Chapter 36

I ran my hand over the shiny hinge that must have just been put on the new door. All of these things were done with the consideration of the chief servant.

It was true that since it turned out that the chief servant was the one who informed the empress dowager, we couldn’t afford to fully trust and follow him. However, I could not shake off my affection for him that swiftly.

While washing with warm water and lying on the soft, warm blanket, those complicated thoughts were sorted out one by one. Whether it was because of the medicines that I had taken, or because I had suffered mentally and physically for a long day, it was easy to drift off.

There was one thing that kept me from falling completely asleep. I couldn’t help but snicker at the image of the empress surrounded by cookie packages. When I imagined the face of the empress, who must have been embarrassed by the package of cookies she had looked for everywhere, I laughed even as I was falling asleep.

After a long while, the emperor’s face came to mind. His voice praising me for doing well and eyes that seemed to see right through me. Him giving me his permission to confront Xenon myself.

It was a hard-earned trust. As he said, my life was no longer mine, so I shouldn’t act recklessly. I had to make good use of this opportunity somehow. I imagined myself going to the Academy and meeting him, pondering over what to say, then I fell into a sullen sleep.

When I arrived at the academy, I thought Xenon might have already run away. I wouldn’t have thought he couldn’t deduce that I knew he was the one who drugged me.

However, he showed up during the Academy Inquiry session. His round glasses were impressive on his tired-looking face, which was no different from usual. He hurried to the front of the podium, waited for us to sit down, and calmly opened his mouth. “Hello, everyone. Good morning. I have something to tell you today. Class N of Magic Herbology was supposed to be outdoors, but…” He explained in a languid voice and even made eye contact with each student.

While listening to that friendly voice, I entertained the doubt that I might have misunderstood and that it was someone else who used poison on me. But it couldn’t be an illusion.

I followed him out and headed to the instructor’s office. Xenon noticed that I was following, so he waited in front of the door and even opened the door. All of this was like hide-and-seek. Or a difficult puzzle.

Instructor Xenon calmly went to the academy every day to spend his usual daily life, and the emperor was watching the situation even though he could easily capture him and lock him up or cut his throat. Between those two, I was the only one busy coming and going, trying to figure out the purpose of the group somehow.

Entering his room, where the air was as pleasant as usual, I sat down in a chair as recommended. The face of the instructor looked as good as always. Monolids, light eyes, bushy green hair.

The instructor handed me a piece of candy with a small smile as he sat back. “What brings you here, Miss Celestia?”

The same candy as yesterday. I wouldn’t eat this unless I was a really great idiot.

But what if he gave it to me with intent? The fact that I didn’t eat it could be taken as a sign of doubt for him.

As long as I was awake, I couldn’t help but doubt him. But I calmly peeled the candy and put it in my mouth.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t be poisoned again. Not because I had faith that they wouldn’t try anything again. This time, the antidote was prepared in advance.

I could tell he was observing me.

It was a really small smell, but I was sure of it. Instructor Xenon must have intentionally fed me “the stone dragon’s saliva”.

‘How do I bring this up? Can you answer my direct question? What if you don’t?’

But if it wasn’t now, there was no other chance. I didn’t want to ruin the opportunity the emperor had granted me.

“I’m here to tell you something.”

“Is this a consultation?”

“I won’t beat around the bush. I… the candy you gave me yesterday.”

“What?”

It was a face of ignorance, but I took a deep breath and asked at once. “It’s because I don’t want to doubt you. Why did you give me the candy yesterday?”

Xenon blinked as if he didn’t understand the language I was speaking. “The candy I gave you?”

“You don’t mean to say you don’t know anything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Are you going to pretend you don’t even know that the candy has poison in it?”

“What do you mean, poison?”

“The whole time I was at the academy, you were nice to me. Even if my status is low, you never discriminated against me. I looked up to you.”

“Thank you.”

“I was here for so long. I came to the lecture hall often. But why did you do this all of a sudden…? I don’t quite understand. Why did the instructor give me candy with stone dragon’s saliva?”

“If I were to stay with you as a researcher, I would have had more time. It’s because you’re graduating early and you’re going into the palace.” He sounded the same as usual and looked the same as usual.

I didn’t realize until a beat later that he confessed to my accusations.

Looking at the candies in the basket on the desk, he still replied with an innocent face. “You didn’t fall down immediately, so you must have come prepared.”

It was such a gentle tone that I even thought I heard something wrong. He was confirming that he was the culprit, but when he confessed so gently, I felt nauseous and sweaty. I bit my lips gently. I thought I was trying not to be exposed to danger, but there really was someone in the academy who was after me for some reason. I was naive. Since he was supposed to serve the emperor, he had to take his escort around the clock.

“I’ve never seen anyone who can nullify magic. At first, I was amazed that a student attending classes did not practice, but I heard a magic officer from Goldina saying strange things. Was it right after the merger?”

I felt a prick of suspicion.

There was only one person who would say such a thing and one person who knew what I was capable of.

Serek. Serengevan. How long would he keep being a stumbling block to my life?

“So…?”

“I never thought there would be a human being with that kind of ability. If you have that convenient ability, there is a problem you can solve.”

“Problem? I could have helped you if you’d asked. Why are you kidnapping people?”

Instructor Xenon suddenly closed his mouth and smiled. His eye smile was so familiar that I almost returned it.

I suddenly felt cold. Even if I asked for help here, there was no one who would come to my aid.

“That’s it for today.”

I stared at the instructor who talked like he was in a class. “Tell me what’s in it for me.”

“If the emperor doesn’t kill me, you’ll see. He seems to care a lot about Miss Celestia. I don’t think you’re such a good listener.”

“Don’t change the subject.…!”

“Tell the emperor. My life, if you need it, you can take it away. I won’t run away, I won’t hide. And anyway, you’re not going to show your head to the academy anymore, right?”

If I could meet the requirements for early graduation, I wouldn’t have to come.

I didn’t like any of his blunt answers.

“Let me ask you one more question. Who the hell was the man who came to my bedroom?”

“That’s a secret, too.”

The emperor’s henchmen who were there couldn’t keep up. Perhaps if I hadn’t been a burden, the emperor himself would never have missed it, but it must have been a great skill.

What was the point of trying to kidnap me with someone like that?

Xenon grabbed and put the candies in front of me and grinned. “If I had found out before the escorts arrived, things wouldn’t have been so annoying.”

“…Teacher.”

“I’ll cheer for your graduation thesis.”

I didn’t believe that he wouldn’t run. However, the emperor had no choice but to leave the matter to him. Whether he ran away or not, the emperor would take care of the surveillance.

I felt relieved, though. I was able to talk to Instructor Xenon first. I didn’t find anything concrete, but I felt like I had a grain of it. The emperor’s cleverness and power are, of course, acceptable, but he was defensive and aggressive at the same time, threatened with so many precious things.

My head throbbed. It was time to leave.

He added, “Hey, Miss Celestia.”

“What?”

“I’d recommend not attending the year-end party.”

“Why?”

“It’s the only day of the year that outsiders are allowed in. Maybe… wouldn’t this and that happen?”

Was that worry? Whose side was Xenon on?

A year-end party. I hadn’t even thought about it. Come to think of it, it wasn’t that far off. Whoever attacked me would probably not try to attack me on my route home again, nor would he reattempt breaking into the palace. That one time, he didn’t expect the emperor to show up, so that was the only reason he took that risk to break into the palace.

Xenon was right. The next time I might be targeted, it was likely to be at the party at the end of the year.

But this was advice from the person who had poisoned me, not anyone else. I couldn’t tell if he meant it to help me or to harm me.

“Thank you for your concern.”

I closed the door with a glimpse of Xenon’s brazen face.

Sitting at the academy that day, I was so tired that I got more attention than I could take. Every instructor who came into class asked me if my early graduation assignment was going well, and the children who wanted to look good just because I came in riding the imperial carriage started to flirt more and more.

Even Vicky of class B even stepped in front of our class today, blocking the hallway. It didn’t matter that Vicky came, but it was a problem because of the annoying crowd following her.