Chapter 3

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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Was it the power of a shooting star? Or was it because she sought her parents and prayed for the first time?

A few weeks later, news of her passing came.

Unable to believe the certificate of passing in her hand, Evi looked at it again and again.

Then she saw the Emperor’s name written at the end.

Clois.

“Clois…”

Even though it was a name she knew well from school, Evi looked at that name on the paper again and again until she fell asleep.

* * *

While the Director excitedly prattled on with her boasting of Evi, the carriage arrived in front of the Imperial Palace before they knew it.

Usually, the front of the Imperial Palace, which would have been quiet because only authorized people passed through and the guards kept it like an iron fortress, was bustling with people.

“My goodness, it seems like all the people of the Empire have gathered here.”

The Director held Evi’s hand firmly and opened her mouth wide in surprise.

Evi also saw so many people for the first time in her life, so she held the Director’s hand and looked at the gathered people.

In front of the main gate of the Imperial Palace, it was full of countless carriages and people dressed in splendor.

“Oh, my son. If you miss your mom, write a letter anytime. I’ll apply for a visit right away. No, should I just put in a visit application every day?”

“My daughter. Dad believes our daughter will do better than anyone else in the Gifted Center.”

“Brother! Have a good trip! Next year I’ll study harder and surely pass too!”

The front of the main gate was noisy with families sending their children to the Gifted Center.

Evi and the Director stood at the edge, a bit away from the crowd, and waited for someone from the Gifted Center to come out.

‘They said someone to lead us would come out if we were in front of the main gate.’

When the appointed time came, people wearing the uniform of the Gifted Center came out from inside the Imperial Palace with the guards and shouted.

“We will move inside now. Everyone please follow our instructions! And we tell you once again that no one except for the Gifted Center students can follow inside!”

At those words, the children waved their hands to their families and approached the staff.

However, there were also children who suddenly said it was scary to go alone and held onto their parents while crying.

Amidst that noisiness, Evi looked at the Director and said.

“Um, I’ll go now.”

She was only 7 years old now.

The youngest age among the children entering the Gifted Center.

Nevertheless, far from crying, Evi showed no sign of fear.

Evi was always like that.

Unlike children who would burst into tears several times a day, she was a child who had never cried once.

Even when the Director met her at the inn, she saw the innkeeper knocking her on the head on purpose while saying, “That one doesn’t even cry. What a wretched girl.”

A child who doesn’t cry.

The Director knew why Evi had become like that.

No matter how much one cries, if there is no one who listens, a child quickly learns to give up.

Because she was a child who had learned to give up before coming to the orphanage, the Director felt even more fond of Evi.

Evi always showed a bright appearance and, starting from when she attended school, showed a genius that surprised everyone.

At the same time, she took care of the other children in the orphanage without rest and helped with the adults’ work.

That appearance was both commendable and pitiable.

She could have been more like a child, throwing tantrums and crying.

The Director spread her arms and hugged Evi.

“Evi. We will always be thinking of you. If there’s any hard work, contact us right away. I’ll come to pick you up immediately. Understand?”

When the Director suddenly hugged her, Evi smiled and hugged her neck.

“I understand. Thank you, Director.”

At the mature words even in the moment of parting, the Director stroked Evi’s back.

“It is time to move inside. Everyone please prepare!”

Hearing the words of the staff urging them, the Director let go of Evi and stood up.

Even though Evi didn’t cry, the corners of the Director’s eyes were red.

“Now go.”

“Yes! I’ll write letters often!”

Evi waved her hand while smiling and walked toward the staff.

Watching Evi’s back, the Director prayed.

May Evi be able to spend her time well in the Gifted Center.

And may she grow up as a child who can cry there.

* * *

Entry into the Imperial Palace proceeded quickly.

Except for a few children who hung on while crying because they suddenly didn’t want to go, everyone came inside according to the staff’s instructions.

Evi hugged her bag tightly to her chest with a nervous face.

She acted mature because she was afraid the Director would worry, but it was inevitable to be nervous while standing inside the Imperial Palace in a strange place, especially filled with nobles all around.

At that time, there was a boy nearby who kept glancing and looking at Evi.

‘Surely that girl is the commoner His Majesty the Emperor personally picked.’

The boy was the youngest son of the minister who had crumpled and thrown Evi’s document.

On the day the meeting ended, his father came home and cursed many times at the child who didn’t know her place and submitted an admission application.

The boy bit his lip.

To anyone’s eyes, she had the scruffiest appearance among the children who came inside.

To the eyes of the noble boy, it was truly a beggar’s appearance.

‘The sight of her grinning and smiling because she was luckily picked.’

Thinking about how his father worried for a while that he would fall out of the Emperor’s eye because of this thing, anger surged.

Moreover, didn’t they say her head was unnecessarily good?

‘There is a possibility of catching His Majesty the Emperor’s eye.’

Of course, there was no way he would take a commoner as an adoptee, but if she gained the Emperor’s favor and acted out, that would also be an annoying thing.

If it were a child of a noble family, it would be different, but a lowly child with no one to rely on.

In that case, no one would say anything even if he bullied her. Anyway, isn’t everyone a competitor inside here?

‘I heard that others also seemed quite unpleasant at the rumor of a commoner child entering.’

Already, people who recognized the commoner child besides himself could be seen walking far away on purpose while frowning.

Then other nobles might even be grateful that he kicked out an annoying child.

The boy twisted the corner of his mouth and snatched the bag Evi was holding in her arms.

“Ah!”

At the feeling of being suddenly yanked away, Evi instinctively hugged her bag.

But she couldn’t win against the strength of the boy who was much taller and bigger than Evi.

At the moment when the staggering Evi was about to fall as she was.

Thump!

With the sound of something being kicked, the boy who was snatching Evi’s bag let out a groan and slumped down. And Evi’s staggering body stood upright.

Evi realized. Someone had caught her, who was supposed to fall.

‘Who caught me?’

When Evi turned her head, blue eyes were looking at Evi.

“Are you alright?”

The person who caught Evi was a boy with black hair and blue eyes.

“Huh…?”

Evi looked at the boy, forgetting even what situation she was in for a moment.

The blue eyes she was looking at were cold, but they were as beautiful a color as his calm black hair, and his skin was also white and clean.

Straight eyebrows and slightly long hair combed back neatly.

A face where the word beautiful came to mind before the word handsome.

However, the straight lines within the beauty made it impossible to mistake him for a woman.

Evi, who was looking in surprise at the one who caught her, barely came to her senses and quickly straightened her body.

“Y-Yes! Th-thank you.”

The clothes he was wearing were also neat ones without any particular decorations, but even Evi, who knew nothing about luxury goods, could tell.

That the boy’s things were much more high-class than others’.

Moreover, even the disciplined movements that could be felt just by standing still.

Evi realized he was a high-ranking noble whose status she couldn’t dare reach and hurriedly bowed her head.

At that time, a lively voice was heard from the side where the bullied boy fell.

“Arcel! What shall we do with this?”

At that voice, Evi knew the name of the boy who caught her was Arcel.

The boy called Arcel withdrew his gaze from looking at Evi and said to the red-haired boy.

“Ruska, we do not have the authority to punish someone inside the Imperial Palace.”

Then the red-haired boy called Ruska clicked his tongue as if it were a pity, then nudged the fallen boy with the tip of his foot.

‘Now that I think about it, there was a sudden groan.’

It seemed Ruska had kicked the fallen boy.

Realizing that fact, Evi’s face turned white.

This is inside the Imperial Palace.

To cause a disturbance in such a place.

If the fallen boy made a problem of this, wouldn’t she be kicked out even before entering the Gifted Center?

Of course, although the fallen boy did wrong first, she didn’t think they would listen to the words of a commoner like her.

‘What should I do!’

While Evi was frozen in fear, the fallen boy raised his body and stammered after seeing the two boys who helped Evi.

“A-Arcel? Arcel Kaylan? And if it’s Ruska… Ruska Lagselve?”

“To think you know our names, that’s quite an honor, isn’t it?”

When Ruska answered mockingly, the fallen boy’s face turned pale.

‘My goodness. Of all people!’

Arcel Kaylan and Ruska Lagselve.

They were names that a student entering the Gifted Center this time could never not know.

Because they were the people with the highest probability of becoming the Emperor’s adoptee.