Chapter 732: Election Day

Sunlight shone brightly over the Royal Academy as students made their way through its different districts to resume their classes as usual.

The morning appeared no different from any other.

Students walked along the familiar paths, some talking with their friends while others hurried towards the general classroom.

Servants accompanied their young masters and ladies, carrying their belongings or walking a short distance behind them.

However, there was something occupying the minds of many students.

Especially the First-Years and Second-Years.

Election Day had finally arrived.

Some students could barely concentrate during their classes.

Their attention kept drifting towards the elections, and even when they tried to focus on their lessons, conversations about the candidates found their way into their groups.

The campaigns had already ended.

Every Faction Board had done its part to improve the chances of its candidates, and the students had spent the past few days listening to speeches, watching debates and discussing who deserved their votes.

There had been arguments between supporters, unexpected declarations of allegiance and even attempts to turn students against certain candidates.

Some candidates had managed to attract more attention than others, while a few had struggled to make their names known beyond their own factions.

Now, there was nothing left to do but cast their votes.

Once the classes came to an end, students began making their way straight to the Mix Arena’s assembly ground.

The Student Council had already arranged the place for the election.

The assembly ground had been divided into two separate voting sections, with one side reserved for the Second-Year students and the other for the First-Years.

Each year group had its own queue and voting area.

The lines led towards three podiums positioned on their respective sides of the demarcated stage.

A Zphone Tablet had been placed on each podium, allowing three students from the same year group to vote simultaneously.

Temporary wooden partitions had been set up around the podiums to block the view from the waiting lines.

That way, students standing behind those who were voting wouldn’t be able to see which candidate had been selected on the tablets.

There was also a checkpoint before the podiums.

Students had to pass through it and be checked by Student Council members before they were allowed into the voting area.

The arrangement was the same on both sides.

The Second-Years had their own checkpoint and three podiums, while the First-Years had a separate checkpoint and another three podiums of their own.

In total, six students could cast their votes at once, with three voting in each section.

However, the candidates had been given priority.

All candidates from both year groups would cast their votes first.

Once they had finished, the remaining students would begin voting through their respective queues.

With the arrangement in place, the voting process moved at a steady pace.

Even so, considering the number of students who had to cast their votes, it would still take some time before everything was completed.

Ezra and Cyrus were among the early students to arrive at the assembly ground.

They managed to get into the lines closer to the front, which was fortunate.

The crowd had already begun to gather, and the number of students waiting made it clear that getting through the process would take a while.

The three podiums on their side helped keep the line moving, but there were still plenty of students waiting behind them.

Lucy waited nearby with Hermione, who was also waiting for her Lady to vote.

The two maids remained outside the voting lines, watching the students as they moved through the separate sections.

There wasn’t much for them to do until their respective masters finished voting.

In the First-Year line...

Diane leaned against Ezra’s back, sleeping while standing.

She had apparently decided that waiting in line was a waste of time that could be spent sleeping.

Whenever the line moved, she simply used Ezra to move along with it without having to disturb her rest.

Cyrus stood behind Diane with both hands in his pockets, listening to music from his headset.

Ezra’s plain black eyes remained focused on what was happening around him.

He wasn’t particularly interested in the activity, but since he was standing in the line, he decided to observe his surroundings to pass the time.

The students ahead of them gradually moved towards the voting area.

Some were talking with their friends, while others looked towards the podiums, waiting for the next opportunity to move forward.

Occasionally, students who had already voted came out from behind the wooden partitions and walked away from the stage.

A few of them immediately began discussing their choices with their companions, while others simply continued towards the exits.

Two friends passed at a distance from where Ezra’s line was positioned, smiling excitedly after finishing their votes.

They appeared pleased with something, though Ezra didn’t pay much attention to them.

It’s clear who the winner is.

Ezra thought plainly.

From all the commotion before the elections to the point where the debates had become more frequent, the likely outcome for their year’s General Representative position had become rather clear.

Vera was one of the strongest candidates.

Even though she wasn’t particularly interested in winning the election, she was still running for the position.

Her influence within the Academy was simply too large to overlook.

She had two of the biggest influencers who could give her a massive boost in votes.

Sasha Burnwick and Diane Bergwyn.

The line moved forward by a few steps.

Ezra followed without changing his expression, while Diane continued using his back as support.

Not to mention, Vera has the most followers in the Academy.

Just those three, without even adding Princess Stella Aethelmont, her own friends and close followers, already made it possible for Vera to finish strongly in second place.

Then there were all the other influential students supporting her.

And with all of this in consideration...

First place was without a doubt.

Willow Derlis.

Vera had already made her choice known, despite being a candidate herself.

She had decided to support Willow, and her decision carried considerable weight among the students who followed her.

It was one of the reasons the outcome seemed so clear to Ezra.

He continued observing the students around him as the queue slowly advanced.

That’s why I believed the accusation against Tristin’s group was done to cause trouble for the Royal Crest Faction, as well as create major problems for my own faction.

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that the accusation had also been used as a disguise to stir up trouble for him mainly.

I’m sure the third party knew Felix would come up with a plan to use the accusation against me, turning the crowd against me and also affecting Willow and Vera’s positions.

The situation had created several problems at once.

It wasn’t simply a matter of making the students question Ezra.

The accusation had also provided an opportunity to interfere with the positions of two of the strongest candidates in the First-Year election.

Ezra glanced behind him, looking at Diane before turning his eyes towards Cyrus.

Cyrus noticed him looking and waved playfully.

Ezra turned back to face the front.

The key point was that, with one action, that third party was able to create different scenarios to strike all the targets.

He considered the matter for a moment.

That makes me more certain it has to be someone with a top-level scheming sense, that made up the plan.

The third party was already aware that the other candidates weren’t much of a threat.

That was another detail Ezra had begun to notice when looking back at the campaign period.

Stacy Brittan only had a small number of supporters, even within her own faction.

Ravenor Burnwick, on the other hand, did have a good number of supporters.

However, he lacked considerably in how he presented his campaigns, which hadn’t helped his chances in the slightest.

Then there was Grace Evergrey...

Ezra paused his thoughts as he began moving towards the stage.

The students ahead of him had reached the checkpoint.

After passing through the checks, they proceeded towards the podiums, where the tablets were waiting for them.

The Student Council members checked Ezra, Diane and Cyrus before allowing them to move forward to vote.

Grace is actually a puppet being used to help Fatima Drakes.

Ezra continued his thoughts as he approached the voting area.

Looking at it more and more now, Grace was only being used to gather more support.

She acted as though she were a genuine candidate, but in truth, she was gathering those supporters for Fatima Drakes.

At the end of the day...

Maxwell might have slightly lost to Fatima because of this hidden fact.

But then again, it was a necessary method that had to be used, because both Willow and Vera were the strongest candidates.

Ezra continued walking until he stopped in front of the Zphone Tablet on the right side.

The screen displayed all the candidates’ names and pictures, each one placed inside a circular frame.

He looked over the available choices.

There was no need to spend much time considering them.

His decision had already been made.

He raised his hand and placed his thumb on Willow’s picture.

A blue scanning light moved across his thumb.

It travelled over his skin before changing to green.

The screen displayed Ezra’s name, adding it to the list of students who had voted for Willow.

After a brief moment, the tablet returned to its original display, ready for the next student.

Ezra withdrew his hand and left the stage.

"Ez, wait for me."

Diane called lightly.

She moved forward, raising both hands to hold Ezra’s shoulders as she followed him away from the voting area.

Some of the boys still waiting in line at the checkpoint stared at Ezra.

There was jealousy and envy in their eyes.

But as always, Ezra didn’t pay much attention to them.

He simply continued walking, with Diane holding his shoulders from behind and Cyrus following after them, still listening to his music.