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“Professor Sian.”
With those words, everyone's eyes turned towards him.
“This person?”
Irene's eyes widened in surprise.
When Evie said that Professor Sian was more handsome than Arcel, Irene thought in her heart that it was impossible.
As the daughter of the Terrence family, Irene grew up surrounded by beauty and precious objects from her childhood, making her taste naturally refined.
Having an attractive appearance herself, she was not usually affected by the appearance of others.
But when she saw Arcel for the first time, she couldn't help but secretly admire him.
Arcel's appearance, both from an objective and personal perspective, was second to none.
However, Evie firmly asserted that Professor Cyan was much handsomer.
It is true that she described Arcel as “beautiful,” but if Arcel and Sian were compared again, Evie would have secretly sided with Sian.
“Maybe Evie is saying this because she likes this professor so much.”
Being a little girl, she probably finds the person she likes more handsome.
Or maybe her standards of beauty differ from others.
But now, seeing Professor Cian for herself, Irene understood why Evie insisted that he was handsomer than Arcel.
From the first moment she saw him, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Irene wasn't alone, other students seemed to feel the same way.
They were not even whispering that it was him, but they were unable to even close their mouths.
Tall stature, strong body, and an aura of mysterious awe.
He was someone who made heads bow involuntarily.
“Professor… really?”
Irene remembered the professors she had seen at the elite academy.
Each of them had a presence that differed according to his experience and age.
But they all had that distinctive aura of professors.
As for Professor Sian, he had none of that aura.
In terms of atmosphere, he did not resemble a professor, but rather was closer to the knights she had seen during the visit to the Imperial Palace.
Is it because of his physique? But even the professor who was larger than Cian did not give off this feeling.
There was even something sharper and more terrifying than the palace knights.
“That's not a professor.”
Realizing this fact, Irene took a step back and looked at him warily.
She had to ask others for help.
“Arcel or Lusca.”
Although she usually mumbles that they should stay away from Eppie, she knows very well how important they are.
Irene turned her head to look at them.
"What…?"
But she felt something strange about their appearance.
Arcel and Luska were looking at Professor Sian with incredulous eyes.
But the problem was that their confusion was different from hers.
They looked startled, as if someone who wasn't supposed to be here had suddenly appeared.
Irene realized:
“Do they know him?”
But why did they look so surprised? Is he a notorious criminal in the capital despite his appearance? But no matter how I looked, it didn't look like that.
While Irene was immersed in panic, Arcel and Luska were in real shock.
Of course, they recognized Cloyce the moment he walked in.
Therefore, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Professor Sian, who Evie praised so much, is His Majesty the Emperor?
After a moment of freezing, they remembered their etiquette in front of the Emperor.
When they were about to bow, Cloyce gently raised his hand towards them.
That was a signal not to do it.
Understanding the will of the Emperor, who did not want to reveal his identity yet, they stood in an awkward position, closing their mouths.
Cloyce walked through the crowd that had divided in front of him, and stood in front of Evie.
“Evie.”
When he called her, Yvette, who was trembling, raised her head.
She was cradling a dilapidated paper box, her face bloodied, her appearance pitiful.
Cloyce got down on one knee. He moved closer to Evie's drinking face, seeing its details more clearly.
He reached out and wiped away the blood from her nose that was still dripping with the sleeve of his shirt.
“Professor, your clothes...”
Despite the red stains on his white shirt, he didn't seem to care, and continued cleaning Evie's face.
But when he did not clean up easily, he turned his head and ordered:
“Bring something to wipe.”
"Good."
Arcel answered respectfully and turned around. Loska did the same.
The students, who were looking in amazement at the stranger who suddenly appeared, finally realized that something unusual was happening.
Professor Sian was issuing orders smoothly, and the two most noble students in the place were obediently carrying out his orders, as if it was a natural matter.
Arcel quickly found a clean cloth, Lusca took it, ran to the bathroom to wet it with water and returned with it.
He respectfully handed it to Cloyce.
Cloyce, with a hard face, began to scan Evie's face.
When he removed the blood, a clear red hand mark appeared on her cheek. It was undoubtedly from Isriela.
Cloyce examined Evie carefully.
Fortunately, the blood was only from a nosebleed, and there were no cuts on her lips, mouth, or anywhere else.
But even so, her appearance was still miserable.
Why not, when a small girl was beaten by five students much older than her?
After he removed all the blood, Isriela, who had been looking in amazement, suddenly woke up.
"Anyway, she's a thief! Inside this box are stolen items! That's why she refuses to show it and is holding on to it! She came to escape with it after it was discovered!"
When Izriela pointed her finger, Lusca and Arcel's faces turned white.
For the people, Cloyes was the wise king who ended the exhausting war of succession and led the empire to prosperity.
But his ability to do so came from his ruthless behavior.
Although his achievements overshadowed this, how many people were executed after he took the throne?
During the years before the empire was stabilized, he was punished relentlessly according to the law to enforce discipline.
His violence was properly directed, otherwise he would have gone down in history as a tyrant.
And now, Isriela was brazenly accusing him and pointing her finger at him, accusing him of slander, even though she was the one who had initiated the violence.
From Cloïs's cold face, Arcel and Luska instinctively realized:
He'll never end this quietly.
Cloyce looked at the screaming Isriela, then back to Evie.
He erased his previous coldness in an instant, and said in a tender tone:
“Evie, is what this student is saying true?”
Evie shook her head vigorously.
"No, no! I didn't do anything like that."
“False!”
Isriela shouted, and Cloïs looked at her sharply.
The moment their eyes met, Isriela stopped breathing and stepped back.
A young student could not bear the intensity of a man who had killed hundreds, even thousands, on the battlefields.
Cloïs sighed briefly, then said to Evie:
“Evie, I know you don't want to show what's in the box.”
“…”
She was still holding the box even in the midst of pain, which meant she was hiding something she didn't want anyone to see.
“But now, there seems to be no way to prove your innocence.”
It never occurred to him that Evie had stolen something from them.
It's just that Eppie, for some reason, refuses to show the contents of the box.
He wanted to take Evie away now and let her hide the box as she pleased.
But if he did, she would still be subject to suspicious looks for as long as she stayed at the academy.
“Can't you show these people what's in the box?”
Despite his careful request, Evie hesitated and did not remove the box.
Then, Isriela sneered, as if she had expected it:
“Huh, as I expected! A thief and a fraud, trying to blame an orphan and feigning ignorance...”
“Not true!”
When Isriela started scolding Cloïse, Evie couldn't stand it, so she screamed.
“Professor...”
She bit her lips hard, then pushed the box she was holding forward.
As if making a decision, she closed her eyes tightly, opened the lid of the rickety box, and turned it over.
Its contents fell to the ground with a loud crash.
Those present expected to see stolen items, but expressions of astonishment appeared on their faces.
“This...”
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