75
In the end, Evie walked out of the library without studying even a bit. Even her leaving was not by her will, but because it was time for the library to close, otherwise she would have stayed there until the night curfew.
“I wanted to keep reading…”
She remembered the imperial family tree she had had to put in place after the librarian told her she had to leave.
“I can't even borrow it.”
Evie asked if she could borrow the book after the official opening of the library. The librarian replied in a sorry tone:
“This book is only allowed to be borrowed by professors, when it is necessary for teaching. In fact, even entering to browse it requires special permission. But since you didn’t know, it’s okay this time.”
After saying that, the librarian hung a rope on the door of the room as soon as Evie left, emphasizing that the place was only entered with permission.
“When will I be able to see him again?”
Imperial history classes were starting in the second semester, and there was still a long time to go until then.
“Looks like I'll have to wait until then.”
Or maybe..
“He said professors could borrow it.”
Could she ask Professor Mallis or Professor Sian to borrow it for her?
“Professor Mallis would probably not agree.”
That professor who always says: "Mathematics! Mathematics is the universal truth! Everything else is just illusions!"
He glorifies mathematics endlessly. It is unlikely that he would help her borrow the imperial family tree.
He might say that looking at people who died long ago wouldn't help, and ask her to study an additional mathematical equation instead.
“Looks like I'll have to ask Professor Sian.”
Although Professor Sian teaches foreign languages, he is not like Professor Malis who insists on focusing only on his subject.
“Then, I will show the book to Professor Sian directly.”
You will open the portrait of His Majesty the Emperor and tell him how much he looks like Professor Sian.
“It will definitely surprise him!”
He might be more surprised than she is. He might brag to others about how much he resembles His Majesty the Emperor. For a moment, Eppie imagined that Professor Cian might be the Emperor himself. But after a few seconds, she shook her head.
"impossible!"
Even Dean Serafina knows Professor Cian, and even offered to deliver her message to him.
“Adults like the dean don’t lie.”
If Seraphina had heard that, she might have muttered: “How I wished I could live like this...” Evie continued her thoughts about Professor Sian.
“He took me with him to the Festival of Seasons.”
He felt sorry for her when he saw her alone in the residence, so he took her with him and allowed her to see all the festival activities.
“They said His Majesty the Emperor is very busy.”
Someone like him couldn't find time to go out with a female student. Even though she rejected the idea, something still worried her.
She still remembers the scene of Professor Sian crying at the grave in their first meeting. Maybe he was crying because he lost someone close, but...
“Professor Sian is Professor Sian.”
After a long thought, Evie shook her head again.
“Should I go back to housing?”
But it was still early before the ban, and she wanted to study abroad a little.
“Anyway, Erin's not here.”
This feeling made the idea of returning to housing less attractive. The main building closes early, so she can no longer enter Professor Malice's class.
Housing wasn't an option, the cafeteria was crowded, and the other buildings were full of students gossiping in the hallways. In the end, Evie only had one place left.
“I'll go to Professor Sian's office.”
Anyway, no one comes there except her and Professor Sian.
“I hope the professor will come today.”
She had a foreign language exam next week, and she was hoping to ask him about the things she didn't understand.
“If I were going to the professor’s office...”
Evie remembered the paper box she had hidden under the shelf. The box had filled up a lot, faster than she expected, making her heart beat with excitement.
“Soon I will be able to send it.”
She wanted to send it out as quickly as possible, wasn't that why she diligently filled the box?
“Today I will check on him too.”
At that moment, she saw from afar a student throwing a notebook into the trash.
Evie's face lit up. After the student left, Evie looked around cautiously, then quietly approached the basket.
* * *
After a while, Evie arrived at the door of the professor's office carrying a bag so full that it could barely close. She knocked cautiously on the door, but, as she expected, there was no response.
“The professor always seems to come in the evening.”
While the other professors were moving around the institute since the morning, she rarely saw Professor Sian.
Evie came in, put down her bag, and sat down in front of the shelf. Then she bent down, pulled a book from the bottom shelf, and took out the paper box.
Unlike the first day when it had made a faint sound, it was now so heavy that she had to carry it with both hands.
“Well, if you put what I brought today, I will be able to send it.”
As Evie was hugging the box with a satisfied smile, the door suddenly opened violently. A group of students entered, and one of them pointed to Evie and said in a sharp tone:
"She's the one who stole your stuff! I saw her!"
* * *
Cloyce's office was quiet. The Secretary of State, who had come to report, received the last document from Cloyce's hand.
“The meeting will be held in two days, so you can take a break.”
“Thanks to Your Majesty. Recently, thanks to your quick review, I had some time to catch my breath.”
“That's good. Then, sit down for a while.”
The minister hesitated for a moment before this offer, which seemed like an order. Cloyce smiled bitterly.
“Don't you have something you want to say to me?”
“…”
“These documents could have been sent through servants without a problem. But you came yourself, isn’t it because you wanted to discuss something with me using the documents as an excuse?”
“I cannot deceive Your Majesty’s eyes.”
The minister tried to deny it, but he sighed resignedly, bowed, and sat down across from Cloyce.
“So, what did you have to watch me all day to say?”
The minister was a man who carefully separated public from private, and did not speak in vain, which made him very trustworthy to Cloyce. For him to hesitate like this was rare.
“Dare I say...”
The minister bowed and said:
“I am worried that Your Majesty is paying too much attention to a child from an elite institute.”
After emptying what he was hiding in his chest, the minister closed his eyes tightly.
“…”
Cloyce did not answer, and remained silent for a period that seemed to never end. Finally, speak:
“How are your children?”
“I have a daughter and two sons.”
“They must be great.”
“Awesome? My eldest daughter is over forty, and my children are well over thirty.”
The minister shook his head distastefully, and Cloyce laughed faintly.
“Still, wasn't it fun raising them?”
“If I said no, I would be lying. Especially when my eldest daughter was born, every day was hard but exhilarating.”
The minister had a look of longing as he remembered those days, and a slight smile appeared on his lips. Cloyce looked at his expression for a while, then said:
“When I proposed reopening the elite institute, you strongly opposed until the end, and tried to delay that day as much as possible.”
“Your Majesty, that was…”
“I know. You did it because you were worried about me. You were afraid that if she were alive, I would see children as young as Ephebian, and I would break down because I haven’t gotten over my grief yet.”
"exactly."
“But I thought I could overcome it. No matter how stupid I was, I would never look for my daughter’s shadow in another child, I believed.”
“…”
“You were right to be worried.”
“Your Majesty.”
Cloyce calmly admitted his mistake.
“The elite institute, or rather, the child I am looking after, affects me a lot.”
“…”
That was clear. Since the reopening of the institute, the emperor's aura had changed. At first, he became more severe, and even the ministers did not dare to mention the institute to him.
But over time, his sharpness began to fade, and he became softer. His lifeless eyes returned to life and began to sparkle.
At first, he didn't know why. But when Serafina's visits became frequent and he started talking about the child in his care, the minister realized.
There was a child who brought life to the Emperor's dying soul.
°. • .✦ . ◌ ⋆ ° ✬ • ✫ ⋆｡ .° ◌ • .●