18 - Another Grueling Day for the Aristocratic Kindergarten Teacher
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It’s not here. No matter how much she looked around the garden, it was nowhere to be found. Just in case, she checked each child one by one, but still, it was absent.
She tightly shut her eyes and opened them again, lowering her head. Her pale hands were trembling slightly. Cold sweat, chilling enough to make her shiver, trickled down her back.
“Where on earth…?”
It was just a moment. The assistant teacher had stepped out to the restroom, leaving her post. It was just a moment when she was tending to another child.
In that fleeting instant, it had vanished. Being five years old was like that. It could disappear in the blink of an eye.
She had to find it as quickly as possible. The Imperial Palace was vast, and it would only become more difficult to locate it as time passed.
There was no time to be dazed like this.
Ephna quickly assessed the situation and explained clearly to the teacher from the other class.
“Teacher, please don’t panic as the children might get anxious. One of our class’s children has gone missing.”
“What? Missing? What do you mean…! Oh, no… I’m sorry. Is that really true?”
“Yes. I’m planning to ask for help from the royal guard. Would it be alright if I leave our class in your care while I go?”
“Of course. Please hurry, Teacher!”
With the assistant teacher present, this side should be fine.
She had to remain calm, especially now. Fortunately, there was a way to get help.
She quickly dashed toward the Education Administration Office within the Imperial Palace. Baron Schopen, who had guided her during the palace tour, emerged with a weary expression.
He smiled at Ephna, looking as if he might collapse from overwork at any moment.
“Teacher Ephna. It’s been a while. Oh dear, I haven’t had a chance to wash for a few days due to late nights, so I hope you can excuse the smell. But more importantly, what brings you to me…? Is there a problem with the field trip?”
“Baron Schopen, could we possibly get some assistance from the royal guard?”
Setting aside his serious expression, the teacher from Loendel Kindergarten didn’t return the greeting.
Surely, any working person would not skip the ‘courtesy greeting’ in any situation. Was something really wrong?
Feeling a sense of unease from that alone, Baron Schopen adjusted his glasses and asked.
“Is something the matter? It’s not difficult to dispatch the guard, but I need to know the situation to act.”
“A child has gone missing.”
“Wha—?”
His eyes, which had been dull and lifeless like a corpse, widened in shock. The drowsiness that had been overwhelming him vanished in an instant.
Was the teacher from Loendel Kindergarten the type to make such a chilling joke?
No. It wasn’t a joke. He quickly grasped the situation and responded.
“I will inform the captain of the Third Royal Guard immediately. They are responsible for security, so they will quickly assemble a search party.”
“Thank you. Could you please ask them to conduct the search quietly so that the other children don’t get scared?”
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
“Also, one more thing… It’s standard protocol to contact the guardians when a child goes missing. I would like to contact the Grand Temple right away.”
“I will notify them through the communication channel.”
“Thank you.”
Bowing her head slightly, Ephna turned and ran again. Although he said the search party would move, she couldn’t just sit still.
“Where are you, Maylin…?”
Her heart raced. What if something had happened to her in this vast Imperial Palace? What if she was crying? She must be very scared alone.
Her urgent footsteps first headed toward the greenhouse.
Swish—gurgle, gurgle.
The sounds of water and birds sent an eerie chill down her spine. It felt entirely different from the times she had strolled with the children.
As she took one step at a time, she called out.
“Maylin, are you here? If you can hear me, answer! It’s Teacher Ephna!”
There was no response. No sound of the child crying, no reply.
In that moment, she suddenly spotted a small object floating deep in the artificial waterfall. Yellow and green mixed together…
“Shoes…?”
Yes. That was undoubtedly Maylin’s shoe.
Ephna’s face turned pale.
“No, no!”
What if that small body had been struck by the terrifying torrent of water?
What if she had fallen into the dark pool where even an adult couldn’t reach…!
There was no time to think. Without even steadying her trembling hands, she jumped into the waterfall with a splash.
“Maylin…! No, Maylin!”
Horrific scenarios flooded her mind. The child’s small shoe was there to prove it.
She charged toward the shoe without hesitation.
It had been a long time since her feet had touched the ground. The surging water ruthlessly flowed into her nostrils.
Just one more step. The moment she reached out her hand toward the shoe,
“What are you doing right now!”
Someone fiercely grabbed her waist.
The cold water was pushed away, and a warmth that felt almost hot enveloped Ephna roughly.
“Ugh—!”
A fierce breath clung to her ear, as if it were gnashing its teeth. She could feel a rough chest rising and falling behind her.
The man, whose veins bulged as he tightly embraced Ephna, pulled her out of the water in one swift motion.
“Cough, cough! Hack!”
As she coughed and expelled the water, she turned her head.
There stood Yohan Deisat, who perhaps looked even paler than she did. His face was completely different from the gentle one she was used to.
“Y-Yohan… no, Guardian…?”
“What on earth were you thinking…!”
His eyes, filled with a fierce intensity as if they could tear through the water, were fully revealed.
‘He can make such a face…?’
While Ephna was lost in that thought, Yohan pressed one hand against his eyes, as if trying to suppress an emotion that didn’t suit him.
When he opened his eyes again, the once-narrow blue pupils returned to normal.
A slightly lower, yet still gentle voice flowed from Yohan’s lips.
“I’m sorry for shouting, Teacher. Seeing you there like that startled me too… It’s a depth where it wouldn’t be strange to drown, you know.”
“Oh, it’s not that… over there, Maylin’s shoe…”
“Yes. I hope you weren’t trying to go in for a swim. Are you hurt anywhere?”
His tone was kind and gentle, but there was a strange edge to his words. However, Ephna was too dazed to notice such nuances.
“Yes, yes. I’m not hurt. But over there, Maylin’s shoe…”
“It’s just a leaf, Teacher. Look.”
“What? Cough!”
“It’s a leaf.”
He gently patted Ephna’s back as she continued to cough.
Following his soft voice, Ephna turned her head, creaking.
When she regained her senses, she saw that what she had thought was Maylin’s shoe was indeed just a leaf.
‘I, I should have been more alert, but I didn’t even check properly…’
She bit her lips, which had turned purple from the cold, unaware that Yohan Deisat’s gaze was on them.
As blood returned to her lips, her foggy mind began to clear. The first thing Ephna did when she regained her senses was to bow to Yohan.
“I’m truly, truly sorry. I should have been more careful, but I was negligent. I will take full responsibility for Maylin and ensure she returns home safely.”
“Yes, let’s search together.”
“The search party from the palace has also been dispatched… Huh?”
“Together.”
Today, she had asked him several times. The man answered her repeatedly without showing any signs of annoyance.
His silver hair, soaked and elongated like threads, was brushed back by Yohan as he smiled faintly.
In his sacred yet resolute demeanor, Ephna hesitated.
‘Asking the guardian, who must be worried sick, to help find the child… No, of course, he is the captain of the guard. He wouldn’t be able to just sit still while his sister is missing.’
However, seeing her hesitation, he seemed to think that his sister’s teacher would refuse.
Yohan carefully draped his dry, unsoiled cloak over Ephna’s wet body and continued speaking.
“I know this might be an impertinent thing to say, Teacher.”
“…?”
“Until just now, you were an adult left by the water. I’m anxious too. We need to find Maylin.”
An adult left by the water.
It wasn’t an incorrect statement. Moreover, aside from when he saved Ephna, he had remained calm throughout, but he surely wouldn’t be relaxed. His sister was missing.
There was no time to waste arguing here. That would be a waste too. Ephna nodded.
“Yes, Guardian. Then I’ll rely on you. First, the greenhouse…!”
It was at that moment.
A massive plant suddenly burst forth from a place with no visibility. No, it was an understatement to say it was massive.
A bizarre plant that reached all the way to the ceiling of the greenhouse.
“Teacher Ephna!”
It opened its mouth wide and bit down on Ephna’s arm, lifting her up abruptly.
