Chapter 67
Scarlett walked quickly toward the official residence.
When she opened the door with Blight’s guidance, she coughed at the harsh cigarette smoke wafting out.
Victor, who had been looking at a map, turned his eyes to her. Seeing her urgent face, he asked in a relaxed tone.
“Do you love me?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“That’s a pity.”
At his answer, Scarlett sighed and responded.
“Can’t you confirm it some other way?”
“Why? This way’s efficient.”
Every time Victor asked if she loved him, her heart would skip a beat. At some point, she began to fear she might accidentally blurt out yes.
She let out a long sigh before speaking.
“If I’m going to build an aircraft, I think I need to study more professionally. So… I’d really like you to help me enroll in the Salantie Institute of Technology.”
“……”
“With a recommendation, something like that…”
Instead of answering, Victor stared at her intently.
Scarlett looked uneasy and continued.
“You said you would, didn’t you?”
“Of course I will.”
After saying that, Victor paused, then spoke.
“Wouldn’t private tutoring be better? I can bring in a professor for you.”
“How would you bring a professor?”
“I’ll just order them to go to your house.”
His calm reply made Scarlett freeze. Every time he spoke like that, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of man she had really been living with.
Instead of answering, she shook her head. Victor then stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, pulled out a sheet of stationery, scribbled something on it, and stood up. He handed the letter to her and said,
“I’ve already made arrangements. Take this with you. Next time, let me know before you come.”
“Why?”
“You said you hate the smell of smoke.”
“Well… yeah.”
Victor pushed her gently out the door and closed it behind her. Scarlett fiddled with the letter in puzzlement.
As she was about to depart, Palin came running from afar.
“I’ll escort you.”
“What? That’s too much trouble—”
“Not at all.”
Palin gave her a reassuring grin.
Even while boarding the tram bound for the Institute, Scarlett worried if this letter would really be enough. Though the University of Salantie itself was inside the royal city, the Institute of Technology was located outside the capital.
Nearly two hours later, she got off at the stop. Blinking, she looked up at the building.
“…That’s it?”
It looked so old she wondered if it was even right to enroll here.
Palin also frowned, clearly unimpressed.
“Looks more like a school from a small village.”
Scarlett fiddled with the recommendation letter as they walked through the entrance.
In Salantie, the southern lands were fertile and bought up by nobles for farmland, but the northern lands were barren. If Palin hadn’t led the way, snow would’ve poured right into Scarlett’s boots.
He opened the Institute’s gate, icicles still hanging from it. Just then, a male student who had been about to step out froze at the sight of them. Looking at Palin, he said,
“You have good genes.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Leave lots of descendants. A small number of elites save many lives. Though they exploit too. Do you like exploitation?”
“…No.”
“Then you may pass on your genes. Farewell.”
After bowing, the student was about to leave but paused to address Scarlett.
“Of course, you also have good genes, miss, but I’m clumsy at talking to women. I’d only spout nonsense, so I’ll stop here.”
And with that, he vanished down the path.
Scarlett and Palin stood baffled at the gate, then decided to head straight to the president’s office with the recommendation.
Just then, a bespectacled female student stepped out of a nearby room and called to them.
“Excuse me.”
Scarlett, thinking she might end up studying with this person, smiled.
“Yes?”
“What are you here for?”
“Oh, to enroll… I have a recommendation letter.”
“What field?”
“Engineering.”
“We found an engineer!”
At her shout, two male students rushed out, handed Scarlett jars and papers, and said,
“We’ve got all the theory done. We just need an engineer to implement it.”
“And please open this jam jar with it.”
The three thrust the jar at Scarlett, the smallest among them.
Looking bewildered, Scarlett accepted the jar. Palin, watching with an indescribable expression, snatched it, easily opened it, and handed it back. The students looked awkward.
“Didn’t anticipate that variable.”
“How could we expect an alpha male to show up here?”
“We included finding a banned engineer in our plan, though.”
“This is the Institute of Technology. Probability of an engineer appearing is higher than an alpha male.”
Palin bent toward Scarlett and whispered,
“…Let’s just leave. They’re strange.”
But Scarlett showed him the documents.
“Sir Palin, you received top-tier education, right? Can you understand this?”
“Not at all. Philosophy was the most important subject for us.”
The students scoffed.
“Ha, philosophy?”
“Completely useless in real life.”
Palin retorted,
“I was the one who opened the jam jar.”
“……”
“Let’s go, my lady.”
Scarlett nodded and walked on with Palin’s escort. Entering the president’s office, she smiled politely.
“Nice to meet you.”
A middle-aged woman replied with a weary expression.
“It’s rare to hear such an ordinary greeting here.”
She came forward, extending her hand.
“Eliza Palmire.”
“I’m Scarlett Crimson.”
Scarlett handed her the recommendation letter. Eliza read it and said,
“I was informed in advance. But as you can see, I’m not someone who can teach. This place is for research. Those who could teach… well, they all happened to die.”
Scarlett only smiled back at Eliza’s scrutinizing gaze.
Eliza Palmire was a supervisor. She didn’t bother hiding it and warned frankly.
“As you probably know, the state doesn’t want this Institute to make any major discoveries.”
“I see.”
“And honestly, I doubt we’ll ever make anything groundbreaking. So we take it easy. Let’s grab coffee sometime.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, Miss Scarlett Crimson, you didn’t need a recommendation letter at all.”
Scarlett looked at her.
Eliza continued.
“As the daughter of House Crimson, you can just walk right in here. Conveniently, there’s an empty lab. Use it as you wish.”
With just a few notes filled in on admission papers, her enrollment was complete.
The Institute had 26 students—including Scarlett—and 4 professors.
Scarlett wondered if it was always this easy, or if things went smoothly only because of Victor Dumfelt.
After finishing enrollment, she left the office and checked the campus map Eliza had given her. Just then, the girl who couldn’t open the jam jar earlier came running, trying to grab Scarlett’s arm. Palin blocked her.
Startled, the girl blinked, and Palin smiled reassuringly.
“You mustn’t touch the young lady. She’s of noble birth.”
Scarlett wanted to say, Wow, you’re really helping me fit in here, but she couldn’t. Palin hadn’t even wanted to escort her, yet he had come along.
The girl withdrew her hand and said, blinking.
“I’m Kerstin…”
“I’m Scarlett.”
“I’m of House Roscher.”
“Oh, I’m from House Crimson.”
“T-then, the Earl and Countess Crimson are—!”
“My parents.”
“See! She’s the daughter of the Crimson Count and Countess!”
Kerstin shouted, and everyone nearby rushed over. The boy who had spoken about genes earlier asked,
“She’s really from House Crimson?”
“Yeah! See, I told you she looked like them!”
“Wow, someone from a true noble lineage has arrived.”
Palin kept them from touching her, frowning uncomfortably.
Scarlett whispered,
“Palin, I need to get along with them too, so don’t be too harsh.”
“You truly want to get along with them?”
“Yes.”
Palin looked as if he would never understand, but resigned himself and nodded.
“Regardless, I’m not leaving. If you so much as get a scratch, the captain will kill me.”
One student asked,
“Captain? What captain?”
“Our captain. She’s the ex-wife of Sir Victor Dumfelt, captain of the Rubid.”
The students whispered.
“A Crimson married to Captain Dumfelt?”
“Well… sounds like a marriage between equally ranked families.”
“Yeah. Dumfelt may not be quite as prestigious as Crimson, but being the alpha male leader, he must have good genes.”
To them, the Crimson family was unparalleled—descendants of a great couple of inventors, a peerless house of nobility.
Scarlett felt strangely touched by their reverence.
