Ch#69
As class ended, the students buzzed and headed out of the classroom.
Ibi slowly packed her bag from her seat in the corner.
If anyone had been watching, they would have noticed she was deliberately tidying up slowly.
Once the last student left, Ibi's movements changed.
She quickly finished putting away her books, then immediately bent down to scan the floor.
After checking from the teacher's desk to the back of the classroom, Ibi soon found what she wanted.
She picked it up, put it in her bag, and went out into the hallway. Then she went to the next classroom and repeated the same actions.
After checking several classrooms, Ibi finally looked satisfied.
With her bag, now noticeably bulkier than during class, slung over her shoulder, she headed to the cafeteria.
‘Everyone said they were busy today.’
With exams approaching, all four of them were busy.
Airin said she had supplementary classes for subjects she was weak in.
Ruska and Arcel were in much the same situation.
“We're older than you, Ibi, so we have more classes.”
Ruska had said it boastfully.
“Lucky……”
When Ibi had replied enviously, Ruska shook his head, saying that in times like these, you mock them, not envy them.
“It's so like you not to even know why you should mock them…… More than that, Arcel and Airin, can you two stop looking at me like I'm the world's dumbest and laziest student?”
Ruska shielded himself from their gazes with his hand.
He added that he was skipping evening exercise today to study, emphasizing how serious he was about it.
Though Ruska always stuck with Arcel, he would go off alone after dinner to play ball with his friends.
For him to give up something he loved that much to study.
Moreover, Arcel was carrying even more books than usual.
‘Yeongjae Academy midterms must be a really important exam.’
It wasn't like Elam's advanced school, where even a slight drop in grades meant expulsion, yet everyone was studying so hard.
In truth, Elam's advanced school had unreasonable conditions, but Ibi had no way of knowing that.
Ibi headed to the cafeteria alone.
Perhaps because everyone was preparing for exams, the cafeteria was quieter than usual.
Students who came in just grabbed sandwiches—something they wouldn't normally touch—and left again.
Ibi found a seat and went to get her meal.
“Huh?”
Then she noticed something different.
The first time she came to the cafeteria, she had to stand on tiptoes, straining with all her might just to barely reach the forks and knives.
She still had to stand on tiptoes to reach them, but now she didn't have to stretch her arm desperately like before.
The position was the same. So…….
“I must have grown taller.”
Come to think of it, ever since coming here, she had always eaten well.
Here, she could eat as many potatoes and as much bread as she wanted.
There were even various kinds of soup to choose from, and she could have snacks or tea whenever she liked.
It wasn't just about eating.
Aside from class time, she could sleep whenever she wanted.
So with the weather gradually warming up, Ibi would return to her room and take naps in bed when there were no classes.
Carrying a tray full of food back, Ibi thought she should ask Airin to measure her height when she got back to the room.
Airin always told her she needed to gain weight and grow taller, so she should eat a lot, a lot.
‘I want to tell Airin quickly!’
Perhaps because she realized she had grown, when Ibi sat down, she noticed another change.
‘The sleeves are shorter.’
The sleeves that used to cover well past her hands weren't shorter so much as they now fit just right.
‘My arms must have gotten longer too.’
Come to think of it, her shoes felt a bit tight compared to when she first got them.
Excited about having grown, Ibi sat on the chair, clasped her hands tightly, and kicked her legs happily.
It was a gesture of pure joy.
She was still the smallest child at Yeongjae Academy.
People could tell it was her just by seeing her pass by, without even looking at her face.
Ibi imagined herself a bit bigger.
She wanted to grow even more. Enough to beat Ruska, who always bragged about being the tallest of the four.
‘Ruska always rests his chin on my head and calls me Peanut!’
Once she was bigger, she'd pay him back for every time.
‘If I grow more, I won't need to hold Airin's hand.’
She liked holding hands, but she was the only one at Yeongjae Academy who walked around like that.
So sometimes it was embarrassing.
‘On rainy days, I'll hold the umbrella for her.’
Just thinking about it made her happy. She always received help, but if she grew taller and bigger, she could help others too.
At that moment, as Ibi happily picked up her spoon, some people came to mind.
‘Director.’
Not just the Director. The other teachers at the Orphanage, her friends, younger siblings, and older brothers and sisters too.
‘I hope everyone's doing well.’
The Director's letters arrived faithfully once every two weeks.
Compared to the other children who got letters almost every day, it wasn't frequent.
But she knew the Director was doing her best to send them.
‘Sending letters here costs money too.’
That was why the letters often came in bundles, like several written at once.
Her kicking legs, which had been wiggling happily on the chair, stopped.
‘I'm the only one doing well.’
It wasn't because her friends at the Orphanage were tall or big; it was because she had been too small.
She hoped her friends could eat a lot too.
Ibi's hands slowed with guilt as she ate.
Suddenly, she felt like she was doing something bad by eating well and living comfortably alone.
In the meantime, students finished and left, making the cafeteria even quieter.
Judging from the atmosphere that no more students would come, the staff cleaned the kitchen and serving area faster than usual.
Ibi asked a cafeteria staff member as she returned her empty tray.
“Are you throwing all this away here?”
“Yes. They're baked pastries, so they could last longer, but we have rules, so we discard the leftovers.”
The staff replied and went back into the kitchen.
Ibi couldn't tear her eyes away from the pile of pastries set aside to be thrown out.
* * *
Clois was walking toward Yeongjae Academy under the darkening sky.
Even as he hurried to the professor's office, he couldn't take his eyes off the book in his hand.
The book was titled ‘Reshid Verb Conjugation Rules.’
He now understood why Seraphina had scoffed when he said he would teach Ibi foreign languages.
At first, he thought she meant he had forgotten them since studying so long ago.
‘There's a big difference between learning and teaching.’
He understood it fine himself, but explaining it was daunting.
So after desperately rushing through his document reviews, he was cramming textbooks on Reshid and Arsis like a student before an exam.
As he walked toward Yeongjae Academy, he absentmindedly looked up.
The roadside was a forest path too dense for people to enter.
The moment he realized what lay beyond it, he stopped.
‘My goodness.’
It was impossible.
He had completely forgotten from his mind that he needed to visit his wife and daughter.
Unless he was away from the palace, no matter how busy, he visited their graves every three days.
But now…….
‘How long has it been since I last went?’
Counting the days, Clois felt dizzy.
Two weeks.
Since returning from the festival, he hadn't visited their graves.
He hesitated.
Should he turn back now and go to their graves?
Or go to the child waiting for him?
The answer was clear. He had to go see his loved ones who couldn't leave that place, whom he hadn't visited in two weeks.
That was the right thing to do.
He knew that well, yet why…….
Unable to decide, he closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he murmured in a small voice.
“Sorry. I'll go right after this is over……”
After apologizing toward the forest for a long time, he walked toward Yeongjae Academy again.
Right now, he didn't want to disappoint the child waiting for him.
