CICN 64

Chapter 64

Ibi washed and changed her clothes even faster than usual, then turned to look back at the bed.

“One, two, three, four…”

She counted the cute trinkets and toys laid out on top.

“Seventeen…”

The unbelievable number left her speechless.

What do I do?

Yesterday had been so much fun.

She’d been scared for a moment when she lost sight of the professor, but even so, the good memories far outweighed the bad.

Watching the event from his arms, eating lots of delicious food, even trying her first claw machine—where she actually won a prize!

That alone had been enough to make her happy. She even thought that, no matter what hardships came later, remembering yesterday would help her endure them.

Should I give them back?

But no matter how she looked at them, these weren’t the kind of things Professor Sian would ever use.

She pictured him with his glittering, silky golden hair, wearing a ribbon hairpin like this one.

“Pfft.”

Ibi couldn’t help but laugh.

No matter how she thought about it, even if she returned them, there was no way Professor Sian would use them.

At the very least, I should thank him.

That was all she could do.

She neatly placed the gifts that had been on her blanket beside the magic stone.

When she had first entered the Gifted Academy, the nightstand had been completely empty.

But now—from the magic stone to the hairpins—it was full of things.

It was still hard to believe they were all hers, and the thought filled her with joy.

“Hehe…”

Smiling, Ibi gently touched her presents and then headed outside.

Even though receiving so much made her feel a bit burdened, she was still undeniably happy.

When she went downstairs, the early-shift staff were already gathered.

As she approached to greet them, she spotted someone she hadn’t seen in a while.

The Headmistress, Seraphina.

She was speaking with some of the employees, but when she sensed Ibi’s presence, she turned.

“Good mor—”

“Oh! You’re awake!”

Seraphina greeted her warmly, as if she had been waiting for her, and came closer.

Bending slightly, she lowered her voice.

“Did you sleep well? Yesterday Professor Sian brought you back. Since this is the girls’ dormitory, he couldn’t enter, so I happened to be in the lobby and brought you up to your room.”

So that’s what had happened.

“Thank you.”

Ibi bowed her head politely.

“Oh, and… Professor Sian will be away on a long business trip for a while, so he won’t be in his office. If you have a letter you want delivered, give it to me.”

As she listened, Ibi tilted her head curiously and asked,

“Professor Sian… is he someone higher than you, Headmistress?”

“Hm? What makes you think that all of a sudden?”

“Well… because you called him Professor and kept saying that person…”

“Ah.”

Seraphina realized her slip.

As Headmistress, she usually addressed other senior professors simply as “professor.” But since Sian was the Emperor, she had unconsciously used more respectful terms.

“Oh my, I must have spoken like that without thinking, because I’ve known him personally for a long time. That was careless of me. I’ll be more careful from now on. Thank you for pointing it out.”

She tried to cover it smoothly and reached out to pat Ibi’s head—

“…?”

But suddenly, she pulled her hand back in surprise, staring at Ibi.

Then her gaze dropped to the back of Ibi’s hand.

“Headmistress?”

Ibi tilted her head, puzzled by her behavior. Seraphina forced an awkward smile and took a step back.

“It’s nothing. More importantly… when you were little, did you ever—”

“Ibiiiii!”

Just then, a loud voice rang out as a girl with fluttering silver hair burst into the dormitory.

“I’m back!”

“Irene!”

They had only been apart for two and a half days, yet the two embraced like long-lost friends reunited.

While the staff watched with fond smiles, Seraphina quietly slipped away.

“Phew…”

Back in her office, Seraphina collapsed onto the enormous bed she had insisted on keeping, despite everyone’s protests.

“Ha, good thing I got this bed.”

Otherwise, she would have been stuck lying on the uncomfortable sofa.

Suddenly, she felt sorry for herself. What use was being praised as the Headmistress of the Gifted Academy?

In the end, she was living the life of someone who ate and slept at work, worn down by endless late nights.

Since the reopening of the Academy, the workload had been overwhelming.

I have to prepare for the library reopening, settle the disputes between professors…

And then there had been Professor Malles demanding her classroom back.

Of course, she had resolved it by giving him a classroom but making him sign what was practically a slave contract as “chief professor.”

Still, the hardest part is something else.

She lifted her hand.

The faint magical energy in the air swirled around it, scattering light as it stirred the breeze.

“My master may be my master, but I have to raise my own successor too.”

Clenching and unclenching her hand, she sighed.

This wasn’t her imagination. Ever since returning to the Academy, she had constantly sensed another’s magic.

“Because I’ve been so on edge, I nearly mistook it again earlier…”

Just before, when she reached for Ibi’s head, she had felt the faintest trace of magic.

But she quickly guessed its source.

“That damned magic stone…”

She remembered the one in Ibi’s room last night.

Its energy had been almost identical to Lillian’s, and the Emperor himself had given it to the child.

It was only natural that, with the stone placed so close, the room had seemed saturated with magic, enough to confuse even her.

“Sleeping beside it every night, of course the magic would feel stronger.”

Still, she recalled how her eyes had involuntarily shifted to the back of Ibi’s hand.

Because, strangely enough, she thought she sensed the aura of the imperial bloodline amidst that magic.

“What nonsense am I even thinking…”

Maybe it was because of her earlier conversation with Clois.

The moment she felt power similar to Lillian’s, she had started unconsciously searching for signs of the royal family in the child.

No wonder His Majesty delayed reopening the Academy for so long.

If even she was seeing traces of Princess Evvien in the children, how much more would the Emperor?

“Haa…”

She remembered the image of the Emperor last night, carrying Ibi in his arms.

He had held her with such careful gentleness, as though she were the most fragile thing in the world.

And because she knew whom he must have been reminded of, she hadn’t been able to scold him for returning so late with the child.

Thankfully, Ibi Elden isn’t like the other children who try to win His Majesty’s favor.

But watching them yesterday, she almost thought he might adopt Ibi as his foster daughter right there, instead of Arcel or Ruska.

“Hm… it almost fits, doesn’t it?”

Perhaps it was simply because both had golden hair. But the sight of the Emperor carrying the girl had been the very image of a father.

“No, stop it. No silly thoughts.”

Seraphina buried her face in the pillow, then sat up.

She didn’t have time for such nonsense.

She spread her magic across the Academy once again.

If any other magician used power, she would immediately know.

I’ve felt those magical ripples a few times already.

And the intervals were growing shorter.

“Which means someone’s magic is starting to awaken.”

That was natural.

Once power manifested, the cycles between its appearances became shorter and shorter.

There were ways to accelerate the process and draw someone quickly onto the path of a magician.

Namely, by placing them in life-threatening danger.

“But if I ever did that to a child, history would remember me as one of the worst child abusers alive.”

Maybe she’d even be stoned to death in the capital square. No thank you.

As she lay back on the bed again, she thought hard about better ways.

“Well… there’s no need to rush anyway.”

As long as they were inside the Academy, the children were safe.

And the awakening was only a matter of time.

So soon enough, she would know whose power it was.

Closing her eyes, Seraphina recalled the forces she had felt.

If the magic fully awakened—and the imperial crest appeared alongside it…

“Huh?”

Startled by her own thought, she shot upright.

Why did she keep assuming those two powers would appear together, when she knew no one had ever possessed both?

And why, of all things, did Evie Alden’s face keep coming to mind at the same time?