Chapter 28

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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Who was it?

Who had come looking for me?

Evi, whose eyes had widened in surprise, soon regained her senses and knocked on the door.

“I’m here! Please let me out!”

It didn’t matter who it was right now. The fact that someone had finally come to find her was what was important.

When Evi answered by thumping on the door with her hands, the sound of a latch rattling and opening was heard from the outside.

Creek, bang!

Soon, the thick door opened.

Then, the two people standing outside pushed each other and entered the portrait gallery without anyone being the first.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Just how much had they run like crazy?

Their hair was messy, blown by the wind; they were panting for breath, and sweat was dripping down their faces. And even their school uniforms were disheveled.

The messy appearances of the two people were clearly visible even under the moonlight.

Evi called the names of the two with a surprised face.

“Arcel-nim? Ruska-nim?”

Naturally, she had thought that the people calling her from outside would be the staff of the Gifted Center.

But why had those who were unrelated to her come to find her?

Then she realized that even while the two were gasping for breath, they were looking at her worriedly.

“I’m fine! I was just staying here quietly…”

“That’s the problem!”

Ruska, who was catching his breath at Evi’s answer, shouted out.

When Evi flinched at the loud voice, he swept his face with one hand and sighed.

“Sorry. I’m not angry at you. But you must have been alone here since daytime…”

“I’m really fine!”

In the meantime, Arcel turned his head and looked at the chair Evi had been sitting on.

Precisely, at the cloth Evi had been covered with.

No matter who saw it, it wasn’t a cloth a person would normally cover themselves with.

In the first place, it was a thick, stiff, and dust-filled cloth made for the purpose of covering objects.

Had she been cold? The traces of Evi having covered herself remained on the cloth on the chair.

“Achoo!”

As if making her words of being fine meaningless, Evi sneezed and her body trembled.

Moreover, her face was slightly flushed.

As she looked like she was running a fever, Arcel immediately took off his school uniform jacket.

“Wear this.”

Then he draped his clothes over Evi’s shoulders.

Because there was an age difference between the two, and Evi was too small for her age while Arcel was on the taller side among those his age.

Moreover, adding the difference in build between a female and a male student.

When all these conditions were met and she wore someone else’s clothes, Evi looked like she was wrapped in a blanket.

“There she is!”

At that moment, the sounds of more people’s footsteps were heard from the hallway where the two had run from.

It was the sound of people running as fast as Arcel and Ruska.

Then, soon, the person standing at the very front opened the door wide and entered.

“Found you! It’s you!”

Seraphina strode in and grabbed and hugged Evi, who was wearing Arcel’s clothes.

“It’s not severe, but you have a slight fever. It’s a bit cold here, isn’t it? Ah, by any chance, were you surprised? Because of the magic used, the light must have flashed. Ah, that’s that, but by any chance, do you have any intention of becoming a mage? It seems our wavelengths match incredibly well…”

“Director!”

“Seraphina!”

The staff and Ruska shouted at her simultaneously as she poured out words incessantly while holding Evi.

“I know, I know. Let’s talk after returning to the Gifted Center first. Aren’t you hungry?”

Seraphina shook her head as if telling them to stop calling her.

Evi murmured while looking at her.

“Director…?”

She wondered who the person was who suddenly ran up and lifted her.

But to think she was the Director?

Thinking about it, when she entered the Gifted Center yesterday, she had seen staff and professors, but she had never seen the appearance of the Director.

‘I thought she would be an old person.’

The portraits of the former directors hanging in the dormitory were all of old people with gray hair.

Occasionally there were younger middle-aged people, but there were no young people who looked like they were barely in their 30s like Seraphina now.

“First, pack this child’s belongings. And…”

Seraphina’s words stopped as she was about to give more instructions to the staff.

Her gaze was looking at the portrait hanging on the wall.

Then she soon gave a bitter smile.

“I thought I found you unusually quickly. It seems there was at least Lilian’s protection.”

Lilian.

Evi’s eyes shone at that name.

It was a name in her memory. The name engraved on the tombstone in the forest.

‘I guess the person in that portrait is also named Lilian.’

Seraphina left the gallery while holding Evi. From behind, Arcel and Ruska came out along with the staff, carrying the bag Evi had left on the chair.

While coming out, Evi waved her hand slightly toward the portrait.

It felt like the sensation from a while ago still remained on the top of her head.

The feeling of someone patting her head and telling her not to worry.

Until the moment the door closed, while waving her hand, Evi promised in her heart.

I’ll come back.

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On the way back to the Gifted Center, Evi remained cradled in Seraphina’s arms the entire time.

“I can walk, you know.”

“No. You’re staying still until I’ve had a proper look at you. Besides, are you hurt anywhere else?”

“I’m fine.”

Just then, Arcel, who had been following behind, suddenly spoke.

“Actually, your hands must be injured.”

At those words, Evi looked down at her own hands.

Perhaps from pounding on the door so hard to call for someone during the day—she could see red marks and swelling beyond what was normal.

Seraphina also noticed Evi’s hands and asked Arcel:

“You’re right. Arcel, how did you know?”

“She was trapped, so I figured she must have banged on the door.”

Ruska, standing nearby, also chimed in:

“And there are many marks on the door lock. It means she shook it hard from inside.”

“Oh dear…”

Seraphina’s expression hardened at their words.

She led them into the staff building, sat Evi in a chair, and examined her hands.

“Indeed, quite swollen. Fortunately, they’re not torn. Still, it’ll be a bit uncomfortable to grip things or write for a few days.”

Seraphina ordered the staff to bring medicine and bandages.

After the staff left, she turned to Arcel and Ruska.

“Now then. Before the others return, I’d like to hear how the two of you found this child before I did.”

Ruska immediately stepped forward.

“We heard from some students that they knew where she might be.”

“Then how did those students know? And why didn’t they tell any staff or professors before things got this far?”

“Well…”

Ruska quickly shut his mouth. Then, with an urgent look, he signaled to Arcel as if saying, “What are you doing? Hurry up and help.”

Arcel let out a light sigh and spoke in a calm voice:

“I cannot go into detail. We were told on that condition. We even staked our family names on the promise.”

“Very well.”

In that case, even Seraphina couldn’t force them to reveal who it was.

Just then, Arcel smiled the same bright smile he had shown the girls earlier and spoke again:

“But while I promised not to reveal who those students are, I never promised not to reveal who orchestrated this.”

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“Ah, I’m so full…”

Rimora leaned back against the sofa.

Even lying still, the corners of her mouth turned up on their own.

‘They probably haven’t found her yet, have they?’

There was no danger of dying. The museum hadn’t officially opened yet, so they wouldn’t find her until the staff arrived tomorrow.

It was already quite dim during the day.

The portrait gallery in particular had only high windows that let in the bare minimum of natural light to protect the paintings—no other windows on the walls.

To spend the night in such a place surrounded by those unpleasant portraits…

‘She’s probably crying her eyes out from fear.’

She was a child. After spending an entire day crying, she would surely beg to leave, saying she didn’t want to stay here anymore, that she wanted to go back to where she came from.

At least, that was how it should go.

‘Then I’ll be the only one who benefits.’

Rimora replayed the pleasant thoughts she had been savoring all day.

As the second candidate, participating in the Center’s events together with Arcel.

Naturally building a relationship with Ruska, and if things went well, becoming friends with Irene Terence—perhaps even borrowing jewelry from her when she eventually became Empress…

As Rimora grinned to herself, imagining these things as if they had already happened—

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the door made her sit up.

Was it her roommate? As she was wondering, a voice came from outside:

“Miss Rimora Isel? Are you in?”

“Who is it…”

At the unfamiliar voice, Rimora opened the door to find a dormitory staff member standing outside.

The student across the hall had also opened her door to see what was happening.

In that instant, Rimora’s body tensed.

Why? Why is a staff member coming to see me at this hour?

Then the staff member smiled and said:

“A lost item has been turned in. Could you come downstairs to confirm it, fill out some paperwork, and claim it?”