0&1 Ch 21.12

Idella Eclair’s bad luck had started the day before.

When she woke up in the morning, there was a letter waiting for her from home. Idella read the letter, recognizing her father’s signature, and threw it into the fireplace.

She could fail the academy entrance exam. She would fail the academy entrance exam.

There was no way she could beat all those talented students and get accepted.

As Idella made her way to the capital with nothing but the clothes on her back, she was constantly thinking about that.

Idella Eclair was reasonably intelligent and skilled with her hands. She knew how to bargain at the market and find work anywhere.

She had been doing this since she was a child, so it wasn’t difficult for her. But could she get into the academy?

That was another matter. Idella had come to the capital on a whim.

Her father said he was disappointed that she was not a son and that she was not beautiful.

She had never been able to please her father because she was full of flaws.

As a child, she believed that everything she did was wrong. When she grew up, she thought that her family was wrong and wanted to leave home so badly that she felt sick.

Before her family fell into ruin, her tutor said to her in a gentle voice: “If you are a bright young lady, you could go to an academy.”

“What is so good about going to an academy?” asked young Idella.

The tutor paused for a moment. “Well, you would be able to live on your own…”

Why did those words flash through her mind?

Her parents had no income. If things continued this way, they would all go under. With Idella’s daily wages, it was difficult enough to maintain the mansion.

If that was the case, she might as well get a professional career.

“I want to go to the academy. Please let me go.”

Idella’s father looked at her with pity.

“Dreams are for the night, Idella. Didn’t I tell you not to let our daughter read so much?”
“I’m sorry, dear. But…”

Her father began to lecture her mother.

Idella ran out of the house that day and boarded a carriage bound for the capital.

Damn the Eclair family. May they all go to hell.

With thoughts like these, she would never become a good and kind bride.

Idella filled her heart with curses. She unpacked her belongings at a shabby inn on the street where the academy was located and immediately started looking for a job.

After working and living like a local for a month, the inn was soon filled with students from outside the city.

They studied and talked at the inn and cafes. They shared their anxieties and expectations with their families, relatives, and servants who had come with them.

Idella thought they lived such charmed lives.

She made time to study by cutting back on sleep. Even so, she couldn’t help but study far less than the other students.

Idella was on the verge of going crazy with anxiety.

She entered the exam room trembling. The moment she received the exam paper, her mind went blank.

She took a deep breath and wrote her answers, but when she left the exam room, she couldn’t even remember what she had written.

The next day, she broke eight plates while carrying them at the inn. She skipped dinner that night to pay for the damage and didn’t eat anything the next morning either.

She couldn’t sleep well because she heard the student in the next room sobbing all night. The old inn had terrible soundproofing.

Then she received a letter from her father.

She used the letter as kindling and packed her bags. It would have been even worse if she had seen the letter after finding out she had failed.

But it was bad enough as it stood.

Could she try again next year?

Idella doubted it.

Working and studying seemed even more impossible now that she was here.

Most of the students who came to take the academy exam had the financial means to do so.

There were no other students like Idella who had to earn a living. Idella had expected that there would be a significant number of working students, so it was difficult for her to accept that the only people working in this city were residents who had no intention of applying to the academy.

Are there really so many wealthy people in the world?

In any case, she had to check the list of successful applicants. If she was going to give up, she wanted to do it properly.

In fact, what Idella hated most was that she couldn’t give up hope even in this situation.

Filled with self-loathing, Idella served people eating an early dinner and received tips.

She thought the tips would pay for her bus fare home.

She washed the dishes and said goodbye to the innkeeper. The innkeeper said to her, “You can’t even walk outside at this hour. Why don’t you go out after the list of successful candidates is posted?”

“I’m going to check the list of successful candidates,”

“Why?” The innkeeper looked puzzled.

“I took the academy exam too.”

“You’re joking!” The innkeeper laughed.

When Idella didn’t laugh in response, he asked, “You’re not joking?”

“No. I’ll be going now.”
“Isn’t the academy exam only for nobles?”

“No.” Idella said that and added after a moment, “I am a noble.”

The innkeeper stared blankly at Idella. Until the very end, he seemed unsure whether Idella was joking or not.

Idellla headed toward the academy.

She had thought she’d abandoned her pride as a noblewoman long ago. Her face flushed. She had said something she shouldn’t have.

The inn where she was staying was far from the main road and relatively quiet. She fanned her face with a hand fan.

Silly Idella. How foolish…

However, the road to the academy converged into one, and she was soon swept away by the crowd of other students.

She thought that once she arrived at the academy, she would be able to see if her name was on the list.

It was a ridiculous thought. People pushed her forward endlessly.

Idella was glad she was wearing leather shoes. They were dark in color and sturdy, so they didn’t get damaged even after being stepped on several times.

Idella was pushed to the brink of being crushed three times before she was able to pass through the main gate.

People trying to check the list pushed Idella aside. She was cut off from the main group. She staggered, hugging her bag and trying to keep her balance, but she bumped into someone.

It was a huge man. His body was like a rock.

Idella fell on her butt. She let out an undignified scream.

Only after falling did she realize that there were two men. The tall man was holding the other man.

What is this, a nobleman and his servant? Idella thought so, but then she remembered that private servants were not allowed inside the academy.

So what is this?

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” A soft voice asked her.

Idella raised her head. Before she could respond, she noticed his distinguished face.

He was a boy who looked like he had never experienced hardship in his life. He had the neat appearance of an academy student, just as Idella had imagined when she thought of the academy.

He reached out his hand, and Idella instinctively tried to grab it.

At that moment, she saw her dirty gloves. They were the only gloves she had.

The expensive gloves made of young calfskin didn’t fit her hands perfectly, but she always wore them when she was in a formal setting.

It was the etiquette of aristocratic society. Discerning aristocrats would have found Idella’s gloves unsatisfactory, but Idella observed the minimum etiquette.

It wasn’t that Idella didn’t know how to be polite. She was simply in a situation where she couldn’t be polite.

The same was true of her doing the work of a commoner and not being ashamed of it. It wasn’t because she didn’t know shame.

It was because it was much more shameful to hold her head high as a noblewoman while not working and not being able to support herself.

However, she felt ashamed when the male student couldn’t bring himself to touch her dirty gloves.

The male student looked so noble and like a student of the academy, and he seemed to have everything she could ever want.

This person has never had the same worries as her. He has never felt the same shame as her.

He probably wasn’t even aware that he had embarrassed her.

The boy turned his head away, as if it were polite not to look at Idella. Perhaps he thought she looked shameful.

Idella felt her face flush with heat.