Chapter 70

* * *
Translated by Sylph

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

“Professor! Hello!”

As soon as Clois stepped inside, Evi stood up abruptly and approached him.

It was the first time she had seen Professor Sian since the seasonal festival.

‘To be honest, I thought you might not be able to come today…’

The reply Director Seraphina had given her said that Professor Sian would be able to come to the professor’s office around this evening.

However, Seraphina had also told her not to wait too late, as he was so busy that his return might be delayed.

Of course, even so, Evi had intended to wait until the curfew.

Evi, who had approached Clois, stared blankly at his face and asked in a worried voice.

“Professor, are you tired?”

“Hmm? Why do you think so?”

“Here. It’s pitch black under your eyes. And your eyeballs have blood vessels standing out. Your eyes have become narrow like this, too.”

At Evi’s words, he looked at her as if surprised.

He was someone who had become accustomed to hiding his fatigue in front of others.

It had to be that way.

After his accession, he had suppressed the ministers and other nobles with fear for a while.

He had to. Because it was a situation where they could plot a rebellion at any time otherwise.

So he did not reveal a weak appearance in front of others.

Since it was something he had learned since he was young, no one noticed his condition except for those who were very close and received his trust.

But for a 7-year-old child to notice immediately.

Was it that he had let his guard down too much, or was Evi’s observation skills just that good?

Clois diverted the conversation with a bitter smile.

“Have you been doing well? I’m sorry for leaving without being able to say goodbye because you were sleeping so deeply during the seasonal festival.”

“No!”

Evi, who jumped as if asking what he was talking about, recalled the gifts she had received at the mention of the seasonal festival.

She had to say that he gave her too many, and that she couldn’t accept them all. But…

‘They were all pretty.’

The several hairpins, ribbons, and even other toys. They were all things she wanted to have.

And above all, they were things Professor Sian had given her.

“Thank you for the gifts. I’ll use them all well.”

“…Right.”

He had expected her to say she couldn’t accept them all like before, but he was relieved by her answer of thank you instead of refusal.

At the same time, he felt proud. Because it was proof that the things he had chosen were truly things the child would like.

After telling Evi to sit on a chair, he scanned the foreign language book Evi had been looking at and asked.

“So, which part was difficult?”

He looked at the clock. There wasn’t much time since she had to return before the dormitory curfew.

So he intended to help the parts she was struggling with as much as possible before then so that it could be helpful to Evi.

To the point where Evi could find him again if studying was difficult.

* * *

A bell rang in the distance. At that sound, Clois checked the clock.

“My, let’s get up. You have to return to the dormitory.”

“Yes…”

Evi tidied up her books with regret.

“I don’t know if I was of help.”

“You were of huge help! You taught me everything I didn’t know.”

“Still, the explanation was a bit difficult, wasn’t it?”

“Hehe…”

At the sight of Evi smiling awkwardly, unable to say no, Clois made a resolution.

From tonight, he would have to study even by splitting his sleeping time so that he could teach like a foreign language professor.

It wasn’t just to dress up like a plausible professor.

He felt joy while teaching Evi.

Evi was a child who understood two or three things as soon as one was taught.

She realizes what she didn’t know at all until a moment ago and quickly expands her world.

Like a dry cloth absorbing water, she absorbs new things and soon stands beside those who learned first.

Clois even felt a sense of wonder at the sight of an ignorant existence growing rapidly.

‘To think there would be this kind of joy.’

When he heard the story of Professor Malles from Seraphina, he thought it was the fuss of an old professor, but now Clois could no longer laugh at him.

At this rate, it seemed like he would end up making even more of a fuss than Professor Malles.

He wanted to hand over everything she wanted enough to overflow to the curiosity-filled child and see how much more she would grow.

He felt a desire to try teaching Evi even more.

‘To do that, I’ll have to study first myself.’

Clois looked at the foreign language textbook in his hand.

He didn’t know how many years it had been since he had looked at a book that was not immediately related to work in this way.

“Next time, I’ll teach you more easily.”

“Yes!”

While Evi was tidying up her notes, he looked at the room that had changed as he had ordered.

Looking at it, there were traces of use here and there.

Since it was a space where no one else came except for him and Evi, it was clear that Evi had been coming in and out and using it well in the meantime.

While he was feeling an unknown sense of pride at the fact that he had accurately grasped the child’s taste, he suddenly caught a strange smell.

“…Cookies?”

He hadn’t noticed a moment ago, but as he moved around to go back now, there was a faint smell of snacks.

While searching for where the smell of snacks was coming from, he realized that the smell became stronger near the newly arrived bookshelf.

“Professor! Let’s go back now!”

When he was about to search for more traces of the smell, Evi grabbed him and hurriedly headed outside.

Because of that, Clois came outside without paying any more attention to the smell of cookies.

“Give me the bag.”

Even before hearing an answer, he picked up Evi’s bag himself and held out one hand.

Evi now grabbed the hand he held out without even hesitating.

The two walked along the darkened path together toward the dormitory.

And there was a person hiding and watching that sight from the window of the building next door. It was Ezriella.

Ezriella had been following Evi since this afternoon.

Evi did not notice her. She had never even thought of the possibility that someone would shadow her.

Moreover, it was because she had been excited at the thought of meeting Professor Sian.

Ezriella, who had been following her continuously, saw Evi entering a quiet building and entered the building next door.

Because if she followed her into the same building, there was a high risk of being caught.

Fortunately, a classroom with a good view of the building Evi entered was empty.

Ezriella waited for Evi to come out while looking outside from there.

However, Evi did not come out until the curfew time approached.

‘Seeing that the lights are on, it seems she is inside…’

If the lights had all been turned off, she could have thought that she had returned without her knowing and gone back to the dormitory herself, but since she didn’t come out, she couldn’t go back either.

While being alone in the dark classroom, she became even more anxious.

By now, all the other students would be working hard in their rooms to prepare for the midterm exams.

To think she was doing this at a time when she should be studying hard for the exams herself.

‘She said she was learning a foreign language from Professor Sian.’

While she was hiding like this and monitoring, the thought that Evi was sitting comfortably and studying made Ezriella’s stomach twist even more.

‘The professors also keep praising her.’

Even if her grades were good in a rural school, she thought she wouldn’t be able to help it in the Gifted Center.

Most of the students had received only the best education from many tutors since they were young.

So they would realize their place here. Arcel and Ruska dealing with her was also only for a moment.

She believed that as more time passed, they too would confirm Evi’s inflated abilities and distance themselves.

But everything was flowing contrary to Ezriella’s thoughts.

When she asked students with whom she still maintained friendships, they said that in every class Evi entered, the professors were busy praising that child.

“She really seems to be smart.”

“I’m also jealous of Professor Malles’s class. The other three in the main building’s classroom are all high-ranking nobles whom everyone looks up to… Does it feel like an elite gathering even within the Gifted Center?”

“Furthermore, that Professor Malles is an amazing person, but we didn’t know because he didn’t active. They say he’s going to create a gathering under his own name now… Since Evi is the only young disciple, she’ll take all the help of the seniors for herself later.”

While everyone was being spiteful, they couldn’t hide their envy.

At the same time, everyone seemed to subtly hope that Ezriella would add something more.

Ezriella became desperate at their attitude that they would return to Irene otherwise.

‘That’s why I followed her today.’

She hadn’t studied properly, and she hadn’t found any clear evidence to push Evi Alden into a corner until now.

‘Should I just go back?’

It wouldn’t be too late even if she followed her after the exams were over.

When Ezriella’s thoughts reached that point, Evi came out of the building.

Unlike when she went in, Evi was with someone else.

A man who was carrying Evi’s bag and holding her hand.

It was definitely the tall, blonde man Evi had spoken of in the cafeteria.

Ezriella quietly left the building and followed the two from a very long distance.