07
I saw applicants, but to be honest, none of them inspired confidence. Most of them either aspire to attend the institute's annual celebration that brings together children and their guardians once every six months, or seek to hunt down the talents that will graduate from the institute.
Entering the elite institute was difficult, so children who made it through were considered future talents of the empire.
So their privileges were abundant, and the children themselves were valuable in many ways.
As a result, the competition for the role of trustee was very fierce.
“The child who comes from the orphanage has no place to return to after graduation, so it is easy for the guardian to include her in his family. This is what makes many people covet her.”
Hearing the Minister of State's words, Cloyce's brow wrinkled with a frown.
After a moment of contemplation, he said:
“What about you? Don’t you want to be a guardian?”
“I promised a long time ago that I would be the guardian of a certain child if he joined the institute. He is the grandson of a dear friend.”
One could not be the guardian of two children at once, and breaking a promise was embarrassing.
“Besides, if it became known that Your Majesty chose the child and that you were her guardian… frankly, it would not be in the child’s best interests.”
Cloyce agreed with this view.
His mere choice of the child is enough to attract excessive attention to her, so what if it is added that the Minister of State is her guardian? Unnecessary troubles will arise.
“Isn't there someone else we can trust?”
“It's not that there aren't, but most of the people I can ask for help have already received applications to be guardians.”
"Good."
Assigning the task to a stranger may cause inconvenience. What's worse is that the person acts like they've accomplished something great once they take over, which in itself is annoying.
"You're not here for no reason, are you? Do you have another suggestion?"
“Yes. There is a professor registered at the institute that not many people know. He had registered before the outbreak of the war, and then returned to his hometown when it broke out. He had the title of a minor baron, and his job as a professor at the institute still exists.”
“So, are you suggesting we make him guardian?”
“Yes. Since he hasn’t had much interaction with others, no one knows who he really is, and we can easily end the matter when the time comes.”
“What's his name?”
“Sian Ruochen.”
“Okay. I’ll turn a blind eye, so use this professor’s name as a guardian.”
"Thank you."
The Minister of State saluted and withdrew.
In fact, he could have undertaken this matter without consultation, but his eagerness to ask permission reflected his integrity, which Cloyce admired.
Alone, Cloïs whispered to himself:
“Evie...no.”
In a strange way, the little girl's name kept rolling off his tongue.
The strangest thing is that the Ephebian illusion, which usually appeared in some corner of the room, did not appear today at all.
Cloyce felt a little uneasy, a rare feeling, so he went outside.
On a day when he particularly missed his wife and daughter, he headed towards a secret place within the Imperial Palace, where he used to visit at such moments.
And there his steps headed.
—
Evie was walking alone with slow steps inside the elite institute.
She was waiting for her companion who would occupy the room opposite her, but she had not arrived yet.
Meanwhile, it was time for dinner, so Evie dressed in her institute uniform, put a book containing a map in her bag, and then headed towards the dining hall.
“My first book.”
A book with her name written on it, a book that belongs to her alone. She leafs through it and touches it with her hand.
She would see the high school students carrying their own books whenever she went to clean up the school, and how she envied them having a book they didn't have to return.
Eppie hugged her bag to her chest lovingly.
“It's so cool.”
To start her first day so happily, this place must be full of good things.
I arrived at the dining hall and found it buzzing.
“There is no maid to serve the food? Does that mean I have to bring the food? Me, the Count’s son?”
Some children were screaming, denouncing the idea of serving themselves, while the institute employees were responding that these are the rules, and whoever cannot abide by them should go home.
There were those who were crying and those who were angry.
Evie looked at the noisy atmosphere, then quietly crept towards where the food was.
“Maybe I'd better eat out, or go back to my room.”
As if they expected that some would prefer to eat their food outside the hall, there were sandwiches wrapped in paper, and water and drinks in bottles.
Evie took one of each and put it in her bag.
When she left the hall, she saw an orange sunset sky.
“It will get dark soon.”
Even in a safe place, it's hard to get around when it's dark.
As Evie was about to return, she spotted a forest located at the end of the institute.
She thought it was a big forest, and was about to return, but a gentle breeze gently passed her cheek.
In an instant, she unconsciously muttered:
“…Mom?”
Then she closed her mouth in surprise.
What did I just say? My mom?
Strange word. The last time she said it out loud was when she prayed to be accepted into the institute.
But why did you say it now? She didn't know why.
As she stood confused, another warm breeze passed her cheek.
The breeze was like a hand gently combing her hair.
Is this why she accidentally whispered the word “mom”?
Evie was about to return to the dormitory, but, as if enchanted, she began to walk towards the direction from which the wind was blowing.
She didn't walk far until she reached the forest at the end of the institute.
The wind was blowing from inside the forest.
Is there a big flowering tree inside? The wind passing between the leaves carried the scent of fragrant flowers.
“How do I get in?”
Normally, she would never have thought of entering a forest at a time like this, when she was alone.
But Evie, despite the red sky, was looking for a way into the forest.
She felt her cheeks tickle where the wind passed, as if they had been kissed gently.
She knew it was because her hair was blown by the wind, but she kept wiping her cheek with her hand.
At that moment, as she was searching the edges of the forest, she spotted a path between the bushes that she could enter if she bent down.
I remembered what I read in the institute's manual.
There was a warning that monsters might sometimes appear in the forest at the end of the institute.
“But they said that since it is a forest inside the palace, there will be no predators.”
Evie, who had wandered into the woods near the orphanage with other children, knew something.
Even usually peaceful herbivores become very ferocious in the spring when they accompany their young.
Therefore, it would be better to avoid such paths...
As Evie hesitated, another wind blew.
The intense scent of flowers again passed through her hair.
It was just a blowing wind, but she felt like someone was calling her.
―Evie.
In a tender tone and deep longing.
It was just the sound of the wind, but she knew.
This place is not dangerous.
And there, behind this forest, is someone waiting for her.
Eppie clenched her hand tightly.
As if the bushes were waiting for her, they opened the way for her.
—
How long did she walk?
“Ha!”
After roughly crawling through the bushes for a while, she was finally able to stand upright.
Despite the warm spring, her forehead was dripping with sweat.
Wind blowing.
The wind blew again, cooling her sweat.
Eppie breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around.
Is it a clearing in the middle of the forest? There was flat land in the middle, surrounded by dense trees.
Under the trees, the bushes were mixed with abundantly blooming white flowers.
It seemed that the fragrance of the flowers carried by the wind was from these white flowers.
Then Evie saw a large rock in the middle of the clearing. It was a tombstone.
“It's a grave.”
In the orphanage, she used to pass by the city cemetery and tremble in fear, but the strange thing is that now, even though she realizes that this is a grave, she does not feel afraid.
“But whose grave?”
Evie remembered the map she had memorized.
The map on the first page of the book showed the institute's interior.
On that map, this place was just a forest, and the map ended there.
“Behind this must still be part of the palace...”
When she looked into the distance, she saw the edges of large buildings appearing behind the forest, so she must still be inside the palace.
“But is there a tomb inside the palace?”
It was no surprise that there was a grave in such a wide place.
There were only two witnesses at the recess.
One of them is about the same height as Evie.
The other is low, reaching only her waist.
Evie cautiously approached the elder witness.
The stele was made of smooth white stone, decorated with beautiful carvings. In the middle, the name of the grave's owner was engraved.
Evie read the name of the oldest witness first.
“Lillian Shell.”
A name you've never heard of before.
However, Evie felt that the name was very beautiful.
So beautiful that she wanted to call him over and over again.
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