CICN 42

Chapter 42

The self-control she had desperately trained managed to hold back the words that were about to burst out.

She wanted to rush in and hug the girl, rub cheeks together—but the other person wasn’t an animal. She was a human being. Her roommate.

“I can’t ruin my image right after we’ve met.”

So, Irene calmed herself and took a closer look at Evie.

She immediately noticed her short height, small frame, and wrist so thin it looked breakable.

The youngest age allowed at the Gifted Academy was seven.

But no matter how one looked at her, Evie seemed barely five years old.

The moment Irene realized that, her mind raced.

What the heck? What is this? Where did this child come from? Why is she so emaciated?

She almost scooped Evie up in her arms and ran to the security office, thinking she was witnessing signs of abuse.

Should I just take her back to the South where I lived and feed her until she plumps up?

One thing was clear—this wasn’t normal.

Then she overheard the nearby students say something: that Evie was a commoner and an orphanage child.

Irene knew very well what that meant.

While some orphanages were well-run, many directors embezzled the support funds and abused the children.

After the war, the number of orphans exploded, and things had reportedly gotten worse.

So Irene assumed Evie must have come from one of those terrible orphanages.

“Your hair, skin, your body—everything’s a mess. Did your orphanage starve the kids?”

Grinding her teeth internally at the thought of such a place, she asked, determined to not let such a place go unpunished.

But Evie immediately jumped in, protesting that it wasn’t true.

She exclaimed that the place she had come from didn’t do such things, and Irene studied her again.

Indeed, Evie was small and thin, but there were no bruises or scars on her face or body.

Irene quickly realized her mistake.

Just as she was about to apologize for her assumptions, other students started scolding Evie.

She wanted to shout, “Shut up and stay quiet! Evie can’t even get a word in!”

But then she remembered the promises she made to her older sister before coming here.

She had to live quietly here, at least for a few years. She couldn’t act the way she had in the South.

So she took the other girls and left the room, thinking it would be better for Evie.

“I’ll apologize properly when we’re alone later.”

But that evening, she couldn’t find Evie again, and the next morning, other students had driven Evie out on their own.

She felt like crying.

“This isn’t what I meant to happen! Why did I say something like that? Should I fix the way I talk like my sister said?”

She hadn’t meant to speak so harshly. But regretting it now was pointless.

She tried to find a chance to apologize, but when the class went to the museum, their team got separated and she lost Evie again.

And when they couldn’t find her until nightfall, it became a full-blown crisis.

She blamed herself for not taking care of her own roommate.

After that, Irene stuck close to Evie every day—but she just couldn’t bring herself to talk to her.

“Damn that Ruska Largselv!”

Every time she tried to speak to Evie, Ruska would butt in.

So Irene could never get a word in. And on top of that, Evie seemed strangely intimidated by her.

It was the same even when she saw her from a distance.

She once saw Evie eating all alone and wanted to run over right away, but the girls beside her spotted Evie too—and their expressions soured as if they had seen something disgusting.

So Irene couldn’t approach.

If she went now, Evie might just end up being picked on again—because of her.

“Maybe after a bit more time passes, she’ll at least say hi in the room…”

So she decided to wait a little longer, until Evie let down her guard…

Until she heard something that shattered her patience.

“Evie’s playing with Ruska and Arsel?”

Students ran up to her, telling her that Evie had grown close to Arsel and Ruska.

And in that moment, Irene felt her patience crack.

“Those thieves! She’s my roommate!”

How could they get close to her first?

So today, Irene couldn’t take it anymore and followed Evie early in the morning.

It was just when the sky was beginning to lighten.

She looked back at the dorm—no lights were on yet.

Sleep tugged at her, but she continued to follow Evie.

“Where is she going this early?”

Then Evie headed toward the garden. Why would she go there at this hour?

Evie entered the greenhouse and came out holding flowers the gardeners had given her.

In that moment, Irene recalled the vase in the dorm’s shared entrance.

When she first arrived, there hadn’t been a vase, but at some point, a small vase had appeared and the flowers in it changed every day.

She’d just assumed it was something the academy staff did.

“Their decorating sense is lacking, but the nice morning scent makes up for it.”

But now she realized—it was Evie changing the flowers every day.

Irene kept tailing her. She thought Evie would return to the dorm, but instead, she headed to the cafeteria.

“At this hour?”

Some students might eat early, but this was way too early.

As expected, when Irene peeked inside, the only student there was Evie.

Irene quickly grabbed her own breakfast and sat down across from her.

Just as she thought, Evie looked completely flustered and didn’t know what to do.

They started eating, but only the occasional clink of fork and knife on the plate broke the silence.

“….”

“….”

A quiet, awkward meal dragged on.

Evie wanted to cry.

“Why is she doing this?”

Ever since Irene’s friends warned her, she had been careful.

She tried not to be noticed—coming out early, returning late.

Even within the academy, if she spotted Irene from a distance, she made sure to circle far around her.

Then, Irene finally spoke.

“The flowers in the front hallway… are you the one putting them there every day?”

“Y-yes!”

Her nerves made her voice come out too loudly.

“Should I not have done it?”

She had taken leftover flowers she’d brought to decorate Professor Malles’s classroom and put them in a vase in the hallway.

At first, she meant to do it just once, but the gardeners kept giving her more and prettier flowers.

So she began changing them daily…

“If it bothered you, I can stop from tomorrow.”

Seeing Evie’s troubled expression, Irene quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s not that! I asked because it’s pretty!”

Evie let out a breath of relief. And so did Irene.

“This can’t go on.”

If she kept hesitating, more misunderstandings would pile up.

“First, let me apologize.”

“Huh? For what…?”

“I misunderstood the situation with your orphanage. I’m sorry. I heard bad things before and jumped to conclusions. I never meant to insult the people who cared for you.”

Irene admitted her mistake honestly and apologized.

Evie looked surprised.

This happened often even back in Ellam.

When people heard she was from an orphanage, they assumed she must’ve lived a miserable life and pitied her.

Even when the director tried hard to give them the best, no one believed it. They just wanted to keep calling them “poor orphans.” It had always hurt.

But Irene was the first person to admit her assumption was wrong and apologize.

“I just thought you were really small and… Oh no, that’s not what I meant.”

Realizing she’d messed up again, Irene covered her face with both hands.

Evie couldn’t help but laugh quietly—Pfft.

Until now, whenever she saw Irene, she thought she looked like a princess out of a storybook.

Beautiful, poised, perfect in etiquette.

But the Irene sitting in front of her now was acting nothing like she did around others. She seemed very… human.

The atmosphere at the table had softened.

After that, they finished breakfast in a comfortable mood.

They hadn’t talked about anything grand, but at least the initial awkwardness was gone.

And then…

“Then… is it okay if I say hello in the mornings?”

“Of course. You’re my roommate. You can even say hi at night.”

Irene nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Evie’s face brightened at that.

Then Irene added, as if she had just remembered:

“Ah… but maybe don’t talk to me when others are around.”

Her expression wasn’t a happy one.

“It can’t be helped.”

If Evie talked to her when those girls were around, they would surely talk endlessly behind her back again.

But Irene couldn’t drive them all away either.

Her goal at the academy was to make a successful entrance into the capital’s social scene.

So even if she didn’t like them, she had to keep them close and pretend to be friendly.

That was the role she had to play as the daughter of House Terrins.

“So while they’re around, I’ll pretend not to know her. But we’ll get along fine when it’s just the two of us in the room.”

“It’s better that way—for both of us.”

“Okay… I’ll be careful.”

Hearing Evie’s slightly disappointed answer, Irene hesitated.

She really wanted to be close with Evie.

But she also had to build relationships with the other nobles.

If she had to choose one… what would she do?

Then, several carriages pulled up in front of the dormitory.

The commotion stirred even the students who would normally still be asleep. They opened their windows to see what was happening.

And then, someone shouted:

“The guardians’ gifts have arrived!”