The 21st Century Grand Grand Duchess in the Royal Academy - Chapter 15

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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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A Twenty-First Century Grand Duchess in the Royal Academy
Snack Fairy
Sung Hee-joo’s face brightened as she finished her final ninth-grade exams. The composition test, which had always made her anxious, turned out to be easier than expected. Sung Tae-joo’s help had been invaluable. A few days ago, he’d handed her a file and said, “Just look at the topics in here.” He was right. One of the topics inside had appeared as the composition prompt.
With her spirits lifted, Sung Hee-joo headed to the Dormitory. She set down her bag and retrieved the pass she’d stored in her drawer. She had business buying snacks like chocolate. The School Canteen sold various items, but that felt too half-hearted.
This impulse stemmed from an encounter with Sung Tae-joo about a week ago.
“Hey, Sung Hee-joo! You won’t even give your older brother chocolate?”
“What nonsense are you spouting this early in the morning?”
“Do you understand what it’s like to be a twelfth grader?”
“How would I? I’m only in ninth grade.”
That was the day she’d run into Sung Tae-joo in the Library Corridor, and he’d been talking utter rubbish. She’d already heard through the grapevine that Sung Tae-joo was in quite a state with both his university entrance exams and graduation exams looming. Her father, who rarely complained about anything, had even called her personally about it.
— Give Tae-joo a word of encouragement, would you? He seems quite anxious.
Even her father seemed uncomfortable making such a request. Yet beneath that awkward tone, she could feel the genuine concern.
He wasn’t even the studious type to begin with, so why was he so nervous?
In any case, he was an annoying person. With a click of her tongue, Sung Hee-joo went straight to the Administrative Office and obtained a pass. It wasn’t for Sung Tae-joo’s sake. Her father’s rare plea was a novel experience, but she had no intention of complying. The more her father cherished her older brother, the less inclined she felt to do anything for him.
Unable to suppress her twisted feelings, Sung Hee-joo thought of Sung Tae-joo. Just as her father cherished Sung Tae-joo, he cherished her. But it felt too embarrassing to say thank you. So she decided to use the pretext of supporting his entrance exams to give him snacks and gifts. During exam season, even complete strangers exchanged chocolates.
“Is this too much…?”
Sung Hee-joo muttered as she looked down at the snacks in the bag. She’d grabbed whatever caught her eye, ending up with far more than planned. But there was chocolate next to candy, and jelly next to that, so it couldn’t be helped. Besides, she didn’t even know what Sung Tae-joo liked.
“I’ll just tell him to eat it through next year.”
With a shrug, Sung Hee-joo headed toward the Lecture Hall. Upon arriving at the seventh floor where twelfth graders had classes, she walked quickly down the eerily quiet Corridor. With exams approaching, quite a few students were in their classrooms despite the evening hour.
Among them, Sung Tae-joo was visible in the emptiest classroom. His back was perfectly upright as he solved problems with a stopwatch set beside him. Worried she might disturb him, Sung Hee-joo approached on her tiptoes.
“Oppa.”
She tapped his shoulder to call him, and Sung Tae-joo looked up with a furrowed brow. His sharp, tense eyes softened the moment they landed on her.
“What?”
“Eat this.”
Sung Hee-joo handed over the bag with a careless gesture, then awkwardly scratched the back of her head. She couldn’t shake the feeling that doing something so uncharacteristic was a bad idea.
Sung Tae-joo’s face lit up when he saw the abundance of snacks inside the bag.
“Did you buy all this for me?”
“Well… I did well on the composition test thanks to you.”
Sung Hee-joo nodded awkwardly and added, “Do well on your exam too.” The moment those words left her mouth, she twisted her body and looked away, embarrassed. Sung Tae-joo, gracefully resisting the urge to tease her, stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go out.”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Your exam is tomorrow.”
“A short break is fine.”
“No. Just study.”
Sung Hee-joo pressed down on Sung Tae-joo’s shoulder and spoke. Then, lowering her head, she whispered with utmost seriousness.
“You know top honors have to come from Vermillion Phoenix Palace, right?”
“Usually people tell you to take it easy.”
“I’m not usually.”
Sung Tae-joo nodded as he watched Sung Hee-joo stare at him with an audacious expression. The fact that the extraordinary Sung Hee-joo had bought snacks in such an ordinary way was more than enough.
“Me?”
On my way back to the Dormitory after delivering snacks to Sung Tae-joo, my homeroom teacher cornered me with an unwelcome request.
“Wait in front of the Lecture Hall tomorrow morning, and hand these out one by one when the upperclassmen arrive.”
Inside the tacky basket the teacher handed me were chocolates piled high.
“But I wanted to rest tomorrow….”
“Come now, the top student of Vermillion Phoenix Palace should go and cheer them on. It’ll give the upperclassmen courage.”
“There are top students from other grades too.”
“They’ll be going as well. I’ll give volunteer hours to all of you.”
“How many?”
Only then did my interest pique, and I asked curtly, pretending indifference.
“Two hours?”
“Three hours.”
“Hmph.”
“Then I won’t do it.”
“Ah, fine, fine.”
Only then did I accept the snack basket. It seemed the teacher wanted to express the Vermillion Phoenix Palace identity somehow—a red ribbon was even tied to the handle.
“But you didn’t make this yourself, did you?”
“I made it. Why, is something wrong with it?”
“No, but next year, please ask the art teacher instead.”
Thinking I’d phrased it tactfully, I bowed and left the Administrative Office.
The next morning, I woke before dawn and dressed in my school uniform. I made sure not to forget the red robe so the Vermillion Phoenix Palace upperclassmen would recognize me. I doubted anyone didn’t know I belonged to Vermillion Phoenix Palace, but the teacher had asked, so there was no helping it.
Heading to the Lecture Hall with the chocolate basket, I observed the students conscripted from other dormitories. The Azure Dragon Palace students were waving some banner and making a fuss, while the White Tiger Palace students were carrying boxes of glutinous rice cakes.
“This turned out better than I thought.”
Looking at the tacky basket, I shrugged and took my position. I just wanted to hand these out to the upperclassmen quickly and catch up on my sleep. For some reason, today felt even colder than yesterday.
About ten minutes after I lined up in front of the Lecture Hall, the upperclassmen began appearing one by one. While everyone else looked nervous, Da-young, dressed in a red padded jacket, seemed rather excited.
“Tae-joo’s little sister!”
“Didn’t you come with your brother today?”
“He’s nervous, I guess. He’s stuck in the bathroom. I went ahead without him.”
“Ugh, that’s information I really didn’t want to know….”
Da-young burst out laughing at my nauseated expression. Eager to send her off, I quickly handed over the chocolate. “I’ll enjoy it,” she answered cheerfully.
“So you’re this year’s snack fairy?”
Sung Tae-joo arrived next, and his complexion didn’t look bad either.
“Yeah, that’s me. Do you want one too?”
“No thanks. I got one yesterday.”
With words of encouragement, Sung Tae-joo headed inside, his expression relaxed and free of any tension.
The other upperclassmen were all similar. They all looked pale, and they took the chocolates I offered without complaint. As the chocolates were quickly depleted, murmurs began rippling through the crowd.
It was because of Prince An, walking with an expressionless face. No matter how I tried not to look, my eyes were drawn to him. I could feel the Azure Dragon Palace students tensing up.
Without realizing it, I clenched my fists. The tension around me seemed to transfer to me as well. Somehow offended by that fact, I fidgeted with the basket and acted scattered.
“….”
But the moment I lifted my head, our gazes locked. Prince An, recognizing me and raising his eyebrows, walked forward with long strides without blinking once. With legs as long as his stride was wide, he closed the distance in an instant.
He extended his hand nonchalantly, as though he had something important to say, yet offered nothing but silence.
“Give me one too.”
“Pardon?”
“That.”
Prince An gestured toward the chocolate with a tilt of his head. Sung Hee-joo glanced nervously at the Azure Dragon Palace students, whose placards and candies suddenly seemed to pale in significance.
“I’m from the Vermillion Phoenix Palace.”
“And?”
“….”
Sung Hee-joo held her ground with obvious displeasure before reluctantly offering the chocolate. After all, there was no rule that she could only look after her own dormitory seniors.
Prince An let out a soft laugh and took the chocolate, his fingertips brushing against her palm. Without so much as a word of thanks, he turned to leave, and as Sung Hee-joo watched his retreating figure, a single thought crystallized in her mind.
“How irritating.”
It was a consistent assessment.

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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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