Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 34
Knock, knock. A slow, measured rap echoed between us.
The moment the Teaching Assistant opened the door, Kyle shot to his feet, his face drained of all color.
Bert Marquis, Dean of the School of Magic at the Academy, had arrived.
After losing the succession race to Duke Simour, he had been recruited as a professor at the Academy and devoted himself entirely to nurturing the next generation of mages.
People distinguished the twin Bert Marquis and Duke Simour with ease—a long scar ran across Bert Marquis’s right cheek.
“B-Bert Dean!”
“There’s been an unusual amount of noise coming from the formula theory department lately. Are you conducting yourself properly?”
Bert Marquis’s expression darkened as he hurled the paper in his hand across the desk. It was a petition filed with the Administrative Office by Young-sik and other students studying magical formulas under William Lemong’s instruction.
The petition claimed that Professor Kyle was blatantly leaking answers to formula problems to Deborah Simour, and that the Simour Family was clearly behind this corruption, demanding an investigation into the matter.
“Explain what this petition means.”
“I’m truly innocent, Dean. Truly, I am.”
With his remaining hair scattering like dandelion seeds in every direction, Kyle appealed to the dean with the desperation of a man coughing up blood.
“Let me first examine what problems Deborah solved.”
Bert took the test paper and rubbed his chin, his expression bewildered.
“These are primarily auxiliary magic problems, and there are many formulas calculating total mana quantities. It would be impossible for even a genius to arrive at these answers in such a short timeframe.”
“However, I have never leaked any problems. This is merely my conjecture, but it seems certain that approximately three people formed a team and taught the lady answers to the problems one by one.”
“Ha! If cheating had been conducted through such a complex method, how could they have avoided detection until now?”
“Could there perhaps be an artifact capable of cheating in the Simour Family? Beleck is an exceptional artifact craftsman, after all….”
“Do you have a brain? If Beleck had created an artifact with such remarkable capabilities, he would already be the head of the Simour Family.”
Kyle’s eyes twisted at Bert’s rebuke.
“You claim innocence while offering not a shred of evidence, only baseless speculation. Frankly, in the current situation, the claims written in this petition are the most credible.”
Bert Marquis spoke with irritation, then swept back his short silver hair with a suppressed sigh.
‘This situation is spiraling out of control.’
William Lemong and several other students were spreading rumors in all directions, and even Marquis Lemong had stepped in to suspect some connection between the Academy and the Simour Family.
While Bert cared little that the already-estranged Simour Family was coming under attack from Lemong, he found the Academy itself being cast under suspicion deeply displeasing.
‘I suppose I’ll have to meet my niece directly.’
* * *
‘He’s taken the bait.’
After drawing so much attention, the big fish had finally snapped at my lure. Bert Marquis, who wielded absolute authority within the School of Magic at the Academy, had summoned me to his office.
‘They really do look identical.’
Even the way he elegantly tapped ash from his pipe mirrored Duke Simour perfectly. As I gazed at his pale hands traced with blue veins, a fragment of an old memory surfaced before my eyes.
“You’re growing more like Marien every day, Deborah.”
In my childhood, the man before me had murmured these words in a bitter tone, gently stroking my hair. Then, claiming it was a birthday gift, he had secretly pressed a ring with a faint bluish glow into my palm.
Had he harbored no feelings for the Duchess, he would never have spoken such words.
‘Just like Rozard and Beleck in the novel—was the previous generation caught in a love triangle too?’
A melodramatic drama unfolded in my mind. A poignant love story of an uncle willingly stepping down from his dukedom to wish happiness upon the woman he loved.
One became the Tower Master and the head of the Simour Family, while the other was demoted to the Academy, reduced to dealing with students as incompetent as myself.
‘Even losing the person he cherished.’
The fate of twins born on the same day had shifted so drastically that it stirred an ache of sympathy.
‘That scar only adds to the vivid imagination it stirs.’
I found myself gazing at him with an oddly sympathetic feeling, but my uncle—if one could call him that—exuded a chill as he opened his mouth with a cold expression.
“This is a petition directed at you.”
He slid a piece of paper toward me.
“Explain to me exactly how this situation unfolded. There must not be a single lie. If you wish to continue attending this Academy.”
True to his Simour blood, there was not a trace of warmth in him either. He tapped the table interrogatively, his cool eyes continuing to press me relentlessly.
“I consented to your admission to the School of Magic because of your strong dedication to magic. And also because I believed that as a Simour, you would eventually flourish. I hope your answer does not disappoint me.”
“I’m not certain what answer you’re seeking, Dean, but I am furious about this situation.”
“Furious?”
His right eyebrow arched sharply, just like Duke Simour’s.
“Yes. I merely did my best to solve the equations, yet everyone is accusing me of bribing a professor. As if I were a criminal.”
“….”
“I will not forgive such an insult without any evidence whatsoever.”
I opened my eyes fiercely, my eyelids aching from the intensity. My naturally cold expression made me appear genuinely enraged.
This was my current concept. A foul-tempered lunatic.
“So you’re saying you’re innocent, Deborah, and this situation is unjust?”
He asked as if taken aback.
“Yes. Therefore, please open an inquiry to clarify the truth. It doesn’t matter who brings the equation problems. I wish to prove before everyone’s eyes that I did not cheat.”
I deliberately inflated the situation like a balloon. The bigger the stage, the more it worked in my favor.
“Hmm.”
Bert Marquis, who had exhaled a sigh at my confident demeanor, placed his pipe in his mouth and wore a peculiar expression.
“Are you sincere?”
The long scar on his left cheek twitched.
“Yes, Dean. I concluded this was the only way to restore my honor and reputation, which have fallen to the ground.”
Truthfully, I had no honor or reputation to lose in the first place, but I clenched my teeth and pretended to endure the humiliation.
“…I understand. I hope you prove your innocence.”
Not long after, Bert Marquis arranged an inquiry into the petition as I requested.
I rejoiced when I heard that even the Vice Dean, known to be more meticulous and principled than anyone, had been invited to objectively judge this matter.
* * *
‘Was Deborah Simour’s truth-finding meeting at five o’clock tomorrow?’
Isidore, toying with cards, glanced absently at his pocket watch. Time moved slowly, perhaps because an unusually interesting event lay ahead.
‘Until now, everything has been tedious.’
“Isidore. Your cards seem particularly bad today?”
“Indeed, what’s the matter?”
Seeing Isidore unable to concentrate on the game at all, the members of Epsilon gathered at the Frat House snickered.
Epsilon was one of the prestigious social clubs that had existed since the Academy’s founding, and Isidore currently served as its leader, having inherited the position from the Crown Prince.
They had gathered at the Frat House to discuss recruiting new members and were now playing poker for money as a jest.
“Ah, have you all heard that story?”
Someone suddenly spoke up.
“What story?”
“The story of Philaf carrying Miya Binoshu like a princess and strutting about the Academy Grounds.”
“Yeah, I heard. He made quite the spectacle of himself. But that’s old news by now. Is there anything else interesting?”
The members of Epsilon didn’t particularly care for the arrogant Philaf, so they were quick to curse his name whenever it came up.
“That’s not the end of it.”
“There’s more?”
“The interesting part is that Miya Binoshu joined Aracron after that.”
Gasps of astonishment erupted from various corners of the room.
“How is that even possible?”
“No matter how much of a leader Philaf is in Aracron, how did a young lady from an obscure family manage to get into a club that values bloodline above all else? It’s remarkable that three or more of their executives agreed to it.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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