Chapter – 18
If I were to get accepted into that academy, my grandfather would undoubtedly recognize me as a full-fledged member of the Shablin family. He wouldn’t be able to cast me out—there was no way I’d be abandoned.
I would finally shake off the nickname “Mardueng”!
I clapped my hands and jumped with excitement at this surefire way to escape the bleak fate of the original story.
“Then send Ersha too!”
“Huh?”
“I want Ersha to go too! Ersha, and Sensenning as well!”
Even if it sounded like a scam.
“You mean, you, Miss?”
Nocturne asked in astonishment, then shook his head.
“That’s not a place anyone can just go to. Even Lord Oscar, the pride and joy of our family, who is like the sunshine of our house, has failed to get in once already.”
Tsk tsk.
Nocturne clicked his tongue and then, as if he had nothing more to say, bowed slightly.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“….”
I scratched under my nose indifferently as I watched Nocturne leave.
As expected, my family had no intention of supporting me just because I wanted to go. Even talking to my grandfather directly would probably have gotten the same response.
‘Then how on earth am I supposed to get into the SoGenius Academy?’
I had a feeling it wasn’t a problem I could solve in a short time. I trudged back to my room.
Soon, the door opened, and a familiar voice called out cheerfully.
“Miss!”
“Oh? Ebott!”
I practically bounced toward the door. Ebott was approaching me with an unusually bright expression.
“Have you been alone?”
“Of course! But, um… what about that Ersha Sensenning guy?”
Could he really be a delinquent?
A fake teacher who used to run all sorts of shady schemes like a rogue? Surely, he must have been bribed by Leo to pretend to be a teacher.
I had a clear but seemingly impossible goal: admission to SoGenius Academy. And my teacher was this guy.
As I sank gloomily, expecting the usual answer, Ebott spoke with excitement.
“Oh my, Miss! Don’t be shocked!”
“Why?”
“Well, he’s one of the geniuses who actually got into SoGenius Academy!”
“…What?”
My tightly clenched fists relaxed, and my gaping mouth wouldn’t close.
“It’s the school where only the top ten geniuses of the empire get accepted each year!”
“….”
Really…?
Later, Leo returned to the Shablin Dukedom house late at night.
Was this how elves looked when drunk? Once again, the staff at the marquis’ mansion were astonished by the fact that the marauder looked nothing like a marauder in appearance.
Marquis Leo seemed quite cheerful thanks to the alcohol. As he slowly made his way into the room, his gaze suddenly snapped toward something.
“What’s that?”
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
A bizarre object sat on the table, one he normally wouldn’t touch.
A hallucination?
Frowning, Leo stepped closer to check if he was seeing correctly.
Purple yarn hair, eyes of the same color.
No matter how he looked at it, or turned his head sideways, it was clearly the doll he had seen at the doll shop earlier that day.
“What… why is this here?”
Leo was dumbfounded as he picked up the doll. A note fell to the floor. Helen quickly picked it up and handed it to him. Only then could he read the writing:
[Marquis, please give this to Erusha! Don’t throw it away! Hehe.]
Leo crumpled the note instantly. He didn’t even need to check further—this was definitely Crobie’s doing.
“This guy is insane.”
He had crossed a line that should never be crossed.
“How dare he bring something like this in?”
Angry, Leo tossed the doll.
The small doll, resembling Erusha’s hair and eyes, traced an arc toward the floor—but Leo’s hand snatched it up just in time.
“Ugh!”
Helen and the other staff barely swallowed their shock, holding their breath as they watched.
Leo’s long, slender body wavered slightly, but he regained his balance.
“Damn it.”
He held the doll lightly, not even looking at it. He tossed it back onto the table, deliberately avoiding it, and turned his body away.
He had tried to forget visiting the doll shop earlier that day. He drank until he was thoroughly drunk, but seeing this doll made all that effort meaningless.
Now he understood why that doll had caused him so much trouble all day, and it actually made his actions easier.
Was it the alcohol?
Helen cautiously approached him.
“M-Marquise, do you need anything?”
“To put one doll on someone’s head… seriously?”
“Huh?”
Leo shook his head in disbelief, feeling a mix of pity and irritation for Crobie’s audacity.
Finally, he gave instructions to the staff.
“Go to that doll shop immediately, and sweep up all the new dolls. Throw out all that junk in Erusha’s room and replace them with new ones.”
After saying this, Leo collapsed onto the bed, muttering to himself. His personal motto, after all, was correct once again:
‘When in doubt, act.’
The heavy alcohol quickly carried him into dreamland.
“That’s really true? Sensenning guy is that good? (Really? Not the teacher’s sibling or someone else?)”
I still couldn’t believe Rimerick’s identity and asked the same question for the tenth time. Ebott, without showing any annoyance, smiled and reassured me.
“I’m telling you, it’s true! I was just as shocked myself.”
“Wow.”
Getting into SoGenius Academy wasn’t just about studying well.
It required innate genius, as well as triumphing in battles of influence, wealth, and connections.
No one would coach a complete stranger just for money—it was a matter of pride for noble families who lived and died by honor.
Even the most powerful families often failed.
Families that had previously produced successful students might have had it slightly easier, but judging by how Oscar struggled for over five years, it was clear that even the Shablin Dukedom faced enormous challenges.
No wonder the Shablin Duke was so desperate.
‘How did Oscar even get accepted in the original story?’
He was the protagonist, truly a genius, and he never gave up submitting applications each year. SoGenius gave him extra points for persistence.
And now, my personal tutor was a SoGenius alumnus!
“Then why would such a genius be teaching Erusha Sensenning?”
“I don’t know that part. I heard that many SoGenius alumni either end up as researchers at the royal palace with poor treatment or return to the academy as teachers.”
“How strange… My father would never get a genius like that for me…”
“Maybe they know Marquis Leo personally?”
“Could be?”
I made a V-shape with my thumb and index finger under my chin, and Ebott mirrored me, thinking seriously.
Having a SoGenius alumnus as my tutor could make my task easier than I’d imagined.
But Rimerick had tried to slack off in my lessons twice—would he even help me?
I had assumed he was just a delinquent, but now knowing he was a genius delinquent, my opinion of him changed.
Tap.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Ebott and I turned to see who it was.
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Who could it be at this hour? No one should be coming to my room now.’
“Who’s there?”
Ebott quickly went to open the door. It cracked open slightly, and a group of maids poured in.
“Excuse us!”
“What… what are you doing?”
Ebott stumbled backward in surprise. All of them wore identical aprons and carried large boxes.
I stood up, realizing the situation.
“The Marquis has ordered that all the junk in Miss’s room be cleaned out.”
“What? There’s junk in my room?”
“Anyway, please excuse us!”
The maids immediately swarmed my room, beginning to collect my old dolls from every cabinet.
