Ryan immediately raised his newly restored left arm and waved it. Although the adaptation of this natural arm was slightly imperfect, it had already reached over ninety percent compatibility with his original arm.

  With a few more days of gradual adjustment, he would be able to use it completely naturally.

  "Thank you, Grand Elder!" Ryan performed a proper mage's salute toward her.

  This time, his gratitude was genuine. After all, regrowing a severed limb was no simple magic, it consumed a tremendous amount of resources and mental energy.

  "Sit down. I have a few questions for you," Elara said, waving her hand and gesturing for Ryan to take his seat again.

  The group then began to talk about the experiences of their recent training trip.

  During the conversation, Evelyn mostly remained silent. It was not that she did not want to speak, but Ryan had taken over all the opportunity to respond.

  Ryan was calculating: if Evelyn handled the Grand Elder's questions, though she would not foolishly reveal everything, her personality meant she would either speak bluntly or remain completely silent.

  Most likely, this would infuriate the three Grand Elders, making them blush with anger and wish they could strike him on the spot.

  Evelyn had never been good at lying. She either told the truth or said nothing, appearing exceptionally pure in social matters and sometimes a little na?ve.

  Even though Evelyn was there to shield him, and he would not suffer any immediate disadvantage, if she were not present, and the Grand Elders held a grudge against him, he could be in serious trouble.

  So every time Elara asked a question, Ryan quickly answered before Evelyn could respond, giving them no opportunity to speak directly.

  "I am speaking to the Headmistress. You keep quiet!" Elara finally lost her patience. She slammed her hand on the armrest and shouted angrily.

  She realized that this brat was truly infuriating. Every response was preemptive, showing no respect for her as a Grand Elder.

  Evelyn turned her head slightly to glance at Ryan, seemingly lost in thought.

  "Headmistress, you left the academy this time to find him?" Elara suppressed her anger, directing her gaze at Evelyn and asking in a low voice.

  Evelyn nodded slightly. On trivial matters like this, she always answered honestly and never concealed the truth.

  Hearing this, Ryan silently prayed: Evelyn had lived this long, so surely she would not be foolish enough to reveal the private details of their time together, such as bathing or other intimate matters.

  In truth, he was overthinking. Those private memories were already embarrassing enough for Evelyn; she would rather bury them forever in her heart than ever speak of them.

  Evelyn was like a blank slate when it came to matters between men and women, but in terms of magical prowess and mental composure, she was unmatched by ordinary mages.

  "Mora could not find his trace. How did you manage to find him?" Elara finally asked the question that had been on her mind ever since she saw Evelyn and Ryan return together.

  "I have my ways," Evelyn answered cautiously, giving no indication that she intended to explain.

  When Elara pressed further, her replies remained vague and ambiguous, revealing no details and showing no willingness to elaborate.

  Evelyn had lived far longer than Ryan and could see the essence of many things at a glance. Her mind was already clear.

  Elara pressed with a few more questions, but Evelyn was clearly growing impatient.

  "You do not need to ask any further," Evelyn said sharply, cutting her off.

  She had long noticed that ever since she resumed practicing magic, these three Grand Elders seemed to be managing more and more.

  If she were a Grand Magus, even major revisions to the academy's rules would be tolerated. As long as they were not too outrageous, the three Grand Elders would not dare say much, at most offering a polite suggestion.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Evelyn sighed silently, feeling a bit frustrated. It was inevitable, as her strength had not yet fully recovered.

  She also knew that the three Grand Elders did not intentionally overstep; they only acted for her good. Having assisted her for tens of thousands of years, they were absolutely trustworthy.

  The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Evelyn lifted her cold, clear gaze and glanced at Ryan, who was still sitting idly by, watching the scene unfold.

  Seeing him with a detached, uninvolved expression immediately gave her frustration a vent, and her anger surged uncontrollably.

  She suddenly stood, and a sharp surge of magical power instantly locked onto Ryan.

  In the next instant, Ryan was tightly bound by Evelyn's magic. His own magic was trapped, as if invisible ropes were constricting him on all sides.

  Then Evelyn levitated Ryan with her magic and began walking toward the door. She just wanted to get away quickly, to escape this suffocating atmosphere.

  "Ah! I can walk myself!" Ryan was completely caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, his face full of shock. They had been having a normal conversation, why was she attacking him all of a sudden?

  His body hovered in midair, carried by Evelyn's magic, moving forward with her steps. From time to time, a biting cold seeped into him along the flow of her magic, making him shiver uncontrollably despite having no intention of resisting.

  The cold was clearly deliberately released by Evelyn as a form of punishment. It was not severely harmful, but it was enough to make him extremely uncomfortable.

  Ryan understood clearly that this was both Evelyn venting her anger and creating an opportunity for them to leave. She probably thought the same, which was why she forcibly ended the conversation in this way.

  The three Grand Elders remained seated, silently watching the two of them leave, without uttering a word to stop them.

  Only after Evelyn and Ryan completely disappeared from view did Elara raise her hand. The previously open door closed automatically, cutting off all sounds from outside.

  "Mora, speak!" Elara's voice turned icy in an instant, and a pressing aura of cold radiated from her.

  From Mora's hesitant, faltering behavior since returning, Elara already knew that something extraordinary had happened.

  Especially upon hearing the claim about a child, Elara and Maelira felt a storm surge within their hearts.

  Although Ryan had been insisting there was no child, and their mental probing had indeed found no trace of one, the three of them had accompanied each other for tens of thousands of years, assisting the academy together. Their bond had long surpassed mere blood ties.

  There was no way Mora would deceive them on a matter so crucial to the Headmistress's reputation.

  To them, anything concerning Evelyn was a matter of the highest priority for the academy. They would never treat such a matter lightly.

  "Words alone are not enough. See the memory imprint for yourselves!" Mora knew that mere claims would not make them fully believe her.

  She closed her eyes and drew upon her vast mental power to enter her own spiritual space, beginning to extract the memory fragment that had so enraged her.

  Sharing memories was the most vulnerable moment for a mage. With the spiritual space fully exposed, any attack at that moment could easily cause serious injury.

  Seeing her so resolute, Elara and Maelira were even more shocked. Their hearts tightened. The fact that Mora was willing to expose her own weakness to prove it showed this was no trivial matter.

  Moments later, a faint blue ripple of magic appeared above Mora's head. A three-dimensional memory scene slowly materialized.

  The scene depicted an endless pure white snowfield.

  Ryan held Evelyn tightly in his arms. Their faces were inches apart, lips lightly touching, their intimacy leaving no room for separation.

  The perspective of the scene was from Mora's point of view.

  Mora was seen trembling with anger, letting out a roar as she tried to separate them.

  Unexpectedly, Ryan did not retreat at the sound. Instead, he leaned in and pressed his lips firmly against hers, his actions forceful and commanding.

  Evelyn's eyes were tightly shut in the memory. Only when the roar rang out did she snap them open, staring at Ryan with panic and shock in her eyes.

  She wanted to struggle, but her body was soft as if it had no bones, utterly weak.

  Elara and Maelira stared at the scene, their teeth grinding together. Ryan was completely without defense now!

  The memory continued to unfold, soon revealing the key moment that made Mora certain there was a child:

  A little girl stumbled toward Ryan and Evelyn, clearly calling out,"Dad, Mom!"

  Then the scene wavered, the perspective shifting to Mora sitting and meditating. Suddenly, the memory went black, cutting off completely.

  Finally, the floating memory above Mora's head dissolved into a streak of blue light, merging back into her spiritual space.

  "That… scoundrel… rogue!"

  Elara and Maelira almost shouted in unison, their voices full of grinding fury. Their eyes were slightly red from extreme anger, and their magic surged uncontrollably around them, clearly on the verge of exploding.

  A muffled crack suddenly rang out. The wand in Maelira's hand had been crushed in her grasp!

  It was a wand that would normally drive mages across the continent into a frenzy to acquire it.

  Maelira had always treasured it greatly, yet in her rage, she destroyed it with a casual hand. That showed just how intense her anger was, she could barely contain the desire to tear Ryan to pieces to calm her fury.

  "Summon him immediately!" Elara took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging magic.

  She drew a snowflake-shaped token from her storage pouch, channeling magic into it with her fingertips, ready to issue the order to summon Ryan.

  She knew that if the three of them went to fetch Ryan personally, Evelyn, protecting him as she was, would never allow them to take him. It could even create a rift between them.

  They simply could not understand why Evelyn would be drawn to such a reckless young man.

  The Divine Maiden of the past had suffered a tragic end for trusting the wrong person. Was Evelyn about to repeat the same mistake?

  With that, a burst of magic carrying the Grand Elder's order instantly pierced the walls, sending the summons toward the Divine Maiden's palace within the academy.