85
Irene was in her pajamas, sitting at Evie's bedside, explaining what had happened.
“…In front of everyone, Isriela started crying, while the others were begging, apologizing for their mistake. The scene was very chaotic.”
She was telling Evie the details of what happened after she left with Cloyce.
Just as Evie felt stunned, Irene, right after Cloïs left, felt like she was dreaming.
Irene wasn't alone. Everyone who was there remained stunned for a long time after Cloyce left, unable to get up or move.
Then suddenly, Isriela burst into tears, and her friends clung to Seraphina, crying, and the spirits returned to those present.
"Everyone, get back to your seats! This building will be temporarily closed, so whoever has been using it, gather their things!"
Seraphina then ordered Isriela and her friends to stay.
“Irene, can you stay a little longer?”
"Me? Why?"
"It appears that you were part of the incident. Since Evie is not there, there is no one to bear witness to what happened. Can you explain what you saw, even if it was only part?"
Irene answered without hesitation:
"Of course! Isriela, that…"
She remembered that she was studying for exams, but that didn't matter now.
Irene told Seraphina everything she remembered.
There was no need to exaggerate, Isriela's mistakes were clear and glaring.
“Thank you for telling me. Now, enough studying for today, go back to the dorm.”
Seraphina pointed to a mirror in the corner of the professors' office.
Irene approached and looked, and found her appearance in a miserable state. She wasn't surprised.
“How not, when I grabbed Isriela’s hair and shook her hard!”
The moment she saw Ezriela hit Evie, she lunged at them, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her, and kicked her.
Isriela later tried to fight off Irene, but Irene was not one to give up easily.
She may look like a princess, but she was secretly nicknamed “Little Fist of the South,” and she never shied away from any challenge that came her way.
Even Luska came to be publicly called “the crazy buffalo.”
Thanks to her experience, Irene was a skilled fighter. While Izriela clumsily held her, Irene picked painful spots to kick, pinch, or hit her.
Isriela must not have a good night's sleep that night.
Irene returned to the dorm, showered, changed, and waited for Evie.
But no matter how much I waited, Evie didn't come back.
Then she heard the sound of crying from outside, so she went out to see Isriela and her group gathering their things from their rooms under the supervision of the academy staff.
Their fate was not decided yet, so they decided to leave their dorm rooms as they were.
Irene didn't want to stand around watching any longer, so she went back to her room. But before she entered, some students approached her cautiously.
“Miss Irene, we are curious about Miss Evie...”
Irene couldn't hide her sarcasm when she heard them call Eppie 'Miss'.
Up until that point, if they called Evie by her name it was considered being generous.
Most often, they referred to her as “little,” “poor,” “shelter child,” or “lowborn.”
And now, suddenly, she's "Miss Effie"?
"When Evie comes back, ask her directly. I don't know anything."
Irene answered coldly and entered her room.
“They were enjoying watching Evie get spanked, and now they call her Miss Evie?”
Irene grumbled and sighed deeply.
After the Emperor defended Evie in front of everyone and took her with him, how many rumors would now haunt Evie?
“Evie's life is going to be noisier than mine.”
Irene remembered the students fawning over her just because she was the daughter of the Terrence family.
She wasn't the only one. Lusca and Arcel were also getting annoyed by the unwanted attention.
Now, Evie will have to live with that attention, too.
“Anyway, you have to be careful from now on.”
"Good."
Seeing Evie smiling and closing her eyes happily, Irene hugged her close and stroked her affectionately.
Because of the bandages still on Evie's face, Irene walked her into the bathroom to help wash her hair, and of course dried it for her as well.
“I'll help you, don't worry too much. Tomorrow morning, tell Arcel and Luska that you're okay. Although I bet they'll be standing in front of the girls' dorm since morning without you even saying anything.”
Evie nodded.
“Okay, time for bed now.”
At those words, Evie yawned softly and slipped under the covers. Then Irene hesitated for a moment and asked:
“Can I sleep with you? If you feel pain at night, we may need to call staff immediately... and you may feel frightened if you remember what happened during the day...”
As she spoke, Irene's eyes trembled even more.
The image of Evie being beaten by Ezriela was still fresh in front of her eyes.
If I had arrived a little faster, maybe her brain wouldn't have bled out.
If I had intervened before she raised her hand, I would have kicked her away!
Whenever she remembered that moment, she felt anger squeezing her until tears nearly fell.
Even now, she could feel her throat constricting and her hand shaking.
Evie looked at Irene, then got up and knocked on the spot next to her excitedly as if inviting her to lie down.
Irene quickly crawled over and used a pillow as her pillow.
“Yes, with Irene, I won’t be afraid. Today, you kicked Ezriela hard, didn’t you?”
"Don't you? I think I did a good job."
They laughed together quietly.
They exchanged light conversations for a while. How was the palace? How were the Imperial Guard Knights on their way back?
Then, little by little, their answers slowed down, until they closed their eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep, breathing calmly.
The magic stone's light illuminated the faces of the two sleeping girls as they held each other's hands tightly.
—
The next day, Serafina had been receiving two unwanted visitors since the morning: Isriela's parents, the Count and his wife.
"How could this happen? She's just a little girl, locked alone in a room in an empty building?"
“She is not alone. There are personnel from the academy in the corridor, ready to intervene if something happens.”
Seraphina answered coldly, stifling a yawn.
Her attitude angered the Count and his wife, but they did not dare to protest more forcefully.
“It's Seraphina Lidum, anyway.”
One of the empire's greatest geniuses, a powerful sorceress, and a confidant of the Emperor.
Now, she is the academy's dean.
In other words, someone the Count and his wife cannot beat, nor should they antagonize.
“Anyway, I was going to send you an official message today, but it seems that you somehow heard about what happened… I don’t know where the news leaked from. Even if I had sent a message, it would not have arrived yet, and we have been ordered to prevent leaks within the academy.”
Serafina said this and smiled softly as she looked at the Count and his wife.
"It seems that someone is reporting the news outside the academy. This is a breach of the employment contract, isn't it?"
At these words, the Count and his wife coughed and looked away.
The night before, news of the disturbances at the Academy had reached the Count and his wife through many mouths.
“What is this? Could it be that our entire family is banned from entering the academy, and even from applying to the higher academy?”
The most emotional was Ezriela's brother.
“This is unreasonable! I need to reapply to the Higher Academy next year, so what should I do?”
He shouted at his parents to immediately go to the academy to find out the truth.
The Count and his wife wanted it too, but the Academy is not a place where free entry is allowed.
Since it belongs to the Imperial Palace, attempting to enter without permission could result in severe punishment.
Therefore, they waited until the morning, and as soon as the palace doors opened, they rushed to the academy and asked to meet the dean.
"Well, maybe that's for the best. The incident is bigger than I expected, and I was going to have to write a long letter to explain things, but since you're here, you've made it easier for me."
Seraphina said this and explained to the Count and his wife the summary of the incident.
The whole time, they did not calm down, complaining and moving nervously.
“Doesn’t this mean that the lowly woman made a mistake?”
“Oh my God, are you saying that the daughter of the Terrence family hit our daughter like that? This is barbaric!”
Each time, Seraphina placed her hand on her forehead.
She had been wondering why Isriela was so arrogant, and now she realized that she had inherited it from her parents.
The Count and his wife treated their daughter's mistakes as trivial matters, while overreacting to the actions of others.
Since Izriela is a student at the academy, Seraphina was hoping to resolve the matter in the best way possible. Even if the punishment was inevitable, she wanted it to be fair and just.
But…
Serafina, who tried to explain calmly and tactfully, was quickly running out of patience.
“I want to finish this and rest.”
You no longer feel any need to show more care than necessary.
She began to think about the highest level of punishments in the academy, and smiled softly.
At that moment, the Count shouted:
“Especially that person who is alleged to be that orphan’s guardian! Bring him in immediately! He must take responsibility for her actions!”
At these words, Seraphina's smile widened even more.
What words she was waiting to hear!
°. • .✦ . ◌ ⋆ ° ✬ • ✫ ⋆｡ .° ◌ • .●