54 - Can I Cry Now?
Chapter 54
The long, resonant sound of a bell rang seven times, signaling 7 PM.
The thought of Irene's earnest request to have dinner together made cold sweat trickle down Ibi's back.
'She must be waiting!'
Ibi hurriedly headed back to the path through the bushes she had come from.
"Professor, I'm leaving! I promised Irene I'd have dinner with her!"
"Wait, that path..."
Clois stopped himself, about to suggest that she take the main road with him to avoid getting hurt again.
If he did that, she would see the guards stationed at the entrance.
If the guards greeted him, she would find it strange, and if she wondered who he was...
While he hesitated, Ibi was already halfway into the bushes.
Just when he thought she was gone, she turned around and waved at him.
"Then I'll visit your office next time. Let's meet there! Have a good dinner!"
Ibi waved goodbye several times before disappearing completely into the bushes.
Just like last time, Ibi vanished in an instant.
Clois watched the path where the child had disappeared before turning around.
Under the darkening sky, two tombstones stood.
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
Whenever he came here, he always tidied up around his wife and daughter's tombstones.
It was the most important thing for Clois.
But now, he had completely forgotten about it until Ibi was about to leave.
He quickly moved his hands under the darkening sky.
He felt sorry, but he didn't regret the time he had spent talking with Ibi.
After tidying up the area, he hurried back to his office and ordered the head butler.
"Summon Seraphina Dean of the Academy for the Gifted."
Ibi had said she would visit his office.
So he had to prepare quickly.
\ \ *
Several days passed.
Ibi now took Irene's hand and headed to the dining hall as if it were the most natural thing to do.
She no longer avoided people by going early or late.
The reason was...
"Ah, hello. Lady Irene!"
As they entered, a female student approached them as if she had been waiting, greeting them.
"I'm from the Lutibi Family..."
"I know. You're Mary Rutibi, right? I think we greeted each other once before."
"Yes! That's right, you remember!"
Mary was overjoyed, exchanged a few words with Irene, and then left.
Ibi watched the scene from the side, thinking.
'The students are greeting her again?'
When Irene first turned her back on the noble children, she had become completely isolated.
Whether she went to the dining hall or the classroom, the noble students pretended not to see Irene and turned their heads away.
As if she were invisible.
Ibi was very upset by this.
Irene had always been surrounded by many people.
But for everyone to turn their backs on her like this in an instant... How sad must that be?
'What if she regrets helping me?'
But contrary to Ibi's worries, Irene seemed very carefree.
After a few days of being ignored, the people who had been ignoring her began to change their attitude little by little.
It started in the dormitory hallway. When Ibi and Irene were walking together, a female student walked towards them.
Ibi thought she would ignore them again, but the student looked around, confirmed that no one else was around, bowed politely to them, wishing them a good day, and quickly disappeared.
Then, in class, more and more people started talking to them as if they were just greeting the person next to them.
As time passed, there were even people who approached them as if they had been waiting, like just now.
Irene didn't distance herself from these people, but she didn't exactly welcome them with open arms either.
Perhaps that was why the students who approached her greeted her appropriately and then retreated.
'Besides, these days, people are greeting me too.'
Ibi remembered when she had gone to a required class alone.
She deliberately sat in the corner of the front row so that others would be comfortable, and the next student who came in looked around and approached Ibi.
Then, she quickly said,
"I, I'm Mire Haniel. Nice to meet you!"
Then, she looked around and continued.
"I'm rooting for you! Other people might bully you a lot, but you have to persevere to the end!"
Then, she said, "Let's do our best as commoners," and quickly returned to her seat.
After that, she didn't talk to Ibi anymore after the other students came, but she smiled whenever their eyes met.
Meanwhile, Irene had gotten the meals for both of them.
Ibi took a seat in a sunny spot and received the plate from Irene.
Irene, who always sat next to Ibi, smiled contentedly and muttered.
"Good, just as planned."
"Huh? What do you mean, as planned?"
"The students are approaching us again. It's going as I thought it would."
Ibi's eyes widened at Irene's words.
"Really? You knew this would happen?"
For the past few days, Ibi had been worried that Irene would be lonely because she couldn't talk to anyone.
But unlike her worries, Irene was fine.
Besides, she chatted well with Arcel and Ruska, whom she met in math class.
And after class, she always came to the dining hall with the two of them to take care of Ibi.
She hadn't said a word to anyone else in the meantime, so why were people suddenly approaching her again?
"Of course."
Irene shrugged and said.
"It's thanks to Arcel and Ruska. I don't like it, but it was worth it to keep eating with them on purpose."
Then, she explained to Ibi step by step.
The reason she had suggested eating with the two of them from the beginning was to show people that she was getting along well with them.
"And the rumors about me probably had some influence too."
"What rumors?"
"Um, the rumor that I might marry one of them in the future?"
"Marriage?"
"Quiet!"
"Mmph!"
Irene looked around once and then whispered in a small voice.
"It's a boring story. One of them will become His Majesty the Emperor's adopted son, and I'll marry the Crown Prince to supplement his legitimacy with the financial power of the South... Well. You probably don't understand what I'm talking about, right?"
Irene sighed briefly as she looked at Ibi, whose eyes seemed to be spinning.
"Yes."
Ibi replied in a deflated voice.
"Being smart is different from understanding these kinds of things... Anyway, to put it simply, because the two of them are famous, people can't treat us, who are close to them and might become even closer, carelessly."
Ibi nodded at Irene's words.
'It's the same as not being able to treat the friend of a powerful person carelessly!'
That's why the Poorhouse children who went to regular schools were always next to the strongest friend.
So that the other children wouldn't bully them.
While Ibi was working hard to understand the current situation, Irene picked up a piece of fruit with a fork and put it in Ibi's mouth.
Then, she muttered.
"But I don't know why they helped me."
Irene knew a little about the two of them.
Arcel was cold. Ruska was friendly, but he, too, ruthlessly rejected those who approached him to take advantage of his family, just like Arcel.
Since the two of them had lived in such a world, they would never have been unaware that she was trying to use them to her advantage.
But they had helped her too easily, or rather, proactively.
'It's not exactly that they helped me. No, rather...'
Irene looked at Ibi, who was munching on the fruit she had given her.
'It's definitely that they helped Ibi.'
She understood Ruska to some extent.
The Ragselve Family was famous for its righteous nature, which didn't allow them to ignore such bullying.
'But why is Arsel Keilen still with us?'
He was friends with Ruska, but there was no reason for him to continue to be with them to this extent.
'I heard he's incredibly cold, calculating, and efficiency-oriented. What benefit does Arsel get from being with us, anyway?'
Irene pondered while feeding Ibi another piece of fruit.
She thought she should focus on fattening up this still-thin child for now.
"Ibi, what's the most delicious? Let's eat another plate!"
