Chapter 40: The Iron-Blooded Princess Fiona

Bost was brought back to Canteria Academy by Rain and Sal in the latter half of the night.

Because Rain had notified ahead of time, when they arrived at the academy gate, the one waiting to receive them was Xingxuan, who was still in pajamas and and hadn’t slept yet.

Sal had only ever heard of Xingxuan from Rain’s descriptions before this.

And according to him, Xingxuan should have looked like an old man with a long white beard.

So when she saw a pajama-wearing girl, shorter than Sal’s current fifteen-year-old height, her first reaction was—

“Whose kid is this?”

Bost, wrapped up like a sack by Rain’s ice-magic chains, couldn’t say anything.

Mainly because Rain had stuffed a piece of cloth—torn from Bost’s own lab coat—into his mouth.

Rain, however, after hearing Sal’s sudden question, couldn’t help a brief twitch of his lips.

He looked like he wanted to laugh, but forced it back down.

He, unlike Sal, knew exactly who this person was.

“You’re back?”

“We’re back, Mentor.”

Rain kindly reminded Sal while answering, or else with her curious personality she would probably offend Xingxuan a dozen times before sunrise.

“That’s your—?”

“Mentor,” Xingxuan answered Sal’s quiet question. “You may call me Xingxuan, pure-blood young dragon.”

As expected from someone with immense seniority—one sentence nearly stripped Sal clean of secrets.

Fortunately, for now, only these three—and one half-blood dragon—knew.

And judging by Bost’s behavior, he clearly had no intention of exposing Sal’s pure-blood identity.

Meaning she didn’t need to worry too much yet.

(But… what if this guy realizes he’s done for and decides to drag me down with him?)

Sal could not stop glancing nervously at the tightly bound Bost.

His sudden surrender felt more like preparation for something else.

Her understanding of Bost was too little to guess what.

All she knew was what Rain had said:
That he was the head of the Alchemy Department, holding real authority.

Nothing more.

She had tried to get him to talk about Lucia back in the alley.

But though he surrendered quickly, his mouth remained stubbornly sealed.

Sal’s hands hurt from punching him, and still he refused to share anything useful.

Which only made her more suspicious.

Maybe this “surrender” was only a stalling tactic.

What he needed time for—no one knew.

While Sal worried about her identity, Rain followed Xingxuan to a place better suited for discussion.

They entered the underground facility previously used for Rain’s tests.

Once the metal door closed, the magic-stone lamps sensed the mana in the room and lit up.

“Tell me. What exactly did he do?”

Xingxuan asked Rain to recount everything.

Sal watched from behind, immediately sensing from the atmosphere—

Interrogation time.

After hearing Bost’s deeds, Xingxuan stepped toward him where he lay bound on the ground.

“Bost, do you have anything you want to say to me?”

Bost did not lift his head.

The thorn-like ice chains binding him had left cuts all over his body.

He looked utterly miserable—nothing like the arrogant tormentor he had been before.

Seeing this, Xingxuan signaled Rain to release the bindings.

Rain hesitated far less than earlier when releasing Sal’s shield.

He knew his mentor’s power very well:
Even without the ice, Bost could never escape.

He lacked both the ability and the courage.

Everyone in the room knew that.

“Nothing to say now?”

Xingxuan looked down, disappointment plain on her face.

“You stole my research notes, perfected them, and successfully put them to use—I won’t argue that.”

“But according to Rain, you did not intend to use what you stole for anything righteous.”

“You know what that implies.”

“So speak. What is your true goal?”

Even Sal understood what Xingxuan meant.

If he refused to speak—his end would be ugly.

If he spoke honestly—there was hope.

But just as Bost finally prepared to speak, the underground facility’s door rattled with urgent knocking.

The sound was sharp and rushed.

Xingxuan gestured for Rain to open it.

But before he could move—
A loud crash exploded from the entrance upstairs.

Followed by heavy, rapid footsteps.

Soon, voices echoed from the stairway.

“Everyone inside! If you want to live, stop what you’re doing right now!”

“Princess?”

Sal blinked in confusion.

Rain was equally puzzled—he stepped forward, but Xingxuan grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

He spent most of his life either studying under Xingxuan or wasting away at the border.

His knowledge of the royal family ended at knowing the Emperor’s name—
Trian.

He knew nothing of princesses, nobles, or hierarchy.

So when someone shouted “princess,” his first reaction was suspicion.

A real princess?

Coming here at this hour?

For what purpose?

…

Wait.

He glanced down at Bost.

Then remembered the shout from earlier.

Could it be—

Rain looked at Xingxuan, but she signaled again: Stay still.

Soon, footsteps reached their floor.

Royal Guard soldiers entered first.

And behind them, lifting her skirt, heels clicking sharply as she rushed inside—

“Well, look who it is. The Empire’s famous Iron-Blooded Princess Fiona.”

Xingxuan, out of respect, gave a formal greeting—though her sour expression made her displeasure obvious.

She could already guess the princess’s purpose.

But she pretended not to know.

“I wonder why Her Highness has graced us with her presence at such an hour—”

“Cut the crap, you gender-bent freak!”

As expected of the Iron-Blooded Princess Fiona—the eldest daughter of Emperor Trian.

One sentence nearly made Xingxuan lose her composure.

“I don’t have time to argue…
Right now, immediately—release Bost!”

“Or get ready for a full purge of Canteria Academy’s upper faculty!”