.jpg)
"I don't think we're close enough for you to visit, but thank you for coming anyway."
Rosia's eyes immediately welled up with tears at Ayla's words.
"Why do you have to talk like that, Ayla? It makes me feel so distant."
"Could you just tell me what you came here for?"
Her cold tone was very irritating, but Rosia sniffled and continued.
"My whole family is depressed because of you. No matter how desperate you are, how could you use a Monster's egg to use Forbidden Magic?"
"……."
"I understand that you're upset about being kicked out of the Noble house. But how could you tarnish Blanche's name in such a terrible way? Why did you do that?"
Ayla stared at what Rosia was doing, as if trying to figure out what she was up to.
Rosia continued her passionate performance, unfazed by her gaze.
"Did you do this because you wanted to beat me in the exam? Did you hate me that much?"
Ayla scoffed inwardly as she listened, but outwardly denied it calmly.
"I don't hate you."
"What?"
"And I didn't hide a Monster's egg, nor did I use it for Forbidden Magic. There's nothing to worry about, so you don't have to worry about tarnishing the Noble house's name. The detailed results will be revealed soon through the investigation."
Rosia blinked blankly at her words.
To claim so confidently that it wasn't a Monster.
Her mind was instantly thrown into confusion.
She even began to doubt whether her knowledge as a Mage of the Magic Tower was wrong.
Unable to believe it, Rosia shouted.
"Why do you keep lying to me, Ayla? I saw the egg! How can that big, dark, ominous-looking egg not be a Monster's egg!"
Ayla tilted her head with a puzzled look at Rosia's words.
"What are you talking about? How do you know what the egg looks like? Only the professors have seen it. Could it be... were you the one who reported me, Rosia?"
Ayla looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Rosia was momentarily speechless. She had said something she shouldn't have in her excitement at Ayla's words.
"I... I just wanted to set you straight before you went down a worse path."
Rosia made a brief excuse and began to try to persuade Ayla.
"You don't have to take it so badly. I'll help you. So confess what you've done now. You used that egg to cure your Mana insensitivity, didn't you? If you haven't done anything else, they might take that into consideration."
"……."
"If you tell the truth, I'll ask my father. I'll ask him to bring you back to the Noble house. That way, even if you're kicked out of the academy, you'll have somewhere to go."
Rosia's tone was gentle.
She was persuading her as if she was really worried about Ayla.
But Ayla shook her head firmly at her words.
"As I said before, I'm innocent. So I won't be confessing anything."
"That can't be true, Ayla. Just tell me the truth?"
Rosia's voice grew louder and louder.
Ayla stared at Rosia for a moment, then laughed in disbelief.
Then she said in a flat voice.
"Why are you so insistent on denying my innocence? It's like you don't want this to be resolved, but that I actually committed a crime."
"What?"
"Did you really come to see me because you care about the Noble house? If I get arrested, you'll be the top student in the Faculty of Magic. Can you say that has nothing to do with your attitude?"
"……."
"If you wanted to beat me, you should have taken the top spot with your own strength, Rosia. Compete fairly with your skills."
The moment she heard those words, Rosia's eyes flashed.
What is she saying?
How dare Ayla.
She stole my man, stole my place, and stole the honor that I deserved.
She was furious.
"You lowly commoner!"
Rosia finally lost her temper and stood up from her seat, slapping Ayla hard across the cheek.
Slap!
With a sharp sound, Ayla's head drooped helplessly.
That's when it happened.
"Ayla!"
The door burst open and Kadin and Cedric rushed into the visiting room.
Rosia's eyes instantly shook with panic. She looked more surprised than Ayla, who had been slapped.
Regardless, Kadin and Cedric hurried to Ayla's side.
Her cheek was red and swollen in an unsightly manner.
Kadin gritted his teeth as soon as he saw Ayla's injury.
Then he turned around and walked straight towards Rosia. Rosia was trembling.
Kadin found Rosia's appearance disgusting.
Ayla was the one who had been slapped, so why was she the one who was panicking?
'It must be because she's been exposed for bullying Ayla.'
Kadin asked Rosia sternly.
"What the hell were you doing here?"
"Kadin, senior, I'm..."
"I'm really disappointed in you. Come with me right now."
Rosia's face turned pale at Kadin's words of disappointment.
She trembled and desperately spat out excuses.
"I'm innocent, Kadin, senior. If you knew what Ayla said to me, you wouldn't say that. I didn't do anything wrong."
Kadin frowned in annoyance.
He, too, had heard Ayla and Rosia talking outside the door.
Ayla's tone had been consistently calm and rational. She was just asserting her innocence.
On the contrary, it was Rosia who had cornered Ayla and made accusations.
Besides, wasn't it Rosia who couldn't control her anger and ended up slapping her?
Kadin said in a cold voice.
"Please just come with me. I don't want to cause a scene."
He had even abandoned the attitude of being kind to her out of obligation.
Tears welled up in Rosia's eyes at the sight.
She wanted to make excuses, but the two men's gazes were too sharp.
Especially Kadin's eyes seemed to see through everything.
In the end, Rosia couldn't open her mouth any further and had no choice but to leave the visiting room with Kadin.
Only a heavy silence lingered in the visiting room where Kadin and Rosia had left.
Cedric hesitated for a long time before cautiously opening his mouth.
"Ayla, surely... Rosia hasn't always treated you like this, has she?"
He looked at Ayla's red and swollen cheek and carefully reached out his hand.
But Ayla coldly pushed his hand away.
"Even so, it's none of your business anymore, young master."
She avoided his gaze and carefully touched the spot where she had been hit.
'Rosia's hand is stronger than I thought.'
I knew it from the original story, but it felt different to actually experience it.
In fact, Ayla knew that there was another person who had applied for a visit.
She had heard from the knight that there was someone else who had applied for a visit besides the person she was meeting now.
So she deliberately provoked Rosia.
Whoever was waiting outside the visiting room, it wouldn't hurt her to expose Rosia's true colors.
'I put a lot of thought into figuring out Rosia's feelings and choosing the words that would make her the angriest.'
Sure enough, Rosia easily fell for her provocation and eventually resorted to violence.
However, Ayla was momentarily taken aback when she saw the two men bursting into the visiting room.
'Cedric and... Kadin? What are they both doing here?'
She realized her mistake.
She thought that Kadin would still have bad feelings towards her since she had declared her relationship with Felix last time, and they hadn't had any contact since then.
.jpg)