Ch#133
"Hello, long time no see! Did you have a good time?"
"Of course. I went to a villa in the east this time! The sea was so beautiful...."
The Genius Academy bustled with everyone's return.
All the students who had come back had multiple bags from home, and the coachmen and academy staff were busy unloading the luggage.
Evi and Irene were no different. The dormitory students entering saw them arrive with a separate luggage carriage and looked surprised.
"Irene must have bought them?"
"Probably. But Evi, doesn't she look a bit bigger?"
At someone's words, everyone around inwardly agreed.
Evi was a particularly standout child at the Genius Academy, even setting aside that she was a sponsored orphan.
Even at seven years old, she had looked at most five before.
Of course, she was still very small compared to the other children.
But now she looked like a small seven-year-old, not five.
And her expressions had become much brighter than before. She laughed louder and frowned more openly.
Her richer expressions made her seem more vibrant.
As the staff carried Evi and Irene's bags up, the dormitory students gasped at the sight of the boxes stamped with Madam Crevel's name.
"Madam Crevel's boxes!"
"Does that mean they're full of clothes from there?"
"That size—probably Seasonal Festival dresses."
At the mention of the Seasonal Festival, everyone's eyes sparkled.
The dormitory was noisy partly because everyone had just returned, but the second reason was the Autumn Seasonal Festival starting next week.
How many students could stay calm with an event right after the semester began? As proof, all they talked about upon returning was the Seasonal Festival.
It was the Genius Academy students' first official Imperial Palace event they could attend.
Naturally, they had all put their all into preparing fitting outfits. As a result, where someone had their clothes made became important information shared among them.
Of course, the top place in the capital was Madam Crevel's Shop. The problem was...
"I heard Madam Crevel makes only ten Seasonal Festival dresses a year."
"Yeah. The rest are by her apprentices, but even those are incredibly hard to reserve."
So who would wear clothes from there that year always became the biggest topic.
And now, two dress boxes were blatantly being carried by the staff up to Evi and Irene's room.
"Evi's so lucky... Did Irene buy that one too?"
"Who knows. Maybe His Majesty."
After her guardian was revealed as the Emperor, the Genius Academy had been in an uproar.
The most panicked were those who had mocked and looked down on Evi, indirectly participating in the bullying.
After Izriella was immediately expelled, when Dean Seraphina called surrounding students for interviews, they had trembled fearing they would be expelled too.
Conversely, those who had paid little attention tried to befriend Evi belatedly, hovering around.
But they had no choice but to back off when Irene glared.
When Irene wasn't there, Arsel would smile menacingly; when Arsel wasn't, Ruska would openly wave them away with a disgusted face.
Occasionally, the students would see Evi returning from the Imperial Palace.
They knew without asking that she had met the Emperor—her returning face was so bright.
"By the way, will His Majesty attend this Seasonal Festival?"
"He will. My dad's friend works in the palace interior department, and he said His Majesty's ceremonial robes were prepared long ago. Until last year, he sometimes skipped or ignored it, but this year His Majesty personally ordered the preparations."
At those words, everyone looked enviously at Irene and Evi heading upstairs.
A child His Majesty was especially attentive to.
The stars of the Seasonal Festival would clearly be the Emperor and Evi.
* * *
Evi and Irene opened the door and went inside.
The moment the familiar wooden scent hit them, the two realized they were back in the dormitory.
"Feels like it's been forever since we returned."
"Yeah."
It had only been a five-week vacation.
Honestly, those five weeks had flown by, but returning to the dormitory made the place feel so unfamiliar, as if they had been away much longer.
'Means it was that fun.'
Irene shrugged as she looked at Evi.
Even right up until falling asleep last night, Evi had been talking about the hot air balloon.
She had expected her to like it, but the more intense reaction than anticipated made her so proud.
'Worth all the preparation.'
Before the vacation started, Evi had said it was her first time visiting someone else's home or going out like this, and Irene had unwittingly choked up.
She had vowed to make it perfectly fun from the start.
"Don't wanna go back to the dormitory...."
When Evi, who loved the Genius Academy so much, sleepily mumbled while holding her hand and fell asleep, Irene inwardly cheered.
'My plan was perfect after all.'
Evi had such a satisfying vacation, so this summer had been enjoyable enough.
'Well, Ruska's meals were delicious too....'
The stir-fries he made on the hot plate every day for a week had been so tasty.
She wanted to visit every weekend and nag him to serve food quickly.
'And I need to watch Arsel a bit. He might steal Evi at this rate....'
At the start of vacation, she called him Arsel-nim, but after visiting his house, she naturally called him Arsel and grabbed his hand even more casually than before.
'Even Duchess Kailun was serious about taking Evi.'
Involving adults in their competition. She really thought it was unfair.
In the meantime, the staff had brought up all their bags.
"That's everything. Sorting will be tough."
The staff clicked their tongues seeing the many, heavy bags compared to the other children.
"Thank you for carrying them!"
Saying that, Evi shared the candies she had bought from her bag with the staff.
"Such cute candies? Thank you!"
Having received the sweet tips, they said they'd enjoy them and left, and the two began sorting in earnest.
"Not enough hangers...."
Evi pouted in front of the closet.
Before the vacation began, Evi's total clothes were three outfits.
The one the director bought for her arrival, a spare, and the academy uniform.
Aside from the uniform, her closet was practically empty compared to the other children.
But when Irene gave her the clothes she had worn before, the empty closet filled up in an instant.
In the end, Evi had to put some in the organizer she usually left empty due to having few possessions.
After sorting the clothes, they organized the other items.
Books from Arsel, snacks from Ruska, and so on.
After sorting everything, the room felt full of things.
All these were hers. It was her first time having so many possessions, leaving her simply dazed.
Finally, Evi took out the bag she had carried herself. It contained the magic stone and the wooden squirrel doll.
The things she packed first no matter where she went.
Even friends' houses were unfamiliar places to Evi.
She could have felt a bit uneasy, but wherever she was, Evi wasn't scared and fell into deep sleep.
'Thanks to these.'
No matter where she slept, seeing the magic stone's light reassured her. A warm, cozy feeling like being held in someone's arms.
Evi hugged the magic stone tightly. Feeling her touch, it immediately lit up.
Turning her head, the sky was already turning red.
A cool breeze blew, and from the distant forest came the wave-like sound of leaves rustling.
After gazing at the scene for a moment, Evi set the magic stone down and headed outside.
"Irene, I'll be out for a bit!"
"Evi? Where are you going!"
"I'll be right back!"
"Evi!"
Though Irene called, Evi hurried into the hallway and quickly went down the stairs.
Leaving the dormitory, Evi headed to the forest marking the boundary between the Genius Academy and the Imperial Palace.
The forest was even denser with summer growth.
The narrow paths once used by animals that Evi had frequented should have disappeared by now.
"Ah, there it is."
As if waiting, a small path connected beyond.
Evi crawled in without hesitation.
Had she really grown a lot? Branches snagged her clothes even more than before. But still, there were no thorny bushes, and no branch brushed her face.
After crawling through the bushes for a long time, beyond them was...
"Your Majesty!"
"Evi?"
The person she wanted to see was sitting there.
Evi immediately stood and ran to him, arms outstretched.
Clois, as if it were the most natural thing, opened his arms and lifted her into a hug.
"Me, rode hot air balloon with friends! Really flew super high in the sky...."
Hugging his neck, Evi immediately began boasting.
How big the balloon was, how strongly the wind blew, the view of the capital from the sky, and how cool the sunrise was.
A smile formed on his face at Evi's chattering boasts.
After a long time, her boasting finally ended, and Evi looked at him and asked,
"What did Your Majesty do? You went back because of busy work."
"That work's all sorted. More than that...."
He set Evi down on the bench and spoke in a serious voice.
"I had something to ask you, so I'm glad we met like this."
"Something to ask?"
"Yes. The thing is...."
Clois hesitated for a long time. Just then, a warm breeze softly brushed their hair.
In that moment, Clois finally said the words he had practiced dozens of times the night before, with difficulty.
"Evi, won't you become my daughter?"
