Chapter 43: The Fourth Prince

"Prince Zenyph, shall I tell them or do you want to?" asked Professor Garreth, with his normal expression back, except he gave him an unreadable stare.

"You may tell them sir." responded Zenyph politely.

Garreth gave Zenyph a nod as he faced the class. "The reason both Alice and Audrey aren't here is simple. Zenyph and his maid killed Alice and then killed Audrey. These are the facts, I am not sugarcoating anything." He revealed as the classroom grew loud once again.

"What!? No, I refuse to believe it. You must be mistaken or lying," screamed Cristina furiously, standing up from her chair.

"What why would they kill them? I thought you guys got along?" asked Alaric as he looked at Zenyph curiously, he wanted to see for himself.

"We did get along, but unfortunately Alice lost her mind due to an attack caused by the Abyssal and Lynette did what was necessary for everyone's safety." lied Zenyph, showing a calm and composed front.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You expect me to believe that? Abyssals can't use mind magic. Don't treat me like a fool Zenyph, you murdered my friend. So why? Tell me, damn it!" spat Cristina angrily, her fists clenched tightly in anger. Her entire body trembled slightly.

"As I said Alice was losing her mind for some reason and tried to attack Lynette, she acted in self-defense. Unfortunately, Lynette wasn't strong enough to restrain Alice so she had to resort to killing her," replied Zenyph, as he stared cooly at Cristina, acting unaffected by her display of emotion.

"As for Audrey, she walked in with me when we found Alice's severed head and she lost her mind. I had to use all my magic to try and restrain her. Eventually, she was too much for me but Lynette intervened and saved me, sadly she didn't have the power to spare Audrey so she was forced to kill her too," Zenyph lied once again.

He didn't regret his words though, not in the slightest. He believed that there was no point in trying to argue with her. He would be wasting time arguing about things he can't change. He didn't need her to agree with his reasoning nor approve of his actions. His only concern was how Lynette and Asura felt about him. Asura felt conflicted with his response but Lynette felt happy at his actions.

Cristina and Katyana both felt sick to their stomach when Zenyph mentioned Alice's severed head. They both knew he was lying but what he was saying could be true. They didn't know a lot about them. Maybe he was telling the truth and Alice really went insane? Who knows?

Cristina thought back to the words her older brother used to tell her. Her brother always told her that sometimes, no matter how wrong a certain situation seemed, there's usually a hidden reason behind it. She couldn't deny that there might be more to Zenyph's explanation than meets the eye. Her brain screamed at her not to trust his story. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to challenge him further. Something in her gut told her that there was something she was overlooking, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was. She needed more evidence.

So for the time being she decided to go with the flow. It wasn't like she could prove Zenyph's claim anyway, so why waste energy trying to find faults in it? But Katyana was different, humans have been looked down upon ever since the formation of the Mythralis Empire. The average human is significantly weaker than the average dragon. The only reason humans stand side by side with the other races is because they are the only ones who can learn enchantment magic. And the fact King Pendragon is at the demonic rank. Zenyph killing an innocent human woman, rubbed Katyana the wrong way. She felt disgusted at the dragon, even if he said he killed her for his own safety, she knew it was an excuse. She just knew it, she hated dragons more than she loved her status. She needed to expose this murderer, she didn't care what happened to her afterward.

"Liar, you killed Alice on purpose!" screamed Katyana furiously, pointing accusingly at Zenyph. Her body trembled uncontrollably, as tears streamed down her face.

Zenyph remained calm despite her outburst. He merely glanced at her before turning away without a word. He saw no reason to refute her allegations. It would only lead to further conflict between the two parties, and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs. If he were to show weakness now, she might press her luck and become more aggressive towards him. So he simply ignored her and sat back in his seat quietly.

His demeanor unnerved Katyana greatly.

"Oh silly me, I forgot we had a recording of their deaths. Shall I play them?" said the Professor, like he was talking about the weather.

Zenyph, Lynette, and Asura looked at each other wide-eyed, in shock. 'A recording device?' they simultaneously thought.

Katyana and Cristina were also surprised, albeit for a different reason. How dare Zenyph be so confident and cool when his lies are being exposed? Anger flooded their minds, yet none spoke a word.

Without waiting for a response, the ancient teacher summoned the recording device out of nowhere. He turned the recording to where Lynette and Alice were talking about Zenyph. Zenyph was pissed that someone secretly recorded them, he knew there were people capable of teleporting but to peep in on his room is taking it too far.

The other students were stunned into silence.

As the Professor was about to raise the volume so that they could all hear the conversation, the mana where the audio was stored became corrupted.

"Interesting." muttered the professor as he once again glanced at Zenyph.

The rest of the scene played where Lynette's brutal killing of Alice and Zenyph's ruthless killing of Audrey. He then turned off the device and put it back into his robe.

The room was deathly silent, the tension between Zenyph, Cristina, and Katyana was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The other students avoided looking directly into Zenyph's eyes out of fear and respect for his authority. They all had heard the rumors of the useless fourth prince but obviously, this wasn't him. Some were horrified while others were indifferent towards his actions. Others pitied Zenyph because he practically made an enemy of the entire class and he still has the bounty.

"What? No fucking comeback?" hissed Cristina sarcastically, glaring icily at Zenyph, her hatred evident in her gaze.

"Well, if you insist on provoking me..." murmured Zenyph as he stared defiantly into her emerald green eyes, refusing to back down. He felt incredibly confident, confident in the strength of his conviction. He finally felt free. He was a dragon now. A royal dragon. A weak human and a weak elf trying to fight him? Please. They don't stand a chance. He was superior to them, superior in every way possible. And he would prove it. He would show them why he deserved to be the number one student, why he deserved to be the crown prince, and why he deserved to be the next emperor. His inner dragon roared with excitement.

"Cristina, Katyana please just listen to their reason." asked Asura in a slightly pleading tone, one she hadn't used in ages. She shocked the entire class, even Zenyph.

His surprise quickly turned into a slight frown. Asura was using her submissive, naive, and meek personality, instead of her dominant, confident, and powerful persona. Zenyph felt irritated by the sudden shift in character. Why would she ever use that facade? She was so much more than that. He hated seeing her like this. She was stronger than this. So why did she bother trying to defend him?

"Asura what the fuck? Why would you defend this disappointment of a prince?'' said Katyana with venom dripping from her voice, she felt like Asura was betraying her. Asura's entire aura shifted. She was ready to kill this bitch. But she quickly regained control and calmed down. She decided not to give in to her desire to murder Katyana. After all, she couldn't risk jeopardizing her relationship with Zenyph. So she just chose to ignore the bitch and pretend to not have heard her question.

"You all should-'' she was cut short by Zenyph.

"There's no need to defend me, Asura. Yes, I killed Audrey and I ordered Lynette to kill Alice. For no fucking reason. What are you going to do about it?"