Chapter 90

“Your Highness. Are you not going to play with me?”

“I have no time for that.”

It was the break right after the first period.

Nikolai remained glued to his desk, solely focused on studying.

The only reason he even enrolled in St. Sophia was purely for academics.

He had heard that this place was filled with students who only studied and ate.

Nikolai did not know that the academic fervor at St. Sophia truly intensified starting from the fourth year.

“I must place within the top ten of the grade exam…”

The grade exam held once a year.

That was his only goal.

If he placed within the top ten, he could meet Duke Dragania.

That was a promise made.

Nikolai seemed to already be looking forward to that day.

“My father is not pursuing practical benefits.”

Even with immense military power, one cannot simply reject Dragania.

One must learn what to learn from the Duke and acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.

Nikolai could not understand the Emperor, who continued to ignore and dismiss the Duke.

Had he forgotten that the Duke quelled the wars and provided the nation with vast plunder to strengthen it?

Perhaps even if elevating the Dukedom to a Duke’s realm allows for independence, one must maintain a good relationship with Dragania.

“I’ve been thinking too much. First, I must study.”

Shaking his head to dismiss the distracting thoughts, Nikolai once again immersed himself in his pre-studies.

Nikolai was destined to inherit the throne once his father passed away.

Whether or not he became the Emperor was not just his own problem, but the lives and livelihoods of many people serving him were at stake.

To compete with his older sister, who was already far ahead, Nikolai believed the dull education at the palace would not suffice.

To genuinely develop his skills, he needed the teachings of someone with more experience, like the Duke.

That is why Nikolai focused on his studies as if his life depended on it.

“Damn it. I can only solve math problems well.”

The only subject he could easily solve was math, taught personally by Julia.

Though she hadn’t taught him for long, her influence was greater than any other teacher before.

Despite neglecting math for quite some time, it had become the subject he felt most confident in.

‘That girl is in the class next door…’

Tia, Julia’s daughter, was in the next class.

Just being aware of that fact made him uneasy.

Nikolai once again shook his head, trying to erase distracting thoughts.

There was no reason to care about such a foolish and disrespectful girl.

Nikolai was just about to dive back into his problem set when—

“Your Highness!”

“What is it now?”

Someone called him urgently.

Nikolai, angry and suppressing his irritation, decided to hear what was going on.

“A child from Class 3 received star points!”

“Don’t make a fuss. Star points are generously given to new students as an example.”

“That’s not it! They received 15 star points at once! They say Tia is a half-human girl!”

“What?”

Nikolai’s eyes twitched.

That foolish and disrespectful girl received 15 star points?

Such a thing should not be possible.

No, it must not be.

Nikolai found it hard to accept the reality.

…

“Hahaha! That girl! She really made headlines!”

“This is not something to laugh about, Director…”

Lara, sprawled on the desk, laughed uncontrollably in the principal’s office.

She relayed the news about the 15 star points given at once.

However, the principal could not join in the laughter and merely held her head in frustration.

“So what exactly happened?”

“Well, um…”

Lara, still smiling, turned her head to a corner of the principal’s office.

There, Yuli, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-3, was trembling as she faced the ground, still at attention.

“You can answer now!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Only then did Yuli spring up to respond.

“There was a test during the physical exercise class to briefly check the students’ capabilities. In that test, Tia called forth a phoenix and struck the punch machine, causing it to become impossible to measure…”

“Well, that’s a relief then. If she had punched it herself, it would have broken.”

“What? That can’t be! The punch machine is built to withstand magical artillery!”

“It seems the principal still doesn’t understand that child.”

Is there a limit to what a human eye can perceive?

Lara sighed in regret.

She wasn’t overreacting; she genuinely feared Tia.

Tia simply did not realize her own strength, and fundamentally, spirits were regarded as mere sparkling insects.

She might be stronger than a dragon or perhaps even stronger.

“In any case, it’s outrageous. In eight years, there might be one student collecting 15 star points per grade. But to gather all 15 from first grade… Yuli, you’ve caused a massive incident.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Huh? Why? That wish, we can grant it, can’t we? How significant could a child’s empty wish really be?”

“Well, you see… Director… the wish is actually…”

“…?”

The principal cautiously brought it up.

She couldn’t bear to meet Lara’s gaze.

Tia’s wish was something so outrageous it surpassed Lara’s imagination.

As curiosity started to brew within Lara’s tilted head, she wondered what it might be.

*

“Ugh…”

Was it because of fatigue, or was it that I had just dozed off?

I had a dream I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

It was a dream in which a woman called my name urgently…

It felt eerily unsettling and was quite a frightening nightmare.

Even now, I felt a light sweat on the back of my neck.

“Tsk. It’s not going well.”

After about 30 minutes of sleep, my experiment to obtain pure poison was still stagnant.

I tried various separation methods using solubility, melting points, and density differences besides distillation.

Through that process, many substances were separated from Tia’s saliva.

However, I still hadn’t managed to obtain pure poison.

Compared to the initial separation, things had become much purer, but it still wasn’t enough.

I could only be satisfied once it reached a level where it wouldn’t deteriorate even with long-term storage.

Only then could Tia’s poison be weaponized.

“Is this even possible…?”

Doubt began to creep in.

Was I trying to solve an impossible task from the start?

Perhaps it was a special substance unique to this world that could only be completely separated through magical means.

If that’s the case, then right now, I wouldn’t have any way to deal with it.

Only by knowing how to use magic could purification finally be possible.

But it’s still too early to conclude like that.

If I refine it a bit more, I might be able to obtain ‘pure poison.’

After all, it’s also a weapon that I might need to use on Alexander, so I intended to complete it well before his first tutoring session.

“Alright. Let’s go back to the beginning and try distillation again. This time, I’ll raise the temperature to extreme heat…”

Just as I was about to persist and start over from square one.

When I checked the time, it was getting close to when school would be letting out and Tia would be returning home.

I was quite comfortable without Tia all morning, and I thought it would have been better if she stayed away until the afternoon.

Surely, St. Sophia doesn’t have something like a study break.

Hastily, I organized my experimental tools and looked out the window to see a carriage approaching.

It was perfectly timed.

I rushed to the main gate to greet Tia.

Just a moment ago, I had been wishing she wouldn’t come back, but now, the thought of seeing her again made my heart race.

“Mom! Mommy!”

As expected, Tia burst out of the carriage and ran toward me.

I embraced her tightly and took a moment to savor the smell of her hair.

Hmm. A pungent smell.

She had definitely washed her hair in the morning.

It seems the oiliness was causing this.

“Did you have fun at school?”

“Mm! It was super fun! I got star points today, Mom!”

“Oh, really?”

“Muhuhu!”

Tia grinned proudly.

Star points. A sort of bait to train kids.

I heard that it takes about three years on average for a student to gather all their star points.

But if they were too stingy with them, the kids would lose their motivation, so they sprinkle them early on to encourage the new students.

“How many did you get?”

“I gathered them all!”

“What? You gathered them all? What do you mean by that?”

“15! I got them all today!”

“…?”

For a moment, I had to doubt my ears.

Did she really gather all 15 star points?

On the second day?

The idea was so absurd that I couldn’t muster even a hollow laugh.

Regardless of my confusion, Tia proudly brought her clenched fist forward.

“So, I made a wish! It’s Tia’s now!”

Tia’s fist slowly opened.

In that moment, a yellow light seeped between her fingers.

On Tia’s palm sat a familiar fairy, trembling slightly.

“Sparkle! From now on, Sparkle belongs to Tia!”

“…”

It was Principal Lara.

Suddenly, it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I really can’t handle this…

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