Chapter 362: 362

In the Ostrich family residence, the family head Jonathan Ostrich went to see the family ancestor, his father Benjamin Ostrich.

“What do you want from this old man, son?” Benjamin asked when he saw the frown on Jonathan’s brows.

Jonathan sighed.

“Father, there’s a bit of a problem with Ana…” he finally said.

Normally if an Ostrich child caused a scandal like Ana did, the family head wouldn’t hesitate to act, but Ana was a special case.

Jonathan himself didn’t really like her all that much, so he wanted to deal with things quickly, especially since some Elders were urging him to, but at the same time, he knew just how much Benjamin doted on her.

If he found out she had been punished, he would have taken action.

Also, even if he found out she had a secret lover, he wouldn’t mind it.

Maybe it was because he couldn’t take care of her properly when her parents died, and guilt was gnawing at him, but Benjamin allowed Ana to do basically anything.

And though he was no longer the family head, he still held high authority in the family.

So if Jonathan wanted to somehow punish Ana, he first had to go through his father and convince him punishment was needed.

“What happened?” Benjamin asked the moment he heard the name Ana. He had yet to hear the rumors from the academy.

So Jonathan used that.

Apparently she got associated with some kind of dangerous man of her own accord and then ended up getting in an argument with Vincent over it. He made it sound like Ana was at fault.

But Benjamin wasn’t a complete fool and had seen quite the number of schemes when he was still actively engaging in the family activities, so he wouldn’t let Jonathan mess with his brain.

“If she had an argument with her father, it’s for them to talk it out together,” he said calmly.

Though he was quite curious about who the man that Ana had gotten involved with was.

Getting such an answer from his father, Jonathan refused to let up.

“Father, you are missing the point. The argument Ana had with Vincent isn’t important. What’s important is that she has associated herself with a dangerous man of unknown origins and could harm not only herself, but also the academy and family. This cannot be left as it is now. The consequences would be terrible,” Jonathan was insistent.

Seeing how his son was acting, Benjamin wanted to know what he was planning.

And since it wouldn’t harm to ask, that much he did: “What do you want me to do with this? You know I can’t just go to the academy and deal with the situation there.”

When Benjamin said that, Jonathan knew he had partially succeeded in getting what he wanted.

He just needed to convince his father to let him punish Ana when she returned from the academy.

“Father, you don’t need to do anything, just please, do not indulge the girl when she comes back so she gets the chance to realize her mistake,” he spoke calmly, but Benjamin could hear he was a bit hurried with his words.

That made Benjamin frown a bit; he could see his son’s intentions.

He basically wanted him to completely not interfere when Ana returned.

With a frown on his face Benjamin spoke again:

“Jonathan, you know how hard a life the girl has. Just leave her be after making sure she doesn’t get herself or someone else into danger.”

Jonathan wasn’t happy with that answer, but he knew it was pointless to argue with his father.

He would just have to try to convince him again some other time.

The persuasion wasn’t in a rush.

As a student in the academy, Ana wouldn’t return to the family residence for a while.

By then, Jonathan would have already convinced everyone, including his father, that she needed to be punished.

While Jonathan was scheming all that, the girl in question, Michelle, staying as Ana, was satisfied that her own scheme worked.

Alexander had been named a guest teacher, a temporary post.

With a satisfied smirk on her face, Michelle walked through the academy grounds, concealed by the Heavenly Law’s ignorance, listening to what the students were talking about.

And that was when she heard a familiar voice.

Walking over, she indeed saw someone she knew in a group of other students.

The students were all at least a year older than him, all senior to him, but they were clearly respectful to him.

Well, and it was to be expected: the person Michelle saw was none other than the headmaster’s first and only son, Leonard Ostrich.

Of course the other students wanted to get on his good side.

He could potentially help them if they ended up in trouble in the academy.

Standing nearby, Michelle decided to listen to the conversation, and she was pleasantly surprised.

Leonard was actually defending her when the students asked him about the rumors.

Originally the rumors were only that Ana had a lover her father didn’t approve of, but it got exaggerated every time it was retold, so when Leonard heard it, it was already said that Ana had a presumptuous relationship with a stranger.

Leonard refused to believe that.

He didn’t know Ana all that much, but from the few times he interacted with her, he could tell she wouldn’t do something so scandalous.

As Michelle listened, she could tell that Leonard was not only good at judging and seeing through people, but also at convincing and leading groups of people.

He had a natural charm and it also seemed that as the grandson of the family head, he got some kind of training or education in leading people, as it was highly possible he would once become the family head himself.

To Michelle, that was a bit surprising.

In the world of cultivation, Leonard was still considered young; some would even view him as a child.

Also, the family head already had an heir, Francis Ostrich, so it seemed there was no need for Leonard to be trained from a young age.

The more Michelle found out about the Ostrich family, the more she thought it was strange.

But she had no way to compare it to other families from the upper realm, since they were the only ones she had been in contact with.

And Alexander could contact her by telling the shadow guard next to him.

The moment Michelle’s gaze fell on Noctis, he knew someone was near even though no one was around.

With the desire to get answers to her question without further delay, Michelle left the academy’s open space and went behind the dormitory building.

No one really went there, so it was relatively safe to talk with Noctis there.

When Michelle rounded the corner of the building, she saw Noctis standing there, already waiting for her.

“Milady, how can I help you?” he quickly asked.

“Why do so many Emperor rankers stay in the upper realm, even though their power should allow them to cross the barrier?” she asked nearly instantly.

Noctis wasn’t expecting such a question, since it had nothing to do with what was going on, but he didn’t think much about it.

He had no plans to engage in a personal conversation with Michelle. That would be the same thing as signing his death sentence.

“Milady, it’s because for the past two centuries, a powerful group has been blocking the barrier, not letting anyone through. Only those powerful enough to bypass their detection can go. Those guys can even detect and break spatial rifts, leading to nasty deaths.”

Noctis explained, trying to keep the facts simple so Michelle wouldn’t get annoyed.

Unlike Unlucien, he was scared of Michelle as much as he was of Alexander.

Thus, Michelle decided not to think about it too much.

She would get the answer eventually. There was no way she wouldn’t get a chance to interact with other families while in the upper realm.

The upper realm was the place where her father, Philip Grace, lived, so even though she knew she would eventually go up to the heavenly realm, it wouldn’t be right away.

Thinking about her father, Michelle was reminded of the fact that with his rank—peak Emperor rank—he could ascend to the heavenly realm. So why did he stay in the upper realm?

And Philip Grace wasn’t the only one like that.

Even in the Ostrich Academy, there were some teachers of the same rank, but they chose to stay in the upper realm.

So there either had to be a reason that made staying in the upper realm more beneficial, or there was another condition in crossing to the heavenly realm—one that even Emperor rankers couldn’t overcome.

Curious about it, Michelle glanced around until she spotted Noctis.

That was a bit strange, because up until a while ago, the one following her around was Unlucien, and Noctis was following Alexander.

She didn’t know that the change happened because both Noctis and Unlucien were worried about Alexander’s possessiveness, so neither of them wanted to stay near her for too long.

Thus, they agreed to regularly switch their positions.

Alexander didn’t care about it.

He just wanted one of the shadow guards to be constantly near Michelle, and the other one next to him.

That way, if he couldn’t be by Michelle’s side—and that would happen a lot—she could contact him by telling the shadow guard by her side.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep