## CHAPTER 76: The Estate in the Outskirts
The heavy iron gates of Althelgard Academy slammed shut behind them, signaling the official start of the school break. Outside the walls, a row of luxurious, specialized transport carriages bore the crests of the respective high houses.
Without another word spoken about the confrontation with Aisha, the group temporarily split up. Lyra, Casel, Elisa, and even Alium each climbed into their individual family carriages. The drivers were given the specific, off-campus coordinates Lyra had pulled from the administrative files. One by one, the enchanted, beast-drawn vehicles rolled out, their wheels humming against the cobblestone as they left the gilded central district behind.
The journey was long and increasingly disorienting for the young nobles.
The carriages bypassed the familiar, glittering high-rise estates of the elite sector, moving steadily toward the outer perimeter of the region. The paved concrete roads eventually gave way to rougher, dirt paths, winding deep into an isolated, mist-shrouded valley that the academy maps usually left blank. Casel kept peering out his window, his confusion growing by the minute, while Alium sat in the silence of his carriage, nervously rehearsing what he would say when he finally saw the boy who had saved him.
After nearly an hour of travel, the carriages finally came to a synchronized halt.
The doors opened, and the four students stepped out onto the damp earth. A shivering, crisp breeze rushed across their faces, carrying the faint, unmistakable scent of fresh pine and blooming winter flora.
They looked around, completely stunned. They had expected to arrive at a cramped, dilapidated slum or a run-down apartment building in the lower rings. Instead, they found themselves standing in an incredibly beautiful, isolated sanctuary.
The property was massive. As far as the eye could see, the central structure was completely surrounded by meticulously kept, sprawling gardens of frost-resistant flowers, neat rows of private farmland, and vast plantations of rare, glowing mana-herbs.
But it was the house itself that made their jaws drop.
Standing tall at the end of a cobblestone pathway was a magnificent, large estate. Built from deep navy-tinted stone and reinforced with elegant timber, the architecture possessed a timeless, imposing dignity. It easily rivaled the sheer size of a high-tier noble home, yet it lacked the gaudy, ostentatious gold trims of the capital's palaces. It looked ancient, fiercely protected, and entirely serene—unlike anything any of them had ever witnessed in the lower sectors.
"Are... are we sure this is the right place?" Elisa whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she instinctively stepped closer to Casel. "Lyra, are you sure you didn't misread the file?"
"I didn't misread it," Lyra said, though even her voice carried a rare trace of breathless disbelief. Her sharp eyes scanned the perimeter, taking in the sheer scale of the plantations.
"Man... my roomy is living like a literal king out here," Casel muttered, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as a wave of intense anxiety washed over him. "And here I was, offering to buy him cafeteria bread because I thought he was broke."
Alium stood completely frozen at the rear of the group. His aristocratic upbringing had taught him that commoners lived in filth, squeezed into overcrowded tenements. But looking at this estate, he realized Caspian hadn't just been hiding his power—he and his companions had built an entirely separate, self-sustaining paradise away from the corrupt gaze of the high houses.
"Let's go," Lyra said, forcing her composure back into place.
With hesitant, soft steps, the four nobles walked up the cobblestone path, their boots crunching against the light frost on the ground. The closer they got to the front entrance, the more they could feel a faint, ambient pulse of pure, stabilizing mana humming through the very walls of the house. It was a defensive ward so advanced that even Althelgard's security systems would look primitive by comparison.
They finally reached the massive, double-arched front doors made of solid, dark oak.
A profound, heavy nervousness settled over the entire group. They exchanged a long, quiet look, each of them wondering what—or who—was waiting for them on the other side. Was Caspian resting? Would the terrifying Silas open the door?
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Lyra stepped forward. She raised her hand, her fingers curling into a tight fist, and knocked firmly against the heavy wood.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
The sound echoed sharply into the quiet valley, and the four of them held their breath as they waited for the door to open.
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