47 - Can I Cry Now?
47
He recalled the Magic Stone Ibi had sent.
It was the Magic Stone that had caught his eye for a long time when he entered the Magic Stone warehouse with Seraphina.
After overhearing the ministers' conversation, Clois spent the whole day worrying about what gift to send.
While working, during tea time, while reading, even right before falling asleep.
At first, he was clearly just thinking of saving face.
After all, she was a child he had picked and sent here.
He couldn't take care of her meticulously, but he should at least provide the basics.
If he asked the Minister of the Interior, he would have taken care of it as he did when choosing a guardian.
'But...'
The image of the little child handing him the handkerchief kept flashing before his eyes.
He wouldn't have cared if he had never seen her face.
Knowing that the child knew him as Sian Roshen, he couldn't send a gift carelessly.
'Besides, I have to return the favor for the handkerchief.'
He felt like it would be wrong to just send the handkerchief back as it was.
Once he decided to give a gift, he kept worrying.
'Everyone else seems to give things like fountain pens.'
Since he had decided to give a gift, he wanted to give something as good as possible.
Getting good things wasn't the problem.
'I don't want to give her the same thing as everyone else.'
So he thought about giving her clothes or accessories.
But he didn't know much about them.
What size clothes did the child wear, how big were her feet? What colors did she like, what kind of accessories did she like?
He had never even seen or bought children's items in his life.
'It would be a shame if I sent something and she didn't like it.'
So wouldn't it be better to go shopping together and have her choose herself?
'But there's no way we can go together.'
He had no intention of meeting Ibi Elden again.
No, he had to.
He had blurted out that he was a professor.
He couldn't say, "I'm the Emperor, and you've trespassed into the Empress and Princess's tomb," right then and there.
Even if he did say that, there wouldn't be a problem... Clois didn't want the child to be surprised.
Anyway, the child had seen him. Maybe she had heard about the guardian's gift and was looking forward to it.
'At least, I hope it becomes a pleasant memory, as much as other children are happy.'
If she received the gift, wouldn't she think that the professor she met was a good person?
He thought that would be all he could ask for.
The problem was that he couldn't decide what to give as a gift.
Nothing he chose really pleased him.
'I want to send at least as much as the other ministers send, or even more.'
He wouldn't send anything at all, but since this was the first and last time he would send something, he wanted to send something that could be used for a long time and was valuable.
'What on earth is that?'
Clois racked his brains all day over the unsolvable problem.
Perhaps it was too obvious.
"Your Majesty, are you alright? I'm worried because you seem to be spacing out all day. If something is wrong, perhaps you should see a doctor..."
The State Affairs Minister spoke to him cautiously with a very worried expression.
And for good reason.
Clois was the type who never glossed over meetings related to state affairs, no matter how tired or lethargic he was.
But he was clearly not concentrating and seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
Not only that, but he would smile to himself, then suddenly frown and mutter, "I don't think this is it."
Many ministers' eyes widened at the sight.
Clois was always expressionless.
The only things he occasionally revealed were anger, contempt, and utter boredom.
But a smile on his face?
That's why the State Affairs Minister hurriedly asked about his health.
"No, it's nothing like that."
Only after hearing the State Affairs Minister's worried words did Clois realize.
That he had been thinking only about Ibi's gift all day.
He hadn't worried about such trivial matters since ascending the throne.
And he had never pondered over a single problem for so long.
It wasn't a normal situation.
Despite being aware of that fact, Clois didn't want to pass this task on to someone else.
He spent several days worrying about the gift, and he continued to worry even after returning to his bedroom.
Then, he turned off the lights to go to sleep. In the instantly darkened room, he recalled what Seraphina had reported a few days ago.
That day, Ibi was found in the room with the portraits in the museum.
It was already long past dusk. How much must the child have trembled alone in that dark and cold place until then?
'She must have been scared.'
He was worried that she might still be struggling because of that incident.
Then it would be hard every time she went to sleep... If there was something like a lamp to keep by her side...
At that moment, Clois jumped up from his seat and went outside.
The servant standing outside was surprised and followed him.
He strode straight to the Magic Stone storage.
The guards, surprised by the sudden appearance of the Emperor, saluted with stiff postures. Clois entered, accepting their greetings casually.
As soon as he entered, he found what he was looking for.
The Magic Stone that had no other power than emitting a faint light and warmth.
The next morning, he asked for it to be processed again.
So that the child wouldn't get hurt even a little when she touched it.
After ordering it to be packaged and sent, he couldn't hide his satisfied heart.
'This should be enough as a guardian's gift.'
He didn't know that it was not just enough, but enough to turn everyone upside down.
It was a precious item that could remind him of his short memories with Lilian, but he didn't regret sending it to someone else at all.
Lilian would have thought that it would be a better use to soothe the fears of a small child than to be quietly neglected in the storage.
\ \ \
The next day.
The atmosphere in the girls' dormitory was different from usual.
Every morning, students flocked in front of Irene's room to go to class with her.
But today, as if by a lie, no one was there.
Ibi looked at Irene, not knowing what to do.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, because no one's coming..."
"Obviously. Izriella must have been busy running around all day yesterday, telling them not to come to me first."
Irene shrugged as if it were obvious.
Ibi was honestly relieved by Irene's attitude.
'If she regretted that this happened because of me... I would have been sad.'
Irene seemed to know what Ibi was worried about and patted her on the shoulder.
"More than that, math is the first class today, right? I've changed to Professor Maless too, so let's go together. Of course, after eating together. Wow, I'm so hungry!"
Perhaps worried about Ibi, Irene deliberately raised her voice and held out her hand to Ibi.
Ibi took Irene's hand and smiled brightly.
"Yes, let's go!"
\ \ \
Professor Maless hurried to his classroom.
The classroom he had deliberately chosen to torment the students was located at least 10 minutes away from the main building at a brisk pace.
'Seraphina, you wicked thing! I thought you'd look into it for me!'
Seraphina said that there were no classrooms left and it would be difficult to get a new classroom.
"Can't the Dean even get that?"
"Shouldn't the Dean follow the rules?"
He yelled in anger, but there was no way to create a classroom that didn't exist.
Then she glanced at Maless and said.
"But... there are no classrooms, but there are head professor's offices left? There's only one left. If you apply, Master, you can get it..."
"Head professor? Once you take that position, you can't quit for several years, can you?"
"You said you're going to work longer anyway, right? Then why don't you just apply and get a good classroom?"
Seraphina's words weren't wrong.
'If I say I'll work until Ibi graduates...'
I'll have to work for several more years, so it wouldn't be bad to apply.
But being tied to the Academy for the Gifted in this way felt like falling for Seraphina's trick.
So he said he would think about it a little more and was on his way back.
As he entered the hallway, he could hear voices from inside the classroom.
'How commendable.'
Ibi must have arrived first.
Malles opened the door. At that moment, he heard the voice of another female student, not Ibi.
"I think the classroom is too far away after all. How about changing to another math class?"
