/
I stopped by Professor Grein’s office before the class started.
He looked at me with a reluctant expression.
“What brings you here?”
“I have something to ask.”
“I won’t listen to your question if it’s about His Imperial Highness, or Professor Ardin. I also have no duty to give the answer to such a question to you, Young Lady Miller.”
I had given it a thought before, but this person really looked like he didn’t like me.
Either he ‘helped’ in a way that openly embarrassed me in public, or he blatantly worked me to the bone instead of telling me about the ledger.
I didn’t know why he held this much animosity towards me, but I had reached a state in which I had gotten used to the unknown animosity of pretty much anyone.
Since they would hate me no matter what.
“It’s not that kind of question. This rather has something to do with the class.”
He raised his brows as though he found it unexpected.
“Have you perhaps heard about the ruin where God’s power was sealed in?”
He has already given a lecture on the founding myth once, and this was a topic that was never covered in his lecture.
However, if he was a true scholar, then, wouldn’t it be possible for him to have ever heard about this theory?
He, who was silent after hearing my question, opened his mouth and spoke slowly.
“That reminds me of someone’s opinion. There was indeed someone who claimed that. However, it’s more of a mythical story than an established theory.”
“Is the person who claimed that, Mikel Jayhorn?”
He stared intently at me then removed his glasses.
Then he put his intertwined hands on his lap.
“You have a talent for surprising people.”
“I happened to read the founding myth he wrote.”
“You ended up finding that . . . That book should have been put out of print, I believe.”
“Do you perhaps know where the author is?”
He calmly shook his head.
“It has been long since that person disappeared.”
“. . .”
The scene in my dream crossed my mind and made my heart uneasy again.
“Let me give you one piece of advice. It’s not a good idea to bring out his name. Especially with Young Duke Bolton’s nature, the name you bring up will bring the sword. As you know, his act of unsheathing his sword isn’t simply a warning.”
“Why is the name alone . . .”
“Because it’s a ridiculous claim. The founding history is just an epic to elevate the three families and the Emperor. There is no Imperial family or aristocrat who would be happy with the claim that there was God behind the Emperor and three dukes’ success, and that God was imprisoned and betrayed because they felt God’s power was dangerous.”
Although what he said was confusing, I understood it.
As he said, it was also understandable that it was so hard to find Mikel Jayhorn’s name.
“Then how do you know him, Professor?”
He answered after letting out a long sigh.
“He was my teacher.”
* * *
He closed his mouth after saying that.
It looked true that he had no more to say.
That was to be expected if what he said about Mikel disappearing years ago was true.
“Marianne, you’re spacing out often today.”
“Ah. It’s nothing. I have a lot to think about.”
“It’s fine with me, but there are a lot of eyes watching you in every corner of the academy, so I think it’s better if you’re careful.”
I nodded to Jeremy.
There were still a lot of people who spoke nonsense to me like they wanted to be my ‘right-hand’, ‘submit under me’, or ‘be an excellent tool’.
“If your condition isn’t normal, Master might come to this academy.”
“Ah, those eyes.”
I quickly straightened up my posture.
“I’ll stay focused.”
“You look like you really hate the idea of Orion coming here.”
“Rather than hate, the problem is what I will witness if he comes.”
I answered Rany’s question simply.
Orion, who still couldn’t give up on the chair, was now pondering the reason I rejected that chair.
It really wasn’t about the color, shape, or even the quality.
I just hated that chair and that parade.
In addition, thanks to the numerous romance fantasies he read, he seemed to consider the academy as a huge swamp for learning about the opposite sex.
Meeting with the male lead in the club, taking a walk and then running into the male lead, competing against each other and the love sprouts, being locked together in the warehouse while preparing the equipment, and such. A place full of love.
“When in reality, the academy is a fantasy seasoned with survival and public embarrassment.”
It was uncanny.
Meanwhile, Jeremy was showing the grown Adel to Benji, who was next to him.
Benji hypothesized that Adel might be an undiscovered plant in academia.
“Then this could mean money.”
“Adel’s value can’t be converted into money.”
Rany, who was listening to their conversation, joined in with a quite interested face.
Now the story was going beyond whether or not Adel was a rare species, and what value she had.
Jeremy, who preached the importance of life, and the siblings who preached the importance of money, have begun a fiery showdown.
Abigail and Liz were absorbed in watching their showdown.
You said this was a tea party to celebrate Adel’s growth.
So where was the celebration?
I quietly took a sip of my tea, then swiftly took out the founding myth out of my pocket and began to read it again.
While I was looking for where I stopped reading, a really tattered page entered my view.
There was an illustration which was made of lines drawn with a pen.
It was a picture in which a young looking girl stood in front of the symbol of the sun with bright light, and three people were prostrating at her feet.