Chapter 37 (1/2)

Chapter 37

Vicky stood in front of me, dressed up as she usually was. She was beautiful, and if we had gotten off on the right foot we might have become friends, but it was too late for that now.

I tried to pass by her to go to the locker, but Vicky stepped in front of me again.

“Early graduation requirements, I heard you looked into it.”

“So?”

“Why did you think of graduating early? If you leave this school, you’re nothing.”

She wasn’t wrong. What little status I had, I had only in the small space of the Academy.

But what about it?

I twisted my mouth and laughed, an expression I learned from the emperor. “You’ve never seen me as your equal, have you, Vicky? Don’t you get tired of thinking lowly of others? If that’s the case anyway, wouldn’t it be better for me to graduate early?”

“This is…!”

“If I can do it, you can too.”

Considering the enormous amount of work and the difficulty of the assignment in the first place, Vicky must have already been too busy to deal with anything else. It wasn’t that I was looking down on them, but those aristocrats who are too fond of other people’s help are bound to have limitations. Looking at her tantrum, I suddenly remembered that she was close to the empress dowager.

If I didn’t graduate early after teasing you that much, I wouldn’t have any face to show. I quickly went back and thought of a mountain of early graduation assignments and sighed for the fiftieth time.

In order to become a secretary, I had no choice but to graduate at once. By principle, there was only one chance to graduate early, and I had no more free time. The time was approaching for my predecessor, the incumbent secretary, to step down soon.

Besides going to and from the academy, I devoted all my spare time to graduation tasks. I spent all my time buried between books and assignments, split between sleeping time and eating time. Fortunately, access to the general area of the imperial palace library was granted, and data collection for the project was facilitated.

It took me three days to finish just one assignment, the one from one of the most easy-going professors of magic biology. And when I completed another task, it was three days later again when I checked the date. Of course, those two projects were written meticulously enough to pass even if the sky collapsed. There was time, but I was afraid of the speed with which it went by.

During the weekend, I didn’t leave the room except during mealtime, fully immersed in my work. If Luana hadn’t come to see me in between my hectic schedule, I would have completely forgotten to eat.

After the weekend, four of the eight assignments were completed and taken to the academy for submission.

The instructors accepted the assignment in a consistent manner. At first, they were skeptical, then amazed when they flipped through the pages. And when they saw my anxious expression, they reassured me, “The Emperor is known to be a fair judge of character, giving his favor to only the talented… And you are clearly his favorite, as you come to school in the imperial carriage itself. I don’t know if I’m being too harsh, but it’s not easy to graduate from the Academy, I’m sure you understand this, Miss Celestia.”

Even if I was selected by the emperor, I was just their student, and I didn’t know why they were treating me with such caution.

Or did it mean so much to come in the emperor’s carriage?

I felt burdened and spent my time until I left school.

I wished I could talk to Xenon, but he was nowhere to be seen. When I asked another instructor, he only said he went on a long business trip.

Was it just another way of saying he ran away? Or did he disappear because of the Emperor? I was just about to get into the carriage, lost in thought when the driver gave me a letter.

“What is this?”

“The message arrived while you were in the academy. It’s a letter that doesn’t have much magic in it, so you can open it with confidence.”

“Oh, yes…”

‘Serek’ was written on the space for the sender’s name. I could recognize his bad handwriting instantly.

I dropped the letter due to my surprise, and I hesitated to pick it up again, wondering about what was written inside.

The reason why I didn’t read it and throw it away or burn it was because of some anxiety that some information might have been exchanged between Serek and the empress. Really, that cockroach stuck to my life so persistently.

He was so stubborn when we met again, but I didn’t think he’d ever contact me after that. I tried to be calm and ripped open the envelope.

[If you have time today, I want to meet with you and Samidion.]

‘Where does this bastard get the courage to write down my brother’s name? I’m sure I warned you not to do that the last time we met.’