CICN 30

Chapter 30

Shuffle, shuffle.

Seraphina watched Remora trudging away with slumped shoulders.

“I-I don’t want that! I’d rather take a different punishment with demerit points!”

She probably thought she was being clever.

But the girl didn’t have the wit to be truly cunning.

If she did, she would’ve nodded and pretended to agree, saying she’d go see Evie every day until she was forgiven.

Instead, Remora outright refused and turned her back on Evie without hesitation.

That alone was proof enough.

Remora had no real intention of sincerely apologizing to Evie.

Clicking her tongue, Seraphina returned to the room and said to Evie, who was waiting inside:

“You even tried to be considerate so other students wouldn’t notice, but it’s unfortunate how things turned out.”

Evie gave an awkward smile at the word considerate.

In truth, when Seraphina called for Remora, she had planned to say it was about something related to Evie.

But when she gave those instructions to the staff, Evie had tugged on her clothes and shook her head.

“Please don’t do that. Then everyone else will know…”

Instead, Evie asked her to summon Remora under a different pretext so no one would find out she was involved.

So the other students wouldn’t know Remora was connected to the incident.

Seraphina’s praise made Evie smile sheepishly.

“The director always did it that way.”

There were many children at the orphanage. Fights broke out constantly.

Among them were those who secretly did “bad things”—stealing or ruining others’ belongings.

When something happened, the kids would go on a witch hunt to find the culprit.

At times like that, the director would say she needed help and summon certain children.

Evie used to think they were actually helping the director.

Until one day, when she forgot to knock and overheard a conversation inside.

That’s when she realized those summoned kids were actually the culprits—and how shocked she’d been.

Later, alone with the director, Evie asked why she’d lied like that.

“Because that’s the greatest punishment and the truest form of reflection,” the director had replied.

Evie couldn’t understand what she meant.

Seeing her confusion, the director gently patted Evie’s head and added:

“Wrongdoing must be reflected upon by the person themselves. An apology made from pressure or fear of others has no real meaning.

It’s deeply distressing to carry guilt alone, constantly worrying about being found out. While others laugh and play, the guilty can never laugh sincerely.”

Evie now repeated those words to Seraphina.

Seraphina smiled and patted Evie’s shoulder.

“You had a good teacher.”

Just then, a voice came from behind the wooden partition that divided the room.

“That’s all great, but can we come out now?”

“Oh, sorry. I completely forgot you two were still here. Come on out.”

As Seraphina laughed, Luska grumbled and stepped out from behind the partition. Arcel, of course, followed.

“You two can go now. This is a staff-only building, but it’s still technically part of the girls’ dormitory. Even if you have privileges granted by His Majesty, it’s not appropriate for boys to be here.”

“We didn’t come here for that reason!”

Luska raised his voice as if offended she thought he was some kind of pervert—then quickly shut his mouth.

“No, we just stayed in case that Remora—or Remore or whatever—kept lying until the end…”

It was true.

They had stayed to make sure Remora didn’t persist in her denials.

“Good thing it wrapped up before then.”

As Luska muttered, Arcel spoke to Evie.

Evie lowered her head when she saw the wrinkled shirt he was wearing again.

“Thank you for lending me your clothes. And for letting Remora speak first.”

It was Arcel’s idea to turn off the lights and make Remora panic, forcing her to notice Evie.

“I think just that will make her blow up in anger and confess on her own.”

And it had gone exactly as Arcel predicted.

Watching the boy speak so calmly, Seraphina clicked her tongue inwardly.

“That kid—what is he, some kind of war prisoner interrogator?”

But she hadn’t stopped him. Honestly, she too thought Remora deserved at least that much punishment for what she’d done.

“If she learns fear, she’ll understand what it means to scare someone else.”

At least from now on, Remora would think twice before leaving someone alone in the dark.

“Anyway, it’s late. You two should head back. I won’t be seeing you off—is that okay?”

“Of course!”

“Naturally.”

“Then let’s say our goodbyes properly another time. Take care.”

With Seraphina’s words, the two gave a polite bow and waved to Evie.

“See you tomorrow!”

Luska smiled brightly.

“It’s been rough, hasn’t it? Get some rest.”

Arcel spoke gently in his calm tone.

Evie gave a deep bow to the two waving hands.

“Thank you so much for today.”

Even as the door closed, the boys kept waving.

Watching that, Seraphina felt it was oddly heartwarming.

“Those two were never the type to care for others like that…”

Being close to Clois, Seraphina had known the two since childhood.

“They used to act like they didn’t need any friends but each other. What changed?”

Then her gaze shifted to Evie, who was quietly packing her bag.

Come to think of it, she herself had been strange today too.

“My magic activated too easily and quickly.”

The Imperial Palace was enveloped in ancient power, making spellcasting difficult.

Even with the help of a magic stone, she hadn’t been confident she could locate Evie immediately.

But not only had the spell worked more powerfully than usual, it had led her straight to Evie like something—or someone—was guiding it.

“The last time I felt this kind of magic flow was… when Lillian was still alive.”

Then she recalled Arcel and Luska’s faces.

Seeing them again after so long had felt strange, yet familiar. And now she knew why—they were smiling just like they had when Lillian was still alive.

“Why?”

Why were they all different today?

“Then, I’ll get going. Thank you so much for using magic to find me today. The light falling like stars… it was beautiful!”

Evie beamed as she recalled that moment.

“Ah…”

That moment, Seraphina realized something.

The slender girl in front of her was wearing a very familiar smile.

It was the same smile she had seen in Lillian’s portrait—the one they’d retrieved when bringing Evie back.

Seraphina’s eyes scanned Evie carefully.

Dry, yet bright golden hair. Deep green eyes.

“She looks just like her.”

“Headmistress?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Evie’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Princess Ivvien was dead. Everyone inside the castle at the time had testified to both her and the Empress’s deaths. Clois had personally retrieved the bodies.

Even knowing that, Seraphina’s eyes drifted to the back of Evie’s hand.

It was clean. Smooth. Untouched.

She gave a bitter smile.

“What was I thinking…”

Why had she seen echoes of the Emperor and Empress in a girl from an orphanage?

Seraphina walked Evie out of the room.

* * *

“Hoo…”

Evie climbed the stairs and quietly opened the door to Room 305.

Seraphina had offered to walk her back, but a staff member had found her outside.

Judging by their ranting, they had a mountain of tasks to finish.

Apologizing repeatedly, Seraphina had left, promising to meet again soon. Evie returned to her room alone.

She needed to wash up and prepare for tomorrow.

“Better be quiet.”

It was already late. Irene was probably asleep.

As Evie tried to quietly open the door, she noticed a paper bag left in front of it.

“…?”

Curious, she opened it and found a sandwich, some fruit, cookies, and candy—all clearly from the academy’s cafeteria.

“Maybe the staff left it for me.”

If she’d known, she would have thanked them too.

Evie clutched the bag to her chest and entered the room.

A few moments later.

The door across the hall opened slightly, and Irene peeked out.

After confirming there was nothing left at Evie’s door, she gave a satisfied smile and quietly shut her own.

And just like that, the noisy second day came to an end.