Chapter 81

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Translated by Sylph

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net.
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Evi thought as she banged her forehead against the ground.

‘I’m glad it’s fluffy.’

Fortunately, a soft carpet, much fluffier than the carpet at the Gifted Center, was spread under her feet.

So, even though she hurriedly banged her forehead against the ground hard enough to make a *thump* sound, it didn’t hurt much.

But the problem now wasn’t her forehead.

‘I-Is this the right way to greet him?’

At the Gifted Center, they teach advanced etiquette, such as the greeting methods used inside the Imperial Palace. The problem is that it starts from the second semester.

Furthermore, since she never thought she would have much use for it, Evi hadn’t particularly taken an interest in it yet.

Irene had shown her how to greet once, but she had only thought that it was very complicated.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have learned it in advance.’

She tried to recall and imitate the greetings others gave him in the professor’s office, but her stiff body wouldn’t easily follow.

No doubt it was also because she was still out of it.

Evi, who banged her forehead once more with a *thump*, cautiously raised her head.

In books, it said that one could only look at the Emperor’s face after receiving permission, so she was worried whether her greeting was according to etiquette.

Raising her head, Evi felt like crying upon seeing Clois with a hardened expression.

‘I must have gotten the greeting wrong!’

What should she do? There was no one here to teach her.

When Evi was flustered and didn’t know what to do, Clois leaned over. He reached out and lightly lifted Evi up to meet her eyes.

“Who told you to greet me like that?”

“Hic!”

At the low voice, Evi made a strange sound without realizing it. Somehow, it felt like the Emperor was angry.

“I, I h-haven’t l-learned yet, so a proper greeting……”

When Evi trembled as if terrified, Clois let out a sigh and relaxed his hardened expression.

“I misspoke. I meant that since you’re not well, there’s no need to do such a bothersome greeting.”

Clois patted the startled Evi and sat her on the edge of the bed.

“You must still be in pain, will you be okay not lying down?”

Even though he had heard from the Imperial Physician that there were no other major problems besides the swelling and bruises, in Clois’s eyes now, Evi looked like the child in the most pain in the world.

That was only natural, as nearly half of Evi’s face was covered with the gauze the doctor had attached.

The Imperial Physician had tried to attach it as small as possible, but because she was still young and her face was small, it couldn’t be helped.

“I’m really okay! I’m already all better! It doesn’t hurt at all…… No, it does not hurt at all!”

Evi was confused about exactly what kind of speech style she should use to answer Clois.

What if she made a slip of the tongue like this?

In the end, Evi shut her mouth.

In fact, even until now, Evi could hardly believe this situation.

‘To think the professor is the Emperor.’

There were many strange points.

Like how he was sitting alone in front of the graves of the Empress and the Princess.

Or how he looked exactly like the portrait she saw in a book.

Or how he was an ordinary professor yet could ask Director Seraphina for a favor through a letter.

Evi swallowed hard and mustered the courage to ask him a question.

“Is the professor really, no, is Your Majesty really the E-Emperor?”

After saying it, it was a strange question. Asking if the Emperor was the Emperor.

But Evi was so stiff with tension that she didn’t even notice the problem with her question.

“Pfft.”

At that moment, Clois smirked and answered.

“Yes. It is true that I am the current Emperor of Harkia, Clois Arelkian Harkia.”

“…….”

At those words, Evi was at a loss for words again.

‘Now…… what should I do?’

Evi recalled how she had treated Clois until now.

Since he was a professor she liked, she had never acted out of line. But how had she treated a being to whom even Arcel and Ruska, not to mention the Director, had to bow their heads so politely?

She had hung onto his clothes, asked him to take her to the festival, and even slept soundly in his arms until returning to the Gifted Center.

Old stories she had seen in books flashed through Evi’s mind.

In those, one’s head would be chopped off immediately if they said even one word wrong to the Emperor.

‘I don’t think he would do that, though……’

Evi gazed blankly at Clois.

“…….”

“…….”

A long silence flowed between the two.

The one who spoke first was Clois.

“Does it really not hurt?”

“It’s okay! I’m used to this much!”

At Evi’s answer, his expression almost hardened again. Although he desperately endured it, thinking she would be terrified again.

‘She’s used to it.’

Since she had only praised the orphanage, she didn’t get used to it there.

‘I want to know where and how she lived before the orphanage.’

It seemed that today was not the time to ask that.

For now, he had to wrap up the incident at the Gifted Center.

“Evi.”

“Y-Yes!”

“You don’t have to be so stiff.”

“But…… in front of Your Majesty……”

At the word “Your Majesty” flowing from Evi’s mouth, Clois felt a sense of regret.

Until just a while ago, she was a child who would run to him, call him professor, and hug him tightly. But now, she treats him with difficulty and keeps her distance as if she had never done so.

At that moment, Clois realized.

The reason he wanted to hide being the Emperor until the end was due to various issues regarding Evi’s future, but it was also because he wanted to keep the time they had spent intimately as it was.

So that if they met again one day pretending not to know, Evi could run to him happily.

Swallowing his disappointment, Clois asked Evi.

“Evi, can I ask you one thing I’m curious about?”

“Yes!”

At his question, Evi nodded her head vigorously.

“Why didn’t you put new things in the box? If you had asked the Gifted Center’s supply office, they would have given you as many new pencils and notebooks as you wanted.”

If they were for studying, as many supplies as desired would be provided.

Therefore, if they were to be sent as gifts to her friends at the orphanage, she could have applied for and sent more items. Why did she specifically pick up and send what other children threw away?

Clois was curious about the reason.

At his question, Evi hesitated and then spoke cautiously.

“Uh, th-that, it’s in the sc-school rules. That the Gifted Center’s items must not be used at will for personal greed or taken outside……. So I thought I shouldn’t ask for more items to give to my friends at the orphanage.”

Evi, who answered with difficulty, bowed her head deeply again.

It was just as Evi said. In the basic school rules, there would be such a rule to restrain the reckless consumption of overall resources.

However, no one particularly cared about that rule. It was an educational institution for a very small number of children supported by the Imperial Family.

In such a place, they didn’t even put limits on consumables like notebooks or pencils, and there was no one who would say anything even if they were used recklessly.

Furthermore, the box Evi had prepared was at most about the size of an adult’s head.

With that much, she could have just filled it at once, but Evi put down her pride and picked up what other children threw away.

So as not to violate the rules of the Gifted Center.

Clois knew how difficult that was.

Bending oneself to follow rules that no one sees or cares about is something even adults can’t easily do.

But Evi, despite being so young, understood the rules made for the whole and was striving to follow them.

In an instant, Clois thought of the two children he was considering as successors.

How would Arcel and Ruska have acted in this situation?

The two would have also found a smooth solution.

But he couldn’t be sure if they would have stubbornly followed the rules until the end like Evi.

This point of Evi’s was one of the greatest qualities he desired in a successor.

‘It’s a pity.’

If Evi were a child of a noble family like the other children, he would have put Evi as a candidate for his successor without hesitation at this moment.

“Professor…… ah, no. Your Majesty.”

At the sound of being called Your Majesty again, he frowned.

It’s a word he always hears from others, but why does it feel so regrettable when Evi calls him that?

So Clois said without realizing it.

“Just keep calling me professor.”

“Yes?”

“I will look over your foreign languages until this semester, so I would like you to just call me professor like before, at least until then. If that’s hard……”

Clois thought for a moment and then said.

“How about trying to call me by my name?”