29 - Can I Cry Now?
Chapter 29
The roommate, who had been watching to see what was happening, went back into their room.
“Yes, thank you.”
Limora also breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and followed the staff member.
‘I was worried for nothing.’
Perhaps because she was concerned about Ibi Elden's situation, she wondered if she had been found out.
Then, she suddenly wondered what she had lost.
“By the way, what is the item?”
“Well, I’m not sure about that.”
Strangely, the staff member’s tone was colder than before.
‘What, why is she acting like this?’
She seemed quite kind in the room, but it was a mystery why her attitude had changed.
‘I knew it, the staff are discriminating too.’
Inside the Academy for the Gifted, everyone is supposed to be equal regardless of noble or commoner status, but that can’t be true.
Even the students were all cautious and subservient in front of the great nobles.
‘Just you wait and see.’
Limora glared at the staff member’s back as she followed.
She thought they were going to the staff room in the lobby, but the staff member led Limora to a place further inside.
“Ask the people inside.”
The staff member said that and then turned around and left.
‘What on earth is it?’
Limora knocked on the door. When she heard a voice from inside telling her to come in, she opened the door and went inside.
At that moment.
“……!”
Suddenly, as if someone had pushed her from behind, Limora’s body was shoved inside.
Bang!
Then the door immediately closed and the lights went out.
“What!”
Limora, startled, got up and tried to open the door, but it was so dark that it took her a long time to find the handle.
Moreover, even though she had opened the door easily before, it wouldn’t open no matter how hard she tried.
“Why, why is this happening! Hello! Is anyone out there?”
Limora, startled, knocked on the door.
She shook it with so much force that it rattled, but no voice came from outside.
That made Limora even more anxious. At this rate, she was trapped in the darkness.
Bang! Bang!
In the darkness, she pounded on the door with all her might. Her hand hurt from hitting the thick door, but this was no time to worry about that.
Cold sweat ran down her face from the fear of being trapped alone in the dark.
Eventually, she couldn’t bear it any longer and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Help me!”
Suddenly, as if by magic, the darkness disappeared and the surroundings became bright.
Startled by the sudden change in her surroundings, Limora turned around.
When she came in, she clearly didn’t see anyone in the room, but when she turned around, Ibi was there.
The moment Limora saw Ibi, her eyes widened.
“You! You did this!”
Limora strode over and grabbed Ibi.
“You, are you taking revenge on me for locking you up just now? How ridiculous!”
She had been trembling in fear, begging for her life because of this child, and now she was blinded by anger.
Even though Limora shouted, Ibi wasn’t surprised and quietly looked at her.
“Answer me! Is this……!”
When Ibi didn’t answer, Limora reached out her hand.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
At that moment, Seraphina appeared from the side and grabbed Limora’s wrist.
“I was listening just in case, but… I can’t believe a student would deliberately lock up another student.”
Seraphina shook her head with a sigh, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Limora blankly stared at the stranger before finally coming to her senses.
‘Oh no!’
She finally realized what mistake she had made.
‘I said it myself.’
In a moment of anger, she had blurted out what she had done.
She gnashed her teeth at her own stupidity.
Her mind went blank and her hands trembled. Limora bit her lip and desperately tried to think.
‘I just need to silence this person.’
No one would believe Ibi’s words no matter who said them. Besides, there were no witnesses.
So, if this staff member just turned a blind eye…….
Then Seraphina sighed and said.
“You must be thinking that if you just silence me, you can get away with it. My name is Seraphina Lidom. I am the head of this Academy for the Gifted.”
“……!”
Limora’s mouth dropped open at Seraphina’s introduction.
Limora’s family had produced many scholars.
Therefore, they had many connections with graduates of the Academy for the Gifted, as well as famous figures from the Academy.
Seraphina Lidom was someone Limora’s family had been very eager to connect with.
Seraphina Lidom was a genius who appeared once in a century, if that.
Her grades and papers during her time at the Academy for the Gifted and the Academy were beyond compare, and as one of the few magicians, she was a loyal confidante of the current emperor.
But because she loved to travel so much, she rarely came to the capital and didn’t have many close friends.
The person in front of her was that Seraphina.
Limora’s face turned ashen as she realized that this was someone she couldn’t handle.
Then her gaze reached Ibi, who was still standing there looking at her.
Now there was only one way left.
Limora gritted her teeth and went in front of Ibi and said.
“I, I’m sorry. It was my fault.”
She was an orphan, and no matter how smart she was, she was only seven years old.
She remembered the image of the young child who was happy just because she spoke to her.
‘So if I bow my head and apologize first, she’ll accept it.’
She was a foolish child who never showed a hint of displeasure, even when she received harsh gazes from other students all day long, and was pushed out without being able to fit in anywhere.
‘So she will definitely forgive me.’
Now that things had come to this, she had to do it properly, get a definite forgiveness, and make sure she never said anything again.
And she had to let Seraphina, the head of the Academy for the Gifted, know that what she had done was a ‘mistake’.
Without much effort, tears welled up in Limora’s eyes out of resentment.
“I was just trying to play a little prank…… I didn’t know things would get this big.”
Her shoulders shook and tears streamed down her face, making her look pitiful to anyone who saw her.
“I should have said something…… I was too scared…….”
Limora wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Then she bowed deeply to Ibi.
“I’m really sorry! It was really my fault. I will never do this again. So please forgive me!”
Limora was now about to sink to the ground and kneel.
‘This should be enough, right?’
To anyone who saw it, her apology was excessive.
To the point where other students would say, ‘Does she have to go that far?’
‘And if she forgives me, the head of the Academy for the Gifted won’t be able to say anything.’
That’s what Limora was thinking when.
“I don’t want to.”
“Wh, what?”
Limora was surprised and looked up at Ibi’s answer, which was completely different from what she had expected.
She was so surprised that even her tears seemed to disappear.
Ibi didn’t look angry, nor did she look like she was gloating over Limora’s situation, but rather had a somewhat sad expression.
“It was a cold and dark place. If it wasn’t me but another student who was trapped, they would have been very scared. And they would have cried a lot.”
“Th, that’s true, but…… still, you didn’t even cry…….”
At Limora’s words, Seraphina looked at Ibi’s face.
‘Come to think of it, she didn’t cry at all.’
She was trapped there alone, pounding until her hands were swollen, begging to be saved. But no one came, and she spent the night there, shivering in the cold.
A normal seven-year-old would have already fainted from crying by then.
Even if that wasn’t the case, she should have been relieved and relaxed when she saw the person who came to save her, and she should have cried.
But there were no traces of tears on Ibi’s face.
For a moment, Seraphina sighed.
She had seen children like this during the war.
Children who, after witnessing such terrible tragedies, no longer cried unless they experienced even greater fear or sorrow.
‘I heard she’s only seven years old.’
She had spent a life where being alone in the dark for a long time was no problem at all.
A feeling of pity washed over her.
“I was scared too. If it hadn’t been for the portrait there, I might have just curled up and not moved.”
Ibi thought of the portrait that had been looking at her.
A portrait that, unlike other paintings, wasn’t scary at all.
A portrait that somehow made her want to keep talking to it and give it the good things she had.
“And if you knew you were wrong, you should have said so right away. I know you were scared of getting in trouble, but the person who was trapped must have been even more scared.”
Ibi lowered her body and met Limora’s eyes.
“You knew, but you didn’t say anything. The headmistress said so. Then that’s not a mistake. So I won’t forgive you.”
Limora couldn’t say anything to the firm answer.
The same was true for Seraphina, who was watching.
Honestly, when she bowed her head and asked for forgiveness, she thought Ibi would easily forgive her.
But unlike her gentle appearance, she was now showing an amazingly clear-cut attitude.
Clap!
Seraphina clapped her hands briefly. It was time for her to settle this matter.
“Since Ibi, the victim, won’t forgive you, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Th, then…….”
Limora trembled and looked at her.
“Don’t look at me like that. Why? Are you worried that I’ll expel you?”
“……!”
Limora flinched at the words she had been most worried about.
“Expulsion from the Academy for the Gifted isn’t decided so easily. To do that, we would have to hold a meeting of at least five professors…… and above all, you didn’t inflict any physical harm, so the punishment is ambiguous. There aren’t any specific rules in the Academy for the Gifted’s regulations regarding mental issues yet.”
Then Seraphina looked at Ibi’s hand.
It was swollen, but it was at a level that was difficult to call an injury.
“But that doesn’t mean there can’t be any punishment at all. So I’ll give you a light disciplinary action without any demerit points.”
At those words, Limora’s face brightened. A disciplinary action without any demerit points wasn’t a big deal.
‘I see, Seraphina Lidom is ultimately not very interested in commoner kids fighting.’
Just when Limora thought she had survived, Seraphina said.
“Starting tomorrow, you will sincerely apologize to Ibi Elden at least once a day until you are forgiven.”
Instantly, Limora’s face turned white.
