Theron left the Dean’s office with an indifferent expression on his face. What need was there to be worried? He knew that Dean Thistle couldn’t kill him, not right after so publicly promising him to Malaya.
After losing the Ironharts, making the precious daughter of one of his staunchest allies a widow was not acceptable.
Though the Plan B seemed smart, there were too many holes in it. It required straining relationships that couldn’t afford to be strained.
It wasn’t just a matter of Earl Vermouth either, but also Malaya’s elder brother. There was no secret how much he loved his little sister, but more importantly than that, he was a key cog in the Luminescent Moon Sect.
Even if their father was able to swallow the disrespect and anger, Aeryn would become a wild card. Having such an important piece who might not listen at a critical time was unacceptable.
It seemed that Theron was using Malaya, and that he was. But in his opinion, especially after recent changes…
This “weakness” that he had given the Thistles was just a “weakness” to him. To them, however…
He had them by the balls.
’It seems I have a wedding to prepare for,’ Theron thought indifferently.
Giving up the Verdant Bloomstone was a great risk, and that it was. But he was confident in himself even if no one else was.
This matter would work out. In fact, his plan had gone from a 70% chance of success to 80%.
So what if they were Noble Clans? They would fall to his palms just the same.
**
“Pa—Dean, we can’t do this. I agree with the boy for once. Let’s just kill him and use his death as a flash point.”
Dean Thistle didn’t even look up from the Verdant Bloomstone. He could hear the seething tone in Burne’s voice, and he knew that this Spirit Mancer of his wanted to kill Theron all the more now—especially after the words just spoken.
Instead, a head flew over.
“Look to see what you can find from the remnants of his soul.”
Burne wanted to argue, but he didn’t dare to. Soon, his Spirit Mana had moved, and he began to look through Kai’s soul.
He paused.
“Dean, the soul is far too damaged to get more than a few fragments. But, there is a Soul Tie Jade here. Very well hidden.”
Dean Thistle’s eyes narrowed and he looked up.
“Look through it.”
“Right away.”
Burne’s expression changed several times over the next few seconds. He went through the Soul Tie Jade even faster than before.
When he snapped out of it, he was shaken.
“What did you find?”
“He… Daggers of the Night.”
In the end, that was the only thing that he could get out, but it was enough for Dean Thistle’s eyes to shoot up.
“… How did you miss this, Burne?” he finally said coldly.
The reason he said it was impossible for it to be Kai was because Kai was the very first person they investigated. But on top of the fact that Kai was a Flex Mancer and not a Fire Mancer, he had been squeaky clean.
“Patriarch!” Burne hurried to defend himself. “The first instinct of a Soul Tie holder is to destroy everything; it’s suspicious that anything was left at all.”
“Yeah? And what do you suggest happened?”
“I…”
Burne didn’t know what to say. It was impossible to plant a Soul Tie Jade so expertly unless you were a Spirit Mancer. A Soul Mancer was a close second.
Plus, where would the Soul Tie Jade have come from in the first place? They had already checked and Theron wasn’t of Daggers of the Night.
If Burne said Theron definitely planted it, he was either admitting he mis-diagnosed Theron the first time, or Kai this time.
Then there was Sawyer.
The one who killed Sawyer was none other than Burne personally after receiving the Dean’s order. He had, of course, checked Sawyer’s soul for the memories—especially since he had been saying such odd things before he died.
Sawyer had been an obvious flaw in Theron’s plans, and the oddities had made them doubt Theron once again. In truth, when Theron came here today, Dean Thistle had already decided to kill him.
It had been obvious to Burne that Theron had manipulated Sawyer into drawing Kai near him. And in the end, that had obviously cost Kai his life.
But this all also meant something else… Theron had sensed something odd about Kai’s obsession with herbs and somehow took advantage.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to prove that Theron was already aware of the Verdant Bloomstone ahead of time. The group of three—that being Sawyer, Kai, and Yonowai—had bullied Theron before in the past. That was part of their due diligence on Theron.
Who knew if Kai had let something slip at some point because of that?
On top of that, there was also news that Theron had once been close with Thessa and those disciples of the Luminescent Moon Sect as well… there were simply too many ways a boy as intelligent as Theron could have picked up the clues he needed.
“You’re dismissed, Burne.”
Burne paled.
“Have Sierra replace your teaching duties for now. You’ve been working for me for a long while and you’ve grown tired. Take a vacation. I will call you when I need you.”
Burne took a breath.
“Understood, Dean.”
Bowing his head, Burne then turned and left.
Dean Thistle didn’t seem to notice the departure, his fiery eyes locked onto the Verdant Bloomstone. This… would change everything.
…
Burne slowly walked out of the building, taking deep, slow breaths to calm himself.
“Out of a job?”
The Spirit Mancer’s gaze sharpened, his head snapping toward Theron who leaned on a pillar.
“Enjoy retirement, old man. Maybe you can use your extra time to learn how to clean stuff up yourself. Contract a broom or something and get to sweeping.”
After saying these words, Theron left.
Burne stood there, clenching his fists so hard blood trickled down his wrinkles.