51 - Can I Cry Now?
Episode 51
Ibi thought of the Magic Stone she had received from Professor Sian.
Last night, she had fallen asleep peacefully, unafraid in its light.
The Magic Stone emitted a soft glow and warmth beside Ibi's bed until morning.
It wasn't just that it helped her sleep comfortably.
Sometimes when she woke up in the night to go to the bathroom, the light was just enough to see her way around.
It was a fascinating stone the more she looked at it.
It glowed when touched, and the light disappeared when touched again. So, she turned off the light when she went to class.
Irene had told her that it wouldn't affect the Magic Stone's magic even if it shone all day, but she was still worried that the magic might disappear.
'Come to think of it, I need to finish the letter to Professor Sian.'
She couldn't just be happy about receiving such a precious gift.
'Headmaster told me to always say thank you when I receive a gift.'
So, she thought she should go see Professor Sian.
But no matter how much she searched through the Academy for the Gifted's guidebook, she couldn't find Professor Sian's office, or even his name.
It was as if he didn't exist.
'That can't be.'
The person she met in front of the graveyard in the forest had clearly said he was Sian Roshen.
Besides, his name was listed as her guardian, and he had even sent her a gift. Along with the handkerchief she had forgotten.
All of that couldn't have been a dream.
'And when I asked the faculty office, they just said they didn't know.'
"Hmm... He is a registered professor, but his office and address aren't confirmed. It's probably because he hasn't been in the capital for very long, so his address isn't clear. I'll let you know as soon as it's confirmed."
Ibi, wondering what to do, decided to write a letter.
She planned to send it as soon as she received his address.
Returning to her room, Ibi took out the paper she had put in her drawer.
It was the wrapping paper that had been used to wrap Irene's gift box.
"You want this? I don't mind giving it to you... but what are you going to use it for?"
Irene looked at her as if wondering what she was going to do with the wrapping paper.
The paper had a beautiful background color and was printed with various kinds of flowers and trees.
Ibi pressed it under a thick book to flatten out the crumpled parts, and then cut it into notebook-sized pieces the next day.
'It's perfect for writing letters on.'
The Academy for the Gifted also provided stationery, but she wanted to write her letters on prettier paper.
Ibi took out the paper and sat at her desk.
"Hmm..."
She saw the letter she had started writing yesterday.
After looking at it for a long time, Ibi put the paper she had been writing on back on the desk and took out a new piece of paper.
But the hand holding the pen wouldn't move.
It was strange. The letter she was writing to Headmaster flowed easily, as if she were talking.
That's why she had written as many as three pages yesterday.
She tried to write a letter to Professor Sian again, but she couldn't get it to work.
Just in case, Ibi took out the stationery she had been using to write to Headmaster yesterday and tried to continue writing on it.
She had plenty of stories to tell today as well.
The story that not only she but also Irene, Arcel, and Ruska were taking Professor Maless's class together.
The story that she had eaten with them and tried foods she had never seen before, and that Arcel and Ruska ate a lot more than they looked like they would.
The white paper was quickly filled with writing.
She could write so well in a letter to Headmaster, so why was it so difficult to write a letter to Professor Sian?
Time passed as Ibi struggled with the paper.
Eventually, she put down her pen and went to the bed, sitting on the edge and looking at the Magic Stone.
When she reached out and touched it, it lit up as if it had been waiting.
Ibi picked up the Magic Stone, held it in her arms, and lay down on the bed.
It had only been a few days since she had received it, but it felt as familiar as if she had always had it.
She was worried that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without it now.
As Ibi fumbled with the Magic Stone, she felt a burning sensation on the back of her hand and sat up.
"……!"
A strange stain had reappeared on the back of her hand.
Startled, she hurriedly covered the back of her hand with her sleeve and looked around.
Even though she knew it was her room, she checked several times to make sure she was alone before carefully examining the back of her hand again.
Sure enough, she hadn't been mistaken.
The stain on the back of her hand was so dark that anyone who saw it would immediately say something was on it.
'Why is this happening? I'm sure it was so faint the last time I saw it that it looked like it would disappear soon.'
Ibi rubbed the back of her hand with her clothes. But that didn't make it disappear.
"What should I do……."
She had forgotten about having this for a while, so why did it suddenly reappear?
When she lived in the inn, there was a person who had spots on their body due to an illness.
At that time, the innkeeper spat on that person, saying it was disgusting and dirty.
If the people at the Academy for the Gifted knew she had something like this, would they curse at her like that person? Would they spit on her?
'I don't want that.'
She thought of Irene, Arcel, and Ruska, whom she had eaten lunch with.
They had been so kind and friendly to her, but if they knew she had something strange like this...
Ibi looked at the mark on the back of her hand as if resenting it, and wondered how she could erase it.
'It appeared when I was sick or going to a scary place.'
Why did it appear now when that wasn't the case?
Ibi, who had been frowning and worrying for a long time, hugged the Magic Stone, curled up, and lay down on the bed.
'Please…….'
Hoping that it wouldn't appear when she was with other people.
When Ibi's eyes closed, the pattern on the back of her hand flashed briefly, and began to take on an exact shape, rather than a simple stain.
It had been trying to find its shape on Ibi's hand for a long time, but today it seemed to have run out of energy and began to fade away.
\ \ \
"Umm..."
Ibi raised her body, which had been lying face down.
She must have fallen asleep at some point.
She raised her head and looked out the window, and the sky had already begun to turn red.
As she was thinking about why she was sleeping in her room, she remembered that the mark on the back of her hand had appeared.
"Huh?"
She hurriedly looked at it, but the back of her hand was clean as if nothing had ever been there.
"That's a relief..."
Ibi breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that it had disappeared, although she didn't know why.
Maybe she had been dreaming.
She got out of bed and looked at the clock, and it seemed that Irene would be back in about an hour.
She was thinking about doing some preparation for her other classes or reading a book when the wind came in through the open window.
At that moment, Ibi remembered the day she met Professor Sian.
'It was this time then, too...'
The moment she thought that far, Ibi jumped up from her seat.
Ibi left the dormitory and ran towards the place where she had met him.
The cool breeze brushed against Ibi's disheveled hair. The hair fluttering in the wind tickled her cheeks.
Somehow, the wind seemed to be pushing her back.
As if telling her to go quickly.
After entering the deserted promenade, she looked for the small path she had seen.
'It was around here...'
Soon, Ibi easily found the path in the bushes that looked like a small tunnel.
Ibi slipped inside, and after a while, the bushes swayed in the wind, and the path that had been there just a moment ago disappeared.
As if to say that no one else could pass through now.
\ \ \
Clois was moving his hands busily.
Amidst the sound of the pen moving across the paper, the State Affairs Minister, who was preparing the next document next to him, coughed briefly.
At that sound, Clois finally raised his head and looked at the State Affairs Minister.
"Why don't you take a break?"
"I'm fine. It was just a tickle."
"Don't do that and sit down for a while. Even if I am the emperor, I don't feel comfortable with someone as old as you standing next to me every day and urging me on."
When Clois repeatedly urged him to sit down, the State Affairs Minister finally bowed his head once, put the documents down on a nearby table, and sat down.
Then he said to Clois.
"All sorts of things happen."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm usually the one who recommends that Your Majesty take a rest, but today it's the opposite."
"Was it?"
"Yes. But you rarely rested."
"Goodness. When you say that, it sounds like I'm a tyrant who ignores your advice."
A smile appeared on the State Affairs Minister's face at Clois's reply.
These days, Clois seemed very comfortable.
'Just a few weeks ago, he looked really precarious.'
