Evie planted her forehead in the ground, thinking:
“Thank God it's soft.”
Fortunately, the floor was covered with carpets much softer than those of the Gifted Academy, so it was soft and comfortable.
So, even though she hit her forehead on the ground so hard that she made a faint sound, she didn't feel much pain. But the problem now wasn't her forehead.
“Is this the correct way to greet?”
At the academy, the fine greeting etiquette used in the imperial palace is taught, but the problem is that this lesson begins in the second semester.
Evie never thought she'd need to use it much, so she didn't pay much attention to it. She saw Irene do the salute once, but she found it too complicated.
“If I had known this was going to happen, I would have known about it beforehand.”
Evie tried to remember the greeting she had seen in the teachers' office and imitate it, but her convulsing body would not obey her. Maybe because she's still confused.
She hit her forehead lightly on the ground again, then carefully raised her head.
The books say that it is not permissible to look at the emperor's face without his permission, but she was worried whether her greeting was in keeping with etiquette.
When she raised her head, she saw Chloe's sullen expression, and she wanted to cry.
“It seems I made a mistake in greeting!”
What are you doing now? There's no one here to teach her. As Evie fumbled in confusion, Cloyce leaned over, reached out his hand and gently lifted it up to meet her eyes.
“Who told you to live like this?”
“Heck!”
His low voice surprised her, and she unintentionally made a strange sound. I felt that the Emperor was angry.
“I… I haven’t learned yet… I haven’t saluted properly...”
Evie trembled with fear, and Cloyce sighed and relaxed his grim expression.
“It seems I made a mistake in choosing my words. I meant that you do not need such annoying greetings, especially since you are not in good health.”
Cloyce patted the surprised Evie, then sat on the edge of the bed.
"Are you still in pain? Shouldn't you lie down?"
He had heard from the palace doctor that other than the bruises and swelling, there were no major problems, but in Chloe's eyes, Evie looked like the sickest child in the world.
This was because almost half of her face was covered by the gauze that the doctor had placed. The doctor tried to reduce the gauze as much as possible, but her small face made that difficult.
"I'm really fine! I'm completely healed! It doesn't hurt... I mean, it doesn't hurt at all!"
Evie was confused about what tone to use with Cloyce. What if I make a mistake? In the end, she closed her mouth.
Until that moment, Evie couldn't believe the situation.
“The professor is the emperor?”
There were really strange things going on.
His sitting alone in front of the tomb of the Empress and Princess, his great resemblance to the picture she saw in the books, his ability to request a letter from Dean Seraphina despite being an ordinary professor.
Evie swallowed hard, and mustered up the courage to ask him:
“Is Professor… I mean, is Your Majesty really the Emperor?”
After she spoke, I felt that her question was strange.
Asking the Emperor if he was really an Emperor? But Evie was so nervous that she didn't notice the strangeness of her question.
“Huh.”
Cloyce laughed lightly and said:
“Yes, I am Clouis Arrelkyan Harkia, the current Emperor of Harkia.”
“…”
Evie fell silent again.
“What… do I do now?”
Evie remembered how she used to deal with Cloyce. He was her favorite professor, so she did not act rudely towards him.
But how did she deal with someone to whom Arcel, Luska, and even the dean bowed with respect? She held on to his clothes, begged him to take her to the festival, and even slept on his lap all the way to the academy.
Evie's mind flashed through old stories she had read in books, where anyone who made a mistake in front of the Emperor would be beheaded.
“But it doesn't look like it...”
Evie looked at Cloyce with hesitant eyes.
“…”
“…”
There was a long silence between them.
Cloys was the one who broke the silence first:
“Are you sure you don't feel pain?”
"I'm fine! This much is usual for me!"
Clois's expression almost froze again at her answer, but he restrained himself so as not to frighten her further.
"usual?"
This was not common in the orphanage, she was always praised.
“I want to know where and how she lived before the orphanage.”
But he felt that today was not the time for such questions. He first had to finish matters related to the academy.
“Evie.”
“Yes, yes!”
“There's no need to be so stubborn.”
“But… in front of Your Majesty...”
Cloyce felt distressed when Evie said the word “Your Majesty.”
Until recently, she used to call him “Professor” and get attached to him passionately. But now, she fears him and keeps her distance.
At that moment, Cloyce realized that his concealment of his identity as Emperor was not only to protect Evie's future, but because he wanted to maintain the friendly relationship they had.
He hoped that if they ever met without her knowing his identity, she might run to him as excitedly as she did.
Cloyce swallowed his regret and asked her:
“Evie, can I ask you something?”
"Yes!"
Evie nodded enthusiastically.
“Why didn't you put new things in the box? If you had asked from the academy storeroom, they would have given you as many new pens and notebooks as you wanted.”
Everything related to study is provided without limits. If you wanted to send gifts to your friends at the orphanage, why didn't you order more items? Why did you collect what others got rid of?
Cloyce was curious to know why.
Evie hesitated a little before answering cautiously:
“In… the rules. They say that academy items may not be used for personal purposes or taken outside… so I felt that ordering more items for my friends at the orphanage might be against.”
After her labored answer, Evie hung her head again.
She was right. In the basic laws, there is a clause urging avoidance of indiscriminate consumption of resources. But no one actually cares about this law.
The academy is an institution supported by the imperial family to educate a few select children.
No one places restrictions on tools such as notebooks or pens, and no one blames those who use them excessively.
The box Evie had prepared was roughly the size of an adult's head. She could have easily filled it with new items, but she put her pride aside and collected what others had discarded, to keep with the academy's rules.
Cloyce knew how difficult this would be. To abide by rules that no one cares about, and to bend to that yourself, is something that not even adults can do.
But Evie, despite her young age, understood the rules established for the greater good and made sure to abide by them.
At that moment, Cloyce thought about the two children who were considered candidates to succeed him.
How would Arcel and Luska react in a situation like this? Maybe they would find a suitable solution, but he wasn't sure if they would stick to the rules as stubbornly as Evie.
This quality in Efe was one of the most important qualities he looked for in his successor.
“What a pity.”
If Effie had been from a noble family like others, Cloyce would have chosen her without hesitation as a candidate to succeed him at that moment.
“Professor… Oh, no, Your Majesty.”
Clois frowned when Evie called 'Your Majesty' again. This nickname was familiar from others, but when Evie said it, he felt distressed. He said without thinking:
“Just keep calling me Professor.”
"What?"
“Until the end of this semester, I will continue teaching you the foreign language, so, until then, I hope you will continue to call me Professor like you used to. Even if it is difficult...”
Cloyce paused for a moment, then said:
“How about you call me by my name directly?”
°. • .✦ . ◌ ⋆ ° ✬ • ✫ ⋆｡ .° ◌ • .●