Chapter 170
In the newly established classroom of the Crown Prince’s Palace, a spectacle unfolded that was rarely seen.
“What is this?”
“‘Knowledge must be accumulated, and wisdom must be passed on.’”
“Th-this too?”
“‘This is the testament left by the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the truth that Roland followed, and now the value we must uphold and protect.’”
“And this sentence?!”
“‘It is to inherit the gift left to the world by Roland, who was both a magician and a scholar, and pass it on to humanity. That is the mission that Roland Academy follows.’”
“Th-this?”
“‘Oh God of Knowledge and Wisdom, bless us.’”
Milliart, the linguistics professor who taught the Crown Prince’s basic foreign languages, was visibly shaken.
The sentences that Arellyn read so casually were actually phrases used in the entrance exams of Roland Academy, the world’s most prestigious academy.
‘This is one of the exams designed to filter out anyone not aiming to teach only the most exceptional scholars… and now a seven-year-old has passed it?’
The founding principles of the academy were written in twelve different languages.
‘Even the words that have evolved over time were read with perfect accuracy.’
Professor Milliart felt chills run down his spine.
“Can you read it in the continent’s common language?”
Arellyn tilted her head, then nodded and read it fluently.
“Knowledge must be accumulated…”
The other children, who had heard her read the sentences before without understanding their meaning, now looked at her differently.
“Wow…”
“How can she read that?”
“So difficult…”
“Pfft, I could do that too.”
Watching the other children struggle to grasp the level of what she had just done, Professor Milliart was certain his instinct had not been wrong.
‘A genius. A linguistic genius.’
She wasn’t merely knowledgeable—she fully understood foreign languages. When speaking them, her pronunciation and intonation were as natural as if she were speaking her mother tongue.
This was clearly not a matter of simply memorizing sentences.
Professor Milliart had only ever known one genius at this level.
The legendary prodigy who had even turned down a tenured professorship at Roland Academy and returned to his homeland—Mehen Lebohgen.
He had always wondered why a genius, whose duty was to broaden the base of knowledge, would rot away somewhere like this. And now he realized: they were raising a new genius right here!
“Absolutely remarkable… truly remarkable.”
What had begun as a petty attempt to embarrass her by sighing openly during his lesson—combined with lingering feelings about his old rival, Mehen—ended with Professor Milliart smiling in satisfaction.
“……?”
Arellyn flinched at the intensity of his gaze.
*
The acceptance necklace now proudly rested in my hand.
Since there was nothing for me to learn in the basic foreign language class, I was even allowed to skip lessons.
“Ooooooh!”
“Waaaaah!”
Receiving the admiring gazes of the twins made me shrug my shoulders with pride.
“Arel, you’re smart!”
“Is she a genius?”
It was all thanks to the language patch, Babel or whatever it was.
“But what did you say to the teacher?”
“Right, the teacher held you back after class.”
“Oh, that.”
It was nothing serious.
“She asked me to become her student.”
“……?”
The twins exchanged glances.
“So did you say yes?”
“No?”
My nose was three feet long—what could I do?
As I shook my head, Pession visibly relaxed.
“Thank goodness.”
“Why is that good?”
“I thought you were going to be separated from Arel.”
“…Separated? No way.”
For a brief moment, Pession had apparently imagined me going abroad to study, and his face was all scrunched up.
‘Ah, really.’
Even so, I found it cute. I was doomed.
“You won’t go anywhere to study alone, right? If you go, go with me.”
Seeing Pession’s determination to secure a promise made me smile without realizing it.
I always wondered why Pession liked me so much.
‘I just don’t get it.’
What’s so likeable about me?
“Why are you looking at me like that? You won’t promise?”
“What promise?”
“The promise that you won’t go to study alone.”
Pession extended his pinky finger. His serious expression made me burst out laughing again, as if we were making a major contract.
“Arel seems to be happy just seeing your face, Your Highness.”
“Indeed. They’re in their own world again.”
I heard the twins muttering something beside me, but I only had eyes for Pession.
“I promise. I won’t go study alone.”
Linking my pinky with his, Pession finally beamed.
“I want a promise too!”
“Me too!”
The twins immediately took the opportunity to link pinkies, and even Harun, for some reason, got in on the promise.
That was easy enough.
“Then let’s go play board games now!”
“Hoho. I brought the legendary hit, My Landmark Builder!”
“The winner gets to punish the loser! How about it?”
I smiled at the twins’ suggestion.
“Oh, that sounds fun. Let’s do it.”
*
The so-called My Landmark Builder, which we played all together at our house, was similar to Monopoly.
The only differences were that it was limited to the Albrecht Empire and the family names players received were apparently based on five major ducal houses: Speram, Halberom, Gremwatson, Edikel, Mobisck.
Moreover, each family had different starting capital and perks.
For example, Speram started with twice the capital of other players.
“Ah! Your Highness, you took my land again!”
Halberom could use three Weakness cards at the start to acquire land without landmarks for free.
“Hahaha.”
The Gremwatson perk I chose allowed me to roll the dice three times, and if I hit the jackpot, I could build a landmark for free.
“No way, Arellyn, that’s cheating!”
“How can you build three landmarks for free?!”
“How is this possible?!”
No matter how much the twins complained, I was the winner.
“Come on, step on my land and go bankrupt.”
“Ugh… Speram’s pride…”
Watching us play drew the attention of the passing childcare staff, piqued the interest of the Saren Knights obsessed with gambling, and even caught the attention of Regent Ludwig, who spent the whole day thinking about how to get close to me.
“Ahhh! No! My money!”
Noel went bankrupt first after stepping on my land.
“Ha. No. I can’t die like this.”
“Yes. Goodbye!”
Next was Ciel’s bankruptcy.
“….”
Meanwhile, Harun quietly died after stepping on Pession’s land.
“Hehe.”
“…?”
Finally, Pession, the last to survive, looked at me with bright eyes before going bankrupt.
“Ah, went bankrupt.”
“….”
…Pession going bankrupt was suspicious, but victory was mine regardless.
“Ooooh, as expected of our lady!”
“Congratulations, my lady!”
The childcare staff, who had been silently observing the game, applauded.
“Hmph. Impressive…”
“Yay! Our lady is the best!”
…The unfortunate regent, who had tried to speak but was drowned out by Rena’s fuss, could be ignored.
“See, I told you I’d win! Our lady is the best!”
“Haha, they lost.”
“Damn, I thought the Speram twins would win.”
Let’s ignore these silly adults.
“Ehyo.”
*
The twins’ punishment for losing was to wear bunny ear headbands at the Monday–Friday meetings.
“Wow, so cute!”
“What are these ears?!”
All eyes turned toward them.
“Today we’re bunnies~!”
“The twins are bunnies~!”
Yet the twins only enjoyed the attention.
They weren’t even embarrassed.
I wanted to see them feel shame, but I had chosen the wrong target. If it had been Harun, it would have been the perfect scene.
“…?”
Harun tilted his head in confusion at my gaze, then suddenly shivered.
Relax, I’m not going to eat you.
Pession laughed and slipped between Harun and me, separating us.
“But why are they saying ‘meow’ if they’re bunnies? Do you know, Arel?”
“I don’t know either.”
Regardless, the angelic twins in bunny ears were extremely popular.
They were cute, really cute.
At that moment, Chloe approached the twins.
“Do you want me to make the bunny ears move?”
“Ooooh, how?”
Chloe cast a spell, and the bunny ears on the twins’ heads perked up as if alive.
“Ooooooooh!”
Everyone was amazed at how lifelike the ears seemed.
“…?”
Our eyes met briefly.
Was it just my imagination?
Tilting my head, Chloe walked over and stood in front of me.
“Hello?”
