CICN 29

Chapter 29

Her roommate, who had been watching to see what was going on, eventually returned to their room.

“Yes, thank you.”

Limora also let out a silent sigh of relief as she followed the staff member.

‘That scared me for nothing.’

Because she’d been thinking about Ibi Elden’s situation, she was worried she might’ve been found out.

Then suddenly, a thought crossed her mind—What did I lose, exactly?

“But what item was it?”

“I’m not sure about that part.”

Strangely, the staff member’s tone was much colder than before.

‘What the… What’s with the attitude?’

He had sounded quite kind back in the room, so she couldn’t understand the sudden change.

‘See? Even the staff discriminate.’

Although the Gifted Academy claimed all students—noble or commoner—were equal, that was clearly not the case.

Even among the students, everyone bowed and scraped in front of high-ranking nobles.

‘Just wait and see.’

Limora glared at the staff’s back as she followed him.

She thought they were heading to the lobby’s staff room, but instead, the staff led her further inside to a more secluded room.

“Ask the people inside.”

He said this and promptly turned around and left.

‘What the hell is this about?’

Limora knocked on the door. When she heard someone inside tell her to come in, she opened the door and stepped inside.

In that moment—

“…!”

Suddenly, as if someone had pushed her from behind, Limora was shoved into the room.

Slam!

The door shut behind her and the lights went out.

“What the—!”

Startled, Limora scrambled up and tried to open the door, but it was so dark she couldn’t even find the handle right away.

And although it had opened easily before, now it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard she pulled.

“Wh-What is this! Hello?! Is anyone out there?!”

Panicking, Limora banged on the door.

She shook it so hard it rattled in its frame, but there wasn’t a single sound from outside.

Her anxiety spiked. She was trapped in the dark.

Bang! Bang!

In the darkness, she pounded on the door with all her strength. Her hands hurt from slamming against the thick wood, but this was no time to care about that.

Sweat trickled down her back from the fear of being trapped alone in the dark.

Eventually, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed with all her might:

“Help me! Somebody help!”

Pop!

At that moment, as if it were a lie, the darkness disappeared and the room lit up.

Startled by the sudden change, Limora turned around.

When she’d entered, the room had been empty—but now, Ibi was standing there.

The moment she saw Ibi, Limora’s eyes filled with rage.

“You! This is your doing!”

Limora stormed toward Ibi and grabbed her.

“You’re doing this to get back at me for locking you up, aren’t you?! This is ridiculous!”

Thinking about how she had just been trembling and begging for help because of this kid, made her so furious she couldn’t see straight.

But even as Limora shouted, Ibi didn’t flinch. She just quietly looked at her.

“Answer me! This—”

When Ibi still didn’t respond, Limora reached out toward her.

“That’s enough.”

At that moment, Seraphina appeared from the side and grabbed Limora’s wrist.

“I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but… to think a student would intentionally lock up another student.”

Seraphina sighed and shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.

Limora stared blankly at the unfamiliar woman, then suddenly snapped to her senses.

‘Crap!’

She finally realized the mistake she had made.

‘I confessed it myself…’

She had gotten so angry that she’d blurted out her own wrongdoing.

She clenched her jaw at her own stupidity.

Her mind went blank and her hands trembled. Limora bit her lip and desperately tried to think.

‘If I can just shut this woman up…’

No one would believe Ibi’s words anyway. And there were no witnesses.

So if this staff member would just let it slide…

But then Seraphina sighed and said,

“You’re probably thinking that if you can just get me to stay quiet, everything will blow over. My name is Seraphina Readham. I’m the head of the Gifted Academy.”

“…!”

At Seraphina’s self-introduction, Limora’s jaw dropped.

Limora came from a prestigious family that had produced many scholars.

They had ties with well-known figures at the Academy and among alumni.

Seraphina Readham was someone her family had long desired to form a connection with.

She was a once-in-a-century genius.

Her grades and research papers during her time at both the Gifted Academy and the main Academy were legendary, and she was now a rare mage and trusted aide to the current emperor.

But she was known for hating the capital and rarely came to the city, so few were personally close to her.

And now here she was—right in front of Limora.

Realizing she was completely outmatched, Limora’s face turned pale.

Then her gaze landed on Ibi, who was still watching her.

There was only one option left.

Gritting her teeth, Limora stepped in front of Ibi and said,

“I-I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

She remembered the little girl who was overjoyed just to be spoken to, despite being a brilliant seven-year-old from an orphan background.

‘If I bow my head and apologize first, she’ll forgive me.’

Even when other students stared at her with scorn, even when she was pushed out of every group, she never once made a sour face—such a foolishly kind child.

‘She’ll definitely forgive me.’

If things had come to this, she would apologize properly and make sure it was over for good.

She would also make it clear to Headmistress Seraphina that this had been a mere “mistake.”

It didn’t take much effort for Limora’s eyes to fill with tears out of frustration.

“I just meant it as a little prank… I didn’t think it would get so serious.”

Her shoulders shook as tears streamed down her cheeks. To any observer, she looked truly pitiful.

“I should have said something… but I was just too scared…”

Limora wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Then she deeply bowed her head to Ibi.

“I’m really sorry! I was truly in the wrong. I promise nothing like this will ever happen again. So please forgive me!”

Limora now looked like she might collapse to her knees at any moment.

‘This should be enough.’

To anyone watching, it was clearly an over-the-top apology.

If other students had been around, someone would’ve muttered, “Isn’t that a bit much?”

‘And if she says she forgives me, the headmistress can’t say anything more.’

Just as Limora was thinking this—

“I don’t want to.”

“W-What?”

Ibi’s unexpected answer stunned Limora, who looked up, wide-eyed.

She was so shocked, her tears vanished.

Ibi didn’t look angry, nor did she look pleased at Limora’s groveling. Instead, there was a strange sadness in her expression.

“That room was cold and dark. If it hadn’t been me, and someone else had been locked up in there, they would’ve been terrified. And they would’ve cried a lot.”

“W-Well, yeah, but… you didn’t cry…”

At Limora’s comment, Seraphina glanced at Ibi’s face.

‘Now that I think about it, she really didn’t cry.’

She had been locked in there alone, banging on the door until her hands swelled. But no one came.

She spent the whole night trembling from the cold.

Any normal seven-year-old would’ve passed out from crying by then.

Even if not, most children would’ve cried the moment they saw someone had come to rescue them.

But there were no tear stains on Ibi’s face.

Seraphina let out a small sigh.

She had seen children like this during the war.

Kids who had witnessed horrors so terrible that nothing short of worse trauma could make them cry anymore.

‘She’s only seven.’

For her, being alone in the dark for hours wasn’t even a big deal—because she’d already lived a life where that was normal.

Seraphina’s heart ached.

“I was scared too. If it weren’t for the portrait in that room, I might’ve just curled up and stayed frozen.”

Ibi recalled the portrait that had watched over her.

Unlike the others, it wasn’t scary at all.

It made her want to talk to it, even give it something nice.

“And if you knew it was wrong, you should’ve admitted it right away. You said you were scared of being punished—but the person locked inside was even more scared.”

Ibi crouched to meet Limora’s eyes.

“You knew. But you said nothing. The headmistress said that if you knew and didn’t say anything, then it’s not a mistake. So I won’t forgive you.”

Her firm reply left Limora speechless.

Seraphina, watching the whole time, was also surprised.

Honestly, when Limora bowed and begged for forgiveness, she’d assumed Ibi would forgive her easily.

But contrary to her gentle appearance, Ibi was now incredibly composed and resolute.

Clap!

Seraphina clapped her hands once. It was time to step in.

“If the victim, Ibi, won’t forgive you, then there’s nothing I can do.”

“Th-Then…”

Limora trembled as she looked at her.

“Don’t look at me like that. What? Afraid I’ll expel you?”

“…!”

That was exactly what Limora had been dreading, and she flinched.

“Expulsion from the Gifted Academy isn’t decided so easily. It requires a meeting of at least five professors. And since you didn’t cause physical harm, it’s a bit tricky to punish. The current code doesn’t even properly address psychological offenses.”

Seraphina looked at Ibi’s hand.

It was swollen but not badly enough to be called an injury.

“Still, we can’t just let it go. So I’ll issue you a light penalty that doesn’t carry any demerit points.”

At those words, Limora’s face lit up. A punishment without demerits wasn’t a big deal.

‘See? Even Seraphina Readham doesn’t care that much about fights between commoners.’

Feeling relieved, Limora heard Seraphina’s next words:

“Starting tomorrow, every single day, you’ll offer a sincere apology to Ibi Elden at least once a day—until she forgives you.”

In that instant, Limora’s face turned white.