CICN 48

Chapter 48

Another professor’s class?

Professor Malles’ eyes widened. What on earth was this?

He felt as if the sky was collapsing and the ground was giving way beneath his feet. His hands trembled and his breath caught in his throat.

At that moment, Professor Malles realized something important.

‘That’s not Ibi’s voice.’

Yes, that was definitely another student’s voice.

‘Did a student walk into the wrong classroom?’

That would make sense.

It must be a student who came here by mistake and is now realizing something’s off.

‘I’d better send them out quickly.’

What if Ibi heard that and started to have doubts?

Snapping back to his senses, Professor Malles flung the door open and entered the room.

Just as he expected, Ibi was sitting at her desk.

And next to her was a student he hadn’t seen before.

Sitting right next to Ibi, no less.

‘Wait, is that student the one who was trying to get Ibi to switch classes?’

His eyes blazed with fury.

Ibi was a student who inspired him so much he had thought of publishing a new mathematics textbook for the first time in decades.

She was a child who made a genuine effort to understand the beauty of that hidden world made up of numbers and rules—a world yet to be fully discovered by mankind.

She even enjoyed it and followed his teachings faithfully and properly!

And someone wanted to take such a student to another class?

‘You think I’ll just stand by and let that happen?’

No matter what, he was going to make her his pupil and turn her into a shining star of the empire’s mathematics world.

Resolving himself, Professor Malles burst through the door.

‘Back off, you devil!’

Get away from my student!

Fueled by that determination, he stormed into the classroom.

Among the few desks, Ibi sat at the one closest to the blackboard.

Even that seemed endearing to Malles.

It wasn’t like sitting in the front made much difference when he would be teaching right beside her anyway.

But even among adult students at this prestigious academy, most tried to avoid the professor’s eyes and sat in corners… and here she was, sitting close, eager to learn!

“Hello, Professor!”

Ibi jumped up from her seat the moment she saw him.

“Oh my, dear child. Yes, good morning to you.”

For a moment, Professor Malles forgot why he had rushed in, smiling foolishly as he returned Ibi’s greeting.

“Did you eat breakfast well? Was the homework I gave last time too difficult? No, more importantly, about today’s lesson…”

As he began blurting out everything he’d been thinking, the girl next to Ibi stood up.

“So it’s you. Hello, Professor Malles. I’m Irene Terrins.”

“Ah.”

Her voice snapped Malles back to reality.

He turned to Irene with wary eyes.

“And who might you be?”

“I’m a student, of course.”

“No, I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know that.”

As Malles and Irene glared at each other, tension rising, Ibi quickly stepped in.

“Uh, Professor! Irene is… my friend!”

Ibi hesitated briefly, then grabbed Irene’s hand as she said it.

Irene beamed at the word ‘friend.’

“Yes. You heard that, right? I’m Ibi’s friend. Her best friend.”

She emphasized the word friend, clearly intending Malles to hear it.

“Well, I get that, but… I overheard you earlier. Why are you trying to get Ibi to switch to another class? My class! What’s wrong with my class?!”

“I’ve never attended your class, so I can’t say anything about it.”

“Then why—”

Just as he was about to press her further, Irene cut him off with a firm look.

“It’s too far.”

Gasp.

At that, Professor Malles sucked in a sharp breath.

Wasn’t that something he himself had been concerned about?

“Ibi, could you stand up for a moment?”

At Irene’s request, Ibi hopped down from her chair and stood beside her.

“Here, see this? The scrape on Ibi’s knee? And here, the scrape on her palm too. She said she got them from running because this classroom is so far away from the others.”

“Well, if she just was more careful—”

“And math books are heavy. And she’s just a little girl. It’s only going to get harder carrying all those books as more subjects get added, don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, but still—”

Every word hit home.

Professor Malles grimaced as if the blows were physical.

But then he remembered something.

“But the registration period is already over. It’s too late to make changes.”

Irene replied coolly.

“There was a notice on the dormitory bulletin board this morning. They said the school extended the revision period since many students weren’t yet familiar with the rules. Isn’t that right, Ibi?”

At her words, Ibi nodded while still holding Irene’s hand.

Malles racked his memory. There had been something new posted at the admin office—was that what it was?

He bit his lip.

Irene looked at him and muttered.

“Well, since I do like that it’s just the two of us in this class… how about the professor gets a classroom closer to the main building?”

“I already was planning to do that! But you— I never agreed to teach you. Can’t you just go attend another class by yourself?”

“What? That’s not how it works. If a student registers, they have a right to attend.”

“Well, technically yes, but can you even keep up with Ibi?”

Irene’s face stiffened at that.

She had already asked Ibi how far the math lessons had progressed.

Ibi had proudly pulled a book from her bag.

“This is… advanced math?”

“Yep! That’s what Professor Malles teaches with.”

“With this? For math? Already?”

No way. The curriculum Irene had reviewed clearly said they would study intermediate math.

But advanced? And from what Ibi said, they’d already made decent progress.

Even more shocking—Ibi was keeping up without difficulty.

‘Even I had a hard time with this despite all my studying…’

Sure, she might manage for now, but if the class kept progressing this fast, it would definitely become overwhelming.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you just switched to a class more suited to your level?”

“Why should I? Isn’t it the professor’s job to teach students who don’t know yet? I’m here to learn!”

“Well, if there were more students, I could teach at a more general pace. But if it’s just you, it makes more sense to attend a class better suited to your level…”

Professor Malles was cut off.

Suddenly, a loud clatter came from the hallway.

“……?”

Not only Malles but also Ibi and Irene looked toward the door with confused expressions.

Hardly anyone ever came to this building—not even staff. Who else would be coming here, and making such a ruckus?

The footsteps approached the classroom. Then—

Clack!

With a loud sound, the door opened and someone called out cheerfully.

“Hi, Ibi!”

The person who entered had bright red hair—Luska.

Behind her stood Arcel, looking like she’d already given up.

Professor Malles realized something.

His dream of a quiet one-on-one lesson was quickly slipping away.

‘What is going on?’

Watching Luska greet Ibi so cheerfully, Arcel sighed internally.

Since yesterday, Luska had insisted on joining this class, saying it would be betrayal if Arcel attended another math class without her.

Honestly, it was a ridiculous idea.

The class they had originally signed up for was perfectly fine. No, it was more than fine.

The professor was kind, the pace was good, and it was full of motivated students.

There were also many familiar faces from childhood.

And now they were switching classes because of one small girl they’d only seen a few times?

Yet despite thinking it was foolish, Arcel had submitted the change form with Luska.

‘Why?’

Watching Luska run off so happily, Arcel couldn’t understand why both Luska—and she herself—seemed so weak when it came to Ibi.

It wasn’t just because she was small and young.

Was it because the Emperor had chosen her despite being a commoner?

If anything, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to keep their distance?

And yet, just like Luska, Arcel found her eyes drawn to Ibi Alden again and again.

At that moment, someone passed through Arcel’s mind.

Someone who had eyes similar to Ibi Alden’s…

‘Lilian.’

For some reason, whenever she looked at Ibi, she kept thinking of her.