Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Knock, knock. The person outside the door knocked again. Andra and Dustin turned to look at each other.

Andra moved first. She shoved Dustin away and got up to find a robe, which she promptly put on. She then went to the door to see who had come through the peephole. Elverika. It was only then that Andra remembered that she had arranged to meet with Elverika one more time.

“Who is it?”

Dustin whispered softly as he followed Andra out of the bedroom. Andra didn’t have time to explain to Dustin, so she pushed him back into the bedroom.

“You, leave now.”

“Andra.”

“If I say go, just go at once. If we get caught doing this, it’s the end for both you and me. You said you could do anything I said. This is it for today.”

Before she could hear Dustin’s answer, Andra slammed the door to the bedroom. She then looked around the living room for a moment and as soon as she was sure nothing was wrong she opened the front door.

Elverika stood there holding a small present. Andra greeted her with a small smile calmly.

“Elver, you’re here?”

“Oh, you just washed up? Your hair is still wet.”

As Elverika stepped inside, she glanced at Andra. The wet hair and thin robe. It hadn’t been long since she woke up? As she accepted the gift Elverika gave her, Andra nodded in a sort of yes. After that, she checked to see if there was anyone else in the hallway outside the door before closing it shut.

“Are you done packing your bags?”

Elverika asked, looking around the room lightly. She saw luggage bags piled up on one side of the living room.

Andra set the kettle on the small stove and hurriedly fetched refreshments while Elverika sat on the couch and took off her outerwear. Andra answered briefly as she sat down across from her and put down the teacup with arms that were almost trembling.

“Tes, almost.”

“Didn’t you say you were leaving tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, tomorrow morning.”

“It will take two months?”

“Maybe.”

“At this rate, I will graduate first.”

Elverika joked and laughed lightly. Don’t talk nonsense. Andra smirked and smiled to respond to such a joke.

In fact, while she was pretending to be nonchalant, Andra was paying considerable attention to her bedroom. She had urged Dustin to leave right away, but she wasn’t sure whether he really did leave right away.

“Are you going to write the thesis there? But will there be time? Data is sparse.”

“If it gets too long, the professor says she will find the materials and send them to me.”

“See. Professor Vellot is like giving you such favors now?”

“What are you saying? I don’t think I’m favored?”

As Elverika said that, Andra waved her hand. But Elverika clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“You’re pretending not to. Just think about it. As her dear student, you are the esteemed daughter of House Avellin, and on top of that, you’re a significantly rare Awakened. It’s like she’s won the protégé lottery.”

“The professor is great enough on her own. Considering how many papers she’s published….”

“It’s because everyone has just been keeping it at a hush. After accepting you, Professor Vellot’s work must have gotten a lot smoother. In the beginning, everyone was making a fuss trying to recruit you.”

Hearing Elverika’s rebuttal, Andra was at a loss. It is true that she had quite a few professors who, after she entered the academy, volunteered to be her advisor and tried to recruit her into their lab. It was because Andra scored the highest among the admissions that year, and she was a lady of House Avellin.

If the academy was like a liberal arts course for nobles, the academy was like a gateway to commoners. As such, it was natural that the majority of the social class that made up the academy were commoners. Of course, as time went on, it was different from the past when the discrimination of status was clear, but the discrimination of status still exists.

For example, even in the same major, professors with higher status tended to receive better support. It’s because the majority of the class holding the money are of high status. Since commoners do not have many opportunities to mingle with the nobles, the opportunity to appeal to them for research naturally decreases.

The government provides support, but since the budget is limited, there are many professors who do not receive support.

“Besides, the Marquis even invested in the academy. So I thought that if they took you with them, of course there would be a lot of support. So everyone tried to take you.”

“I went under Professor Vellot on purpose because of that.”

Professor Vellot was one of the few professors who did not pay attention to Andra. When the other professors tried to accommodate her little by little to ingratiate themselves with her, Professor Vellot treated Andra as a normal undergraduate. Seeing that, Andra had chosen Professor Vellot as her advisor. She thought that professor Vellot would look at her and guide her objectively.

“I thought you were crazy. Because you went to the notorious Professor Vellot on your own and asked her to accept you. How many times have you been rejected again?”

“Three times.”

“See, Professor Vellot rejected you three times. Go and find a professor who can help you.”

Professor Vellot did not readily accept Andra as her student. The first time she was asked, she got offended. On the second time, she got angry. Then, on the third time, she called Andra naive. However, on the fourth visit, Professor Vellot told Andra, ‘The student is very persistent. Why is a young lady who has grown up precious to go through so much trouble?’ She accepted her then.

And so, Andra, like the other undergraduates, was promptly beaten into shape by Professor Vellot throughout her life at the academy. It was for this reason that she did not go to the East for over two years.

“You chose the wrong advisor. If you had chosen a professor other than that crazy professor, you’d have graduated already.”

“I know it, too. What a crazy professor though. My professor’s personality is a bit eccentric, but she’s excellent at one skill and has a lot to learn from. I learned a lot while attending the academy.”

“My professor… look at how you covered for her. Do you still like Professor Vellot after receiving so many rejections from her?”

“You’re too hard on her. It wasn’t that much. I mean… What’s the point if you’re going to graduate by writing a thesis so easily?”

Although sometimes Andra regrets choosing Professor Vellot, she wasn’t quite as bad. It’s true that she rejected a lot of the things Andra did, but Andra learned a lot in the end.

Professor Vellot was a great scholar, and she was certainly a better person than Andra. She was a person who started from the bottom as a commoner and rose to become an elite professor at the academy. A few years ago she even received a national award.

“Then would you help Professor Vellot if she asked for help using your Awakened abilities?”

“…I probably should, right? She’s my mentor. In fact, I don’t think it’s bad to work with her for a short period after graduation.”

“What are you talking about?”

Professor Vellot was strict and eccentric towards the undergraduate students under her, but she was surprisingly considerate of partners of equal status. She could tell from seeing Shamune at the Aslan ruins the other day. With that kind of treatment, she thought it would be all right to work with Professor Vellot. Because she still had a lot to learn from Professor Vellot.

“It was my fault that my thesis topic got changed this time. I should have prepared more solid data and results before asking her about it, but I skipped the process a little because I was in a hurry.”

“You’ve become possessed by a witch, I’m sure of it.”

“Anyway, I can still bear it. It’s something I’ve been determined to do since entering the academy anyway. Because I didn’t want my status to hinder my studies.”

At that time, the kettle made a boiling sound and whistled. Andra hurriedly turned off the stove, took the teapot, and started pouring water into the teacup she had previously filled with tea leaves. Soon, steam rose from the teacup. She put one in front of Elverika and one in front of her.

“Is it okay?”

“What?”

“About Lord Airak.”

Suddenly, there was a thumping sound from inside the bedroom. At the same time, Andra’s heart also thumped.

“What?”

“Huh?”

Andra decided to just play along for now. But Elverika narrowed her brows and pointed toward the bedroom.

“I heard something in the bedroom earlier.”

“Uh… I left the window open and came out, so the wind must have pushed something.”

He hasn’t left yet? Andra carefully set the kettle down, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

“Really? Shouldn’t you take a look inside? What if you lost something important?”

“It’s okay. There is nothing important inside. It was like that last time too. Don’t worry too much.”

Fortunately, Elverika didn’t seem to care too much. She picked up the teacup and blew on her tea, then opened her mouth again as if recalling it.

“Right, about Lord Airak. He’s going with you, right? Are you okay?”

“Ah… That. He’s going with the princess anyway, so he won’t run into me much, right? It’s okay, we need to distinguish between public and private life…”

“Still. You had a big fight last time. What if Lord Airak quarrels with you again?”

“No way… How could he pick up a fight when we’re traveling with the Princess and the Prince? I can ignore him even if he picks a fight. If he thinks about it, he should act carefully. Or I can avoid him.”

Saying that, Andra secretly glanced at the bedroom door. Was he listening? It was the first time she had ever said anything like this before because she had always criticized Dustin right in front of him.

“You are having a hard time. Of course, you’re entangled with the Lord again this time? Wow, just thinking about it is really horrible. You don’t even want to look at each other from afar, but now you have to move together for several days up close.”

Andra just laughed at Elverika’s words. Did Elverika even have a clue? That Andra and Dustin were maintaining a relationship that was no different from being f*ck buddies. Even the fact that Dustin likes her these days and is begging Andra on his knees.

She also felt that her relationship with Dustin should be kept a secret forever, so she naturally changed the topic.

“I should endure it. Rather than that, it rained yesterday.”

“Oh right, it rained a lot yesterday. You went to the imperial palace, nothing happened, right?”

“Yes, after I went to the imperial, I took a nap then woke up because of the rain.”

“The rain kept pouring until dawn. The lightning strikes were particularly loud, too, enough to wake up with a start because of them.”

There was lightning? Andra thought about last night for a moment. Then she hurriedly cleared her head, embarrassed because of the feeling from her lower body. It’d been feeling hot for a long time now, and it began to flinch again as a result of that. Her body must have really gone mad.

Andra, who suddenly felt a fever in her face, couldn’t bear to look up and just stared at the teacup.

“Oh, really? Maybe it’s because I slept well… I didn’t hear it.”

“You didn’t? It was really loud.”

“Uh… I must have been too tired.”

“Well, you have a lot to prepare for these days. If you’re tired that makes sense.”

“Yes…”

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