Chapter 67
67
*
Scarlett's steps were hurried as she headed towards the mansion.
As Blight opened the door, guided by her, Scarlett coughed at the pungent smell of cigarette smoke that wafted out.
Viktor, who had been looking at a map, turned to her. Seeing Scarlett's urgent face, he asked in a leisurely voice, "Do you love me?"
"I'm in my right mind right now."
"Too bad."
Scarlett sighed at Viktor's answer and replied, "Can't you confirm it in another way?"
"Why? It's efficient."
Her heart would drop every time Viktor asked if she loved him. She was afraid that at some point, she might just say yes.
She sighed deeply and opened her mouth. "If I'm going to build an airplane, I think I need to study more professionally. So... I really want you to get me into Salantie Polytechnic."
"......"
"A recommendation, or something..."
At her words, Viktor stared at her intently instead of answering.
Scarlett continued, feeling awkward. "You said you would, right?"
"I should."
Viktor spoke, then paused to think before opening his mouth. "Wouldn't it be better to have a tutor? I can just call a professor."
"How can you just call a professor?"
"I can just order them to go to your house, can't I?"
Scarlett paused at Viktor's nonchalant answer. Every time he was like this, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of man she had lived with.
Scarlett shook her head instead of answering. Viktor then stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, took out a sheet of stationery, immediately wrote something on it, and stood up. He handed her the letter and said, "I've already told them in advance, so take this. And next time, let me know before you come."
"Why?"
"You said you hate the smell of cigarettes."
"Well... yeah."
Viktor opened the door, pushed Scarlett's back, and closed the door. Scarlett fiddled with the letter, feeling puzzled.
She was about to leave when Palin ran up from afar.
"I will escort you."
"Pardon? Wouldn't that be a bother..."
"Not at all."
Palin smiled reassuringly.
Scarlett worried whether this letter would really be enough as she boarded the Tram heading towards the Polytechnic. Salantie University was inside the royal palace, but the Polytechnic was located outside the capital.
After almost two hours on the Tram, Scarlett got off at the Salantie Polytechnic stop and blinked as she looked at the building.
"...That's it?"
It was an old building that made her wonder if this was really okay.
Palin, who had come with her, frowned as if he was also taken aback and said, "It looks like a school in a small village."
Scarlett fiddled with the letter and entered the entrance of the Polytechnic.
The south of Salantie was suitable for farming, so nobles bought large tracts of farmland, but the north was barren. If Palin hadn't taken the lead, snow would have poured into the boots Scarlett was wearing.
Palin opened the door of the Polytechnic, where icicles were still hanging. A male student who was about to open the door from behind flinched. Then, he looked at Palin and said, "You have good genes."
"...Excuse me?"
"Leave behind many descendants. A small number of elites save many people. Of course, they also exploit them. Do you like exploitation?"
"...No."
"Then I think you can leave them. Goodbye."
The male student bowed and was about to leave when he said to Scarlett, "Of course, you also have good genes, but I'm not good at talking to women. I think I'll just say nonsense, so I'll stop here."
Then he went his way.
Scarlett and Palin, who were left in front of the door, were momentarily dumbfounded before heading to the president's office with the letter of recommendation. Then, a female student with large glasses who came out of a room through the old door spoke to them.
"Excuse me."
Scarlett smiled, thinking that she might be studying with her in the future, and replied, "Yes."
"What are you here for?"
"Ah, admission... I brought a letter of recommendation."
"What are you studying?"
"Engineering."
"We found an engineer!"
The female student shouted, and two male students ran out from inside, handing Scarlett jam jars and data. "We've done all the theory. Now all the engineer has to do is implement it."
"And please open the jam jars with it."
The two said, handing the jam jars to Scarlett, the smallest of the five people there.
Scarlett accepted the jam jars with a bewildered expression, and Palin, who was watching the scene with an indescribable expression, snatched the jam jars and easily opened them, returning them, making the three people embarrassed.
"I didn't expect such a variable."
"How could we have expected such an alpha male to suddenly appear here?"
"We included the plan to find an engineer that the country had made extinct, didn't we?"
"This is a Polytechnic. The probability of an engineer appearing is higher than that of an alpha male."
Palin leaned down and whispered to Scarlett, "...Let's just go? It's a bit strange."
Scarlett then showed Palin the data and said, "Lord Palin received the highest level of education, right? Do you understand this?"
"Not at all. Philosophy was the most important subject to us."
At his words, the students scoffed.
"Ha, philosophy."
"It's of no help in real life."
Palin then replied, "I opened the jam jars, though."
"......"
"Let's go, miss."
Escorted by Palin, Scarlett nodded and moved her feet. Then, after entering the president's office, she smiled and said, "Nice to meet you."
A middle-aged woman then said with a troubled expression, "Such ordinary greetings are rare."
She walked over and offered a handshake, saying, "Eliza Palmier."
"Scarlett Crimson."
Eliza held out her hand, and Scarlett handed over the letter of recommendation. Eliza read it and said, "I was contacted in advance. But as you can see, I'm not someone who can teach anything. This is a place for research. The people who could teach... somehow, they're all dead."
Scarlett responded to Eliza's scanning gaze with a smile as she said that.
Eliza Palmier was a supervisor. She warned honestly, as if she had no intention of hiding it.
"As you know, the country doesn't want this Salantie Polytechnic to make any great discoveries."
"I see."
"In the first place, it doesn't seem like this Polytechnic will create anything great. So I'm doing my job roughly. Let's go out for coffee later."
"Yes."
"For reference, Scarlett Crimson, you didn't need this letter of recommendation."
At Eliza Palmier's words, Scarlett looked at her.
Eliza continued, "If you're the eldest daughter of the Crimson Family, this is a place where you can just open the door and come in. There's an empty lab, so use it. You can do whatever you want."
Scarlett's admission to Salantie Polytechnic ended with writing a few things on the admission documents that Eliza Palmier gave her.
The number of students was 26, including Scarlett, and there were 4 professors.
Scarlett wondered if it was originally this easy, or if it was easily resolved because it was Viktor Dumpelt.
After finishing the admission process and leaving the professor's office, she was about to move while checking the campus map that Eliza had given her when the female student who couldn't open the jam jars ran up. And as she tried to grab Scarlett's arm, Palin blocked her.
The female student was surprised, and Palin smiled reassuringly, saying, "You can't touch the miss. She's a precious person."
'You're really helping me adapt to school,' she wanted to say, but she couldn't say that to Palin, who had come all the way here to escort her even though she didn't want him to.
The female student took her hand away, blinked, and said, "I'm Kirstin..."
"Scarlett."
"Roscher Family."
"Ah, I'm from the Crimson Family."
"Then, then, are you related to Count and Countess Crimson!"
"I'm their daughter."
"Look! She's the daughter of Count and Countess Crimson!"
Kirstin shouted. Then everyone there flocked over. The male student who greeted her with genes earlier asked, "Are you really from the Crimson Family?"
"That's right! See, I told you she looked like them?"
"Oh, a truly prestigious person has come."
Palin was blocking people from touching Scarlett, looking down uncomfortably.
Scarlett whispered, "Palin, I have to get along with these people in the future, so don't be too much."
"Do you really want to get along with these people?"
"Yes."
Palin made a face that he would never understand, but nodded as if he couldn't help it and said, "Anyway, I'm not leaving. If the miss gets even one scratch, the captain will kill me."
At that, one of the students asked, "What captain?"
"Our captain. She's the ex-wife of Lord Viktor Dumpelt, the captain of the Rubid Ship."
The students then whispered, "A Crimson Family member and Captain Dumpelt?"
"Well... well, that's a marriage between similar families."
"That's right. The Dumpelt Family isn't as prestigious as the Crimson Family, but if he's the leader of that alpha male, he must have good genes..."
At least to them, the Crimson Family was an unprecedentedly prestigious family, the family of great inventors.
Scarlett felt a strange warmth towards them.
