Chapter 78

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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Professor Sian.

At those words, everyone’s gaze landed on him.

‘This person?’

Irene’s eyes widened in surprise.

When Evi said that Professor Sian was more handsome than Arcel, she had thought to herself that it couldn’t be true.

As the daughter of the Terence family, Irene had grown up among beautiful and precious things since she was a child.

Because of that, she naturally had high standards.

Especially since her own appearance was quite flamboyant, she had never felt much of an impression upon seeing others.

However, when she first saw Arcel, she honestly couldn’t help but admire him in her heart.

Both objectively and subjectively, Arcel’s appearance was so refined that no one could find fault with it.

Yet Evi had stated flatly that Professor Sian was much more handsome.

She had said Arcel was pretty, but if she had to compare Professor Sian and Arcel again, she would have subtly taken Professor Sian’s side.

‘It’s just because Evi likes that professor so much that she’s saying that.’

Since she was still a young child, she thought that a person she liked more simply looked more handsome to her.

Or perhaps her standards of beauty and ugliness were a bit different from others.

But seeing the man called Professor Sian now, she came to understand why Evi had insisted until the end that he was more handsome than Arcel.

From the moment she saw him, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. It seemed to be the same for the other students as well.

Seeing how everyone wasn’t just whispering that it was him, but couldn’t even close their mouths.

His tall height, sturdy body, and even an unknown sense of intimidation.

Strangely, he was a person who made one’s head bow naturally.

‘Is he…… really a professor?’

Irene recalled the professors she saw at the Gifted Center.

Everyone had different levels of presence depending on their career and age.

However, they all had the unique feeling characteristic of people called professors.

But now, Professor Sian didn’t have even the slightest bit of that same feeling as other professors.

In terms of atmosphere, he was closer to the knights she had seen during the Imperial Palace tour, rather than a professor.

She wondered if it was because of his physique, but another professor who was even bulkier than Professor Sian didn’t have this feeling.

Furthermore, he had a sharper and more fearful feeling than the Imperial Palace knights.

‘He’s…… not a professor.’

Realizing that fact, Irene took a step back and watched him with a wary gaze.

For now, she had to get help from others.

‘Even if it’s Arcel or Ruska.’

Though she usually muttered for them to stay away from Evi, she knew well how much help those two could be.

Irene turned her head to look for the two of them.

“Uh……?”

Then, she felt something strange about their appearance.

Both Arcel and Ruska were staring at Professor Sian with eyes that couldn’t believe it.

The problem was that they were filled with a different kind of bewilderment than Irene.

As if someone who should absolutely not be here had appeared, Irene noticed their shocked state.

‘Do they know him?’

But why were they so surprised? Was he some kind of notorious criminal in the capital despite looking like that? But no matter how she looked at it, it didn’t feel that way.

While Irene was in such a panic, Ruska and Arcel were truly flustered.

Naturally, the moment Clois entered, the two of them recognized who he was immediately.

That’s why they couldn’t believe their eyes.

To think that Professor Sian, whom Evi had praised so much, was His Majesty the Emperor?

The two, who had been frozen for a moment, only belatedly recalled the etiquette they should observe in front of the Emperor.

When the two were about to bow their heads, Clois lightly raised his hand towards them.

It meant not to do it.

Recognizing the Emperor’s intention not to reveal his identity yet, the two had to stand with their mouths shut in an awkward posture.

Clois walked through the parting crowd and stood in front of Evi.

“Evi.”

When he called her, Evi, who had been trembling, raised her head.

The sight of the young child, covered in blood while hugging a crumpled cardboard box, was truly wretched.

Clois knelt on one knee. Then, Evi’s messed-up face came into closer view.

He raised his hand and wiped Evi’s nosebleed, which was still flowing a little, with his sleeve.

“Professor, your clothes…….”

Red marks were left on the clean shirt, but he continued to tidy Evi’s face without caring in the least.

But when it didn’t seem to get clean, he turned his head and ordered.

“Find something to wipe with.”

“Yes.”

Arcel replied politely and turned his body. Ruska was the same.

The students, who had been staring blankly at the sudden stranger, only then realized that something was strange.

The man called Professor Sian was giving orders so naturally, and the two students who could be said to be the most noble among them were obediently carrying out his orders.

As if it were a matter of course.

Soon, Arcel searched the surroundings and found a clean cloth, and Ruska took it, ran to the bathroom, and soaked the cloth in water.

Then he politely handed it to Clois.

Clois wiped Evi’s face with a hardened expression.

As he wiped away the blood, the red handprints on her cheeks were clearly revealed. It was clear that Ezriella had left them.

Clois examined Evi meticulously.

Fortunately, blood had only flowed because of the nosebleed, and there were no other wounds where blood would flow on her lips or inside her mouth.

But even so, she was still in a wretched state.

It was only natural, as one small child had been unilaterally beaten by five much larger students.

After he finished wiping away the bloodstains, Ezriella, who had been watching blankly, belatedly came to her senses.

“Anyway, she’s a thief! There must be stolen goods inside that box! That’s why she’s holding out without showing it like that. She came to spirit it away because she was caught!”

At Ezriella’s pointing finger, Ruska and Arcel’s faces turned pale.

To the people, Clois was known as a sage king who had settled the tedious Succession War and then led the Empire to prosperity.

However, he was able to do that because he acted that much more relentlessly.

Everyone wasn’t paying attention to his achievements, but since Clois ascended the throne, how many people had been executed?

For several years until the Empire stabilized, he was a man who handled things according to the law without mercy to establish discipline.

It was fortunate that his violence came out in the right direction; if it had been slightly off, he would have been remembered as an unprecedented tyrant.

To think that she was now pointing her finger arrogantly and slandering such a person.

Even though she was the one who had wielded violence first.

Looking at Clois’s chilly face, Arcel and Ruska had a gut feeling.

That he would never let this matter end quietly.

Clois, who was watching Ezriella shouting, turned his head and looked at Evi again.

Then, instantly erasing the previous chilliness, he spoke in a gentle voice.

“Evi, is what that student said true?”

At his question, Evi shook her head vigorously.

“N-No. I didn’t do such a thing.”

“Liar!”

When Ezriella shouted, Clois glared at her.

The moment their eyes met, Ezriella held her breath and took a step back.

A mere young student couldn’t withstand the sharpness of one who had killed hundreds and thousands on the battlefield.

Clois took a short sigh and then said to Evi.

“Evi, I know you don’t want to show what’s inside that box.”

“…….”

Seeing how she didn’t let go of it even while being beaten, it seemed she had put something she wanted to hide very much in it.

“But now, it seems there’s no way to assert your innocence.”

He didn’t think for a moment that Evi would have stolen their things.

It was just that Evi was refusing to show it for some reason.

In his heart, he wanted to take Evi out like this and let her hide the box as she wished.

But if he did that, she would be under suspicious eyes for the rest of her life while she was at the Gifted Center.

“Won’t you show those people what’s in the box?”

Even at his carefully requested words, Evi flinched and couldn’t quite bring herself to give up the box.

Then Ezriella snorted as if she had expected that.

“Hmph, just because you’re both thieves and swindlers, you’re pretending not to know to pin it on an orphan…….”

“It’s not like that!”

When Ezriella criticized Clois, Evi shouted as if she couldn’t bear that.

“Professor…….”

Then, biting her lip hard, she held the box in her arms forward.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she closed her eyes tightly, opened the lid of the crumpled box, and flipped the box over.

Then, the things inside tumbled out onto the floor.

Bewilderment appeared on the faces of the people who had expected stolen goods to finally come out.

“This is…….”