57 - Can I Cry Now?
57
The dormitory was noisy with children going out from Friday evening.
“Mom and Dad will be waiting in front of the Imperial Palace!”
“I’m going to a famous restaurant with my whole family today.”
The children whose classes ended early hurriedly changed their clothes and headed for the Imperial Palace entrance.
Tired of wearing only school uniforms, the children dressed up splendidly and headed outside.
“Emilie!”
“Keith!”
As the children came out, the parents who had been anxiously waiting outside called their names and ran to them.
They were all proud children to them.
They were proud enough just to have entered the Academy for the Gifted, and unlike the children who couldn’t endure it and quit, they were still doing well.
Some children clung to them, saying they missed them, and some burst into tears.
The older students were embarrassed as to why they had come to pick them up, but they couldn’t hide their joy.
As Friday evening passed in a commotion, the Academy for the Gifted became truly quiet on Saturday morning.
‘It’s really quiet.’
Ibi opened the window and looked outside.
Normally, it would be full of the sounds of people coming and going and the voices of children, but now there was only the sound of birds chirping.
It was Ibi’s first time seeing the Academy for the Gifted so quiet, so it felt awkward somehow.
Ibi, who had changed into her school uniform again today, hurried down the dormitory stairs.
It was natural that there were no students, and the number of staff was much smaller than usual.
In fact, it was everyone’s first vacation since the Academy for the Gifted reopened.
Everyone had been living only inside the Academy for the Gifted for more than a month, so they felt suffocated.
In addition, children whose homes were far away or who didn’t have other places to stay in the capital didn’t come out of their rooms.
They were a little ashamed of the fact that they had nowhere to go when everyone was going out to play.
Ibi enjoyed the silence and sat on the sofa in the common lobby.
‘It’s nice and quiet.’
It’s not that she dislikes the hustle and bustle. She feels a little lonely not hearing Irene’s voice right now.
‘Irene was very sorry.’
Irene left the Academy for the Gifted last night.
“I really want to go out with you, but it just so happens that all the collateral relatives have gathered at the Townhouse in the capital. Besides, even other people I don’t really like have come… There’s no point in taking you to a house full of those people, so I’m going alone. Really! It’s not because I don’t like you that I’m leaving you behind!”
Irene, who was leaving, was tearful, while Ibi was the one left behind.
Then she suddenly made a determined expression.
“I’ll clean them all up so we can go together next time.”
What on earth was she going to clean up?
Ibi didn’t know whether to cheer her on or not.
Then, before leaving, Irene boasted about the Terrins family’s Townhouse.
“There’s a big fountain, and the garden is very large. It’s a Townhouse, but it also has a small forest.”
Then she explained everything from the history of the Townhouse to the appearance of each room.
“Let’s definitely go to my house together next time. Promise.”
Saying that, Irene hooked her little finger. Ibi nodded frantically.
As if she understood all of Irene’s feelings.
There were no classes and Irene wasn’t there, so there wasn’t much to do.
Ibi, who had been sitting on the sofa for a long time, returned to her room and took out the math book Professor Maless had given her.
‘Arcel knew all of this.’
First and second place. So Ibi thought that Arcel and she might know about the same amount.
But there was a huge difference between the two.
‘I want to know more too.’
When Ibi was having difficulty because there was something she didn’t know, Arcel quietly told her how to solve it.
‘He explained it very easily and well.’
Professor Maless also taught her kindly, but Arcel’s explanation was easier to understand.
‘Professor sometimes uses difficult words….’
Besides, Professor Maless had to teach Irene and Ruska as well as Ibi, so he was busy.
“Ruska, you rascal! Is that what you call writing! You have to write the solution properly!”
“Ugh, my ears! My ears!”
When the two of them were bickering like that, Arcel would sigh and become even kinder.
“Sorry for bringing an idiot.”
He muttered.
Ibi smiled, recalling that time, and picked up a pen.
“Ugh….”
How many hours had passed? Ibi stretched and closed the book.
She liked studying, but it was still boring to just sit there.
So this time, she opened another book. It was a book that Irene had lent her, depicting the scenery of the capital.
“It’s really… big.”
Ibi admired the scenery of the capital depicted in the book.
The Academy for the Gifted, where she lived, was so large that she could barely walk around it in a day.
But the Academy for the Gifted was only a part of the Imperial Palace.
She learned that while touring the Imperial Palace. How vast this place was.
The Imperial Palace was definitely several times larger than Elam City, where she used to live.
But even this vast Imperial Palace was only a part of the capital.
‘It might take a week, or even a month, to travel around the entire capital.’
Ibi continued to turn the pages of the book.
The book also introduced the famous places of the capital with pictures.
The central avenue, full of shops all the way to the end of the street, the fountain of the founding heroes in the middle of it, the river flowing south of the capital and the many bridges over the river, and the huge parks.
Ibi couldn’t take her eyes off the book for a long time because of the more vivid pictures and detailed explanations than the books she had seen in the upper school library.
But after reading all of that book, she had nothing to do again.
‘Is there anywhere to go?’
She couldn’t go outside, so she wondered if she should walk around inside the Academy for the Gifted, and thought about where she hadn’t been yet.
Then she jumped up.
“That’s right, Professor Sian!”
Ibi, who had quickly gotten up, took out the note she had received from the Office of Academic Affairs from her drawer.
“Building 21, Room 408….”
Ibi took out the Academy for the Gifted map, checked the location of the building, and left the room with a small bag.
\ \ \
The building was located in a quiet place. It was a place where people didn’t go often, just like the classroom Professor Malles had first chosen.
But it was a building with a more elegant and calm atmosphere than that place.
Most of the doors were open because it was a holiday, but there were no staff guarding the front.
So Ibi hesitated for a moment and then went up the stairs.
“Room 408… here it is.”
Ibi, who found the nameplate attached, took a deep breath in front of the door and then raised her small hand and knocked.
Knock knock.
It was only natural.
There was no answer from inside.
Ibi, who had been thinking about it for a long time again, knocked a few more times and then carefully opened the door.
“Excuse me.”
Ibi’s face brightened as she glanced inside.
She wondered if she had come to the wrong place. She wondered if it was an empty professor’s office, but….
“It must be Professor’s room.”
There was a nameplate on the desk that read ‘Sian Roshen’.
The room was neatly organized. The bookshelf was full of books, and stationery was neatly placed on the dark, antique desk.
They say the room resembles its owner.
This professor’s office really resembled the atmosphere of Professor Sian that she had seen.
Ibi stood in front of the bookshelf.
‘Come to think of it, what does Professor teach?’
Ibi looked at the books on the bookshelf.
And soon she knew what Professor Sian’s major was.
“Foreign language.”
The bookshelf was full of books in various languages.
In addition to the imperial language, which is the common language of the continent, there were regional languages in the east, west, south, and north.
They were named Reshid, Tiril, Arcis, and Rombard after the names of the kingdoms there.
“Professor must be able to do all of this.”
Ibi’s eyes quickly scanned the book titles.
<Intermediate Reshid>
<Tiril Dictionary>
<Advanced Arcis Trade Language>
<Ancient Lombard>
Her mouth dropped open.
‘I can only speak the imperial language!’
Suddenly, a halo seemed to shine behind Professor Sian.
‘Professor is really amazing.’
But why aren’t there any classes at the Academy for the Gifted?
‘If there was even one, I would have applied for it first.’
Ibi looked at the bookshelf with regret.
The school rules state that students can freely enter the professor’s room at any time.
Still, she thought she shouldn’t stay in a room without the owner for too long.
She had confirmed that this was Professor Sian’s professor’s office, so her work was done.
Ibi, who was about to go out again, saw the paper and pen that seemed to be prepared for the student guest book and reached out.
“To Professor Sian….”
Then she began to write him a letter.
\ \ \
An hour later.
“Huh?”
Clois was picking up a piece of paper placed on the table.
