Chapter 547 - So As Not To Embarrass Myself.
The Orientation officers blinked before they looked down at the green robe on their desk in disbelief before they looked back up at Melinda who was wearing a light frown,
"Excuse me?" One of the orientation officers said to which Melinda shrugged,
"You heard me. I decline. I mean we all have the rights to accept or decline claims." She said.
The other Orientation officer frowned while the one who had so far been the most vocal continued,
"Well, you don't have that right..." He looked ready to launch into an entire speech but was quickly interrupted by an urgent beep on the board that those watching were using to communicate with the Orientation Officers.
After the beep, the Orientation officers took a few seconds to read the message before they all looked up at Melinda while one of them addressed her,
"Come with me" he said.
Melinda furrowed her brows,
"To where?"
The Officer smirked,
"Where else? Of course, we're going to meet the one who claimed you personally. I wonder if you will be able to decline in their presence" he said as he led the way out of the hall under the assumption that Melinda would follow.
Melinda took a deep breath and then shrugged,
"Fine" she said and followed after the Orientation officer while one of the other officers remaining in the hall looked directly at Hal even though his words seemed to address everyone,
"The girl's presence is the only one required so you will all remain here as the orientation continues.
"Splendid" Hal said with a false smile that did not hide his curiosity of what was going to be discussed between Hal and the mysterious claimer.
Speaking of the mysterious claimer, he could quite accurately guess who it was as he felt there were likely only two individuals on the Haron continent who could cause such a hush-hush reaction in regards to the claiming of a new student...
... And only one of them had so far been shown to have an active part in the Academy...
...
"It's the Empress isn't it?" Melinda asked as she followed after the Orientation officer who paused briefly before walking on.
"That is information I cannot disclose" he said.
Melinda rolled her eyes,
"That's a yes. Honestly, why hide the fact that it's her when we are the only ones here?" Melinda asked.
The Orientation officer sighed,
"While I neither accept nor debt your guess, I have to point out to you, miss Dane that we are not alone" he said and gestured at the various walking students of the Royal Academy going about their business.
"None of them care about our conversation" Melinda said with a sigh.
"You might change such thoughts after you realize all eyes are on you miss" the Orientation officer said with barely a glance around them.
Indeed, when Melinda looked around, she noticed she was indeed getting looks from males and females alike.
The attention she knew could be very well credited to her beauty made even more attention-grabbing from behind (which was the view they mostly got) by her long calf-length silky black hair.
The Orientation officer continued,
"It will be better we keep quiet while in earshot of all students" he said as he led the way to a Teleportation circle which after a quick input of coordinates took him and Melinda away from the populated area to the very center of the Royal Academy.
Right next to a building that while not the tallest building in the Royal Academy and could very well go unnoticed in the midst of the general grandness of the Academy, Melinda could easily note had three floors.
The building had an isolated quality to it, it was away from all prying eyes, and a tad bit unassuming.
That was not to say it was not elegant because it was.
In fact, it looked to have been built to be simple and elegant.
At the very least, it was not to be overly eye-catching.
"This building is for the Principal and the Principal alone" the Orientation officer said as he allowed Melinda to take a few moments to take in the building in all its simplicity.
"One person makes use of a building with three floors?" Melinda found that a little hard to believe.
The orientation officer chuckled a bit before he said,
"Actually, yes. She needed the space for her books. This building used to hold dignified members of the Academy in the days before the Empress' administration but once she took over, things changed.
Or at least, that is what I have been told.
Many wondered how only she would make use of such a large building but as it turns out, she just wanted to turn the building into her personal library.
Apparently, her study was nowhere enough to hold all the books of knowledge she has.
The strange thing is, from what I've heard, she is on track to get even more.
I mean, how many books can one person read?
Even if she is over 5000 years old, there has to come to a point when enough is enough... Right?" At this point, the Orientation officer paused and looked over at Melinda as though to be sure she was following the conversation.
"Right what?" Melinda asked in confusion as she looked over at the Orientation officer for a second before returning her attention to the building as she said,
"So, she's waiting to speak to me in there?" It was a question whose answer was fairly obvious and Melinda was only asking to prompt the Orientation officer to get moving.
Not because she was not enjoying the gossip she was getting without asking but because she wanted to get the meeting over with.
The Orientation officer nodded his head as he guided Melinda to the building but then pausing at the entrance,
"Anyway, I absolutely admire the Empress and her mere presence in the Academy makes me feel safe but... Well, the books are just too much" he said.
There was a way he said it that told Melinda he was trying his best not to sound offensive because he knew the Empress could very well hear him.
However, since he had felt free enough to state his opinions, then this topic must be the sort of thing the Empress hardly regarded as anything other than a nuisance not worth her attention.
Then they finally went inside the building, heading towards a staircase that led to the second floor.
From the bit Melinda could see of the first floor, it had a lot of rooms and the second floor was no different.
She found it a bit surreal to think that all those rooms were filled with books.
If so, then Hal had grossly understated the Empress's love for knowledge acquisition.
The Orientation officer guided her to the third floor and a room that he opened and led her into.
The Empress was waiting for Melinda there, sitting behind a desk like she had when Hal had visited her in her Study in the Imperial Palace.
"I've brought her, your majesty" the orientation officer said.
The Empress looked up at him with a flat expression devoid of any emotion as she said,
"Very well, that will be all"
The Orientation officer bowed before backing away and out of the room. Leaving Melinda alone with the Empress whose expression changed the moment the door was closed.
Going from flat and void of emotions to smiling as she stood from her seat to walk around her desk towards Melinda who found the sudden change a little creepy.
"Your Majesty, are you okay?" She asked the Empress who was now only a foot or two away from her.
The Empress shrugged as she said,
"Of course I'm fine. It's just that while I did tell your little fiance not to let anyone know about this side of me, I feel he must still have told you the moment he got the chance.. So it was best to drop the act and not embarrass myself."