"Are the rumors about you and Wendy true?" Est asked as soon as William sat down inside the meeting room for the First Year Representatives of the Martial, Magic, and Spirit Divisions.

Priscilla, who accompanied William to this gathering, perked her ears up in order to listen to their conversation. The rumor about the Half-Elf Commander and the beautiful lady that was part of his personal Knight Squad had been circulating throughout the Martial Division.

No one was brave enough to ask their Commander whether it was true or not, for they didn't know how he would react to the question. Spencer had been a very good example of how William dealt with those who were trying to raise a ruckus.

Wendy's twin was currently undergoing a mission to gather "rare herbs" that could be used to craft healing potions. This was the decree that William had given after Spencer confronted him about his relationship with his twin sister.

After that incident, no one dared to talk about the rumors in William's presence.

William propped his chin up using his hand and gave Est a smile. "I didn't know that you like gossip."

"So, is it true or not?" Est raised an eyebrow. He really wanted to know how far the two had gone in their relationship.

"No comment," William replied with a smug expression. Although he didn't mind admitting that he had already recognized Wendy as his lover, he still had to consider his grandfather's and Lawrence's faces.

Afterall, Rebecca was still "technically" his fiance, and he still had to deal with that issue before officially declaring his relationship with Wendy.

Est scoffed while Ian looked at William in disdain.

During the course of their journey in the Kyrintor Mountains, William had shown through his actions how much he cared about Wendy. They were always holding each other's hands and they even slept together. It was more than enough evidence to tell that the two were already in a romantic relationship.

Even so, Ian was unwilling to recognize it. He would rather turn a blind eye on the two's "public display of affection" than to hear William officially announce that he and Wendy were now a couple.

The Head Prefect of the Spirit Division, Erwin Boaz, was the last one to arrive in the room, followed by his Vice-Prefect. When all the leaders of the First Year Divisions had gathered, the head instructors of the divisions, Grent, Layla, and Lourdes, started the meeting.

"In two and a half weeks, the Inter-Division Battle is going to begin," Grent said. "We are waiting for a special guest to arrive from the Kingdom of Freesia, so the opening ceremony might be delayed a day or two."

Grent then nodded to Lourdes, so that she could continue the explanation.

"We have already informed you of the rules of the competition," Lourdes stated. "We will conduct a brief review to ensure that all of you are familiar with the rules."

Lourdes then asked the Head Prefects to recite the main rules of the tournament to ensure that they had memorized them properly. After that, the meeting veered in the direction of how they would conduct the battles and the point system that they would be using for the event.

The meeting only lasted an hour and the three instructors were satisfied because all the Head Prefects were very capable.

"All of you do your best," Grent smiled. "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose. Just enjoy this event and hone your skills to fullest. All of you are now dismissed."

The Head and Vice-Prefects bowed their heads respectfully to their instructors before leaving the conference room.

"It's finally over," William said after he stretched his arms and waist. "I'm really not used to attending these kinds of meetings. Priscilla, have you covered everything?"

"Yes, Sir William," Priscilla replied.

"Good. Please, make sure that everyone is informed about the topics that were discussed in the meeting."

"Understood."

Priscilla gave William a brief nod before heading towards the Solaris Dormitory.

"Deep inside she must really hate you," Ian commented with his arms crossed over his chest. "You just shove your responsibilities onto her then laze around all day long."

"Do you really see it that way?" William asked back.

"What do you mean?" Ian frowned. "Aren't you just dumping the workload on her?"

"Of course not. This is what you call Trust."

"Hah? Trust?"

"Yes. Trust," William said with his chin raised in an arrogant manner. "I trust Priscilla that she will be able to handle the job more effectively than I would. Since that is the case, why should I get in the way of her role?"

Ian scoffed at William's shameless way of sugarcoating his laziness. Est and Isaac who were standing beside the two sighed in helplessness.

"Ah, that reminds me, Est." William shifted his attention to his good friend. "Have you thought about whether we should continue our bet or not?"

Est frowned, he had thought long and hard about his bet with William, and he was still on the fence whether he should agree or not. However, William's answer to his earlier question about his relationship with Wendy was brushed aside, so he was feeling irritated.

Because of this, he decided to accept the Half-Elf's proposal and agreed to his bet.

"Let's do it," Est replied. "I agree to the terms of our bet."

"Good." William chuckled as he extended his hand. "May the best man win."

Est firmly gripped William's hand and shook it.

Suddenly, the smile on William's face vanished as a serious expression crossed over his face.

"What's wrong? You look like you've just swallowed a fly," Est teased the handsome Half-Elf that was looking at him as if William was seeing him for the first time.

'Put a tracker on him. Include all the add-ons!'

William unconsciously tightened his grip on Est's hand as he did his best to control the rage that was building inside his heart.

'Too far! Whoever this person is has gone too far!' William's breathing became heavy as he forced himself to calm down. Est was the very first friend he had made outside of Lont and he was very special to him.

For his good friend to be under the subtle control of someone from the shadows pained his heart.

"I'm sorry," William said softly. This was the only thing he could do for his friend. He didn't know if the Mastermind was alone, or he had many helpers in the background. Until he managed to capture their trails, he couldn't afford to dispel the Mind Weaver Spell inside Est's body.

Doing so would only alert the Mastermind because the spells were directly connected to their consciousness.

"Sorry? For what?" Est asked. "Don't tell me you're apologizing to me because you're confident that you'll be the one to win our bet? Will, you might be strong, but don't underestimate me. I will make you taste my true power when the two of us face off in the arena."

William was about to say more, but his words stopped in his throat when the system gave him an emergency notification.

According to my estimate, it will only take twenty more minutes before her Sea of Consciousness has been taken over completely! >