This sudden action left everyone present stunned once again.
The conversation between Duke Alisker and Duke Barton came to a sudden halt, and the worry on Lady Eleanor’s face froze.
Everyone’s eyes focused on Bell’s arm, which he had just yanked back.
That movement contained a kind of rejection that bordered on absolute.
“Bell?”
His mother Eleanor’s call carried a hint of confusion and hurt.
Cecilia, whose arm had been thrown off in front of everyone, swayed slightly. She looked at Bell in disbelief, her eyes welling up with moisture, instantly filled with grievance and panic.
“Brother...”
She trembled, reaching out the hand that had been cast aside, seemingly wanting to grab him again but not daring to.
That pitiful appearance of being abandoned by her closest relative was enough to move even the coldest of hearts.
Bell’s scalp tingled.
He could feel the disapproving gazes from those around him, especially from his parents.
In everyone’s eyes, he was an immature older brother who had roughly pushed away his young sister in front of a crowd.
But only he knew that what he had just broken free from was not a sister’s hand, but a cold venomous snake that was about to coil around his neck.
“Sorry.”
Bell forced himself to speak, each word feeling as if it were squeezed through his teeth.
He lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Cecilia’s face, which was written with “betrayal.”
“Just now... the uniform was a bit tight; it was choking me.”
This excuse was so poor that he found it laughable himself.
Sure enough.
“Bell Lucas!”
Duke Alisker’s scolding came, filled with suppressed fury. “What are you doing! Apologize to your sister this instant!”
“Yes, Bell,” Mother Eleanor also hurriedly interjected. She walked over and distressedly pulled Cecilia into her arms. “Your sister is just too dependent on you. How could you treat her like that?”
Cecilia leaned into her mother’s arms, her small shoulders twitching as she let out suppressed sobs that sounded heartbreakingly sad.
Barton Wolfgang watched this farce from the side, a trace of playful awkwardness on his face.
And his son, the boy named Leon, remained expressionless throughout. Only his blue eyes swept back and forth between Bell and Cecilia with a hint of scrutiny.
Bell was suffocated by his father’s anger and his mother’s blame.
He knew he had to apologize.
Otherwise, even more terrifying consequences awaited him.
He took a deep breath, walked up to Cecilia, and stiffly bent down.
“I’m sorry, Cecilia. It was my fault.”
Cecilia lifted her head from her mother’s arms. her small face was stained with tears, looking like a rain washed pear blossom that would move anyone to pity.
She reached out her small hand and timidly, gently, touched the edge of Bell’s clothes.
“Brother... do you hate me?”
Her voice was raspy from crying, filled with unease.
“No.”
Bell lied.
“Then... are you angry with me because I broke Brother Wolfgang’s ice butterfly?”
She asked again, looking cautious as if she were afraid of being blamed.
She was guiding him.
She was attributing Bell’s behavior to “taking his anger out on his sister because she caused trouble.”
In this way, his abnormal behavior just now had a “reasonable” explanation.
And she, instead of being a sister who might be “hated” by her brother, became a pitiful child who was being lashed out at for being mischievous.
What a way to distort the truth.
Bell’s heart sank into a cold abyss.
“I’m not angry,” he could only follow her lead. “You’re still young; it’s normal to have poor magic control.”
Hearing his “assurance,” Cecilia immediately broke into a smile through her tears.
“Great! I knew Brother was the best!”
The damp tear tracks felt like a stinging burn on Bell’s skin through the uniform fabric.
He thought of his past life, where she had held him just like this.
Bell stood there stiffly, letting her embrace him.
Although Duke Alisker’s expression was still a bit sour, seeing that his younger daughter had stopped crying, he didn't say anything more, merely giving Bell a harsh glare.
Lady Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief and affectionately stroked Cecilia’s hair.
The opening ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the academy.
The long and tedious speech from the headmaster made most of the freshmen drowsy.
Bell, however, was restless.
Cecilia sat right next to him. Since a moment ago, her small hand had been tightly gripping his, their fingers interlocking without leaving a single gap.
That soft small hand gripped him so tightly he wanted to shake it off immediately.
But he didn't dare.
The surrounding area was full of people, and his parents were in the first row not far away.
He could feel the strength of Cecilia’s grip shifting between light and heavy.
She was using this method to silently remind him, soothe him, and... threaten him.
Finally, the ceremony ended.
Next was the part the freshmen looked forward to the most and were also most nervous about—the Sorting Ceremony.
The Royal Academy of Magic had four houses, named after four legendary elemental dragons: “Ignis,” representing fire and courage; “Aqua,” representing water and wisdom; “Ventus,” representing wind and freedom; and “Terra,” representing earth and tenacity.
The sorting was decided by an ancient Mirror of Truth, which would reflect the student’s most potential magic attribute.
The freshmen lined up and walked onto the high platform one by one.
Soon, it was Leon Wolfgang’s turn.
He walked up to the platform with a cold expression. When he stood before the mirror, the surface glowed with a brilliant blue light, and a clear emblem of “Aqua” composed of water elements emerged.
Applause and admiration rose from below.
An ice mage being sorted into Aqua was well deserved.
Next was Bell.
He walked up to the high platform, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.
He didn't know where he would be sorted. In his past life, he was just an ordinary person, and in this life, he had never systematically studied magic.
He stood before the mirror, and the surface remained silent for a long time.
Just as Bell thought he might have no talent at all, a soft, emerald green light finally appeared on the mirror.
An emblem of “Terra,” composed of vines and rocks, slowly took shape.
Earth attribute.
Although not the most outstanding, it wasn't bad either.
Bell breathed a sigh of relief and walked down the platform.
Then.
Cecilia walked up to the high platform.
Her small figure appeared particularly eye catching on the massive platform.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on her, including the academy’s teachers.
After all, the news of a genius who had entered the academy as soon as she came of age and could instantly cast all elemental magic had already spread throughout the academy’s upper echelons.
Cecilia stood still before the Mirror of Truth.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
The next second.
Vrrr—!
The Mirror of Truth let out a violent hum!
On the mirror, it was no longer a single light.
Crimson, azure, emerald, bright yellow... the four pure elemental lights representing fire, water, wind, and earth erupted from the mirror simultaneously!
The lights intertwined and eventually converged into a piercing, pure beam that seemed capable of purifying everything...
A white pillar of light!
That pillar of light soared into the sky, directly piercing through the dome of the hall!
The entire hall was illuminated as bright as day by this holy light!
Everyone was dumbfounded by this never before seen sight, and the room fell into a dead silence.
The old headmaster on the platform suddenly stood up from his chair, the staff in his hand dropping to the ground as he cried out in shock:
“Holy... holy attribute! This is... the legendary all elemental affinity!”
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