Chapter 53

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.

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“Professor?”

Clois regained his senses at the voice calling him while tilting her head.

“Ah, yes. Did you receive the gift well?”

“Yes! Originally, I was going to write a letter to you, Professor. To say thank you for sending such a precious thing. But the letter wasn’t writing well… so I came to tell you thank you in person!”

Evi stepped down from the bench and bowed her head deeply.

Clois quietly watched that appearance.

He had agonized for days alone to choose that gift.

At the words that the people in charge send precious things on purpose so their children won’t lose heart, he had sent a mana stone out of uncharacteristic stubbornness.

Until he sent it, he was quite confident.

No matter how much everyone sent good things, where would there be someone who sent a mana stone?

But later in the meeting, from the moment those who sent gifts said, “Since what children like is also important,” Clois’s confidence crumbled and disappeared.

‘…Is there a child who would like receiving a mana stone?’

Unless it was someone like Seraphina who would crawl out even while sleeping if it was a mana stone, what use was a mana stone to a young child?

Even if he regretted whether it would have been better to send color pencils in hundreds of colors or pretty clothes, it was too late.

But to receive a thank-you greeting like this.

He was proud, but his worry didn’t easily disappear.

“If there is any other item you would like to receive, feel free to tell me.”

When he said so cautiously, Evi jumped as if it were out of the question.

“No! I really like that mana stone! It’s warm and bright, so I’m not afraid when I sleep now! I was even hugging it like this before coming out…!”

Only after Evi answered while even miming hugging the mana stone to her chest did Clois’s face soften.

Because he could feel she truly liked it just by looking at Evi’s attitude.

Furthermore, to say it’s good because she’s not afraid at night. Hadn’t he sent it wishing for that?

“I’m glad it’s to your liking.”

He smiled and lightly patted Evi’s head.

Was that pleasant? The child again curved her eyes and smiled brightly.

It was a smile that strangely tickled the deepest part of his heart.

Then Evi asked him a question as if she had just remembered.

“But Professor, where is your office? I asked the people at the academic affairs office, but they said no one knows.”

“…!”

At that question, Clois’s heart sank.

Seraphina had mentioned this problem before.

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“Oh my, Your Majesty! A mana stone! As a child’s gift! Heavens!”

Seraphina, who had thrown away all etiquette, entered the office almost crying.

With a heart of half-resignation, Clois let her keep talking.

“You don’t know how much of an uproar there was. Even I grabbed the back of my neck after hearing the report. A mana stone as a Gifted Center entrance gift. Truly, this is unprecedented…”

Seraphina told him that the Gifted Center had been turned upside down once because of that.

“No, you should have at least given me a hint before sending it. Then I would have delivered it quietly. Because of this, everyone is whispering so much…”

“Did any problem occur?”

“Of course it did. First of all, people are looking for who Professor Sian Roshen is.”

It was natural.

To abruptly send a splendid mana stone, which even wealthy nobles could rarely obtain, as a child’s gift.

One would be curious about the child who received it, but one is even more curious about the person who sent it.

“For now, I’ve made up a rough excuse. That he is a professor hired for research purposes without taking classes. And that his address is not certain because he is still looking for a house in the capital. But if nothing continues to be seen, it will arouse suspicion.”

“So. Is there any way?”

“Rather than a way… it seems we need to at least pretend he exists.”

“How?”

“I think we should set up a professor’s office in a building that people don’t use much. There’s also an easier way.”

“What is it?”

“Change the guardian.”

At those words, Clois raised his head and looked at Seraphina.

“Change?”

“Literally, making someone else the guardian.”

“I put forward a fictional character because there was no suitable person?”

“That was true at first. But a person who will be the guardian instead has appeared. It’s Professor Malles, a person who is crazy about math… no, a person who has made significant contributions to the development of the Empire’s mathematics. He is also my master.”

“Malles? Hmm, it’s a name in my memory.”

“It should be. Since he is the person who newly wrote the advanced math book.”

“Ah.”

Clois had also studied with that book in the past.

A person who wrote the book that would become the basic textbook for the entire Empire. It would be hard to find someone more suitable for a guardian than that.

“Professor Malles views Evi’s potential very highly.”

“Potential?”

“She’s the child who entered as the runner-up after Arcel, isn’t she? Other classes will also start slowly now, but according to Professor Malles, she is truly a child worth teaching. Actually, he is my master, but his personality is not great and his misanthropy is severe… yet he’s suddenly in an uproar about writing a new, easier advanced math book. It seems the child found it difficult.”

A devious smile hung on Seraphina’s face as she spoke excitedly.

“Thanks to that, his words about retiring have vanished, and it’s very good. Hehe.”

Apparently, she wanted her master to work a bit more.

“In any case, he is perfect as a guardian. Since he will always stay at the Gifted Center, it’s also easy to look after Evi if anything happens. So, changing it to Professor Malles…”

“No. I will think about it.”

“Pardon? I thought you would accept immediately?”

Seraphina muttered as if she didn’t understand.

But Clois did not answer. No, he could not answer.

Because he himself could not precisely know what the reason was for his opposition to changing the guardian.

‘If it’s changed…’

The child would gain a reliable supporter.

And the professor named Sian Roshen, whose face she had seen once, would be forgotten forever.

That is the right thing.

There is no reason for himself and that child to meet further, and they shouldn’t.

Despite knowing all that, Clois didn’t want to give up the name Sian Roshen.

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Recalling the matter with Seraphina, he regained his senses at Evi’s gaze staring blankly.

“Ah, contact information. That is…”

After agonizing for a moment, he opened his mouth as if he had decided.

“A professor’s office will be prepared soon. If you have something to ask or anything, if you leave a letter there, I will check it.”

“Really? Then I can see you inside the Gifted Center now, Professor?”

“Yes. But I will rarely be staying there.”

At those words, Evi’s expression, which had been joyful until a moment ago, turned sullen.

Looking at such an expression, it is certainly right to feel pity.

But strangely, at the fact that the child wants to keep seeing him, Clois ended up smiling.

Evi didn’t know, but it was a soft smile that he hadn’t made in the past few years.

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After that, Evi and Clois talked for a long while.

Actually, rather than a conversation, it was Evi who was constantly talking.

“And so, Master Arcel and Master Ruska eat like this, and a whole roasted chicken disappears before my eyes in an instant…”

Evi sat on the bench and explained the amazing sight she had seen during the day.

Clois sat next to her and watched Evi like that.

When he asked if the Gifted Center was worth attending and if there were any interesting things, Evi began to explain what had happened in the meantime without rest.

If the Minister of State or other subjects had been in this spot, they would have been startled and covered Evi’s mouth.

Originally, Clois extremely hated engaging in small talk other than what exactly needed to be said.

So even during meetings, if someone who didn’t know him well came in and laid out useless words of praise, he would often cut them off by saying, “Just say what you have to say and leave.”

But now he was listening to Evi’s chatter with interest as if he were listening to the most interesting story in the world.

He wasn’t just listening.

“What kind of meals are served at the Gifted Center these days?”

He would ask things like this that Evi could explain.

Thanks to that, Evi realized he was interested in what she was saying and explained even more excitedly.

“…So I tried it for the first time today. It was really delicious! Irene shared it with me… Ah! That’s right! Irene!”

Evi, who had been explaining for a long while, jumped up from her seat.

The moment she said Irene’s name, she remembered whom she had been waiting for before coming here.

Just then, the sound of the clock tower bell rang in the distance.