Ch#66
‘How can I drive that child out?’
Izriella now spent her entire day thinking only about that.
Yeongjae Academy's rules were strict. While ignoring another student couldn't be punished by rules, any physical harm led to immediate expulsion without mercy.
When Yeongjae Academy first opened, there had been several cases of students getting points deducted and expelled for treating roommates or those from lower noble families poorly.
Moreover, it was now impossible to find other students to do such things on her behalf instead of Izriella.
Everyone was not only trying to befriend Airin again but even greeting Ibi.
If she made such a request, they wouldn't help—instead, they'd surely run straight to Ibi and tattle.
‘How can I…….’
Izriella glared at Ibi every day while pondering.
‘My parents might have a good idea.’
With such expectations, on outing day, Izriella left Yeongjae Academy faster than anyone and hurried home.
Though not as prestigious as the Terins family, Izriella's family was still quite wealthy.
Moreover, it was a central noble house with a history envied by many.
The moment the carriage entered the main estate, Izriella felt relieved.
Before entering Yeongjae Academy, whenever she went out in the capital, Izriella had always received special treatment.
In her group of close friends, she was always the princess.
Her family was the best, and her head was the smartest.
But the moment she entered Yeongjae Academy, wore the same uniform, and attended the same classes, she became just an ordinary student.
Students still recognized and treated her well, but the professors did not.
‘How can they treat me the same? How dare they!’
Far from it, they didn't even seem to know who she was.
So Izriella grew more anxious.
Now, the ones all Yeongjae Academy students recognized and envied were Arcel, Ruska, Airin, and Ibi.
She couldn't just sit by while her status became worse than that Orphanage kid.
Upon arriving home, her parents were waiting for her.
“Mom! Dad!”
Izriella felt like bursting into tears.
Her parents would take her side. And they'd tell her a good way to send Ibi Alden packing.
They might even write a letter to the Terins family so she could be friends with Airin again.
But that was a complete delusion.
“Izriella! We've been waiting for you! What on earth have you done to cause this mess?!”
Contrary to her expectations, her parents didn't comfort her but scolded her the moment they saw her.
“You've completely fallen out with Airin Terrins! Have you forgotten why you entered Yeongjae Academy? What are you going to do now?!”
“Do you know how many of your mother's tea party invitations have been rejected? Why have you distanced yourself from children of other families too?!”
Having come home after so long, she couldn't even go up to her room and had to sit in the drawing room enduring hours of her parents' scolding.
The only one who listened to Izriella was her much older brother.
“Why on earth did you mess with Airin Terrins……”
“I didn't mess with her! It's all because of Ibi Alden! That commoner insolently got a Mana Stone from her guardian! And that guardian's ridiculous too! Why would they give her something like that?!”
“What are you talking about? Who gifts a Mana Stone to a kid like that? No matter how wealthy the family, that's impossible. Didn't you see wrong?”
“No, I didn't!”
Izriella explained to her brother what happened the day Ibi received the Mana Stone.
He, who had quite an interest in Mana Stones, muttered oddly after hearing her out.
“What's the name of that guardian who gave it?”
“Sian Rosen? Something like that?”
“Sian Rosen? That can't be right.”
“What? Do you know him?”
“Not exactly know…… Hmm, I'll look into this first.”
Izriella's brother said that and left the room.
In the end, Izriella returned to the dorm after getting thoroughly scolded by her parents.
The four were still eating together. Seeing that, she wondered if they had gone out together for the first outing too.
The four matched each other perfectly like old friends.
Chatting happily, sometimes raising their voices.
That sight was the ideal friendship all Yeongjae Academy students dreamed of.
The more she watched, the more Izriella hated seeing Ibi.
‘She doesn't belong there.’
That spot wasn't for a lowly kid. It was a place for the empire's most precious future leaders…….
As she tried to go up the stairs, an employee at the entrance stopped her.
“A letter from home arrived.”
“……”
Izriella snatched the letter without a thank you and turned away.
“What, it's from Brother?”
Not her parents, but a letter from her brother. Wondering what it was about, Izriella hurriedly opened it.
Her eyes scanned the briefly written letter.
Moments later, surprise appeared on Izriella's face.
“Is this for real?”
The letter's content was simple.
It said there was a high possibility that Professor Sian Rosen, Ibi Alden's supposed guardian, was fake.
It added that he'd let her know once it was confirmed and told her not to touch Ibi Alden in the meantime but to watch closely.
‘The guardian is fake?’
It was something she'd never heard of.
Though she thought her brother must have gotten it wrong, there was a sliver of 'what if.'
‘Everyone would think it's ridiculous like I do.’
That might make it easier to deceive people.
Izriella tucked the letter into her desk drawer and tried to calm her pounding heart.
If her brother was right…….
She checked the rulebook, but there was no punishment specified for such a case.
‘Still, it would definitely cause a huge uproar.’
Moreover, faking a guardian…… Were the other things real?
‘Her grades might be fake too.’
Once the suspicion took root, it began to grow frighteningly fast.
‘Anything's fine. If I can find just one thing that violates the rules…….’
Before she knew it, Izriella had forgotten her brother's words to stay put and began desperately seeking Ibi's flaws with gleaming eyes.
* * *
From that day on, Izriella monitored and followed Ibi's every move.
Where she went, what classes she took, whom she met.
After about a week, Izriella started getting bored. Plus, she had to prepare for the upcoming midterm exam.
Above all, getting caught following a commoner orphan would be humiliating.
‘I should stop.’
Muttering complaints about doing weird things because of her brother as she headed to her room, Izriella noticed that while all the other kids had left, Ibi hadn't come out of the classroom.
‘What's that?’
What was she doing inside that she wasn't coming out?
She quietly crept up and peered through the glass pane of the front door.
At first, she didn't see Ibi and thought she might have missed her. But looking closely, Ibi was crouched under the desk, picking something up.
‘What is she doing?’
Ibi picked up something from the floor and quickly stuffed it into her bag. Then she left the classroom.
Izriella barely hid around the corner of the hallway before Ibi emerged.
Her eyes narrowed as she watched Ibi hurriedly exit the building.
At first, she thought Ibi was looking for something she dropped. But Ibi kept scanning the floor and putting things into her bag.
As Izriella pondered, a group of girls approached in the hallway.
“Why did you drop something like that?”
“I don't know. Anyway, it's from Mom. I have to find it.”
“You lost it in the classroom, right?”
“Yeah.”
The chattering students greeted Izriella casually upon seeing her and entered the classroom.
Then they searched the floor, just like Ibi had moments ago.
“Found it?”
“No…… What do I do?”
Unable to contain her curiosity, Izriella asked first.
“Is something wrong?”
One of the group answered with an annoyed expression.
“She dropped her bracelet in the classroom and can't find it. It's expensive, a birthday gift…… Miss Izriella, did you see it by any chance?”
As if she would have. Izriella shook her head immediately.
The students grumbled 'Of course' and soon left.
Izriella hurried to the window. Far away, she saw Ibi running off somewhere.
Even while running, Ibi clutched her bag, which was as big as her body.
As if it contained something extremely precious.
Izriella's gaze grew even colder at the sight.
