Lady Vena also didn't speak. She was considering his request. So their conversation lulled into a period of silence.
Eventually Lady Vena said, "If she wants to leave, then she can leave. I have no use for her anyway."
Brooks bowed and said, "Thank you, my lady."
She waved him away. "Just leave me and go take care of the boy who you care for more than me before I get too jealous and take back what I said about Geltra."
Brooks left hurriedly, leaving Lady Vena with her thoughts.
She said to herself, "At least the neighbors will be happy that he is leaving."
—
Arthur woke up completely a few days later. At that point, most of his injuries have healed.
Every cut on his skin and hands has healed. They were specially treated with medicine that ensured that they didn't scar. So even signs of his abuse at the hands of his mother had disappeared.
He only felt a slight ache in his chest. That was residual pain from his fractured rib cage. It is the last remaining injury from his mother.
It will take a while for his rib cage to heal completely. But even this is not enough evidence to convince people of the suffering he experienced at the hands of his mother.
He wanted to leave immediately. But Lady Vena stopped him from going so soon.
She wasn't going back on her word. She just wanted to throw a small farewell party for him before he left.
She also wanted to use the party to inform him about the advances of the family and asked for his opinion on the matter.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do all of that because the party turned out to be bigger than expected. A lot of people came over to bid their farewell when they heard that he was leaving the compound.
Many servants and coachmen came over bearing small gifts to thank him for his generosity and kindness. So the party became very big, and Lady Vena couldn't get him alone to speak to him because of all of the people he had to receive.
The party had just ended when she broached the matter. He was in his room parking while she stood at the corner speaking with him.
She said, "A certain big mouth threw a party for you and told everyone there how great you are. The head of the family heard about it and decided to allow you to join the inner academy."
Arthur didn't look up from what he was doing as he said, "If this is a ploy to make me stay, it won't work."
Lady Vena rolled her eyes. "Please. As if I need such a lousy ploy to keep you here. I can just dislocate your legs if I don't want you to leave."
He said dryly, "Then it is my great luck that you don't want me to stay."
She agreed, "Yes, you should be very happy that I don't want you around eating all of my food and causing trouble for me."
"If it is not your ploy, then I am interested in hearing about it."
Lady Vena continued, "The inner academy is like the training facility you went to. But it is better equipped and has more resources. They even serve the students high-vitality meat every day and provide medicinal baths for all of them."
Arthur was impressed. He said, "That sounds good."
"It is good. After all, the goal of the inner academy is to train the children of the family so that they will be able to do well in the sect examination and enter sects. The limit of their training is the ninth transformation, not the sixth transformation."
"The inner academy is where the true sons and daughters are trained to get the opportunity required for them to do better than the Dyson family. The training in the outer training facility is just for creating guards for the family. Those guards will spend their whole lives in the family."
The more he heard, the more impressed he got. He said, "That sounds impressive. I am somewhat proud of myself for being allowed to join such a prestigious academy."
Lady Vena scoffed. "Oh please. This was not about you. You wouldn't have gotten in if your blabbermouth of a stepmother didn't praise you to the high heavens. If not for her, no one would have cared enough about you to offer you an admission to the academy."
Arthur wondered aloud, "I wonder why she did that, though."
Lady Vena shook her head. "Even I don't know. But I expect that whatever she planned for you will show up if you sign up for the academy."
"I'm guessing that I should not sign up then. What do you think I should do?"
Lady Vena shrugged. "Do whatever you want to do. Just know that you will have to swear fealty to the family if you want to enjoy the benefits of the inner academy."
When he heard that, he made up his mind and said, "Then I'm good. They can keep their benefits to themselves. I'll find a way out on my own."
She nodded. "That's what I thought you would say. So I rejected them when they came asking. It is what I have been busy doing all this while when you were asleep."
He said sarcastically, "Thank you for your hard work. I wish I hadn't been beaten into a coma. That way, I would have been able to lighten your load."
She ignored the dig at herself and said, "It was actually a lot of work. I had to sit there while they droned on and on and got angry at me when I said no."
"Well, thank you anyway."
"You're welcome," she said. "And so concludes my work. I expect you to leave first thing tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to the peace that will return to my house when you leave."
He shook his head after she left. Then he finished packing.
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A/N: If you haven't written a review yet, please consider doing so now. I need the assistance of my readers to make my book a success.