11 - Can I Cry Now?
Chapter 11
The entrance, which had been empty when I went out, was now filled with people.
Ibi was momentarily flustered, wondering if she had come to the wrong room, and checked the room number.
But it was definitely her room, number 305.
‘Then who are all these people?’
If her roommate had arrived, she would have thought nothing of it, but no matter how she looked, there were at least twenty female students standing in the room.
“It seems Irene’s roommate has arrived.”
“But she looks quite young, doesn’t she?”
Most of the children standing there were around ten years old.
As Ibi was wondering how to greet the children who were bigger than her, someone chuckled and said,
“I’ve never seen your face before, where are you from?”
The child, who had been looking Ibi up and down, asked with a puzzled expression.
“I’m Ibi Elden. I came from Elam City, and…”
“Ah, I’ve heard of you. You’re the Poorhouse kid who came this time, right?”
Before Ibi could finish speaking, someone exclaimed in surprise.
The other students around her began to chime in.
“Oh my god, did the Academy for the Gifted really accept a commoner?”
“I heard she was chosen because of her excellent grades, but still, how did they get her into the Academy for the Gifted?”
“She’s already wearing the uniform, probably because she doesn’t have any other clothes. And she looks a mess.”
At the words ‘looks a mess,’ Ibi hurriedly checked her appearance.
Her clothes were a bit wrinkled from going into the forest, but it wasn’t anything too serious.
But the gazes directed at Ibi now were as if she had been rolling around in the dirt.
Ibi looked at the clothes of the students who were looking at her.
None of the people standing there were wearing the Academy for the Gifted uniform yet.
Instead, they were all wearing fancy clothes.
Even though they were children’s clothes, some were so heavily decorated that they were not inferior to the clothes of any noble.
She could tell just from their clothes and attitude.
That all the children in this room were from wealthy noble families.
At that moment, someone walked out from the inside of the group of girls.
‘Wow…’
Ibi barely managed to swallow the exclamation that almost escaped her lips.
The person who walked out of the group was a student who looked to be about thirteen years old.
Naturally, she was much taller than Ibi and had a very mature atmosphere compared to the other children, making her stand out.
Long, curly silver hair that reached her waist. Clear and transparent, deep purple eyes.
She was the most beautiful person Ibi had ever seen in her life.
The corners of her eyes were raised, giving her a slightly sharp impression, but even that was attractive, along with her delicate features.
At that moment, one of the students said to her.
“Irene, I think there’s been a mistake. There’s no way this child is your roommate…”
At those words, the girl called Irene frowned.
Then the other children began to chime in.
“What on earth does the Academy for the Gifted think of Irene? Izriella said she’s sharing a room with Lensi!”
“That’s right. So we thought that at least Irene’s roommate would be from a family of at least a baronet, but a commoner!”
As the murmuring of the surrounding children grew louder, Irene’s eyes became sharper.
“Stop.”
At Irene’s words, everyone fell silent.
In the middle of the now quiet entrance, Irene walked towards Ibi.
Click, clack.
Ibi watched as luxurious shoes with beautiful decorations, which she had never seen before, stopped just one step away.
Gulp.
Ibi swallowed hard in nervousness and met Irene’s eyes as she looked down at her.
Meanwhile, the other female students standing next to her whispered.
“What an insult to the heiress of the family known as the King of the South. Is the dormitory really assigned randomly?”
“Surely not. It’s only natural for the Academy for the Gifted to assign roommates who are of equal status.”
“Then what happened? Surely the Academy for the Gifted doesn’t think that this commoner child is suitable for Irene?”
“Still, I heard that this child came in second in the Academy for the Gifted this year, after Arcel.”
“She’s still a child from the Poorhouse. This is an insult to Irene!”
Ibi shrank back at the voices of the female students who were talking about her.
The gazes that were watching her with whispers were fierce.
After looking around for a moment, Ibi turned her gaze back to Irene.
Even then, Irene was quietly looking her up and down.
‘As I thought… she must feel bad, right?’
She remembered when she was attending upper school in Elam.
Except for a very small number, everyone there was a commoner. Even so, when Ibi came to class, everyone wore a sullen expression.
Just because she didn’t have parents and was a little poorer, they had already classified Ibi as a lower class who couldn’t dare to be with them.
If they were like that, there was no way that the daughters of the empire’s leading noble families would welcome her.
‘She might ask to change roommates.’
There was a rule that roommates could be changed after discussion with the Academy for the Gifted professors, but only in cases where there was a significant problem.
As Ibi and Irene quietly looked at each other, the students’ murmuring grew louder.
“Still, the Terrence family is quite something. It’s no exaggeration to say that half the money in the South belongs to that family.”
“Come to think of it, I heard that Irene is on very bad terms with her half-sister. There’s a lot of friction over the successor position… Could it be that her sister had a hand in this?”
Amidst the murmuring, Irene finally trembled and opened her mouth with difficulty.
“…Shabby.”
“Pardon?”
“Hair, skin, body. Everything is a mess. Does the Poorhouse you were in starve the children?”
Was it a Southern accent? Her sharp voice had a unique accent that Ibi had never heard before.
Ibi jumped in surprise.
“No! Our Headmaster would never do such a thing!”
The people next to her covered their mouths in surprise at the loud voice.
“Oh my, who is this child shouting at?”
“Oh my god, I thought that since she came to the Academy for the Gifted, she would at least have basic manners. How dare she act so rudely.”
Ibi closed her mouth at the harsh words.
She belatedly realized that she had made a mistake, but it was already too late.
‘But I can’t stand anyone saying bad things about Headmaster.’
The Headmaster was a person who genuinely cared for the children.
Far from embezzling the subsidies like the headmasters of other places, she even liquidated all of her original assets to feed the children.
If there was a sick child who other places refused to take, she would go to great lengths to carry them back and treat them.
When the surrounding neighbors brought food, she would put it all in the children’s mouths without even thinking about her own share.
She had taken all her money and brought her, who was worth less than a penny, to the Poorhouse and saved her life.
She couldn’t bear to hear anyone slander such a Headmaster.
Perhaps surprised by Ibi’s loud voice, Irene looked flustered.
But soon, she returned to her initial expressionless face and said in a calm voice.
“I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I just…”
At that moment, one of the female students standing next to her interrupted their conversation.
“Irene! Why are you apologizing to someone like this?”
“That’s right! What are you doing? Apologize for your rudeness!”
Irene was standing still, but the students next to her were making even more of a fuss.
As the room became noisy, Irene raised her hand. With just that, the room became quiet in an instant.
“Stop. It seems difficult to continue talking here, so I would like to go out for a while.”
“Of course!”
“Irene, did you know? There are a total of five cafeterias in the Academy for the Gifted…”
At Irene’s words, the students changed their expressions as if they had never been badgering Ibi and started talking about other things.
Irene led the other students out of the room.
Just before leaving, at the moment when her eyes met Ibi’s, Irene slightly bowed her head.
“……?”
While Ibi was flustered, the other students hurriedly followed Irene out.
Before leaving, Irene’s image lingered in her mind. It was definitely an apology, a greeting filled with regret.
