CIRN 31

Chapter 31

It was the third day at the Gifted Academy.

“Yaaawn.”

Ebi let out a small yawn as she made her way to the dining hall.

Normally, she would have woken up earlier, but perhaps because of yesterday’s events, her eyes opened a little later than usual.

‘At least today’s schedule starts off slowly—that’s a relief.’

As soon as she stepped into the dining hall, a few students who recognized her began whispering.

Ebi ignored them and quietly received her breakfast tray, heading to sit in a corner.

‘Today we’re supposed to tour the imperial palace walls and its attached institutions.’

Maybe it was because she had slept deeply, but she didn’t feel reluctant or anxious despite what had happened yesterday. In fact, she was simply looking forward to exploring more new places.

As Ebi ate her breakfast with anticipation for the day, she noticed Limora entering the dining hall.

The moment Limora stepped in, their eyes met.

Limora hesitated at the entrance for a while, then clenched her eyes shut as if making a decision, and walked toward Ebi.

“Uh, hi? Did you sleep well?”

“…”

Ebi simply gave a small nod instead of answering.

Limora’s expression faltered slightly—this was a stark contrast to Ebi’s friendly greeting the day before.

Limora opened her mouth a few times, searching for the right words before finally managing to speak.

“Um, about yesterday… I really…”

But before she could finish her sentence, her friends walked into the dining hall.

“Huh? Limora?”

“What are you doing over there?”

They approached with surprised expressions when they saw her talking to Ebi.

“What were you talking about with her?”

Limora flinched at her friends’ question.

“N-Nothing! Let’s just eat! I’m so hungry!”

She hastily grabbed her friends and dragged them away.

Feeling Ebi’s quiet gaze on her back, Limora bit her lip.

‘Crap. What do I do now?’

Yesterday, Director Seraphina had told her, “Until Ebi Alden says it’s okay, go to her once a day and sincerely ask for forgiveness.”

Hearing that made her feel like the world was collapsing beneath her feet.

It was bad enough having to lower her head in apology, but the thought of her friends finding out was terrifying.

If they did, it would become clear that she had deliberately locked Ebi in—and then everyone would turn cold on her.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Even imagining it was chilling.

‘This isn’t how it was supposed to be…’

Limora had envisioned her life at the Gifted Academy completely differently.

She would become a leader among the commoner students, make friends with nobles, impress professors and even the director, and bring honor to her family.

And she believed she had the skills to pull it off.

But not even a week had passed, and she had already ruined her standing with the director.

Now, she had to lower her head and apologize every day to a girl she didn’t even want to look at.

“Limora, what are you getting?”

Her friends, unaware of her inner turmoil, asked brightly.

She resented them for that.

But she couldn’t snap at them—if she did, she might lose what little goodwill she still had.

“Mm… I’ll just have juice…”

She stepped away alone and stood in front of the juice station. Then she glanced toward Ebi, who was still sitting in the corner.

‘When should I try again?’

Today, the students had a busy schedule again. Most of the time would be spent moving as a group.

Once that was over, it would already be dinner time. She had to find a moment as soon as possible to apologize.

Especially because, that morning, Director Seraphina had spotted Limora and said coldly:

“I’ll ask Ebi Alden every day whether you apologized, so don’t think you can just let this slide.”

She didn’t say anything more, but it was clear—if Limora didn’t apologize properly, there would be further punishment.

And this time, it wouldn’t be as discreet or penalty-free as before. Everyone would know.

Limora sat down with her juice, but couldn’t take a single sip.

She felt even more overwhelmed than she had yesterday.

She had no idea what to do anymore.

Ebi watched as Limora walked out with an even darker expression than when she came in.

Limora looked genuinely distressed.

She even seemed to break out into a cold sweat whenever her friends mentioned Ebi, unable to relax out of fear of being found out.

Now I understand what the director meant by “the real punishment,” Ebi thought.

From now on, Limora would have to constantly keep an eye on her friends—and on Ebi.

‘I was going to say it was okay if she apologized today…’

Ebi hadn’t forgotten that Limora had done something wrong. Nor had she forgotten how hard it had been for her.

But if Limora had come up to her and sincerely apologized—regardless of who was watching—Ebi had been ready to forgive her.

In the end, though, Limora had walked away, still too worried about others’ opinions.

‘I don’t exactly enjoy seeing her every day either.’

Ebi pouted and cleared her tray before heading outside.

Just like yesterday, a staff member checked who was missing before leading everyone to the plaza.

Across the way, the boys from the opposite dormitory began approaching.

Ebi looked around for Arcel and Ruska.

Since she didn’t want to draw attention, she wasn’t going to greet them first—but at the very least, she hoped to make eye contact.

“Hey! Ebi!”

Before she could even spot them, a bright voice called out.

“Over here!”

She turned toward the voice and saw Ruska waving enthusiastically and running over.

Behind her, Arcel followed with his eyes closed, as if nursing a headache.

“Did you sleep well? Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. Thank you so much for yesterday.”

Ebi had been wondering how she would greet them, but Ruska had made it easy.

As the two approached and exchanged greetings with Ebi, nearby students looked on in confusion.

Why are those two being so nice to her? After what happened yesterday?

Meanwhile, the academy staff quickly reviewed the day’s schedule and began taking attendance.

Perhaps because of what happened yesterday, they were being much more thorough.

As a result, Ruska and Arcel had to return to the boys’ group.

Ebi was about to line up again when someone came to stand beside her.

“…?”

Is Limora trying to apologize this time? she wondered as she turned her head.

But standing next to her now was Irene Terrins.

“…!”

Ebi stared at her in shock. The other girls around them looked just as surprised.

“Irene? Why are you going over there…?”

The girls who had been with Irene stared in disbelief.

Irene replied nonchalantly, “I’m still bothered by what happened yesterday. As her roommate, I don’t want anything like that to happen again today.”

Then she signaled to the other girls.

“So I’m going to stick with Ebi today. I hope you’ll all understand.”

Her tone was firm, leaving no room for argument.

The girls could only step back awkwardly.

“We thought you’d be with us again today…”

“Maybe the staff pressured her. I heard even the director came to look for Ebi yesterday. Irene couldn’t just ignore that.”

“Sigh… poor Irene.”

Even though the conversation veered back into blaming Ebi, with Irene standing beside her, no one dared to glare directly at her.

A little while later, after the attendance check was complete, Arcel and Ruska returned to Ebi’s side.

They greeted Irene with slight bows.

Irene simply nodded in return and stepped a bit closer to Ebi.

Ruska also edged over to stand beside her. Arcel sighed and took his place behind them all.

‘What… is happening?’

Yesterday, she had walked around alone.

But today, she was surrounded by the three most well-known students at the academy, walking as if under escort.

As the staff began leading them to their next location, Ebi glanced at the people surrounding her in disbelief.

They weren’t exactly doting on her—but they were clearly doing this to prevent another incident.

Still, she couldn’t stop the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she walked.

They may not have done it for her—but it definitely felt better than walking alone.