TWRM 19

<Chapter 19>

The students were bewildered when, after following the scheduled program, they were suddenly given free time.
But soon enough, one by one, they began standing up and heading off somewhere.

Some wandered alone, others chatted with friends they had known beforehand, while some awkwardly exchanged words with newly made acquaintances. Everyone was different.

But among them, the one who stood out the most was Sylvia. The moment free time began, many students flocked toward her.

“Lady Hailus, it is an honor to meet you here.”
“I knew you would be the student representative.”
“If you do not already have plans, would you like to spend time with us?”

Boys and girls alike crowded around Sylvia, eager to talk to her even once.

Sitting beside Sylvia, Selina was naturally pushed to the back.
Holding the cage Luna was in, Selina looked at Sylvia, who was now buried in the crowd.

Was this what being the protagonist felt like?
It was like an idol fan-sign event.

Now completely abandoned like a duck egg by the Nakdong River, Selina scratched her head from a distance.

All the events were over anyway. She had no reason to stay here any longer.

I should just go to the dorm and unpack.

“Ah, wait. I’m actually with a friend…” Sylvia, who normally handled attention with ease, seemed unusually flustered today.

“One moment—do you mean the person sitting next to you?” a girl in the crowd asked.

“Yes, that’s right. She’s a friend I just made…”

Sylvia stretched her neck like a meerkat, checking if Selina was hidden somewhere in the crowd.

“Um… haven’t you heard the rumor?”

“Huh?”

“There’s a rumor going around among commoners that someone named Selina is actually a very notorious witch.”

Sylvia’s mouth fell open.

The moment the word ‘witch’ spread, the crowd erupted.

“Oh right, I was going to talk about that.”
“Is that why it got noisy when she went up as representative?”
“I heard she’s very famous. Rumor says she bewitches people with strange magic and devours them without a trace.”
“What?! Really? How did someone like that get into this academy?”
“I know, right? And she was the representative, too.”
“What if she used witchcraft to steal that position?”

Most Class 1 students were nobles, so they had no way of knowing the truth behind the commoner rumors.
Thus, the rumor grew and grew until Selina being a witch was basically accepted as fact among them.

“You must be careful, Lady Sylvia. What if the witch harms you?”
“Yes, you should not get close to her.”

Sylvester, resting his chin lazily on his hand, watched the noisy group with disgust.
Pathetic, bothersome creatures—hyenas craving scraps from Sylvia and himself.

But apart from that, the rumor about that girl bothered him.

“A witch…” Sylvester muttered softly.
Hearing that, the ‘hyenas’ pounced immediately.

“Exactly! How dare such a suspicious witch approach Miss Sylvia—”
“She must not be left alone!”

Selina had done nothing, yet people already treated her like some vicious witch.

Sylvester’s eyes darkened.
Whether she was a witch or not didn’t matter.

If she threatened his precious little sister in any way—
he would never forgive her.

“A witch…”

Amid the commotion, Sylvia whispered quietly to herself. Her head hung low, hiding her expression.

Her gentle eyes were gone, and a cold aura surrounded her.

Then, with no one noticing—

A faint smile curled at the corner of her lips.

Found her.

* * *

“Hmm… is this the place?”

After wandering around for a while, Selina finally found the dorm building.

There was no one inside. Apparently, no other freshmen had come yet during the free time.

Thankfully, unlike the chaotic experience with class assignments earlier, she could now check the dorm list in peace.

‘The higher the floor, the better,’ Mie had told her.

According to her, the first floor held communal areas—lounges, reading rooms, dining halls—and dorm rooms began on the second floor.

Floors 2 and 3 had sixty four-person rooms.
Floors 4 and 5 had sixty two-person rooms.
And the glorious sixth floor held only twenty single rooms.

At first, she thought she might get assigned to the third floor.
But after everything that had happened, she no longer expected anything normal.

“No way… I’m not on the top floor again, like with the representative position… right?”

Selina bent over, scanning for her name starting from the second floor, slowly going up.

There’s no way. How could I possibly— If I really end up on the top floor, I’ll… I’ll bet my hands in fire…

Her finger froze.

There, at the top, under the large number 6—

was her name.

“W–what…? No way…”

Among the few names on the sixth floor list, Selina’s name stood out more than any other.

Even though tuition was the same for nobles and commoners, dorm fees varied by room quality.
Most commoners lived on lower floors, nobles on higher ones.

Thus, the noble names were clustered together—yet among them, there was just ‘Selina’, without a surname.
It looked extremely out of place.

Maybe it was someone else with the same name?
But the student number beneath ‘Selina’ was 322001.

There was no denying it.

“Are you a new student?”

A sudden voice whispered right by her ear. Selina jumped back in shock.

Clutching her pounding chest, she turned to see a hunched old woman leaning on a cane.
Selina hadn’t sensed her at all. When did she get here?

“Looking for your room? What’s your name?”

“Uh… Selina.”

“Selina…”

The old woman slowly scanned the posted list, then looked back at her.

“That one’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes. That’s right…”

“Then why aren’t you heading up already?”

“I think there might be some mistake. Why was I assigned to the sixth floor…?”

“Mistake? Impossible. I’ve managed this dorm for over thirty years, and not once has the assignment ever been wrong.”

“Wait—you manage the dorm?”

“That’s right. My name is Frizia. I’m the head supervisor here. We’ll be seeing each other often.”

Frizia offered a handshake, and Selina cautiously took her wrinkled, frail hand.

“So, you’re unhappy with your room assignment? Let me see your admission slip.”

Without suspicion, Selina handed it over. Frizia examined it carefully.

“As I thought, no problem.”

“What?”

“You’re the student representative, aren’t you?”

“Well… technically, yes, but I didn’t even know I was…”

“Whether you knew or not, you were chosen. Look here—your student number.”

She pointed at 322001.

“Yes, what about it?”

“The ‘1’ at the end isn’t just given to anyone. ‘32’ is the admission year. ‘2’ means you entered through special consideration. And ‘001’ means you’re the first of the special admits—meaning, the representative.”

Selina had never realized the number had meaning.

“And, you must be the girl from those rumors.”

“…Rumors?”

Again with this. Ever since arriving, professors and students acted like they already knew her.

“There was a rumor that a child sponsored by the Cardinal of the Moon Temple would be joining. That man, who hardly moves for anything, turned the academy upside down over one child.”

Friman! What in the world did you do?!

Selina screamed internally.

“We’ve had smooth relations with the Sun Temple, but the Moon Temple rarely cooperates with the academy. And yet this time, they contacted us first asking us to take good care of you.”

“……….”

“I’m talking about you, child.”

Frizia tapped Selina with her huge cane.

“Of course the academy welcomed you with open arms. In exchange for accepting you, they formed a regular partnership with the Moon Temple. A Moon Temple priest will even serve as a temporary professor this term. Isn’t that fortunate?”

It was beyond anything she could have imagined.

She had suspected Friman slipped someone money—but this was far beyond that.

“Don’t be so nervous. You seem clueless anyway. Just think of it as Friman’s goodwill.”

“Huh? Y—you know Friman?”

Frizia paused for a moment… then pretended not to hear.

“Ahem! This old lady is tired now. Off you go!”

She picked her ear and spun around, walking away.

“You there! A freshman is lost!”

“W-wait—!”

Selina tried to grab her, but another dorm staff member approached immediately.

“You’re lost? Ah! You must be a new student. Tell me your room number and I’ll guide you right away.”

“No, um—!”