After the incident in the castle, Celine left for her home and discussed the details of what had happened with Calux and he just looked at her with a stupefied look.
Celine of course had omitted some of the stuff like the facts regarding Seraphiel's behavior, the approval of Celine towards Sera pursuing Calux, she still hid some details with the truth letting him know that she had used Seraphiel as a deterrent for the Princess.
"Did you really have to provoke her like that mom?..."
"You know I'll have to see her at the academy, and Sera and I will probably be in the same class, I just feel it is a recipe for disaster."
Celine looked at Calux amused with his answer.
He was just worried about not being able to avoid trouble with the Princess regarding this topic and didn't want Seraphiel to be caught in the crossfire.
Sigh..
He has always been this kind hasn't he?
Her eyes softened when she looked at him, walked over to him and hugged him.
"Son, move forward, always move forward. Seraphiel is a nice girl, therefore I don't want you living in the past."
Calux instantly stiffened at the words.
He had not thought about Sera that way, and here was his mother telling him to push forward.
Although he understood her words, he couldn't just clean his plate and just start over right?
Although his feelings towards the princess were not the same, he just couldn't go to someone else, at least not yet.
"I can't die alone right? I just need time mom, but I'll keep your words close to my heart alright?"
That was all Celine needed, she happily hugged him tighter and they just stayed there for a few seconds in silence.
..
Like that, the remaining days past by in a flash.
Calux and Seraphiel went into a D rank dungeon every day for the past twelve days, unfortunately since they were rank D rifts, the drop rate for skill books and such was not as good as higher end dungeons, and they unfortunately didn't get any more skill books.
However, that wasn't the case for the boss cores, Seraphiel decided to save the mutated boss core for last, and since they went hunting for D rank rifts every day, she had to take the rest of the day to refine the mana between her body and core using those boss cores, therefore she still hadn't used that core and she planned to use it to break through to C- rank hopefully.
As it stood, today they left for the capital, Xilaris, and although Calux had not increased his refinement, he had increased his proficiency in every skill he had against beasts.
Seraphiel on the other hand, was at the peak of the D+ rank, all she needed now was a few hours to break through in both body and mana core and she would finally catch up to Calux.
Thankfully, before the academy entrance exam, they would have two days in Xilaris to settle into the manor owned by the Voidbane's near the Academy, that was plenty of time for Seraphiel to break through and stand at the top of the rankings for first year mana core rank alone.
It is important to note, that in these two weeks, Calux and Seraphiel had definitely gotten close, Calux was not just a friend to her, he also thought her and gave her insight while in the rifts that could prove very useful if she ever found herself alone in a fight that was not to her advantage.
On one hand Calux was visibly more relax and comfortable with Seraphiel, he had also time to think about what his mother had said and he agreed that if Seraphiel wasn't against it, he would definitely pursue her when they got to know each other better.
On the other, Seraphiel felt Calux was someone irreplaceable to her, not only had he protected her and instructed her multiple times for the only reason of keeping her safe when he wasn't around, he was also extremely kind to her, never being greedy or asking something of her, it really showed how everything he did was solely because it came from his persona, not because he wanted something in exchange, which was a clear 180 turn from what she was used to in the commoner circles.
They shared a connection on a deeper level that she didn't quite understand yet, but she would follow Celine's words and pursue him when she got the chance.
"We're finally at Xilaris!"
Seraphiel shook Calux's body while almost screaming the words.
She was definitely excited to finally leave the North and travel somewhere she had never been before.
Looking at her expression, Calux could only look at her with tender affection, she was like a kid on a stroll.
Seraphiel quickly took note of his look, self reflected on her actions and couldn't help but quickly get some distance from him and look to the opposite side to hide her embarrassment.
Get a hold of yourself girl! How are you going to ask him out eventually if you chicken out at him just looking at you?!
Calux chuckled at her antics, but decided not to tease her further.
"Shall we go to the manor? You need to breakthrough before the exam you know."
He walked over with slow deliberate steps, looking at her with the look that said she couldn't say no because this was for her own good.
She deflated a little because she wanted to explore the city, but...
If she broke through first, then they could explore freely without worries.
"Fine! But after I breakthrough you owe me a dessert or something!"
She said while faking her distress.
This little minx... All she thinks about is sweets huh?
"Fine, fine. While you break through, I'll come up with a place to take you, now lets go!"
Finally, they started walking towards the manor, while on the way Seraphiel looked at everything with genuine excitement.
In the shadows however, someone had been secretly watching the interaction.
"I need to report this information to the Princess. The Voidbane heir seems fairly close to that commoner."
Like that, the shadow disappeared once again.
Calux's spatial awareness however, caught everything in full detail and just silently smirked.
Well, guess it's unavoidable huh.