64
Evie hurried to wash her body and change her clothes more than usual, then she looked back at her bed.
“One, two, three, four…”
Evie started counting the cute trinkets and toys on top of the bed.
“Seventeen…”
She could not close her mouth in astonishment at this remarkable number.
“What do I do now?”
Yesterday was a joyful day from beginning to end. It is true that she felt afraid for a few moments when she lost her professor during the day, but the beautiful memories were much more overwhelming.
She watched the celebration on the professor's lap, ate delicious food, tried the money raffle for the first time, and even won prizes!
All of that was enough to make you feel completely happy. She believed that even if she faced difficulties in the future, remembering yesterday would give her the strength to endure everything.
“Should I return it?”
But, no matter how you looked at these things, they didn't seem to suit Professor Sian.
Unlike Effy, if he wore a ribbon pin in his smooth, shiny golden hair...
“Puff!”
Evie couldn't stop herself from laughing unintentionally.
Really, no matter what she thought, it didn't seem like Professor Sian would use these things even if she returned them to him.
“At least, I should thank him.”
That's all you can do.
Evie carefully arranged the items on the bed next to the magic stone.
When I first entered the Gifted Institute, this little desk was completely empty.
Now, it is filled with various items, from magic stones to hairpins.
It was hard to believe that all of this was hers, and I felt overjoyed for that reason.
“Haha…”
While Evie was smiling happily, she carefully touched the items and then headed outside.
Having so many gifts caused her some embarrassment, but it was, nonetheless, a joyful feeling.
* * *
When I went downstairs, there were some employees who came to work early.
Evie approached to greet them, and then she spotted someone she hadn't seen in a while.
“It's Dean Seraphina!”
Seraphina was talking with the staff, and when she heard Evie's steps, she turned to her.
“Hey…” Evie started.
“Oh, you're awake!” Serafina interrupted her excitedly, as if she had been waiting for her, and then approached her.
She bent down slightly and whispered in a low voice:
“Did you sleep well? Professor Sian brought you in yesterday. Since this is the female dormitory, he couldn’t enter, so I took you to your room. I was by chance in the hallway.”
“So that's how it happened!” Evie thought.
“Thank you,” Evie said, bowing her head to Serafina.
“Oh, and by the way… Professor Sian will be away on a business trip for some time, so he won’t be able to come to his office. If you have a message you want to deliver to him, you can deliver it to me.”
While Evie was quietly listening to Seraphina's words, a look of surprise appeared on her face, then she asked:
“Is Professor Sian a higher position than the dean?”
“What? Why did you suddenly think that?” Seraphina replied surprised.
“Well... because the dean calls him ‘Professor’ and speaks highly of him...”
“Ah!”
Serafina realized her mistake.
As dean, she used to call veteran professors simply “Professor,” but because the person in question was the Emperor, she found herself unconsciously glorifying him in her speech.
“Oh, maybe because I knew him before, I accidentally called him like that. I made a mistake, I’ll be careful next time. Thanks for warning me!”
Seraphina tried to cover it up with extemporaneous talk, then reached out to pat Evie's head.
But at that moment...
“?”
She suddenly withdrew her hand, as if surprised by something, and looked at Evie for a moment.
Then her eyes moved to the back of Evie's hand.
“Dean?” Evie asked in surprise, tilting her head slightly.
Seraphina smiled feignedly and took a step back.
"Nothing. By the way, have you ever been a kid..."
“Effeeee!”
Suddenly, a loud sound rang out, and a girl with bright silver hair rushed into the ward.
"I had returned!"
“Irene!”
Only two and a half days had passed since their separation, but they were intertwined in a warm embrace as if they had not met for a long time.
While the employees looked at the scene with warm smiles, Seraphina quietly crept away from the place.
* * *
“Hoo…”
Seraphina returned to the dean's office, and lay down on the large bed that she insisted on placing despite everyone's opposition.
“Luckily I made this bed.”
If it wasn't for him, she would now be lying on an uncomfortable couch.
Suddenly, she felt sorry for herself. What is the benefit of everyone praising her position as dean of the Gifted Institute?
Here she is, suffering from overtime, eating and sleeping at her workplace, as if she was destined for this fate.
Perhaps because the Gifted Institute had reopened after a long absence, business was piling up amazingly.
“Preparations must be made to reopen the library, and disputes between professors must be settled...”
There was even an attack by Professor Malis demanding a study hall!
It is true that she granted him a hall, but she made him sign a contract binding him to the position of responsible professor, as if it were a contract of slavery.
“But the hardest task was something else.”
She raised her hand up.
The faint magic in the air caused a faint light to appear around her hand, accompanied by a slight breeze.
“Not only my teacher, but I also have to raise my successors.”
She held her hand and extended it several times, then sighed while whispering:
“It is not an illusion.”
Since her return to the Gifted Institute, she has constantly felt a magic that belongs to someone else.
“Maybe because I was busy all day, I almost fell into an illusion a little while ago.”
When she placed her hand on Evie's head a moment ago, she felt a very faint fascination.
But she soon realized the source of that strength.
“That damned magic stone...”
She remembered the magic stone she saw in Evie's room last night.
It carried almost the same power waves as Lillian, and was a gift from the Emperor to the child.
Because of his presence, there was an obvious magic in the room, clear enough to make Seraphina delusional for a moment.
“It's natural that I feel a stronger magic, as long as she sleeps next to him every day.”
As she whispered this, she remembered how she had subconsciously tried to look at the back of Evie's hand.
For some reason, I felt a royal power between the threads of magic.
“What am I doing, really?”
Was it because of her previous conversation with Cloyce?
The moment she felt a strength similar to Lillian's, she found herself searching for the traits of royalty in the child.
“Now I understand why His Majesty kept postponing the reopening of the Gifted Institute.”
Even she herself was always looking for traces of Princess Evpian in the children, so how was the Emperor?
“Hoo…”
Remembering the Emperor returning with Evie yesterday, Seraphina let out another long sigh.
He carried her very carefully, as if he were carrying the weakest creature in the world.
She knew who he was thinking of when he was acting like this, so she couldn't even reprimand him for being late in bringing the child back.
“Fortunately, Ivy Alden is not like other children who seek His Majesty’s attention.”
From the looks of yesterday, it looked like he might adopt Evie as his daughter right away, instead of Arcel or Lusca.
“Wait, but that makes some sense?”
Is it because they both have golden hair? The sight of the Emperor carrying the child yesterday was, without a doubt, the sight of a father in the eyes of any observer.
“No, stop with these ridiculous ideas!”
Seraphina buried her face in the pillow, hit it twice, and got up.
This was not the time to think about such nonsense.
She once again spread her magic throughout the Gifted Institute.
If another wizard uses his power somewhere, you'll know right away.
“I've felt that magical power many times.”
The intervals between these moments were gradually shrinking.
“It seems like someone's magic is waking up.”
This is normal.
Once power emerges, its duration becomes shorter and shorter.
There was also a way to speed up this cycle and turn a person into a mage quickly.
It exposes him to a life-threatening situation.
“But if I did that to children, I would go down in history as the worst violator of children’s rights.”
She might end up stoned in the capital's square. This future is not hers.
While she was thinking of a better way, she fell back on the bed.
“Okay…no need to rush.”
In the end, children are safe inside the gifted institute.
The emergence of this power is only a matter of time.
Soon, you'll know who has that power.
Seraphina closed her eyes, recalling in her mind the powers she felt.
If the magic is fully manifested, and at the same time the mark of the royal family appears...
“Wait?”
Seraphina suddenly stood up, shocked out of her thoughts.
You know that no one has both of these powers, so why do you continue to think as if their appearance is inevitable?
And more than that, why does the image of Ivy Alden appear in her mind at the same time?
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