CICN 56

Ivy walked briskly down the hallway of the main building, carrying her bag.

It was time to attend a required liberal arts class, and just a moment ago, she had greeted the three others after leaving Professor Malres’ classroom.

As she hurried toward her next classroom, Ivy thought to herself,

“I’m okay.”

She had guessed why Luska had looked that way earlier.

“Both Lady Irene and Arsel were worried about me.”

Unlike them, who were going to visit family or relatives outside the academy, Ivy had nowhere to go and had to stay alone here — that was what they worried about.

“Luska was worried too.”

On Luska’s face, suggesting she go out and enjoy the festival, there was none of the mocking sneers like those senior students of Elam used to have.

He genuinely hoped Ivy would go out and have some fun.

So Ivy didn’t feel sad or upset.

She just felt a little wistful.

“I do want to see outside the academy.”

Ivy recalled the world she had seen.

Her earliest memory was the stable barn attached to an inn.

Every day she woke up and fell asleep next to the hay piled as feed for the horses.

Back then, the world for Ivy was just the village where the inn stood and the forest beside it.

She had never even imagined the world beyond that.

Then, when she met the director and left the inn, she saw a different world for the first time.

When they arrived in Elam city and she saw the sea and the ships floating on it, she held the director’s hand tightly and couldn’t say a word for a long time.

Because she was shocked to face the vast world she had only heard about in stories.

There she met children her own age who neither yelled at her nor spat on her.

And as she learned to read and went to school, Ivy came to understand:

The city she was in, Elam, was small, and far away there was a huge capital city.

And all of this belonged to a vast empire, whose master was the emperor.

But though she understood, she found it hard to imagine what it really looked like.

“I guess I’ll live only in Elam for my whole life.”

Traveling between cities costs money.

Besides, she had no reason to go elsewhere.

So Ivy thought Elam would be her entire world.

But coming to the academy, she saw yet another world.

Tall buildings that seemed to go on endlessly, all kinds of goods, and streets filled with people.

But that astonishing view only lasted a moment.

She had to enter the academy immediately without any detours.

Of course, the academy itself was a very surprising and fascinating place.

The magnificent buildings she saw for the first time in her life, and the glimpses of the imperial palace from high above, made her feel her world was growing.

“Still…”

She remembered the crowded street.

“And the festival is going to be held too.”

Ivy recalled the capital’s festival she had read about in books.

Many people from all over the empire would bring strange goods to sell.

There would be many kinds of festival-only foods.

“It must be delicious…”

But she couldn’t eat any of it.

“I don’t have money.”

So even if she went out, she would only be able to watch and then return.

“Besides, it’s dangerous to go out alone.”

There were still many places in the academy she hadn’t explored yet, and she didn’t have the courage to wander around the capital by herself.

Ivy recalled the map of the capital hanging in the main lobby of the academy.

The map showed the location of the academy, so she could get a rough idea of how large the capital was.

She was amazed to realize the capital was hundreds of times larger than the academy.

And every place was filled with buildings and roads.

Such a complicated place — she wasn’t confident she could go out and return safely by herself.

Besides, she didn’t even know where anything was.

“I’ll go when I’m a little older.”

As she thought this, Ivy passed in front of the academic affairs office.

“Oh! Ivy!”

An employee inside saw her and stood up to call her over.

He handed her a slip of paper.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the location of Professor Sian Roshen’s office. We just got the confirmation this morning, so I was just about to contact the dormitory about it.”

Ivy’s face brightened at that.

“Thank you!”

Her heart pounded as she walked away holding the slip.

“Now I’ll be able to see Professor Sian more often.”

Ivy thought about the magical stone.

The light from the stone at night was always warm and beautiful.

It softly illuminated the surroundings just enough so it wasn’t dazzling.

Thanks to that, when she went to sleep, scary thoughts didn’t come, and she fell asleep comfortably.

Maybe because the professor had given her a night free of fear.

Among the people she had met since coming to the academy, she really liked Professor Sian, whom she had only met twice so far.

Secretly, she liked him more than Professor Malres, who cared for her, or even Irene, Arsel, or Luska.

“I’ll go see him after class.”

Though Professor Malres said there was no need to bring more flowers, Ivy still went to the greenhouse in the morning to collect the remaining flowers.

“I should bring some to Professor Sian’s room from now on.”

Thinking that she now had one more joyful thing in her daily life, Ivy hurried her steps.

“Ow, Irene, how hard did he kick you?”

“What do you mean? Show some respect to Lady Terence.”

“You like calling her ‘Lady,’ huh? See this? Even if you get kicked by a horse, it won’t be this bad. Hey, don’t marry him.”

Luska pulled up his pants to show the bruised area below his knee.

Sure enough, there was a clear mark where the tip of a shoe had kicked him deliberately.

But in Arsel’s eyes, who looked at his friend’s injury, there was not a shred of sympathy.

“That’s because you acted thoughtlessly. And don’t casually mention marriage. That one word will only increase those who gossip carelessly.”

People believed either Arsel or Luska would be adopted by the emperor.

That was something both of them somewhat expected.

Unless there was someone truly exceptional among the academy’s children, the emperor would choose one of the two he had known since childhood.

The nobles also suspected this, so they were nervous and competitive about the still undecided position of future crown princess.

At that moment, Luska spoke with a disinterested tone.

“But Irene Terence, you don’t seem to plan to marry either of us.”

Arsel looked at him silently.

Luska was right.

Irene didn’t see either of them as a marriage partner, but rather as nuisances.

Or rather, she viewed them as great obstacles.

Yet the reason she kept being with them was obvious.

“To manage her own reputation, and probably to think of Ivy as well.”

By sticking together with Arsel and Luska, Irene’s nearly lost position had become stable again.

The same was true for Ivy.

The help she received the day she entered the academy turned out to be a poison for her.

But when it became clear that her relationship with the two wasn’t just a one-time thing, people quickly changed their attitude.

“Seeing that, she really is from the Terence family.”

Anyway, Arsel saw how Ivy was treated differently thanks to Irene’s actions.

That’s why he willingly played along with Irene’s lead.

When Arsel refused to defend him, Luska lowered his pants cuff and pouted.

“I know I messed up… I really just said it without thinking…”

At Luska’s muttering, Arsel answered coldly.

“Then from now on, think before you speak.”

“Yes, sorry… But I really did hope Ivy would go out and have some fun.”

After grumbling for a while, Luska suddenly snapped his fingers like he had a good idea.

“Ah, how about we just invite her to my house this weekend? My brothers will really like it. They’re always singing about how great it would be to have a little sister. Our parents also said they wished for at least one daughter.”

Then Arsel, who was walking ahead, stopped.

He looked back silently at Luska.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Because it’s pathetic.”

With that, Arsel walked on alone, leaving Luska behind.

“Hey! Arsel! Hey!”

Luska tried to follow, limping, but eventually gave up and muttered,

“Why is he suddenly so annoyed and causing a fuss?”