CICN 12

Chapter 12

The next day, in the morning.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

At the sound of the ringing bell, Ebi set down the textbook she had been reading and looked outside.

In the distance, the clock tower’s hands pointed to 8 o’clock.

It was the wake-up time at the Academy. Of course, Ebi had been up much earlier—already washed and dressed.

‘They said we all need to be dressed in our uniforms and down in the entrance hall by 8:30.’

Today marked the official start of life at the Academy.

Taking into account the time needed to adjust, this week would consist of orientation and light explanations about classes.

Ebi stood in front of the mirror to check her appearance, then opened the door to her room.

The entrance hall she shared with Irene was filled with morning sunlight.

Ebi opened a window and was greeted by the still-slightly-chilly morning breeze.

Still, the fresh air that drove away the stale air made her stretch and smile.

‘I hope everyone is doing well.’

The kids at the orphanage always had a hard time waking up in the morning.

As the director’s voice calling for breakfast grew louder from below, Ebi would fling the windows open.

Then the kids, about to fall back asleep, would rub their eyes and finally get up thanks to the cold wind.

Of course, some friends would beg her to close the windows again.

Friends…

Ebi’s smiling shoulders slumped at the thought of her friends from the orphanage.

‘I wanted to make friends here…’

Just as surprised as the other students were, Ebi had also been stunned to find out that her roommate was the daughter of a prestigious noble family.

She had heard that roommates were assigned randomly, but she hadn’t expected it to be true.

‘I thought I’d get a roommate who was also a commoner.’

Then maybe they could become close.

They could eat together, attend classes, study, and sometimes talk in each other’s rooms…

Before coming to the capital, she had read an essay about the Academy in the library of her preparatory school.

The author had detailed life at the Academy and how they spent time with friends.

That book had inspired her dreams, but now her roommate was someone so impressive Ebi could hardly dare to speak to her.

‘Still, Lady Irene…’

Thanks to running errands all her life, Ebi had become fairly skilled at reading others’ moods.

So she could tell.

Unlike the other students who looked at her with disdain, Irene didn’t dislike her.

What had shown in Irene’s eyes was surprise—and anger.

Even that anger faded when the director explained things yesterday.

Ding!

Lost in thought, Ebi snapped to attention at the sound of a short chime.

The clock tower rang the number of times that matched the hour on the hour.

Once at one o’clock.

Twice at two o’clock.

And between those, a short chime every fifteen minutes.

Ebi turned her head and looked at the clock tower. The hands now pointed to 8:15.

‘I should head down soon.’

She thought that, but still couldn’t bring herself to leave the room.

The reason was Irene.

‘If I don’t leave now, I might be late.’

They had been told to gather in the entrance hall by 8:30.

This was the first official event of the Academy. She had to be on time.

‘Is she still sleeping?’

If so, Ebi needed to wake Irene right away.

Just as she carefully raised her hand to knock—

Knock knock knock!

Someone knocked on the hallway door. When Ebi opened it, she found the girls she’d seen yesterday standing there.

They frowned at the sight of her and waved her away.

“I can’t believe you’re still not out. Isn’t it always the lowborns who should be quick to move?”

“Exactly. And were you seriously hovering in front of Lady Irene’s room this whole time? Don’t tell me you were about to knock and talk to her?”

The sharp look in their eyes made it clear that if Ebi said “yes,” a slap might follow. She took a step back.

“Let me say this before you make a fool of yourself—Lady Irene isn’t someone a thing like you can casually speak to. So don’t do anything to annoy her and make yourself scarce.”

“Yeah. She’s the daughter of a great noble family from the south. The Academy clearly made a mistake placing you two together. She’ll probably move to a new room soon. So don’t bother her, understood?”

“She chooses her friends carefully. Unless your family is at least on our level, you don’t stand a chance. Now get lost!”

They waved her away like she was a bug and slammed the door shut.

Ebi stood in the hallway, staring at the closed door before turning away.

‘Of course… she already has lots of friends.’

It was only natural. Nobles often held unofficial social gatherings from a young age to form close friendships.

Even if she was from the far south, Irene had surely already made many such friends.

‘Still…’

Ebi remembered Irene giving her a slight nod.

‘I hope I can at least say hello someday.’

After Ebi left, the students inside the room looked at one another.

“Did you see her?”

“Yes. She was about to knock on Lady Irene’s door.”

“What if we’d been a little later!”

They sighed in relief.

It had only been a week since they’d learned that Irene Terrins would be joining the Academy.

The news had excited all the noble girls.

Becoming close with Arcel or Lusca was an obvious goal.

But they were boys, in separate dorms, and often had separate classes like swordsmanship and martial arts.

But Irene was different.

Among the female students admitted this year, she was essentially royalty.

Due to her independent nature and southern upbringing, she rarely attended imperial social events.

The only time she had appeared was at the Festival of the Patron Saint a year ago.

That day, Irene had captivated everyone with her beauty and glamorous dress.

Even at her young age, her future brilliance was already apparent—not only to boys but to girls as well.

No one knew yet who would become the emperor’s successor, but everyone said it would be either Arcel or Lusca.

That made Irene Terrins the perfect candidate for crown princess.

‘We have to become close with her.’

Just being close to the daughter of the wealthy Terrins family would bring huge benefits.

But the future crown princess?

They had to get close at all costs.

So the moment Irene arrived in the capital, they went to her.

Introducing themselves, reminding her of letters they had sent, and chatting endlessly, they tried to get in her good graces.

Fortunately, Irene didn’t outright reject them.

But she wasn’t exactly friendly, either.

Even yesterday, when she agreed to go to the cafeteria, she had sat quietly and listened to their chatter without saying much.

‘She must just be nervous. Even if she’s from a great southern noble family, she’s all alone here.’

‘She must feel lonely in this unfamiliar capital. That’s when we can become her closest friends.’

With those ambitions in mind, they knocked on Irene’s door.

The door soon opened. Irene, dressed neatly in her uniform, bowed slightly in greeting.

“Good morning, Lady Irene!”

“It must’ve been tiring to get ready all by yourself this morning… Would you like to quietly use that commoner girl as a maid? I heard Lady Izriela enrolled with her retainer’s daughter and uses her as one.”

“Oh, I should’ve done that too! Maybe it’s not too late? Come to think of it, that commoner we chased out earlier might be good at maid work.”

At that moment, Irene’s eyes, which had been blankly watching them chatter, narrowed.

“You chased her out?”

“Yes. She didn’t know her place and was about to knock on your door. I think she was going to greet you.”

“So we scolded her properly and kicked her out. If she has any sense, she won’t dare bother you again.”

They beamed proudly, unaware of the cold gleam in Irene’s eyes.

With a chilly expression, Irene muttered to herself,

“If I hadn’t promised my sister, I’d really…”

One of the girls, smiling sweetly—so different from how she’d looked at Ebi—tilted her head.

“Hmm? What was that, Lady Irene?”

Without even looking at her, Irene stepped past them.

“We should head down. There’s not much time left.”

Without another word, Irene breezed past them and went downstairs alone.

Anyone could tell from her icy demeanor that something was off.

The girls exchanged glances.

“Did… did we do something wrong?”

“I-I don’t know…”

They had no clue what they had done. Flustered, they scrambled after Irene.