🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 18
Aisiel, who had been quietly resting in Quentin’s arms, suddenly reacted upon seeing someone. Quentin, thinking her older brother might have appeared, hugged Aisiel tightly and looked around warily.
No way. I’m the one taking this small, sweet-smelling Aisiel with me.
“Goodbye, Demarion!”
At the name that burst out of Aisiel’s mouth, Quentin stopped in his tracks, wondering if he had heard wrong. Allen’s expression also turned cold.
Regardless of their reactions, Aisiel kept waving at Demarion.
Demarion, who had been walking while holding a sword, had his face twisted so sharply it looked almost crushed.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
Allen muttered while looking at Aisiel. Aisiel just shrugged as if she heard all kinds of things.
If Quentin hadn’t been here, Allen would have grabbed her and scolded her endlessly.
Quentin’s face had also become just as serious as Allen’s.
“Aisiel, don’t tell me you—”
Quentin began in a grave voice, and Allen silently cheered him on.
Yes, brother! Please knock some sense into that thoughtless Aisiel!
“Do you… have ambitions for power?”
“Hmm?”
Aisiel blinked her long eyelashes.
“Do you want to become a princess consort? Do you like Demarion?”
“Hmm…”
She hadn’t thought that far, but her expression showed genuine interest, which made Quentin shut his eyes tightly and pull her head back onto his shoulder.
The Aisiel he knew was the type of child who would do things if she decided to.
Quentin mentally scolded himself for even bringing it up.
Aisiel glanced at Demarion’s back and smiled faintly. In any case, if she was going to identify the culprit among them and prevent Ritel Lahar from being endangered, she needed to stay in the academy.
So naturally, she concluded she couldn’t afford to upset Demarion either. No matter how annoying or unpleasant it was, she had to stay on good terms with that prince.
It felt already hopeless, but…
Aisiel Windsorberry—so, Yoon Seol—had lived a life full of hardships.
Even if she was alive, she was a part-time worker. Even after death, still a part-time worker.
“If Ritel Lahar is being discussed as a crown princess…”
Then Demarion might also be connected to her in some way. And his role in this story was still unknown.
That evening
After lying down on her bed with a tired body, Aisiel reached a conclusion:
“Let’s get close to Demarion.”
[That sounds self-serving.]
No, it wasn’t.
The reason she wanted to get close to Demarion was to obtain information about Gregory, one of the suspects.
She already knew Gale well, and for anything related to Gerald, she could just ask Gale. That left only Professor Cox and Gregory…
[Isn’t it arrogant to say you know Gale that well?]
Aisiel let out a long sigh. The demon-like voice seemed determined to nitpick everything she thought today.
[Stop avoiding it. What if the brother you trust so much is the culprit?]
That was impossible. If proving Gale wasn’t the culprit required it, Aisiel was confident she could stay up three nights explaining all his good qualities. Of course, he was human, so he did have flaws—but they were tolerable compared to his strengths.
Still, she didn’t bother arguing with the demon. To it, all four suspects were likely equal anyway: Gale, Gregory, Gerald, and Cox.
She just needed to find the culprit among them and prove it wasn’t Gale.
[But what if it is Gale?]
The sweet, whispering voice interrupted her thoughts. Aisiel finally pouted.
“So what if Gale is the culprit? If I save Ritel Lahar, then in the end, he won’t be the culprit anymore, right?”
[Oh…?]
The demon let out a lazy sound of admiration at her firm answer.
Aisiel punched the air once and resumed thinking.
How to get information about Professor Cox.
Getting close to Demarion would help with Gregory, but Cox was the real problem.
[Do you even have confidence to get close?]
Aisiel nodded proudly. There was a saying where she came from: if you keep chopping, no tree can withstand it. She intended to keep chopping starting tomorrow.
No ulterior motives—just information.
The problem was that she didn’t even share classes with Professor Cox, making it harder. There was no natural opportunity to get close. And asking around would only make her seem suspicious.
She had already tried asking Allen.
“Professor Cox?”
“Yeah, what kind of person is he?”
“How do you even know him?”
“I just saw him passing by.”
Allen had looked at her suspiciously but still answered.
“He handles Bard’s class. He’s kind to all students. That’s about all I know.”
A teacher who is kind to students—that was exactly the kind of information she needed.
“Ugh…”
Letting out a small scream, Aisiel rubbed her eyes vigorously.
If the Windsorberry family saw her, they would have said she looked like a washing cat and adored her for it.
[If you’re tired, just sleep.]
Of course, the only witness to this was the demon.
Even while silently cursing it, Aisiel decided to follow its advice. She was exhausted.
Before falling asleep, she blinked and resolved:
“I must get close to Demarion.”
A month later
Demarion was far less easy to approach than expected.
Even after a month at the academy, he still refused to respond to Aisiel’s greetings.
He seemed to dislike her more than she had imagined, and she couldn’t help but want to know why. Aisiel tried smiling brightly in front of him while suppressing her temper, but Demarion would only glance at her coldly and walk away.
She wanted to ask him—why did he dislike her so much? Being ignored so many times was starting to make her stubborn.
“Hi, Demarion!”
She greeted him again cheerfully today, but he only stared at her briefly before disappearing again. Aisiel pouted at his back.
“Are you okay?”
Dexter, who had been watching from behind, quickly approached and whispered.
Aisiel gave him a weak smile.
Maybe it was experience dealing with countless nuisances and demons, but this didn’t even tickle her.
However, there was a reason she acted weak in front of Dexter.
“I don’t understand why he’s like that…”
Dexter sighed and handed her a cookie.
That was exactly it.
This cookie was made by Dexter’s mother and was better than any luxury cookie Aisiel had ever eaten. Even Bernard, with his picky taste, had been impressed.
Allen had noticed that Aisiel was acting just to get cookies from Dexter and had commented on it, but Dexter only smiled gently as always.
Dexter was a rare commoner at the academy. Unlike most commoners who were followers of Bukanu, Dexter was blessed by Toté, the god of wisdom. He was the only student not blessed by Bukanu.
Naturally, many rumors circulated about him. Some even suspiciously questioned his mother, but those rumors quickly died out—Dexter looked far too much like his father.
He was also the only commoner among the new juniors. Others greeted him but didn’t get close. The ones who approached him first were…
“Allen and Bernard. They’re really good kids.”
Allen aside, it was surprising even Bernard received such praise. He always acted like someone she wanted to punch.
But Dexter, watching Aisiel and Bernard bicker, thought they were actually quite close.
“I hope His Highness will come to realize what a good child Aisiel is.”
