27
The academy's dining hall was crowded with students who came late for their meal.
They were talking excitedly about their daytime visit to the Imperial Palace, but all of them showed signs of exhaustion from the long wandering.
The students left their seats faster than usual, remembering the day's scenes and suddenly wondering, as if the idea had just occurred to them:
“By the way, did they find the missing student?”
“It seems they haven't found her yet. I noticed that several staff members from the dormitory weren't there, perhaps they went out looking for her.”
“What if they never find it...or find it in bad condition?”
At these words, another student jumped in panic:
"Wait, no way! We're inside the Imperial Palace, something like this can't happen. She's probably hiding in a corner, crying quietly. Isn't she the youngest student accepted?"
"But if that was the case, shouldn't they have found her by now? A student at the academy is not stupid. If he got lost, he would have called for help from one of the nearby guards. But they haven't found her yet. Doesn't that mean she didn't appear in the first place?"
“Really, that makes sense.”
As the dialogue between the students continued, there were faces that gradually grew darker. They were Lemora's friends, who always accompanied her.
They sat in a secluded corner, exchanging glances and speaking in a low voice:
“What do we do now?”
"I don't know. I didn't expect it to get this bad..."
Lemora's friends recalled the staff's expressions stiffening in horror when they heard about the student's disappearance.
“Honestly, I thought they would be disturbed for a few hours and then find her.”
“Yes, who would have thought they wouldn't find him by now?”
Although they are much older than Evie, in the end they are still young students. At first, they laughed with Lemora at her joke.
They believed that the missing student was just an arrogant girl who was bragging about being chosen by the Emperor.
So, it seemed to them that the Lemora who exposed her lie was smart and amazing. As for that arrogant little girl, what's the harm if she gets into a little trouble? But…
As darkness fell outside the hall, the sounds of night birds began to creep into the ears, accompanied by an increase in the intensity of the wind gusts.
Being alone at night like this, in a deserted part of the Imperial Palace, was undoubtedly scary.
“What if she gets hurt or something worse happens to her?”
This was never what we wanted.
Lemora's friends are beginning to feel belated regret. At that moment, Lemora suddenly appeared among them and said:
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going back to the dormitory?”
They expected Lemora, like them, to be in a panic about things getting worse, but she was completely calm, smiling as if nothing had happened.
They were astonished by this indifference, so one of the friends opened her mouth cautiously:
“Aren’t you worried? They haven’t found her yet...”
Lemora blinked, then looked at her in surprise as if she didn't understand what she was talking about. After a moment, she seemed to realize what was meant:
“Ah, that little girl? Why worry? Everyone went looking for her, they will find her soon, it’s okay.”
She said this in a light tone, as if she was surprised by their anxiety, then she got up from her place:
“Okay, I'll go first. I'm tired from walking so much today, I want to take a shower and go to sleep early.”
Then she called another friend and left with her to the dormitory. Her completely worry-free look made the faces of the remaining friends even darker.
“Should we talk?”
They knew roughly where Evie might be. Lemora said she "solved it" at the museum, so she must be locked in one of the many rooms there. But saying that is not easy.
Revealing Effie's location and the reason for her presence there means informing Limora and revealing what she did.
Although Lemora is a commoner, her family has a prestigious reputation.
Furthermore, before entering the academy, Lemura got along well with many other common students.
Snitching on her might mean enmity not only with her, but with other students as well. If the employees asked why they pretended to be ignorant even though they knew about it, they would not find an answer.
فحتى لو لم يشاركن مباشرة، فإن تجاهلهن يجعلهن شريكات في الجريمة.
The students remained unable to return to the dormitory, immersed in confusion.
"Let's go back and pretend we don't know anything. They said the dean himself came looking. They'll find her soon."
“But what if they don't find it?”
While they were still unable to make a decision, they heard a voice:
“You.”
Suddenly, a male student appeared among the female students and pushed himself among them.
“You know where that little girl is, right?”
His decisive words made the female students' faces pale. They thought they were talking quietly in the corner, out of earshot, but it seemed like someone was listening! What's worse is that the person who appeared was known to everyone.
“Mr..Mr. Lusca!”
There was no trace of his usual friendly smile. He stared at them with a coldness they had never seen before, then took another step towards them.
The female students backed away in panic, as if they were afraid that he would hit them if they did not do so. At that moment, another voice rang out:
“Enough, Lusca.”
It was Arcel who stopped Lusca. He gently pushed Luska back, then, unlike Luska, smiled gently. Arcel, who was usually almost expressionless, looked friendly with his smile, which made the nervous students relax a little.
"I know you're in a difficult situation. You know where Evie Alden is, but it's hard for you to say that, isn't it?"
Arcel spoke kindly, while Lusca behind him looked at him in astonishment, as if wondering what had happened to him.
“But you are worried about her and want to tell us.”
The female students nodded their heads.
“I will ensure that no harm comes to you. Can you tell us where she is? I swear on the name of the Caelron family.”
Everyone, even Lusca, was astonished by Arcel's words. Arcel was not the type to get involved in such matters, just participating in the students asking about Evie was surprising, but now he was participating more seriously.
“This is the first time I've seen him use his family name for something like this!”
Arcel, who hates abusing the influence of his family, the Duke of Caeleron's family, never used her name, even if everyone knew it. But now he swears on his family's name to find a young student!
“Why is he so eager?”
Lusca looked at Arcel in surprise. Meanwhile, Arcel's department encouraged one student to speak up:
"We didn't do anything. Lemora... Lemora is the one..."
"Lemora? The girl with the brown hair in braids?"
Loska intervened and asked, and the students nodded.
“I felt like something strange happened at the museum. So, she did something there?”
“She said that she closed the door from the outside while that child was looking at one of the paintings...”
Before the student could finish speaking, Loska took off running. Arcel followed after he smiled at the students and said:
“Thank you for telling me.”
“But, if it is said that we were the ones who spoke...”
“No need to worry.”
Arcel smiled, but his eyes were cold.
“Even without your testimony, it won't be difficult to solve.”
Then he set off after Lusca.
—
Evie caught a light approaching her. At that moment, a powerful glow emanated from her eyes, and then suddenly disappeared.
"What?"
Calm returned to the place as if nothing had happened.
Evie blinked her eyes, traces of light still lingering in them, and raised her head. The light that was showing from the window had also disappeared.
“I'm sure I saw a light.”
It wasn't a dream, her eyes still hurt from the glare. However, as Evie was about to return to looking at the painting, she heard a voice:
Ddddddd!
There was the sound of rushing footsteps approaching from outside. For the first time since her confinement, she heard something.
Evie rushed towards the door, about to scream for help, but at that moment:
“Evie Alden!”
"Evie! Are you in there?"
Two students' voices called out to her at the same time.
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