Chapter 56

* * *
Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
* * *

Evi walked with short, quick steps down the hallway of the main building, her bag on her back.

It was time for her required liberal arts class, and she had just said goodbye to the other three in Professor Malles’s classroom.

Heading quickly to the next classroom, Evi thought.

‘I’m fine, though.’

She had noticed why Ruska had ended up in that state earlier.

‘Both Irene and Arcel were worried about me.’

Unlike them, who were going to meet family or relatives outside the Gifted Center, they were worried about her, who would have to stay here alone with nowhere to go.

‘Ruska was worried too.’

On Ruska’s face when he suggested she visit a festival, there was no ridicule like there had been from the students at the upper school in Elam.

He truly wished for Evi to go out and have some fun.

So Evi was not sad or upset.

She was just a little disappointed.

‘I do want to see the world outside the Gifted Center.’

Evi recalled the world she had seen.

Her first memory in life was the shed attached to an inn’s stable.

She woke up and closed her eyes every day on a pile of hay stored as horse feed.

At that time, the world to Evi was just the village where the inn was located and the forest next to it.

She had never even imagined a world beyond that.

Then, when she met the Director and left the inn, Evi saw a different world for the first time.

When she arrived in the city of Elam and saw the sea and the ships floating on it, she couldn’t say anything for a long time while holding the Director’s hand.

It was because she was so deeply shocked to face the vast world she had only heard about.

There, she met children her age and people who didn’t scream at her or spit on her for the first time.

And as she learned to read and attended school, Evi came to know.

The fact that Elam City, where she was, was a small city and that there was an incredibly large capital far away.

And that all of this belonged to a huge country called the Empire, and the owner of all of this was a person called the Emperor.

But she only understood it; it was hard to imagine what it actually looked like.

‘I’ll probably live in Elam for the rest of my life.’

It costs money to move from city to city.

Moreover, she had no reason to go to another city.

So Evi had thought that Elam would be the entirety of her world.

But coming to the Gifted Center, she saw another world.

High buildings that seemed to stretch endlessly, all kinds of goods, and even people filling the streets.

But she only saw that amazing sight for a moment.

Because she had to come directly into the Gifted Center without having time to stop anywhere.

Of course, the inside of the Gifted Center was also a very surprising and mysterious place.

Not to mention the wonderful buildings she was seeing for the first time in her life, just looking at various parts of the Imperial Palace visible from high places made her feel as if her world was expanding.

‘Still…’

She remembered the streets full of people.

‘And they said a festival would be held.’

Evi recalled the festivals in the capital she had read about in books.

It was said that there were many people who brought and sold mysterious things from all over the Empire.

There were also many foods that were only sold during the festival.

‘It must be delicious…’

But she couldn’t eat those.

‘I have no money.’

So even if she went out, she would have to come back after just looking around.

‘Besides, it’s dangerous to go out alone.’

There were still many places in the Gifted Center she hadn’t explored yet, so she didn’t have the courage to wander around the capital alone.

Evi recalled the map of the capital that was hanging in the lobby of the Gifted Center’s main building.

The map where she could see how large the entire capital was because the Gifted Center was marked on it.

How surprised she had been to learn while looking at that map that the entire capital was hundreds of times larger than this Gifted Center.

Moreover, there were buildings and roads everywhere.

She didn’t have the confidence to go out alone to such a complicated place and return safely.

In addition, she didn’t know what was where.

‘I’ll go out when I’m a bit older.’

In the meantime, Evi was passing in front of the faculty office.

“Oh, Evi!”

The staff member inside saw Evi and stood up from her seat to call her.

Then she handed her a slip of paper.

“What is this?”

“It’s the location of Professor Sian Roshen’s office. I heard this morning that it was finalized, so I was actually about to contact the dormitory.”

At those words, Evi’s face brightened.

“Thank you!”

Evi’s heart pounded as she walked with the slip of paper.

‘Now I’ll be able to see Professor Sian more often.’

Evi thought of the mana stone.

The light of the mana stone seen at night was always warm and beautiful.

A light that illuminated the surroundings gently enough not to be dazzling.

Thanks to that, she no longer had scary thoughts when falling asleep and slept very comfortably.

Was it because he was the professor who gave her a night without fear?

Among the people she met at the Gifted Center, Evi really liked Professor Sian, whom she had only met twice.

It was a secret from everyone, but she liked him more than Professor Malles, who looked after her, more than Irene, and more than Arcel and Ruska.

‘I should go after class.’

Professor Malles said there was no need to bring more flowers, but Evi was still going to the greenhouse in the morning to receive the leftover flowers.

‘Now I should bring them to Professor Sian’s room too.’

Thinking that she had one more joyful thing starting tomorrow, Evi hurried her steps.

* * *

“Whoa, Irene, how hard did you really kick that?”

“What do you mean ‘that’? Show some manners to the young lady of the Terence family.”

“Young lady, my foot. See this? Even if I were kicked by a horse, it wouldn’t be this bad. Hey, don’t marry her.”

Ruska pulled up his pant leg and showed the area below his knee where a bruise was forming.

Indeed, whether she had kicked with purpose, the mark from the toe of her shoe was clear. However, there was not a single drop of sympathy in Arcel’s eyes as he looked at his friend’s injury.

“It’s because you acted without any tact. And don’t just say things like marriage carelessly. With that one word, the number of people who wag their tongues will only increase.”

People believed that one of the two, Arcel or Ruska, would become the Emperor’s adopted son.

That was a fact that the two of them also suspected to some extent.

Unless there was someone very special among the children of the Gifted Center this time, the Emperor would choose one of the two whom he had seen since childhood.

Because the nobles also suspected this, they were on edge over the position of the future Crown Princess, which had not yet been decided.

Then Ruska spoke indifferently.

“But Irene Terence. She doesn’t seem to have any intention of marrying either of us.”

At Ruska’s words, Arcel stared at him blankly.

Ruska was right.

Rather than seeing the two of them as marriage partners, Irene saw them as bothersome things.

No, rather than bothersome, was it more like she saw them as things that were very much in the way?

Still, the reason she continued to be with the two of them was obvious.

‘It’s to manage her reputation, of course, and she’s also thinking of Evi.’

By having Arcel and Ruska tag along, Irene’s position, which had been on the verge of falling, became strong again.

The same was true for Evi.

The one-time help she received on the day she entered the Gifted Center had actually become poison for Evi.

But once they showed that their relationship with the two was not a one-time thing, people quickly changed their attitudes.

‘Seeing that, she is indeed a member of the Terence family.’

In any case, Arcel also saw that the attitude of people toward Evi changed thanks to Irene’s actions.

That’s why he was willingly playing along with Irene’s tune.

Since Arcel wouldn’t take his side, Ruska lowered his pant leg and pouted his lips.

“I know I made a mistake too… really, I just said it without thinking…”

To Ruska’s murmur, Arcel replied in a cold voice.

“Then start thinking before you speak from now on.”

“Yes, sorry… But I really just wanted Evi to go out and play.”

Ruska, who was grumbling for a moment, snapped his fingers as if he had a good idea.

“Ah, should I just ask her to come over to my house this weekend? My older brothers would really like it. They’re people who are always singing about how it would be nice to have a younger sister. My parents also said they wished they had at least one daughter.”

Then Arcel, who was walking ahead, stopped.

He stared blankly at Ruska, who was following behind.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Because you’re pathetic.”

Answering like that, Arcel walked ahead alone, leaving Ruska behind.

“Hey! Arcel! Hey!”

Ruska, who tried to follow while limping, eventually gave up and murmured.

“That guy, why is he suddenly getting annoyed?”