Chapter 44 He Is Not Just Voidborn

Chapter 44 He Is Not Just Voidborn

I straightened up and calmly blocked Darius, who was putting away the photos.

"Ms. Moore."

Elowen's gaze swept back and forth between us. "Isn't today the award ceremony? You two aren't in the auditorium—what are you doing out here?"

I made up an excuse on the spot. "Too many people in the auditorium. It was stuffy. I came out for some fresh air."

Elowen clearly didn't buy it.

She raised an eyebrow, her eyes falling on my now-dirty dress. "Getting fresh air did that to your clothes? And that musty smell on you—it's like you just crawled out of an underground tomb."

Well…

I guiltily avoided Elowen's gaze, trying to figure out what excuse to make, when Elowen suddenly raised her hand.

A pale blue light enveloped Darius and me.

The grimy dress instantly became clean and tidy, and even the musty smell we had brought from the Spectral Library disappeared.

I looked down at myself, then at Elowen in confusion.

Was she helping us cover this up?

Elowen took out a bottle of perfume and sprayed it on Darius and me.

"All right. Even if you're getting fresh air, watch the time. The award ceremony is about to start. You two should get inside."

I nodded repeatedly. "Okay. Thank you, Ms. Moore."

"Thank you, Ms. Moore." Darius also thanked her, then walked into the auditorium with me.

Luke, Chloe, and Rena were already standing on the award platform.

When Chloe saw us, she immediately waved.

She opened her mouth and mouthed the words: "Hurry up."

Not just the three of them—all the students who had participated in the Bloodthorn Grass factory incident and hadn't run away were standing on the award platform.

Darius and I glanced at each other, planning to quietly slip up and stand at the edge.

But the next moment, Royce's stern voice rang out. "Where are Vanessa and Darius? Didn't anyone tell them what time the ceremony was?"

"No sense of time at all, no understanding of rules. Even if people like this got lucky this time, they'll never amount to anything in the future."

His words were extremely harsh. The three of them were already frowning, and even the professors below were looking at each other with awkward expressions.

Royce clasped his hands behind his back, his tone full of disgust and impatience. "I don't care how your families raised you. Now that you're at Aethergate College of Magic, you're students here, and you need to follow the academy's rules."

He looked up and happened to see Darius and me quietly getting on stage.

Royce looked us up and down with disgust, his eyes finally landing on my bare feet.

"Vanessa. This is the auditorium award platform, not your bedroom. Coming up here barefoot? Do you even take this award ceremony seriously?"

"And that dress of yours, with that big bow in the back—do you think this ceremony is a place for you to show off?"

Royce had brought his targeting out into the open.

I frowned and argued back. "If I remember correctly, the award ceremony didn't make any specific rules about student dress. Besides, this is a dress I specially prepared."

Royce sneered. "Your bare feet are inappropriate. If you ask me, since you don't take this seriously yourself, just leave now. Don't bother with the award."

"I'm properly dressed. Nothing inappropriate is showing. My shoes broke. I'm not deliberately going barefoot." I wasn't afraid of his anger and said calmly. "If a person is truly strong, would an enemy defeat you just because you're not wearing shoes today?"

Royce hadn't expected me to argue back in public. His face turned very ugly.

He pointed at my nose and shouted angrily, "Talking back to a professor—I'm going to give you a punishment."

"You started picking on me first. You're so disrespectful—shouldn't you give yourself a punishment too?" I shot back.

Royce was so angry he was breathing hard, glaring at me through gritted teeth.

Suppressed laughter came from below the stage.

Royce's character wasn't popular among the other professors either.

"We mages should focus on ourselves. We don't need to be so picky about other things," someone in the crowd spoke up first.

Others nodded in agreement.

Royce's face darkened, and he stopped talking.

"Since everyone's here, let's begin the award ceremony." A cool yet serious voice rang out.

Everyone in the hall respectfully lowered their heads.

I lowered my head too.

The next moment, I saw a figure appear in front of me.

"Vanessa, you're very brave and have strong convictions." Principal Celeste's voice sounded before me.

"Thank you for the compliment."

I bowed, then looked up to meet her gentle yet sharp eyes.

Celeste looked at me deeply for a moment, then turned and walked to the front of the stage.

The magic amplifier, with its pair of pure white wings, fluttered around Celeste, carrying her voice clearly to everyone's ears in the auditorium.

The principal's speech was mostly praising how well we had performed in the Enchanted Forest.

But not just Principal Celeste—many professors below were also attributing the credit to me.

"Vanessa performed excellently as team leader this time, calm and decisive. She definitely has a bright future ahead."

"Not only that, I heard her performance during the trial was the most outstanding."

"We were able to successfully resolve the Bloodthorn Grass factory incident thanks to Vanessa."

My eyes flickered slightly. After they finished speaking, I took the initiative to step forward.

"Everyone, I have something to say."

Celeste was interested. "Oh? Vanessa, do you have something to add?"

"The successful resolution of the Bloodthorn Grass factory incident wasn't just because of me. It was more about everyone working together."

"Everyone already knows about the contributions of the students standing on this platform, so that's not what I want to talk about."

"I want to specifically mention the contribution this student made. If he hadn't risked his life to step up, we couldn't have succeeded so smoothly."

People looked at each other in confusion.

I turned and gave Darius a bright smile. Under his startled gaze, I took his hand and had him stand beside me.

"That person is Darius."

As soon as I said this, the whole hall erupted.

"Really? Aren't Voidborn dark mages?"

"This is crazy. It's already a miracle if a Voidborn doesn't kill people. How could he help?"

"Don't forget about that incident back then."

Darius slowly lowered his eyes, and the hand holding mine unconsciously tightened.

I squeezed his hand to comfort him and continued. "During the Bloodthorn Grass incident, Darius saved the situation multiple times at critical moments and was seriously injured protecting us."

I carefully listed everything Darius had done, one by one.

By the end, the way people looked at Darius had changed.

Darius raised his head, looking at me from the side, his eyes gentle and slightly red.

My tone was firm. "No matter what kind of power it is, there's no good or bad. What matters is who wields that power. I will always trust Darius. I believe he won't use dark magic to do bad things."

The award ceremony ended. Luke had someone bring me a pair of flat shoes. They didn't match the dress, but they were comfortable to wear.

Darius and I walked side by side back to dorm 719.

The night breeze was cool. The silver and purple moons complemented each other, casting their elegant, serene light on us.

"Why did you say those things today?" Darius suddenly spoke.

His tone was full of confusion. "Everyone thought so highly of you. You didn't need to say anything—just stand there quietly and enjoy the glory that belonged to you. But you had to mention me."

"After all, when those people see me, they're all disgusted."

I stopped and looked up at him.

Darius's silver-gray hair gleamed softly in the moonlight, and those gray eyes were full of worry.

"Are you going to tell me again that I shouldn't be too close to you in front of everyone?" I asked.

Darius was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't mean anything by it. It's just that this situation was special. The professors, even the principal, were there. By saying what you did today, you were basically telling them that our relationship isn't simple."

"I'm worried that this might affect your future."

I shrugged carelessly, my tone frank. "I was just telling the truth. You and I are both students at the academy. What we did deserves recognition. How would that affect me?"

I took his hand in mine. "You are who you are. Dark magic is just a type of magic, not something evil."

"But—" Darius wanted to say more, but I interrupted him.

"Don't you want to be public with me? Am I still your girlfriend?"

"Of course you are." Darius nodded without hesitation.

"Then we're one. No matter what happens in the future, I'll face it with you."

I threw myself into Darius's arms and hugged him.

"I said I'd always stand by your side. Their impression of you all comes from misunderstanding dark magic. I'll change their views together with you."

The breeze blew, and his silver-gray hair floated. The strands brushed past like feathers, making my heart feel soft.

After a while, I let go of Darius on my own. "All right. Let's get back."

I winked at him. "Don't forget, we came back with loot."

Darius remembered too and nodded immediately. "Let's go."

Our hands clasped together again. The moment I lifted my foot, my movement paused slightly, and I instinctively turned to look behind me.

Was it my imagination?

Just at that moment, I seemed to feel a cold, unfriendly gaze staring at me.