23.
Ignoring my reaction, Connie lifted her chin like an arrogant judge.
“This time, it’s not a playboy who left a fiancée back home and is trying to burn through his youth at the Academy. It’s not some loser betting on the chances of you inheriting a Count title, and it’s not a pervert.”
Connie counted my failed dating history off on her fingers.
“I think this one is decent.”
She slammed her right fist into her left palm a few times—like a judge’s gavel.
Despite her favorable verdict, I shrank back as my dark history flashed before my eyes like a panorama. Connie patted my shoulder, trying to soothe me.
“Do your best. I think he’s the best among all the men you’ve chosen so far.”
My dark history was far too murky for Connie’s support to really sink in.
“Unni, did you have a nightmare?”
Anika, the youngest of the four Diaz siblings and my only sister, asked this while watching me butter my bread with hollow eyes.
“I think I had a bit of a restless night.”
I kept my eyes as wide as possible, not wanting to worry the child who had just entered the Academy. In truth, it was a nightmare. Before I took leave and came home, I had talked about my Academy days with Connie, and my dark history had manifested in my dream.
*To think I dreamed of re-watching the things I said in my right mind—Eek! Euaaaaah! Euaaaaaaaah!*
It was a truly cruel dream. I wondered if some evil spirit had attached itself to my room during the time I’d put off coming home because I was busy. *Should I go to the storage room and get some silver cutlery for parties?*
While I was doubting the presence of an evil spirit as I stared at my butter knife, Anika sat down across from me. Since entering the Academy, she had started using an adult-sized chair, but because she was shorter than her peers, her legs still dangled.
“You didn’t work yourself to the bone just to come home, did you?” she asked, stretching out her hand to pick up her own cutlery.
“It’s not like that.” I replied, moving the dishes so they were easier for her to reach.
Since this wasn’t just a white lie to prevent worry, but the truth, I was confident. The work environment had improved drastically since Donovan was dragged away. Once the boss who prioritized his own mood over work efficiency disappeared, useless tasks decreased significantly. Arnold, who took over as the department head temporarily, was timid, but he wasn’t the authoritative type, so he was easy to deal with.
On top of that, thanks to the rumor that I had ‘made connections with someone high up there,’ the employees were treading even more carefully around me than they had with Arnold. *No, come to think of it, is it true that I have connections?*
Everett was the Emperor’s adjutant, and Kail was the Emperor’s only friend. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was at the center of power, closely linked to the Emperor. *My life, which I thought wasn’t even fit for an extra—could I be an extra with at least one line of dialogue?*
While I was gauging my own position, Anika shrugged.
“Then that’s a relief.”
She was the type of youngest child who had been indifferent since birth, like an old soul. With the answer that her sister was fine, the conversation ended. For a while, the only sounds echoing in the dining room were those of us eating. Both a world-weary office worker and a child needed fuel.
Only after we were somewhat full did conversation resume.
“Is Academy life manageable?”
As it turned out, the subject I brought up wasn’t great. Anika’s fork stopped.
“No, I miss the days when I was little and didn’t know anything.” The twelve-year-old shook her head vigorously and let out a deep sigh.
“How little? Eleven? Ten?”
When I asked teasingly, Anika set down her fork and buried her face into the table as if collapsing. Her soft cheek pressed against the wood.
“Unni, you don’t know anything.”
Her eyes were distant, as if she were wandering through a past from a year or two ago. *Surely nothing bad is actually happening, is it?* She was a sharp girl who could find her way home even if I dropped her in the middle of a market, but I couldn’t help but be worried.
“Why, is there too much homework? Or do you not like the kids in your class?”
Even though I asked about the top two things that would likely be on the mind of any first-year Academy student, the kid wouldn’t lift her head.
“If I had to pick, it’d be the second one.”
The answer came from the twins, who were just coming down to eat.
“Noona, long time no see.” Emit waved his hand listlessly.
“Hi.” Jaden peeked his face out from behind Emit’s right shoulder.
With their faces being unusually similar even for identical twins, it was like looking at Cerberus when they were side-by-side.
“It’s distracting, so just come and sit.”
Thinking, *Am I lucky they aren’t triplets?*, I gestured with my chin, and Jaden and Emit checked the time before quickly approaching to sit down.
“That was a close one, young masters.” Emma, the cook and person in charge of cleaning, smiled as she placed food in front of them.
“Emit was dawdling.”
“You woke up late, too.”
The two bickered as they picked up their forks and knives. The brief tension subsided once they started eating. It was almost the end of breakfast. There was no rule in the Diaz house that the whole family had to gather at mealtime. *If you don’t want to eat, you don’t have to.* However, if you wanted to eat, you had to arrive within a set time. *If you miss the mealtime, you have to scrape by with leftover bread or go hungry.*
This rule, designed to reduce the burden on the meager staff of only three and to correct the irregular living habits of the eccentric family, was maintained under the support of Mother, the highest authority in the house. *Even when our parents are out.* And Emit and Jaden were at an age where they needed to eat well, so they couldn’t just scrape by.
“But what did you mean by the second one?”
Emit added an explanation to the previous answer while busily eating. “She’s sad because she’s in a different class than Nathan.”
Nathan was Anika’s childhood friend with cute, curly blonde hair. As if Emit’s words were the correct answer, Anika’s cheek pressed even flatter against the table.
“So I heard she begged to be transferred to the Knight Faculty, but failed.” Jaden added, acting cheeky.
“I didn’t beg. I just politely asked if a transfer was possible.” Anika’s lips became pointed like a chick’s beak.
“But you can’t even lift a wooden sword.”
Anika pretended not to hear Jaden’s ruthless confirmation of the kill. “The Academy has torn me and Nathan apart.”
It was a monologue like a tragic heroine in a play. Emit and Jaden, having found fun in teasing their younger sister, became even more excited.
“Nathan looked like he was in a great mood lately.”
“He sure did.”
The Magic Faculty, where the twins were enrolled, was on the exact opposite side of the Knight Faculty. Since there was no way the paths of Nathan, a freshman, and the twins, who were in their graduating year, would cross, it was a story made up to tease Anika.
“Really?”
However, Anika, deeply immersed in her role, had momentarily lost her judgment. When she lifted her eyes and asked back, Emit and Jaden flinched. It was a forcefulness you wouldn’t believe came from a twelve-year-old. Taking their stammering as silent confirmation, Anika’s purple eyes grew a little moist.
I sent a look to Emit and Jaden alternately. *If Anika cries, both of you better be prepared.*
Eventually, the truth slipped out of Emit’s mouth.
“No. It was a joke. I haven’t seen Nathan since the entrance ceremony.”
As soon as Jaden’s words ended, Anika, realizing she’d been teased, let out a roar.
“Liars! You’re both goblin boogers! You’re orc tooth tartar!”
It was a customized insult for the twins, who had taken an interest in monster studies and were enrolled in the Magic Faculty despite having no mana.
“Emit, do you want to be the orc tooth tartar?”
“No, I’ll just be the goblin boogers in order.”
That was why it had no impact. Those two were the kind of kids whose lifelong dream was to study monsters like orcs or goblins, whose appearances others usually avoided. *Still, tartar or boogers is a bit much, isn’t it?*
Watching them play rock-paper-scissors to see who would be the goblin booger, Anika requested support from me, her cheeks puffed out.
“Unni! The brothers are teasing me.”
*I should tell them to tone it down.* I reached out and lightly stroked Anika’s hair. Then, I spoke in a volume loud enough for Emit and Jaden to hear.
“Should kind Anika let it slide? We can’t have students preparing for exams spend their time copying the scriptures, can we?”
Now, it was Emit and Jaden whose cheeks were puffed out.