CICN 66

Chapter 66

‘How can I get rid of that girl?’

These days, Izriella spent every waking moment consumed by that thought.

The Academy for the Gifted had strict rules. While ostracizing another student couldn’t exactly be punished, any act of physical harm would result in immediate expulsion.

Back when the Academy first opened, plenty of students had been kicked out for mistreating their roommates or bullying those from lower-ranked families.

And now, there was no way Izriella could find someone else to do such things on her behalf.

Everyone was too busy trying to get back into Irene’s good graces, or even greeting Ibi with smiles.

If she asked them to harass Ibi, they would most likely report her straight to Ibi instead.

‘What should I do about her…?’

Every day, Izriella glared at Ibi, her mind filled with schemes.

‘Maybe Mother and Father would know a good way.’

With that hope, she rushed home on visiting day, leaving the Academy ahead of anyone else.

Her family wasn’t as wealthy as the Terrins, but the Izrielle household was still a prosperous one, with a history in the central nobility stretching back centuries.

When her carriage finally rolled into the estate, Izriella let out a sigh of relief.

Before she entered the Academy, whenever she roamed the capital, she was always treated like someone special.

Among her circle of friends, she had always been the “princess.”

Her family was the most distinguished, and she was the brightest of them all.

But the moment she stepped into the Academy, wearing the same uniform and attending the same classes as everyone else, she became nothing more than an ordinary student.

Some students still recognized her pedigree and treated her well, but the professors did not.

‘How dare they treat me the same as the others! Me, of all people!’

Worse yet, they acted as though they didn’t even know who she was.

This only made Izriella more desperate.

Now, the ones everyone admired and envied were Arcel, Ruska, Irene—and Ibi.

To be lower than a charity-case orphan? Unthinkable.

When she arrived at the mansion, her parents were already waiting for her.

“Mother! Father!”

Tears pricked at Izriella’s eyes. Surely her parents would take her side. Surely they would know how to drive out Ibi Elden. Maybe they would even write to the Terrins, urging them to make peace with her.

But she was completely mistaken.

“Izriella! We’ve been waiting for you! What on earth have you done to cause this mess?”

Instead of comforting her, her parents scolded her the moment they saw her.

“They say you’ve completely broken with Irene Terrins! Have you forgotten why you entered the Academy? What will you do now?”

“Do you know how many of your mother’s tea party invitations have been declined? And why have you distanced yourself from children of other noble houses too?”

After such a long-awaited visit home, Izriella wasn’t even allowed to retreat to her room; she had to sit in the drawing room for hours, enduring her parents’ reproach.

The only one who lent her an ear was her much older brother.

“Why did you pick a fight with Irene Terrins…?”

“I didn’t even pick a fight! This is all because of Ibi Elden! That commoner shamelessly accepted a magic stone from her guardian! And that so-called guardian is ridiculous too! Why would anyone give her something like that?”

“What are you talking about? Who would ever gift such a stone to a girl like her? Even the richest families wouldn’t—it’s impossible. Are you sure you saw it right?”

“I’m telling you, I saw it!”

Izriella explained the events of the day Ibi received the magic stone.

Her brother, who had a decent interest in magic stones himself, muttered skeptically after hearing her out.

“What was the name of that guardian again?”

“Shian Roshen? I think that was it.”

“Shian Roshen? That’s impossible.”

“What, you know him?”

“Not exactly… hm. Leave this to me. I’ll look into it.”

With that, he left the room.

In the end, Izriella returned to the dorms having been thoroughly scolded by her parents.

Meanwhile, the four of them were still eating together as always. Watching them, she suspected that they had even spent their free day together.

The four worked together seamlessly, like long-time friends—laughing, chatting, even raising their voices in excitement.

They were the picture of the ideal friendship every Academy student dreamed of.

The more Izriella watched, the more intolerable Ibi became.

‘She doesn’t belong there.’

That was not the place for a lowborn child. It was supposed to be for the precious few who would one day lead the Empire.

As she was heading up the stairs, a staff member stopped her.

“You’ve received a letter from home.”

“….”

Snatching it without a word of thanks, Izriella turned it over.

“What? From Brother?”

Not her parents but her brother? Puzzled, she quickly tore it open.

The message was short.

Her eyes widened as she read.

“Is this true…?”

The letter claimed that Ibi Elden’s supposed guardian, Professor Shian Roshen, was likely a fraud.

Her brother promised to inform her once he confirmed the details but told her not to touch Ibi until then—just to watch her closely.

‘Her guardian is a fake?’

She had never even heard of such a thing.

Part of her thought her brother must be mistaken, yet a tiny flicker of possibility stirred in her chest.

‘Everyone else would dismiss it as impossible, wouldn’t they?’

Which might make it all the easier to deceive them.

Izriella stuffed the letter into her desk drawer, trying to calm her pounding heart.

If her brother was right…

She scoured the Academy’s rulebook but found no clause covering such a case.

‘Even so, it would cause a huge uproar.’

If her guardian was a fabrication… could anything else about Ibi truly be trusted?

‘Maybe her grades are fake too.’

Once sown, suspicion spread like wildfire.

‘Anything will do. If I can just find one violation of the rules…’

By then, she had already forgotten her brother’s warning to wait. Her eyes sharpened, determined to uncover Ibi’s flaws.

From that day on, Izriella began shadowing Ibi’s every move.

Where she went, what classes she took, who she met.

After about a week, the surveillance grew tiresome. Besides, the midterm exams were approaching.

And if anyone ever found out she had been following a lowborn orphan around, what humiliation that would be!

‘I should stop.’

Grumbling that her brother had led her into something stupid, Izriella turned back toward her room—only to notice that although the other students had left, Ibi still hadn’t come out of the classroom.

‘What’s she doing?’

Why was she lingering inside?

Silently, Izriella crept to the door and peeked through the narrow gap.

At first, she didn’t see Ibi. But then she spotted her crouched beneath a desk, picking something up.

‘What is she doing?’

Ibi quickly snatched whatever had fallen, stuffed it into her bag, and slipped out of the classroom.

Izriella pressed herself against the hallway corner just in time.

From her hiding place, she watched Ibi rush out of the building, eyes narrowing.

At first she thought Ibi was just retrieving something she had dropped. But no—she kept scanning the floor and repeatedly stuffing things into her bag.

As Izriella pondered this, a group of girls walked down the hall.

“Why’d you have to drop it?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, it’s the bracelet Mom gave me. I have to find it.”

“You’re sure you lost it in the classroom?”

“I’m sure.”

The girls entered the classroom, searching the floor just like Ibi had.

“Did you find it?”

“No… what do I do?”

Izriella couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

One of the girls answered with an annoyed look.

“She dropped her bracelet in class and it’s gone. It was her birthday gift—it’s expensive. Did you see it, Lady Izriella?”

Of course she hadn’t. Izriella shook her head at once.

The girls grumbled and left.

Izriella immediately rushed to the window. Far off, she caught sight of Ibi running, clutching her oversized bag tightly to her chest, as if it contained something precious.

Izriella’s gaze grew colder as she watched.