I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 77



76 – By sheer coincidence, the number of Tigrova natives around Clara increases.

Click. Click. Click.

Two girls walking down a shabby corridor.

Clara moved silently, trying to get as far away as possible so that the people in the conference room wouldn’t hear their conversation.

Sion followed, staring at the back of Clara’s head as she led the way.

.

She didn’t know where they were going, but she didn’t even have the strength to resist. She was too scared to open her mouth, afraid of what would be confirmed if she asked.

She was dragged along like a piece of paper blown by the wind.

Even as she walked, her mind was blank. Nothing was being sorted out.

Clara, who was ahead, didn’t say a word, and it was driving her crazy.

In Sion’s mind, only the situations she had seen were playing out. Nothing beyond that was forming.

How could this girl know the inside story?

Thud!

Clara stopped walking.

Then she looked around. There were no signs of people or any strange magic. Everyone was gathered in the conference room.

‘This should be fine.’

Relieved, Clara turned her body and lifted her head to look at Sion.

It was finally time to properly introduce herself.

But what greeting.

Clara looked at Sion’s face and her mouth dropped open in astonishment.

“S-Sion, sister!?”

“Ugh…”

Jewel-like tears were dripping down the elf girl’s cheeks.

The sight of her biting her lips as if trying to hold back her emotions added to her desolation.

Recently, Sion often felt sorrowful. But even when she felt that way, her insides would just rot away, and no tears would come out.

The girl guessed that she had become so numb and worn out that tears wouldn’t come out.

But that wasn’t the case.

Now, having been properly shocked, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

Rohan and Clara.

She was holding on, recalling the times the three of them spent together, trying not to let her mind collapse.

Could it be that she had been played with all this time, and that’s why the elders were waiting that day?

Thinking that there might be a possibility, she couldn’t stop crying just from the thought.

“Sister…?”

“You can say it… My life has always been like this… I’m ready to accept it…”

Words delivered while sobbing.

Unlike Rohan, Clara, who didn’t understand Sion’s reaction, anxiously held Sion’s hand tightly.

“It was really hard, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I’m late… Don’t cry…”

“…?”

Tears welled up in the eyes of the girl facing her, just like her own.

Sion snapped back to her senses in an instant.

“Why is your body so cold, sister…? Your face is so pale too…”

Clara took a step closer and hugged Sion.

The elf girl moved her limp arms to embrace the girl who was comforting and hugging her.

Amidst the confusion,

Sion felt it deeply.

‘The warmth of a person… is like this.’

The chill that had penetrated to her bones vanished in an instant.

No words were needed.

With a single action, she realized that her thoughts were nothing but dark delusions and embarrassing misunderstandings.

“Sion, sister…! Brother is here, so don’t worry.”

A delicate hand stroked her back, saying it was okay now.

Sion felt like crying for a different reason because of Clara’s kindness.

What a truly lovely girl.

“Clara. I missed you… I was lonely…”

“I, I missed you too, sister… Ugh!”

Sion hugged Clara tighter.

The warmth from the girl was so comforting that she didn’t want to let go. It felt like that warmth was seeping into her heart.

Just by touching her skin, all the hardships she had endured so far were erased. The consciousness that had been shattered by the shock was neatly mended.

Sion, who had been holding Clara in a silent embrace for a long time, suddenly let go at the unexpected noise coming from the distant conference room.

When Clara’s eyes met Sion’s, she smiled bashfully with a flushed face. The main reason for her smile was that the gloomy aura had disappeared from Sion’s face.

“Even between women, it’s a bit embarrassing…”

“…”

Sion felt the same. It was rare, but she felt embarrassed.

A strange emotion, different from the shame of being unworthy. She kept wondering whether to raise her mask or not.

“Sister, how are you feeling? Have you been eating well?”

At those words, Sion replied that she was fine and took out a canteen, sipping water she hadn’t had in a long time.

After quenching her dry thirst, she asked the most important question.

“Clara, what happened earlier? I still don’t understand…”

“It’s hard to explain since I was just watching what my brother was doing…”

Clara continued to ponder, tapping her protruding lips with her finger.

She didn’t know enough to give a definite answer.

But sitting next to him and watching wasn’t entirely fruitless.

Clara knew one thing for sure.

“I think my brother is being mistaken for someone else. He’s pretending to be that person.”

“Mistaken? Pretending?”

Clara assured her that if she sat and watched for a while, Sion would see that Rohan was acting.

At those words, Sion felt an even deeper sense of being lost in a labyrinth.

Clara’s explanation continued somehow.

“…That’s how we got here.”

“End?”

“Yes…! This is the end.”

“What?”

Sion couldn’t grasp the content of the compressed explanation.

From start to finish, everything was full of questions.

It wasn’t that Clara couldn’t explain, but each sentence was beyond the scope of understanding.

‘Pretend with the information we have? Did she collect it while dealing with the leader in the tunnel? What if she gets caught by mistake?’

Sion was impressed but also worried about Rohan.

Even if the method was bold, wasn’t it excessively bold?

And the actions were also hard to understand.

Were the elders’ skills in keeping information not keeping up with the times?

Or was Rohan just proficient at extracting information?

“Sion unnie…”

“Hmm?”

While Sion was groaning and trying to accept what she had heard, Clara tugged at her collar to catch her attention.

The girl brought her head closer and whispered.

“Ho, are the elves here your family?”

.

If they are precious to you, sister.

Sion understood what the girl in front of her was struggling with.

When it came to using force, Clara couldn’t decide how far she should go.

Family? Are the elders my family?

The time spent together was longer than with her parents.

As a descendant of Testarossa, they were people she had to protect.

I might have thought so in the past.

During the uncertain days, meeting Rohan and Clara broadened her perspective.

Thanks to them, she saw and felt more. She realized the world was vast and she was living in a well.

Human relationships weren’t precious just because of the time spent together.

The lineage that bound her for life, which the elders deemed important, didn’t feed her.

Clara.

Yes?

I like you, Clara.

Clara’s eyes sparkled with joy at Sion’s words.

The elf girl exchanged glances and continued.

And I like Rohan too.

!?!?

Clara’s expression was a mix of joy and confusion.

Sion, intoxicated by emotion, poured out her heart without hesitation.

“I couldn’t forget the short days we spent together, and I thought about them every day. They were truly joyful.”

“Unni…”

Clara could relate to those words in many ways.

“If the elders ask if they are family now, I wouldn’t know until I hear the hidden circumstances. Maybe I’ve been wrong from the moment I said this.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Anyway, the one thing that’s certain is… I have no reason to take responsibility for them.”

Sion thought she had burned her golden days without enjoying them, making the utmost effort until today.

She had no shame in her efforts when looking up at the sky.

Clara, having received a clear answer from Sion, nodded in agreement.

She asked one thing for confirmation. This time, it was an entirely separate matter.

“Sion unni.”

“Speak.”

“Unni, you originally had Tigrova nationality, right?”

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It was information she had heard from Rohan on the way.

Sion nodded affirmatively without hiding it.

Clara’s face was colored with mixed emotions.

“If it’s Tigrova, does that mean unni also practiced polygamy…?”

“Hmm?”

Sion asked back at the murmuring.

Clara slapped her cheeks sharply to regain her senses. This was not the time to be concerned about such things.

“Ah, no… Let’s go back quickly!”

*

“You’ve come.”

“…”

At Rohan’s voice, the elder let out a deep breath.

Clara, who had returned to the conference room, quietly sat next to Rohan.

Sion, who followed in, stood blankly among the elders rolling on the floor.

‘This really doesn’t seem to suit me.’

Seeing Sion not knowing what to do, it seemed the misunderstanding had been resolved. There was no hostility in his eyes, suggesting the story had been roughly conveyed.

The problem was that his movements were awkward to the extreme, so Rohan would have to lead him well.

“Levin Maxwell. How long are you going to keep me waiting? If you’re trying to provoke me, I’ll commend your courage.”

“Ahem…! Princess. Please take a seat.”

At Rohan’s threatening urging, the elder spoke up.

Sion, with his lips tightly shut, took a seat.

“Princess.”

“What on earth is this chaos? Explain.”

The elder had no intention of explaining the situation.

He was only swiftly proceeding with what Rohan had promised to take responsibility for.

“From now on, we will tell you the story you were curious about, Princess.”

“Suddenly?”

One-sided communication.

The Grand Elder did not answer Zion’s question but moved his wrinkled lips as if to say, just listen.

“The Princess asked, didn’t she? Whether the Great Emperor Seolho really caused a catastrophe in the Testarossa Imperial Family.”

“.”

The part Zion was so curious about and wanted a definite answer to.

It was a topic that started abruptly for Zion, who had joined midway, but it was a story that could not be missed.

“The day the Princess fled with our elders from Tigrova. The Great Emperor Seolho won but did not take anyone’s life.”

“Then my father and mother.”

The Grand Elder and Zion’s eyes met.

Greed shining through the wrinkles. There was no hiding it.

Zion’s face slowly turned red with anger.

The Grand Elder calmly revealed the truth.

“As you expected, I led the downfall of Testarossa.”

A cold silence poured into the conference room.

The atmosphere froze solid.