Chapter 2

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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“……!”

The ministers’ faces turned surprised at Clois’s words.

“The rest is for you all to handle. I shall take my leave now.”

He stood up and turned around as if he had no further interest. The ministers also stood up and bowed to him.

Clois spoke to the Minister of State as he went out.

“You manage it so that there are no problems with that child’s admission.”

“I understand.”

Clois went outside immediately. Then, he even made the following attendants withdraw.

Heading toward his quarters, he thought about what he had just done.

Even in his own opinion, it was an unusual occurrence.

To deliberately admit a child he had no reason to be particularly interested in.

‘But… what was the name?’

Clois, who had been walking for a long time, remembered that he didn’t even know the name of the child he had picked.

Stopping his steps for a moment, he let out a short sigh.

‘What does that matter anyway.’

It was just a child he picked as a warning because he didn’t like the conduct of the ministers, not someone to be particularly interested in.

Clois turned his head and looked at the long, dark corridor.

“It’s boring.”

Was it because he had heard the stories of children all day long?

He felt a heavier fatigue than usual.

He turned his steps that were heading toward his quarters and went toward the only space in this Imperial Palace where he could rest.

To the place where his wife and daughter were buried.

Throughout the walk, he thought.

In this world where he had nothing to love, was there a reason to continue living?

* * *

When the Minister of State returned to the meeting room, the ministers rushed to him and threw questions as if demanding an explanation.

“Who is that child?”

“What did His Majesty say? By any chance, did he say anything about the adoptee?”

They seemed worried that a commoner child had caught the Emperor’s eye over their own children.

The Minister of State swallowed a sigh and said.

“No. He just said to do as you please.”

“Any other words…”

“There were none. He didn’t even ask for the child’s name. So let’s continue the meeting.”

People breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the Emperor had no interest at all in the child he had picked.

While the meeting room became noisy again, the Minister of State looked at the admission application held in his hand.

7 years old. A girl.

“Let’s see, the name is…”

The Minister of State murmured the name written clearly and firmly, character by character.

“Evi Alden.”

* * *

“Wow…!”

Evi’s mouth fell wide open at the sight of the giant Imperial Palace visible through the carriage window.

“It’s really wonderful…”

Evi stared at the Imperial Palace blankly for a long time, then turned her head at the gazes of people mocking her from across.

Beside such Evi, the Orphanage Director held her hand tightly and said.

“It’s a really wonderful place. One wouldn’t get bored even looking at it all day, would they?”

At those words, Evi’s expression brightened.

“Right? It’s such a beautiful and wonderful place, I’m really excited!”

Excited, Evi looked at the Imperial Palace again.

‘It’s more wonderful than what I read in books.’

She remembered the travelogues she had read many times.

The book spoke of the appearance of the capital, Lancet, like this.

[Imperial Palace. The most sacred and beautiful place in the thousand-year-old capital Lancet. The Imperial Palace itself is like a giant city. In the deepest part of it, there stays His Majesty the Most High, the only imperial family member of Harkia.]

A smile hung on Evi’s face as she recalled the contents of the book and looked at the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace.

To think it was the Imperial Palace where His Majesty the Emperor stayed!

‘To think I can enter such a place, it’s like a dream.’

When she was about to keep grinning and the corners of her mouth were about to rise, the man sitting across the carriage looked up and down at Evi and the Director and let out a snicker.

“You seem to be people who came from far away in the countryside; have a good look and then go. When else would you see the Imperial Palace?”

At those words, the Director who was holding Evi’s hand straightened her chest and spoke in a proud voice.

“Thank you for your concern. But our Evi will be staying in the Imperial Palace starting today, so there is no need to rush. Isn’t that right, Evi?”

“Yes!”

When Evi nodded her head greatly and answered at the Director’s words, the man openly mocked them.

“Living in the Imperial Palace, by what means? Look here. Do you even know what kind of place the Imperial Palace is? By any chance, if you were deceived by some swindler and came to get a job in the Imperial Palace…”

“We didn’t come to work. Our Evi has entered the Imperial Gifted Center starting today.”

The Director spoke in a haughty manner, tilting her chin up as much as she could.

“G-Gifted Center?”

The man’s eyes grew large at the word Gifted Center. At that reaction, the Director became even more triumphant.

Seeing the Director enjoying it as if it were her own affair, Evi ended up laughing.

‘The Director was the most happy.’

A week ago, a contact came from the Imperial Palace to the orphanage where Evi was staying.

It was a contact saying that she had passed the Gifted Center and to enter the Imperial Palace by the set day.

“Really? You, in the Gifted Center? My goodness! What is this! As expected of our Evi! You’ll surely be the smartest in the Gifted Center too!”

The Director, who had been doing laundry, came running without even caring if her clothes got dirty or not, hugged Evi who was holding the letter from the Imperial Palace, and hopped up and down.

Watching the Director’s laughter, Evi was also very happy.

She was the Director who saved her from a terrible place when she was five years old.

She was happy that she became a great joy and pride to such a Director.

‘And… as much as my portion, other kids will be able to eat more.’

Evi swallowed inside her mouth the words she couldn’t dare say to the Director.

The orphanage in Elam City where Evi stayed, although people of the city helped a lot, was not a place in very good condition.

It was because the Orphanage Director took in as many children who had nowhere to go as possible.

They always had to save everything, and the vegetable garden behind the orphanage had to be planted and grown with crops that could be eaten in all seasons.

Evi also went to the vegetable garden with the children except for the time she went to school, stayed there all day pulling weeds and catching bugs while growing crops.

Still, it was a difficult task to handle the appetites of children who were in full growth.

“I want to eat more!”

On the day when the young children of the orphanage fought in the morning over wanting to eat one more potato, Evi saw the announcement posted on the wall of the upper school.

[Imperial Gifted Center Admission Notice]

It was an announcement said to be posted in all upper schools across the country according to the imperial command.

Reading that, Evi’s eyes sparkled at the condition written in small letters on the very last line.

[During the period of stay in the Gifted Center, all food, clothing, and shelter will be provided by the Gifted Center.]

‘If even one person is reduced, won’t the Director also become a bit more comfortable.’

Of course, the fact that it was a place that taught more difficult things than the upper school was also very attractive.

‘Besides, they said if I graduate from the Gifted Center, I can find a better job later.’

They said if one graduates from the Gifted Center, most work in the Imperial Palace or otherwise become a professor at the Academy, the top educational institution of the Empire.

She didn’t know how much the salary was there, but she would be able to receive more money than working as a child of an orphanage in Elam City.

‘If I earn a lot of money, I can help the Director more…’

Evi saw the Director beside her, who was constantly boasting about her to the man across.

‘I must surely become a big help.’

But if she said it like that, the Director would surely say that she didn’t need to have such worries.

So she said she wanted to study more and immediately submitted the admission application to the Gifted Center.

In fact, she hoped to pass while submitting, but she thought the possibility of being accepted was a very low matter.

The Empire was excited at the news of the opening of the Gifted Center. Rumors also circulated quickly.

It was said that all the noble families and wealthy families of the Empire were making all sorts of efforts to put their children in.

There was no way she, a commoner from an orphanage in a small city, could pass such a place.

So on the day she sent the application, Evi sat by the window alone at night and made a wish.

‘Mom, Dad. Please let me pass the Gifted Center.’

At the moment a shooting star fell, Evi prayed quickly in her heart.

Usually, she wouldn’t have sought her mom and dad. Because it felt like her throat was choking somehow just by calling them in her heart.

But because she really wanted to pass the Gifted Center, she sought her mom and dad without realizing it.

They were parents whom she didn’t know if they were alive or dead. Perhaps they threw her out because she wasn’t needed.

Nevertheless, Evi wanted to cling to anyone and pray.

Please let me pass the Gifted Center.

So let me help the orphanage.

And when I grow up and become an adult… please let me find my mom and dad.

I want to meet my mom and dad.