Chapter 193: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (57)
Chapter 193: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (57)
Clear sunlight filtered through the window, splintering into hexagonal patterns on the floor.
The intensive healing room, where numerous students had been admitted, was simultaneously desolate and bustling. While the actual number of people moving about wasn't large, the anxiety in their footsteps made the atmosphere feel crowded.
The sound of busy feet hurrying across the marble floor echoed repeatedly. Until then, neither Cien nor Lady Ruphesia had uttered a single word.
The Princess wore an awkward smile, while Lady Ruphesia stared back with a blunt, cold gaze. It was a complete reversal of their previous encounter.
Back then, Lady Ruphesia had been trembling, and the Princess had persuaded her with a dignified, alluring poise.
But in just a few days, that dynamic had shattered.
Now, the Princess was a sinner fleeing from the crowds, and Lady Ruphesia was the one treating her with cold indifference.
Of course, it wasn't overt contempt.
Lady Ruphesia remained polite, and though her expression was somewhat subdued, her mask of pretense remained firmly in place.
No matter how much she had become the enemy of the masses within the Academy, Cien was still royalty. She was not of a status that a mere noble of the Empire could dare to face with a stiff neck.
However, there was one unfortunate fact: to Cien, false kindness held no sway.
Within those brilliant light-gray eyes, every one of Lady Ruphesia’s true feelings was being captured.
A cold hostility pierced through Cien’s chest. She could even sense a hint of disappointment within it, which left her feeling somewhat bewildered.
She felt like asking why.
But before the Princess could voice her inner thoughts, Lady Ruphesia spoke first.
“...What brings you here?”
At those words, Cien snapped back to her senses.
Right, now was not the time to dwell on such things.
There was a specific reason Cien had sought out Lady Ruphesia. It was to clean up the mess of the sins she had committed.
Cien had committed many sins against Ian.
Not only had she orchestrated his ostracization and bullying, but the merchant guild belonging to the sister he cherished was on the verge of ruin. There were many other things that needed fixing as well.
One of those matters involved Lady Ruphesia.
The Disciplinary Committee.
In the past, she had forced Lady Ruphesia’s hand to create this opportunity. She had thought she could use it to secretly have Ian Percus expelled.
She never imagined that the exhilaration she felt then would return as such wretched despair.
She had to stop it, no matter what.
Cien had already committed unforgivable sins against Ian. If he were to wake up, she didn't even know what she could possibly say to him.
What if he heard the news that his sister’s merchant guild had collapsed?
To Cien, he was the only one. He was the only person who had ever treated her with sincerity. If such a man were to look at her with eyes full of terrible resentment, what would she do?
She didn't even want to imagine it. The mere fragment of that thought made her body tremble.
She had to stop it.
The first step was this meeting with Lady Ruphesia.
While she hadn't yet found a way to revive the merchant guild run by Ian’s sister, she had to at least harvest the seeds she herself had sown.
Lady Ruphesia already shared a deep-rooted grudge with Ian.
In the past, Ruphesia hadn't been able to act properly due to her fear of him, but no one knew what she might be planning now that she had recently regained her composure.
Thus, Cien was prepared to plead to the point of humiliation, or even use threats if necessary, to change Lady Ruphesia’s mind.
It was a shameless thing to do.
She knew that. Even if foul rumors about this spread through high society, Cien would have no excuse.
But Cien was more desperate than that.
To her, Ian was the only 'real' thing in her life.
She didn't want to cause him pain. She wanted to be acknowledged by him, and she wanted to feel that sincerity that only he could offer once again.
To Cien, who possessed the 'Dragon's Eye' and was forced to see the absolute bottom of human nature, he was like a clear stream amidst a muddy torrent. He was a lifeline dropped from a collapsing sky, a spring found at the end of a long thirst.
Cien gulped, her throat dry.
In truth, she was a girl full of fear and prone to tears. She wanted to wipe away the moisture blurring her vision right this moment, but she barely managed to hold it back.
Steeling her resolve, she spoke with a voice full of determination.
“Um... Lady Ruphesia? About the Disciplinary Committee...”
“I withdrew it.”
That single sentence was enough to silence Cien’s mouth, which had opened after so much internal preparation.
For a moment, the Princess’s expression went blank as she failed to process the words.
However, Lady Ruphesia didn't even look her in the eye as she continued in a low voice.
“It just... started to feel foolish. To be honest, it’s true that I wasn't acting very much like a noble myself. I realized that while talking to Miss Emma.”
Liar. There was no way she would cancel it for such a trivial reason.
A life lived does not lie. Lady Ruphesia was someone who had spent over twenty years as a high-ranking noble, looking down on commoners.
And yet, she was abandoning her pride and her resolve to hold a Disciplinary Committee just because she became friends with a commoner in a few days?
Furthermore, this was a decisive opportunity to establish a connection with the Imperial Household.
In other words, she was hiding something.
Cien’s pupils slit vertically.
She felt shame, excitement, regret, and confusion.
However, she couldn't deduce everything from psychology alone. It was just that the fact that Ruphesia felt such emotions while talking about Ian made Cien feel slightly unpleasant.
Who do you think you are?
Did you even try to fix the situation while enduring all sorts of insults and criticism like I did? How can you hesitate and waver so selfishly, then speak as if you’re graciously forgiving Ian?
You should be kneeling and begging.
Like me, even if you can't be forgiven, you should be slamming your head on the ground and sobbing.
Those words rose to her throat. Just as Cien was about to inadvertently let a trace of that anger slip—
“...Your Highness.”
At Lady Ruphesia’s words, exhaled with a sigh, the Princess’s mouth clamped shut.
Bewilderment filled Cien’s eyes.
Cien was the one who should have been scolding her, yet Lady Ruphesia’s gaze was like that of someone looking at an immature younger sister.
Lady Ruphesia spoke again shortly after.
“Of course, Sir Ian’s behavior might have been offensive. You could criticize his methods. But he is a hero of the Academy... and it’s not like he did those things without reason, right? A-and, he saved many people as well...”
'Sir Ian?' Since when had she started addressing him with such a respectful title?
Cien was the one who used that title first. From the moment they were in the cave, from the moment she learned the truth, she had resolved to respect and honor that man forever.
So how could you use it so easily, and how could you advise me so casually?
But even that anger soon faded.
“...So, please stop bullying Sir Ian. Those who look down from above should possess a broadness of heart.”
It was because that sincere advice had struck deep into Cien’s chest.
It wasn't like that.
Cien had come here to ask her to withdraw the disciplinary charges. But Lady Ruphesia understood her purpose in the exact opposite way.
She seemed to think Cien had come to ensure the Disciplinary Committee was held.
Even if she wondered why, the answer was obvious.
Because that’s what everyone thought.
To be precise, because that’s what everyone wanted to think.
Cien had to be a piece of trash and a bitch until the very end.
She had to be a spoiled brat who, in her rush to protect her pride, ignored the truth and continued to hate and loathe Ian even now.
There were many things she could say in rebuttal.
Countless sentences floated through her mind. If she could just take one of them and fire it off, Lady Ruphesia might bow her head.
But what would that change?
And when she thought about it, all of this was her own sin.
Even this was only a fraction of the pain Ian had to endure. Therefore, she had to bear it.
That desolate conclusion weighed heavily on the Princess’s heart.
Cien’s trembling lips soon curved into a faint smile. With a sorrowful and mournful voice, she smiled brightly and replied.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Lady Ruphesia.”
It didn't matter if no one understood.
After all, to Cien, there was only one person who was 'real' and who could understand her.
Thinking only of that man, Cien swallowed her humiliation and pain over and over again.
She missed the man who lay with his eyes closed more than usual today.
Today was a day she desperately wanted to hear the words he had said to her in the cave one last time.
And so, the girl slowly turned her steps toward the temple.
As if possessed.
As if her only comfort lay there.