31 - Can I Cry Now?
31
The third day at the Academy for the Gifted dawned.
“Haaam.”
Ibi yawned softly and headed to the dining hall.
She would normally have woken up earlier, but she woke up later than usual, perhaps because of what happened yesterday.
‘Still, I’m glad the schedule starts leisurely today.’
As Ibi entered the dining hall, some of the students who recognized her whispered among themselves.
Ibi ignored them, took her breakfast, and sat down at a corner seat.
‘Today, we’re supposed to tour the Imperial Palace walls and other subsidiary institutions.’
Perhaps because she had slept so deeply, she didn’t feel reluctant to go far because of yesterday’s events.
She just thought it would be fun to visit many new places again today.
As Ibi was excitedly eating, looking forward to the day, she saw Limora entering the dining hall.
The moment she entered, their eyes met.
Limora hesitated at the entrance for a while, then, as if having made up her mind, she tightly closed her eyes, opened them, and approached Ibi.
“H-hello? Did you sleep well?”
“……”
Instead of answering, Ibi slightly bowed her head in greeting.
Limora’s face slightly contorted at that. It was a stark contrast to her friendly greeting yesterday.
Limora’s lips twitched as if she was searching for something to say, then she opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Um, about yesterday, I really……”
But before Limora could finish her sentence, her friends entered the dining hall.
“Oh? Limora?”
“What are you doing there?”
They were surprised to see Limora with Ibi and approached her with surprised eyes.
“What were you talking about with her?”
The one who was horrified by her friends’ question was Limora.
“No, it’s nothing! Let’s go eat! I’m so hungry!”
Limora hurriedly grabbed her friends’ hands and led them away.
Feeling Ibi’s gaze quietly watching her, Limora bit her lip.
‘Oh my god, what do I do?’
Yesterday, Seraphina Dean told her to go and apologize directly to Ibi once a day until Ibi said it was okay.
When she heard those words, she felt like the world was spinning and the ground was collapsing beneath her feet.
She hated the thought of just going and bowing her head, but she absolutely couldn’t let her friends find out.
If she did, everyone would know that she had deliberately locked Ibi up, and then people would definitely cast cold glances at her.
‘I can’t let that happen.’
It was a chilling sight just imagining it.
‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…….’
The life she had imagined at the Academy for the Gifted was not like this.
She was supposed to become the leader of the commoner students, befriend the nobles, and impress the Headmaster and professors to become the pride of her family.
She thought she had enough ability to do so.
But she hadn’t even been at the Academy for the Gifted for a week, and she had already received a perfect minus score from the Dean.
And now, she had to bow her head and beg for forgiveness from a kid she didn’t even want to see every day.
“Limora, what do you want to eat?”
She resented her other friends who asked in bright voices, unaware of her inner turmoil.
But she couldn’t get annoyed. If she did, even the remaining friendship she had would disappear.
“Um, I’ll just have juice…….”
Saying that, Limora slipped away and stood in front of the juice corner. Then, she turned her head and looked at Ibi sitting in the corner.
‘When should I go to her again?’
The students had to move busily today as well. Moreover, most of the schedule involved moving together.
By the time that schedule was over, it would be dinner time, so she had to go and apologize as soon as possible.
Besides, Seraphina Dean, whom she had run into in the morning, recognized Limora and said in a cold voice.
“I will ask Ibi Elden every day if you have apologized, so don’t think about glossing over it.”
She didn’t say anything more, but if she didn’t apologize properly, there would definitely be additional disciplinary action.
And then, unlike now, when she was getting away with it without demerits and without the other kids knowing, she would receive proper punishment.
Limora took her juice and sat at the table, but she couldn’t take a single sip.
She felt even more hopeless than yesterday.
Now, she didn’t know what to do at all.
\ \ *
Ibi watched Limora, whose face was even darker than when she came in, leave alone.
Limora looked very distressed.
Especially when her friends talked about Ibi, she seemed to break out in a cold sweat.
Seeing her unable to relax, fearing that her actions would be exposed, Ibi felt like she understood what the Headmaster meant by real punishment.
Now, Limora would have to watch her friends and Ibi’s reactions every moment.
‘I was going to say it was okay if she apologized today…….’
Ibi knew that Limora had done wrong. She hadn’t forgotten how hard it was for her.
But she was going to forgive her if she came and apologized without caring about what others thought.
But in the end, Limora just left, looking around at her surroundings.
‘I don’t really like Limora coming to me all the time either.’
Ibi pouted her lips, cleared her tray, and went outside.
As usual, when the appointed time came, everyone moved to the plaza after checking for those who were absent.
Just like yesterday, the male students were approaching from the opposite male dormitory.
Ibi looked for Arcel and Ruska among the people.
Since the gazes directed at her weren’t good, she couldn’t go and greet them first, but she was thinking of somehow making eye contact.
“Oh! Ibi!”
But before Ibi could find the two of them, a bright voice was heard.
“Over here!”
Looking towards the source of the sound, Ruska was waving his hand and running over.
And behind him was Arcel, closing his eyes as if he had a headache.
“Did you sleep well? Are you tired or in pain anywhere?”
“I’m okay. Thank you so much for yesterday.”
She was wondering how to greet them, but they came and asked her first.
As the two approached and greeted Ibi, the surrounding students looked on with puzzled expressions.
She was a kid with a bad reputation because of yesterday’s incident, so why were those two taking care of her like that?
Meanwhile, the Academy for the Gifted staff, who had briefly discussed today’s schedule, checked the number of students.
It seemed that they were trying to check more thoroughly from today because they had lost Ibi yesterday.
Because of that, Ruska and Arcel had to return to the male students’ side.
As Ibi, who was alone again, was about to line up, someone approached her side.
“……?”
Thinking that Limora was finally going to apologize, she turned her head, but Irene Terrence was already standing next to Ibi.
“……!”
Ibi looked at her in surprise. The female students around her were just as surprised as Ibi was.
“Lady Irene? Why are you going that way…….”
The female students next to Irene looked at her with eyes that couldn’t understand at all.
Then, Irene replied indifferently.
“I’m a little worried about losing her yesterday. It would be troublesome as a roommate if something like that happened again today.”
Then, she gestured to the female students.
“So, I’m going to be with Ibi today. I hope everyone will understand.”
When Irene said it so firmly, the female students couldn’t say anything back and had no choice but to step back.
“I thought you were going to be with us today.”
“I guess the staff gave Lady Irene a hint? I heard that the Headmaster came to look for her yesterday, so Lady Irene couldn’t just ignore it.”
“Oh dear, what a hardship for Lady Irene…….”
In the end, the conversation flowed back to blaming Ibi again, but since Irene was standing next to her, they couldn’t openly glare at her.
A little later, Arcel and Ruska, who had finished checking the headcount, came back to Ibi’s side.
The two saw Irene next to Ibi and simply bowed their heads in greeting.
Irene also nodded her head in return without saying anything in particular and stood closer to Ibi.
Then, Ruska also slowly stood next to Ibi. Arcel sighed and stood behind the three of them.
‘Why…… did it turn out like this?’
Yesterday, she was walking alone.
Today, she was suddenly surrounded by the three most famous students in the Academy for the Gifted, walking as if she was being escorted.
As the staff’s guidance began and they moved their feet, Ibi looked at the three people surrounding her as if she couldn’t believe it.
It wasn’t exactly that they were taking care of her, but rather that they were trying to prevent problems from happening…….
Ibi pressed down on the corners of her mouth, which were rising without her knowing, and moved her feet.
It wasn’t exactly for her sake, but rather to prevent the same thing from happening as yesterday, but she felt much better than walking alone.
