Chapter 69

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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As the class ended, students left the classroom while buzzing.

Evi slowly packed her bag in a corner seat.

If someone had been watching, they would have noticed the fact that she was intentionally tidying up her spot slowly.

Once the last student left, Evi’s movements changed from that point on.

After quickly putting all the books in, she immediately leaned over and examined the floor.

Evi, who scanned everything from the teacher’s desk to the back of the classroom, soon found what she wanted.

After picking it up and putting it in her bag, she came out into the hallway. Then she went to the next classroom and repeated the same behavior.

After scanning several classrooms, only then did Evi take on a satisfied face.

Shouldering her bag, which had become a bit thicker than when she was attending class, she headed to the cafeteria this time.

‘They said everyone is busy today.’

As the exam approached, all four of them became busy.

Irene said she was attending supplementary classes for subjects she was lacking in.

The situation was not much different for Ruska and Arcel.

“We are older than Evi, so we attend more classes.”

Ruska said as if showing off.

“I’m jealous…”

When Evi answered gloomily at those words, Ruska shook his head and said that at times like this, one should ridicule, not envy.

“Is it just like Evi to not even know why she should ridicule… More than that, Arcel and Irene. Will you two stop looking at me as if I’m the world’s stupidest and laziest student?”

Ruska covered the gazes of the two pouring onto him with his hand.

At the same time, he said he would cancel his evening exercise today and go study. Something about being sincere about studying to that extent.

He was someone who always went around with Arcel, but as for playing ball with friends after dinner, he would go to do that alone.

To think he would give up something he liked that much and go study.

Furthermore, Arcel also carried more books than he usually did.

‘The midterm exam of the Gifted Center must have been a very important exam.’

Even though it wasn’t like the upper school in Elam where they said they would kick one out if grades dropped even a little, for everyone to work this hard.

Actually, that was because the upper school in Elam had attached an absurd condition, but there was no way Evi knew.

Evi headed to the cafeteria alone.

Perhaps because everyone was preparing for exams, the cafeteria was quieter than usual.

Students who entered also used to just take sandwiches, which they wouldn’t have touched usually, and go out again.

Evi took a seat and went to receive her meal.

“Uh?”

Then she discovered a point of change.

When she first came to the cafeteria, to bring a fork and knife, she had to stand on her tiptoes with all her might for her hand to barely reach.

It was the same that she had to stand on her tiptoes to grab them now, but she could grab them without having to desperately stretch her arm like before.

The place they were placed was the same. If so…

“I think I’ve grown taller.”

If she thought about it, she always ate well after coming here.

Here, she could eat as much as she wanted of potatoes and bread.

She could even choose from several kinds of soup, and she could eat snacks or tea whenever she wanted.

It wasn’t just about eating.

Excluding class time, she could also sleep whenever she wanted if she desired.

So in the weather that was gradually becoming warmer, Evi used to return to her room and take a nap in bed when there were no classes.

While returning with a tray filled with food, Evi thought she should ask Irene to measure her height when she returned to her room.

Irene always told Evi that she should gain weight and grow taller. That is, to eat very, very much.

‘I want to tell Irene quickly!’

Was it because she realized the fact that she had grown taller?

When she sat down, Evi discovered another point of change.

‘My sleeves have become shorter.’

Since they were sleeves that were long enough to cover the back of her hand and still remain, it was more correct to say she had grown enough for them to fit perfectly rather than that they had become shorter.

‘I think my arms have become longer too.’

Come to think of it, her shoes also seemed a bit tight, unlike when she first received them.

At the fact that she had grown, Evi sat on the chair, clenched both her hands, and kicked her legs.

It was a gesture showing she didn’t know what to do out of joy.

She was still the smallest child in the Gifted Center.

To the point that people would all know who it was even without seeing her face when she passed by.

Evi tried to imagine herself grown a bit more.

She wanted to grow up quickly. So she wanted to beat Ruska, who bragged that his height was the tallest among the four.

‘Because Lord Ruska always puts his chin on top of my head and teases me by calling me a peanut!’

If she grew more, she would surely return as much as she suffered.

‘If I grow more, I won’t have to hold Irene’s hand.’

Walking while holding hands was good, but she was the only one who went around like that in the Gifted Center.

So she was sometimes embarrassed as well.

‘On rainy days, I’ll be the one to hold the umbrella.’

It was a pleasant thing just to think about. She had always only received help, but if she grew taller and her body grew larger, she would be able to help other people, wouldn’t she?

At that time, there were people who came to mind while she was picking up her spoon with a happy heart.

‘The director.’

It wasn’t only the director. From the other teachers of the orphanage and friends, to the younger and older siblings.

‘Everyone must be doing well, right?’

The director’s letters are arriving regularly once every two weeks.

Compared to other children who receive letters almost every day, they don’t come often.

But she also knows well the fact that the director is doing her best to send them.

‘Because sending a letter all the way here is also something that costs money.’

Perhaps because of that, letters used to arrive in a bunch of several pages as if those written at one time had been gathered and sent.

Her legs, which were swinging on the chair in the joy of being taller, stopped moving.

‘Only I am doing well.’

It was because she was too small, but the friends of the orphanage were by no means tall or had large bodies.

It would be good if those friends could also all eat a lot.

Evi’s hand while having her meal slowed down with guilt.

Suddenly, she felt like she was doing something bad by eating well and doing well all by herself.

In the meantime, students left and the cafeteria became quieter and quieter.

Seeing the atmosphere, having judged that more students would not come, the employees tidied up the kitchen and the serving counter a bit earlier than usual.

While returning the tray she had finished eating from, Evi asked the cafeteria employee.

“All of this, are you throwing it away?”

“Yes. Since they are baked goods, it’s okay to leave them for a long time, but as our rules are such, we are throwing away what remains.”

The employee answered so and went back into the kitchen.

Evi could not take her eyes off the snacks piled up to be thrown away for a long time.

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Clois was walking toward the Gifted Center under the darkening sky.

Even while hurriedly heading to the professor’s office, he could not take his eyes off the book held in his hand.

On the book held in his hand was written ‘Resid Verb Conjugation Rules.’

He understood why Seraphina had chuckled as if to say ‘will that work?’ when he said he would teach Evi a foreign language.

At first, he thought she was saying that he had forgotten everything since he studied it too long ago.

‘There is a big difference between me learning and me teaching someone else.’

There wasn’t much problem with him understanding, but it became overwhelming when he tried to explain it.

So he was currently studying by cramming while looking at the Resid and Arsis language textbooks after finishing the document review as quickly as possible.

While walking the path heading to the Gifted Center, he inadvertently lifted his head.

Beside the path was a forest path that people could not enter.

The moment he realized what was beyond it, he stopped his steps.

‘My God.’

It was something that could not be.

To think he had completely erased from his head the fact that he had to go to meet his wife and daughter.

Unless he was away from the Imperial Palace, no matter how busy he was, he stopped by their graves once every three days.

But now…

‘How long have I not visited?’

Counting the dates, Clois became distant.

Two weeks.

Ever since he went to the festival, he had not visited their graves.

He worried.

Should he turn his steps right now and visit their graves.

Or should he go to meet the child who would be waiting for him.

The answer was clear. He must go to meet the loved ones who could not come out from that place, whom he had not been able to visit for two weeks.

That is the natural thing.

Even while knowing that well, why…

He, who was hesitating without having decided where to go, closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he muttered in a small voice.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go as soon as it’s finished…”

After saying sorry toward beyond the forest for a long time, he walked toward the Gifted Center again.

Right now, he did not want to disappoint the child who would be waiting for him.