted their heads—surprised, delighted, and grateful—
They heard the second half.
"Just copy today's assignment a few dozen times."
"…"
"…"
Luke and Lux instantly froze in awkward horror.
A few dozen…
They didn't know how big one copy was, but come on—language class assignments were never light.
A few dozen copies… wasn't that basically killing them?
"Any objections?" Tianna narrowed her eyes and asked.
"N-no!"
"We'll complete the mission!"
In the face of actual life-threatening pressure, the two of them immediately surrendered.
When they left the office—
"What class do you have this afternoon?" Tianna asked.
"Outdoor," Lux answered.
"Mhm. Let's go."
After asking, Tianna didn't show any sign of leaving—she actually followed them.
Luke couldn't help asking, "High Marshal… are you coming to class with us?"
"Why not? Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire afternoon."
"It's not that you can't," Luke said, putting on sincerity, "it's just that you're so busy. Who are we to deserve this? Please don't waste your precious time on people like us."
"Yeah, yeah," Lux agreed intensely. "Auntie's always so busy. I really hope you won't waste your time."
Tianna smiled. "Compared to that, the future pillars of this nation are obviously more important."
Luke and Lux exchanged a look.
It's over.
Tianna was dead set on watching them.
Being personally supervised in class by a nation's High Marshal… this had to be a first since Demacia was founded.
The afternoon outdoor class was also called practical combat class.
It trained students' physical fitness and combat techniques.
In class, everyone's expression was deadly serious—even the instructor didn't dare to be distracted for a single moment.
He didn't even dare let his attention slip.
The reason was obvious: Tianna was standing not far away.
Nobody expected the High Marshal to suddenly show up to observe a lesson.
Seriously—did the pressure just slam straight to maximum or what?
During spare moments, students kept looking over at the two culprits behind all this, clearly displeased.
Luke and Lux could only look completely innocent.
How is this our fault?!
Damn it!
We're victims too!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810