Chapter 87: Roommate

“Ugh, I never thought I’d become a teacher at the academy before even graduating.”

On her way out of the principal’s office, Winnidith tugged at her long hair in frustration.

She didn’t exactly hate the assignment.

After all, the trouble was partly her fault, so helping out was only natural.

What annoyed her was that her old dorm room from her student days had been turned into some kind of tourist attraction by that old geezer Elias.

“Just five credits or fifty gold coins gets you ten minutes in the room once occupied by the legendary genius mage. A pretty good deal, don’t you think?”

Remembering the smug grin on Elias’s face when he said that, Winnidith wanted to punch him right in the nose and show him what it meant to see stars.

Fortunately, under pressure from the entire Trenton family, the furniture she had used was secretly replaced with brand-new ones…

Hmm, that only made the old man more deserving of a beating, didn’t it?

Just thinking that the principal of the Royal Academy of Magic was such a money-grubbing old child made Winnidith fear for the future of the Empire’s magic.

“Don’t say that. I got you a special staff dormitory. It’s luxurious enough to rival Princess Isabella’s Emerald Palace. You’ll love it.”

Rival Bella’s Emerald Palace?

Winnidith immediately thought Elias was bragging.

The Emerald Palace was the princess’s private residence.

Regardless of how Uncle Victor treated Bella over the years, he never skimped on material support.

And the Royal Academy of Magic, which would rather pour every last coin into magical research, would never build such a nice dormitory for a staff member.

Some of the floorboards in Elias’s office even creaked when you stepped on them!

So she didn’t bother to care what the dorm looked like.

After all, it would be far better than the thirty-square-meter prison cell she lived in her previous life—a cell that didn’t even meet Geneva Convention standards—and worse than her room at Trenton Manor.

Winnidith planned to fly home and tell her family that she would be teaching at the Royal Academy of Magic and studying advanced magic and Saint Realm magic under Elias.

Strangely, she only found her mother, Tina, looking satisfied after a bath, lounging on the living room sofa.

There was no sign of her father anywhere.

Maybe he went out.

Thinking that, Winnidith sidled up to her mother and told her about her plans.

After hearing her out, Tina gently rubbed her head.

“That’s fine. In your first two years there, you buried yourself in studies. Now it’s time to enjoy campus life a bit.”

“You know, your father and I first met in the Starry Night Forest at the Royal Academy of Magic~ Back then, pfft—who would have thought that guy being pushed around was the Second Young Master of the Trenton Family~”

Seeing that her mother was about to launch into a long story, Winnidith quickly made an excuse to leave, lest she be force-fed another dose of her parents’ lovey-dovey antics.

Apart from her parents, Winnidith only planned to tell her uncle about this.

Telling anyone else would just cause a bunch of trouble.

“When it comes to magical education, the Royal Academy of Magic really can offer more than the Trenton family. Principal Elias is one of the Empire’s only two Grand Magicians, and he has many unique insights into magic. Following him will help you grow faster.”

Nolan supported her decision immediately, adding a small reminder at the end.

“Just don’t forget that your coming-of-age ceremony is in a month. As the Trenton family’s daughter and the Empire’s most prominent genius mage, the whole world will be watching.”

“I know you hate trouble, so the family will handle everything else. All you need to do is return to the manor in a month to attend your own ceremony.”

“Do I need to get to know the guests beforehand?”

Winnidith had attended Isabella’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Back then, she wore ten-centimeter heels and an elaborate dress that looked heavy enough to kill, gliding gracefully among the noble ladies, her steps light as if dancing.

Her confident ease perfectly showcased royal poise.

If it weren’t for the fact that after the ceremony, Isabella ran to Winnidith’s room and complained for three whole days and nights, Winnidith would have thought she was a tireless iron woman.

If she had to do that too…

Ugh—she felt that with her personality, she’d definitely make a fool of herself.

Fortunately, the Trenton family wasn’t royalty.

They didn’t need to be so “dignified” and “gentle” in public.

“No need. Those people will come introduce themselves. Then you just decide whether to respond based on your personal preference.”

“Got it, got it.”

Winnidith nodded like a pecking chicken.

So she just had to be a pretty, nice mascot.

She was good at that.

“Oh, Uncle, have you noticed that the concentration of light elements in the capital has increased recently?”

After finishing the academy matters, Winnidith told Nolan about the anomaly she’d observed, then asked worriedly.

“Could something be wrong with the Sanctuary?”

“The light elements in the capital have indeed increased, and it is related to the Sanctuary.”

Seeing Winnidith’s body stiffen, Nolan quickly added.

“But it’s not that something is wrong with the Sanctuary. They’ve chosen a new Holy Maiden.”

Holy Maiden?

Winnidith relaxed.

This Holy Maiden wasn’t the traditional kind blessed by the gods—a Divine Chosen.

Instead, the Sanctuary selected a girl of appropriate age to serve as the face of the Sanctuary to believers.

Still, to match the Sanctuary’s image, this representative needed high affinity with the light element and some magical talent.

When Winnidith first displayed her magical talent, the Sanctuary came to Trenton Manor and asked her to serve as their Holy Maiden.

Theodore, hot-tempered as ever, beat them up and kicked them out.

Unwilling to give up, the Sanctuary then proposed the idea to Victor.

Victor didn’t refuse outright, but that very night, the Sanctuary priest who made the request was dragged into an alley and beaten up.

According to him, his attackers looked a lot like the Duke of Trenton and the Captain of the Royal Knights.

Since then, the Sanctuary never crossed paths with Winnidith again.

Even on the monthly “pilgrimages” that were really “inspections” with the Trenton family, the priests there would avoid her, afraid of being hooded and beaten up.

“Four days after you left, the Sanctuary announced the new Holy Maiden’s name—Sophia Holyvoice. His Majesty sent people to investigate her background, but all they found was that she was an orphan raised by the Sanctuary. No other information.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

Winnidith clicked her tongue.

There were too many holes in that background.

It was practically screaming, “I have a problem, come investigate me!”

“Yes, His Majesty thought so too. So he personally went with Principal Elias and Leonhardt to inspect the Sanctuary. The final conclusion was that Sophia was fine—just an ordinary girl with high light-element affinity.”

“If only it were that simple.”

Winnidith sighed.

She was silent for a moment, then asked.

“Uncle, could you arrange for me to meet this Holy Maiden? There are some things only I can perceive.”

She meant spiritual power.

If Sophia had issues, she would definitely sense something abnormal.

Nolan knew why she said that and nodded.

“The week after next Monday is our family’s pilgrimage to the Sanctuary. Sophia will be there. I’ll create a chance for you two to be alone.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

With that settled, Winnidith had nothing more to say.

The furniture and such would be sent to the Royal Academy of Magic by Trenton servants later, so this time she only took Titus’s diary.

She planned to study it for the rest of the day.

Using the key Elias gave her, she found a small villa on the side of the staff dormitory building.

Opening the door and seeing the interior decoration, she muttered to herself, “I knew it.”

The decor was indeed luxurious, but compared to Isabella’s Emerald Palace, it was a drop in the bucket.

“Elias was definitely lying. Seriously, it’s not like I’m some spoiled princess. Did he think I’d run away if I saw the real thing?”

Muttering, Winnidith walked into the living room—but then she noticed something odd: water sounds coming from the bathroom on the right side of the living room.

Someone?

She frowned.

Given her status, Elias had no reason to assign her a roommate.

Even when she lived in the student dorm, she had the double room all to herself.

Now that she was a teacher, she was entitled to a single room.

Why would Elias deliberately give her a roommate?

Hmm—had the academy’s dormitory situation gotten so dire in just one year she’d been away?

Just as she was lost in thought, the bathroom door opened.

When she saw a golden-haired beauty in a pure white nightgown appear there, her eyes nearly popped out.

“B-B-B-Bella?! Why are you here?!”