Chapter 229: Elaria and Edren are gone

"You alright?" Vlad asked Seraphina in his arms as the storm subsided.

’Hehe, father, you finally put your stupid strength to some good use,’ Seraphina snickered inwardly, tugging at Vlad’s T-shirt.

She reluctantly parted from him after a few seconds. "I’m fine."

She observed Chloe’s figure on his back. Her eyes were slightly open but immediately closed when she realised Seraphina was looking at her.

Seraphina merely smiled. "Take Chloe to rest first. I will be waiting for you in my room by midnight," she told Vlad before turning around.

Once she disappeared into the distant setting sun, Chloe moved down from Vlad’s back.

"You awake?" Vlad asked, turning around to find her half-asleep figure.

Her pale lavender eyes were half open, her hair slightly disheveled.

"You will go to Seraphina’s room at midnight?" Chloe demanded, her face unreadable.

’So she heard it,’ he sighed inwardly. "Hmm, she needs my help with something," he admitted.

Since Vlad hadn’t told her himself, she decided not to inquire any further.

"I wanted to stay with you tonight," she muttered under her breath. "But you are so busybody that you have no time for your family."

Vlad blinked. His Chloe was always a cutie, but she rarely asked for attention like this.

He really wanted to stay with her now, but Seraphina’s matter must not be delayed any further.

’What a dilemma?’ He cried inwardly.

"Take some time out of your busy schedule tomorrow," she demanded, pressing her index finger against his chest.

Vlad’s eyes widened slightly. She was actually letting him off the hook. So she hadn’t matured only physically.

"I-I will," Vlad immediately nodded. "I promise tomorrow is Chloe’s day."

Chloe looked at him with her serene, expressionless face, her lavender hair swaying behind her in the cold breeze.

"Are you hungry?" she asked a moment later.

"Of course I am," he lied with a straight face. His body was full of energy thanks to his Art of Dragon Breathing. "You must be hungry too. Let’s grab something in the cafeteria."

"Unh," Chloe nodded. She grabbed his hand as the duo walked towards the main building.

Lucas had dropped them close to Greyveil Forest because rarely any students roamed around this part of the campus in the late evening.

As the duo drew closer to the main building, they attracted more and more attention from the passing students.

"Isn’t that Vlad, the Crownbearer of the first years who supposedly died in the S-Ranked Mission?"

"There couldn’t be anyone else with a face as striking as his. The rumours about him being dead must be false."

"No, he wasn’t there when the team returned. I heard that the academy sent a rescue team for him this morning."

Vlad could hear their murmurs clearly, but neither he nor Chloe paid them any mind. He was just surprised that news of his death had already spread throughout the academy, even though he had returned the same day as the rest of the team, only later in the evening.

"Vlad," Chloe called, her grip tightening around his hand, a hint of restlessness in her eyes.

"What is it, Chloe?" Vlad asked, sensing the distress behind her stoic face.

"Professor Aldric went to the village to inform Mama and Dad about you," she revealed.

Her words caused an immediate reaction from Vlad, the colour draining from his face. No matter what, he needed to stop Aldric.

He would never let his parents suffer the grief of losing their son. Chloe and Seraphina’s tears had already taught him how terrible the grief of losing a loved one could be.

His mother, Elaria, who had cried buckets just to send him to the academy, would never be able to bear such news.

"Chloe, give me your phone," he demanded.

The mana network responsible for making calls didn’t work beyond the Great Wall, so Vlad had left his phone in his room when he left the academy for the mission.

Chloe handed him her phone. Since she didn’t have the authority to call the principal, Vlad dialed Seraphina’s number.

---

Five minutes later....

"I talked to Father about it," Seraphina’s voice came from the phone. "Professor Aldric arrived at Grimwood Village this afternoon. He is already on his way back."

Her revelation left both Vlad and Chloe with their lips parted, since the phone was on speaker. "Damn it," Vlad muttered, his grip tightening around the phone. "I need to visit my parents righ n—"

"There’s no need," Seraphina cut him off mid-sentence. "Professor Aldric didn’t meet your parents."

"You mean?"

"Your parents weren’t home. He waited for a few hours, expecting them to return, but eventually learned from your neighbours that they had left the house a few days ago."

Now both Vlad and Chloe seemed even more worried.

"Mama... Dad," Chloe murmured, holding Vlad’s arm with both hands.

"Don’t worry," Seraphina said in a soft tone upon hearing Chloe’s worried voice. "According to your neighbours, your parents are most likely coming to Velarum because they wanted to see you. Judging by the time they left, they will most likely arrive by tomorrow."

"Mom and Dad are coming here?" Vlad gasped, both confused and surprised.

A sense of relief followed. Thank goodness they weren’t at home. He decided to be more careful from now on. He would never let a situation like this arise again.

"Thank you, Sera," Vlad said, his voice laced with gratitude.

"No need..." Seraphina’s playful voice came from the other side. "As compensation, I will suck you dry toni—"

Beep!

Vlad immediately hit the hang-up button before she could finish her sentence, his face flushing red.

His eyes slowly turned to Chloe, his mind already racing with how he should explain this to her.

"Mama and Dad are coming... Mama and Dad are coming..." Chloe murmured to herself, a faint smile dancing on her lips, her mind completely elsewhere.

’So she didn’t hear anything,’ Vlad released a sigh of relief.

"Vlad, let’s buy a gift for them," she suggested, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Hmm, not a bad idea," Vlad nodded. He grabbed her hand and entered the main building. "We will do it tomorrow. Let me feed my Chloe first."