Chapter 24
Chapter 024.
The deal with Lord Rune was troubling in many ways.
I hadn't given it much thought when he asked, but the conditions were too vague.
Instead of asking for money or an expensive price, he said, "Don't feel burdened by Orion."
How could I not feel burdened when facing Orion Miller?
If only his eyes were a little less moist, or his voice a little less sensitive.
'If only he were someone who had no interest in me, was indifferent and aloof, good at his job but thought human relationships were unnecessary.'
Then I wouldn't feel burdened.
It was an excessively difficult and troublesome problem for me.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the deliberation didn't last long.
The next day, as I entered the Academy early in the morning, unusually sharp gazes were directed at me.
Some glanced at me and whispered, some looked at me with blatant curiosity.
And some others,
"Shameless."
"How dare she..."
Showed hostility towards me along with reproaches.
Lenny glared at the murmuring children and sat next to me.
When she crossed her arms and scanned the surroundings, the children from other classes who had been gathering slowly dispersed.
I lowered my voice and asked.
"Do you happen to know what's going on?"
"There's a strange rumor going around the Academy. It seems like you're involved."
A rumor?
I tilted my head in bewilderment.
It wasn't a matter of my identity being revealed, and it was rare for children to react so noticeably to a simple rumor.
It wasn't just a few people whispering about me.
Gazes followed me as I walked down the hallway.
It felt like the entire grade had already heard the rumor, not just a specific group.
"This fast?"
"I know, it's too fast."
Rumors are inherently vague, so they are more often consumed as simple gossip.
Even if it were true, there would have to be clear testimony for it to spread this quickly.
An excessively fast rumor.
But the content was nothing special.
"Some kids say they saw you and Trevor being friendly before the exam."
"So what?"
Trevor, out of the blue.
I thought I would have heard that I was seen with Jen or Vertein, at the very least.
My interactions with Trevor had been limited to responding to his one-sided conversations a few times.
I was dumbfounded, but I understood to some extent.
"The Academy's prince collapsed, and you're the last girl who was flirting with that prince."
"I wouldn't feel so wronged if I was actually flirting and a rumor spread..."
Moreover, wasn't the other party the person who tried to harm me with a curse?
A scandal with an enemy, belatedly.
I was terribly unlucky.
The Academy's unrest wasn't solely due to the rumor involving me.
All the professors who came to the morning classes looked uneasy and couldn't concentrate on the lessons.
On the way to the small auditorium for the moving class, I noticed a group of people in unfamiliar attire striding through the Academy.
"Investigators."
Lenny whispered in a low voice.
The headmaster and senior professors were with them, their faces hardened.
Bringing outsiders into the Academy, especially for an investigation, would be quite humiliating.
Even as I thought that and passed by, I didn't think things would escalate further.
"How dare you shamelessly wander around the Academy!"
It was the moment I entered the cafeteria for a meal.
The face of the student blocking my path was familiar.
I had seen her at the exam site.
She was the girl who blushed when looking at Trevor.
She was one of the group who was sobbing, dazed by the shock immediately after the incident.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't good, so everyone who was eating outdoors had crowded into the cafeteria, making it busy.
The attention of the students in the cafeteria was focused on us.
I got up from my seat to avoid the commotion and spoke calmly.
"If you have something to say to me..."
"I don't want to be alone with you. I don't know what might happen."
The hostility filling her blazing eyes only amplified my bewilderment.
I was only growing more bewildered by the one-sided accusations and incomprehensible attitude.
Reinia, who had belatedly arrived with a plate full of meat, tilted her head.
Some of the children flinched at Lenny's appearance and exchanged glances.
Reinia scanned the person in front of me with a disapproving look.
"What kind of bitter nonsense is she spouting now?"
"Birds of a feather flock together. A nouveau riche's daughter and an attempted murderer, what a combination."
The entire student cafeteria turned cold at her words.
Everyone was quietly looking at me.
From the moment the words "attempted murder" came out, the children's eyes were filled with a mixture of interest and surprise.
Still, most of them had faces that said, "So, she's the one who's a Grand Duke."
I felt like I knew where her hostility was coming from.
She probably suspected me of being the culprit in Trevor's incident, but why would she have such a ridiculous thought?
'Is it the influence of the rumor?'
No, just a moment ago, I was supposedly flirting with him.
But suddenly, I've become a criminal who commits murder?
"You sat next to Trevor, and you chose the same research topic as Trevor! Land of Death, it's not a common topic, is it?"
The surroundings buzzed at her tearful voice.
Everyone knew about the incident where Trevor collapsed, vomiting blood, during the exam.
Everyone started paying attention to the interesting topic.
This was troublesome.
The rumor itself was a far-fetched story, but even lies could gain power once they started circulating among many people.
I calmly refuted Abigail Frey's words.
"Firstly, I submitted my application before Trevor. There was no way for me to know his topic, so it was a coincidence. Secondly, Trevor sat next to me. There were plenty of empty seats. He chose the seat, so why is that a problem?"
Next to me, Reinia quietly pushed the food on her plate to one side as I answered.
I pulled Reinia back, who was loosening her shoulders as if she was about to throw the plate at any moment.
I had to end this before Reinia, who used to break trees in the back alleys, did something.
Abigail flinched when Reinia's neck made a cracking sound.
However, her eyes, still filled with tears, were still fixed on me, and she didn't seem very rational.
"Your grades have always been average, B-!"
I paused at her shout.
All the students who had been watching with interest changed their expressions to bewildered ones.
Ah, this isn't good.
"If you competed with Trevor, whose grades have always been A's, on the same topic, you would obviously lose, so you used some trick! The fact that you took the entrance exam with those grades is strange in itself!"
The murmuring grew louder.
Even if nothing else, this was definitely a circumstantial evidence that would amplify suspicion.
It wouldn't be evidence, but it would contribute to manipulating public opinion.
Lenny, who had been listening, asked sharply from the side.
"How do you know so much about her grades?"
"What?"
"To know the average grade, you'd have to be a professor at least. Within the Academy, a student's grades are prohibited from being viewed except by the student and the professor in charge. Trevor always topped the charts with scholarships and whatnot, so you could know his grades, but Merian's grades are B-."
"How did you know, her grades?"
Abigail, who had been pointed out, hesitated and took a step back.
However, she still glared at me with bloodshot eyes, so it didn't seem like she intended to end it here.
Even the surrounding Academy students were looking at me differently.
It didn't matter to them whether she knew my grades legally or illegally.
What mattered more was that a lowly commoner, the friend of a nouveau riche whom they usually ignored, had a motive to harm Trevor Beryl.
"My grades are..."
It was the moment I opened my mouth to refute in this situation.
Someone stopped me with sharp applause.
When I turned my head, a professor with a nervous expression was looking at me and her.
"Well done. In the student cafeteria."
His voice was chilling as he rebuked.
His dark eyes narrowed.
His cold eyes lingered on me especially long.
"Merian Hoffen. How dare you cause a disturbance within the Academy?"
Reinia flared up at the one-sided rebuke towards me, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
That professor was a well-known aristocrat.
It was obvious that arguing back would only earn me unnecessary animosity.
'And...'
It was clear that intervening now was a deliberate act.
The fact that he intervened the moment Abigail instilled appropriate circumstantial evidence in the children, so that I couldn't refute it, was clearly intended to put me in a difficult position.
"Both of you, follow me."
If I left like this, the rumor within the Academy would naturally be 'confirmed' as if I were the culprit.
But if I rebelled against the professor's order, it would also make me look like someone who couldn't refute Abigail's words.
As I followed the professor, I whispered to Lenny, who was left behind.
"Lenny, find out about the Beryl family and check the trends within the Academy."
Even if I didn't ask, she would already be looking into it, but I felt like I needed the information sooner.
Because the situation seemed unusual.
Abigail, who had started the fight with me, followed the professor with a pale face, reproaching me.
"Vulgar and despicable girl."
"You're the despicable one."
I said quietly to her from behind the professor's back.
"At least you violated the Academy's basic rules twice by revealing my score. You viewed the other person's score, and you publicly announced that score."
"I'm not going to let this issue pass. As you know, the Locke family can hire expensive lawyers."
The Locke Viscount family's trading company was so large that it was respected even by the nobles of the imperial capital.
Because they perfectly controlled not only mining but also the distribution of raw materials for luxury goods in each region.
'And Lenny's skills aren't lacking either.'
Her face looked momentarily flustered, but she soon retorted venomously.
"It won't matter at all if you get expelled from the Academy, and this legal issue will be over."
Her voice was confident.
She was confident that I was not only the culprit but also that I would be expelled from the Academy.
Looking at her, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
I had the feeling that I might be missing something.
