CICN Chapter 9
by xxsienna
As soon as Ivy noticed the man’s reddened eyes, she found herself blurting out,
“Did you cry?”
At her words, the man flinched and slowly rose to his feet.
‘Tall.’
The unfamiliar man was tall.
He wasn’t as bulky as the sailors who occasionally helped out at the orphanage, but Ivy felt a greater sense of intimidation than she did back then.
However, she wasn’t scared.
As she stared at him, she remembered his reddened eyes.
She knew why someone’s eyes turned like that. It was because they were so sad that they wanted to cry but had to hold back their tears.
Holding the bouquet in one hand, she dug into her pocket.
‘There it is!’
Inside her pocket was the handkerchief she’d received with her clothes earlier in the day.
It was spotless, with the academy’s logo embroidered in one corner. She had kept it neatly folded inside her pocket.
It was brand new, never used.
She’d purposely kept it deep in her pocket for fear of touching it, but she didn’t hesitate to hand it to the man.
“…….”
“…….”
But the man just stared at the handkerchief she offered without saying a word.
So, in the end, she had to speak first.
“Please use this.”
“…….”
Despite her urging, the man still didn’t move and just kept staring.
So Ivy spoke again.
“I just got this today. It’s clean!”
A long time ago, when she was doing cleaning chores at the advanced school, someone had fallen.
At that time, she had a handkerchief made by the director and had hurriedly taken it out to wipe their bleeding wound.
But the person brushed away the handkerchief she offered, saying, “Where did you get such a dirty rag from the orphanage?”
Remembering that moment, she quickly added,
“I really haven’t used it once.”
The large hand grabbed the handkerchief she offered.
Perhaps it was so big that not only did it hold the handkerchief, but it also enveloped Ivy’s hand.
Then, the man cautiously took the handkerchief from her hand.
Feeling the warmth remaining in her hand, she clenched and unclenched her empty hand.
“Thank you.”
The man replied curtly in a gruff voice.
It might have sounded like he was angry, but Ivy wasn’t afraid.
Although the man took the handkerchief, he didn’t wipe his eyes with it.
Instead, he shifted his gaze between the handkerchief and Ivy before posing the question.
“But who are you?”
Meanwhile, Clois felt bewildered as he looked at the small handkerchief in his hand.
He had wondered who the intruder hiding here might be, but to think it was just a child.
At first glance, he thought the child was around six years old, but then he realized that the child was wearing the academy’s uniform.
That meant the child was at least seven years old.
Realizing this, Clois almost bit his tongue.
Even if the child was said to be seven years old, she was still too small.
Unless she was sick, it meant she didn’t eat well.
He wondered if she was ill, but her bright eyes looking at him didn’t seem uncomfortable, and her movements didn’t appear awkward either.
‘Who could her parents be, really?’
Clois looked at her, mentally cursing the parents of the child she’d never seen before.
‘But how did an academy student end up here?’
There is no way to get from the academy to this place.
If one were to come through the forest, they would have to push through dense bushes for a long time, yet the child’s clothes looked too neat for that.
Moreover, why would a child he has never seen before be placing flowers on Lillian’s grave?
The child blinked and smiled mischievously in response.
“My name is Ivy Alden.”
Clois stared blankly at Ivy.
He had always imagined how Yvien would smile and speak if she were alive.
But even when he looked at the appearance of girls of a similar age, it was strangely difficult to imagine Yvien’s appearance.
However, when he saw this child’s smile, Clois was convinced.
If Yvien were alive, wouldn’t she smile like this?
And then he chuckled to himself.
If that child were alive, she would have grown up as the only princess of the empire, receiving all the love and affection.
But to imagine Yvien’s appearance from such a small and thin child…
Then, Clois realized that the name the child had mentioned was a name he remembered.
Ivy Alden.
The child from the orphanage whom he hastily selected.
Realizing why the child was particularly small and thin and why she was surprised when he didn’t take the handkerchief, Clois firmly grasped the handkerchief given by Ivy.
At that moment, Ivy spoke up.
“By the way, who are you, Mister?”
Hearing a title he had never heard before in his life, Clois suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
Mister?
Then he realized that he had left behind the coat adorned with decorations inside the palace before coming out.
To the child’s eyes, he must have looked like an ordinary palace staff wearing a shirt and trousers.
Of course, upon closer inspection, one could see that his clothes were much more luxurious than those of others, but just by that, it wouldn’t be easy for someone to recognize him as the emperor.
‘Of course, I have no intention of saying I am the emperor.’
Regardless of whether she believed him or not, he was about to ask how she had come from the academy to here. However, if he immediately said he was the emperor, it seemed difficult to get a proper answer, as she would likely be surprised.
At that moment, Ivy asked again.
“Are you someone who works at the academy?”
As Clois pondered how to introduce himself, a passing name came to mind.
Sian Rochen.
The professor who was said to be absent from the academy, according to the Chancellor. Clois decided to borrow his name for a moment.
“I am called Sian Rochen. I am a professor at the academy.”
Upon hearing that he was a professor at the academy, Ivy’s face brightened. Even though he was a professor, the fact that they were from the same academy seemed to bring her a sense of relief.
At that moment, a loud bell rang in the distance.
Startled by the sound, Ivy turned her head.
According to the orphanage guide, the bell signaled a curfew.
When the bell rang, all the students of the academy had to return to the dormitory, no matter where they were or what they were doing.
“Oh, I have to go now! I have to go back!”
Ivy handed the bouquet of flowers to Clois and hastily picked up the bag she had placed on the ground.
After quickly grabbing his bag, Ivy greeted Clois courteously, as stated in the guidebook, and hurriedly followed the path through the bushes that I had come from.
As Clois held the bouquet handed to him by Ivy, he stared blankly at the scene.
Was there such a path there?
When he tried to call Ivy again, the fast-disappearing child turned around and waved with a smile.
“See you next time!”
As Ivy’s figure disappeared, Clois felt a pang of pain in his chest.
He needed to catch her.
Clois’s instincts were shouting that. Don’t let her go. Bring her to his side.
But his reason, honed over years as an emperor, quickly suppressed his instincts.
What would he do with her?
She was a child who had entered the palace for the first time today.
Furthermore, the child still thought of Clois as simply a professor at the academy.
If he brought her back now, she might freak out.
While he hesitated, the child quickly disappeared into the bushes.
“…….”
Clois remembered Ivy’s face as she smiled and waved a moment ago.
What if that child found out he was the emperor and that this place was off-limits to others?
She’s smart enough to be in the Gifted Academy.
She will quickly realize what a great blasphemy she has committed.
Would she still be able to greet him with the same smile as before?
Clois’s gaze, looking at the path through the bushes that Ivy had taken, turned towards the bouquet in his hand.
It was as rustic as the wreath on Lillian’s grave, but it was neatly arranged with care.
Perhaps Ivy had intended to place it on Yvien’s grave.
But in the end, he accepted it.
“Ha…….”
Clois sighed deeply and sat down heavily in front of the two graves.
Normally, there would be dry leaves scattered around, but there was nothing but cleanliness on the tombstone and the grave.
It was obvious that Ivy had cleaned it up.
‘Does she know whose graves these are?’
