There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 72
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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 72.
“If you’d like, we could arrange a different route for the funds. Should I send it directly to your personal account? Any amount you’d like, as long as you treat Rookie kindly.”
Padilla Bondayz, who had remained in her office reviewing the schedule for Special Training that would begin next week, suddenly recalled what Deacon had said during their meeting that afternoon, and let out a hollow laugh.
The audacity—attempting to bribe the Training Camp Commander with money.
Right after saying that, Deacon had taken a slap on the back.
And what he’d added:
“Just remember, the Finance Department has a strong interest in recruiting Runelk Ains.”
“Insane bastard.”
She burst into another round of laughter.
When someone with authority accessed internal department records, a notification went to the head of that department.
When she’d learned that Deacon had opened the Training Camp’s financial records, her heart had sunk into her stomach.
And it turned out to be nothing but a donation inquiry.
He’d wanted to know the typical scale of general donations.
“He could have simply asked.”
To Padilla, Deacon Gold was like a younger cousin.
Following the family tree, the Bondayz and Gold families genuinely had married into each other multiple times throughout history, making him truly a cousin—but it was the accumulated familiarity built over long years that mattered more.
That Padilla herself acknowledged a peculiar softness toward Deacon, whom she’d watched since his teething days when he’d drooled and fretted over the pain, was undeniable.
So when Deacon entered the Training Camp, even on days when she’d been harsh with him, she found herself worrying and would slip him sweet treats.
But even Padilla’s patience wore thin with one thing: Deacon’s stubborn, single-minded nature.
“A headache, truly.”
Deacon was an angelic child by universal acknowledgment.
With honey-colored hair and eyes like blue pearls, his quiet demeanor and his bright, constant smiling especially cultivated that impression.
But when he didn’t get what he wanted, the angel transformed into a devil.
She’d witnessed him cry for days and nights without pause, and more than once had seen him lose control of himself and fall backward in frustration.
One such example was the “horse theft incident.”
At ten years old, Deacon had needed a horse to learn Horsemanship.
Unfortunately, he’d taken a liking to the very horse the previous Duke had been raising for his young son.
No matter how much the adults around him scolded or coaxed, Deacon insisted that “this horse is my destiny” and stopped eating and drinking entirely.
Then one night, Deacon stole the horse outright, and by some method she still couldn’t fathom, fled Nox Castle itself.
A ten-year-old who’d never even taken a riding lesson.
Of course, he was captured immediately and given a severe thrashing by his furious father, but even as he was dragged back to Nox, Deacon clung to the horse, weeping inconsolably.
To such a degree that the five-year-old Killian, awakened by the noise, had said, “I’ll give you a horse, now shut up.”
“Is it a person this time?”
The way he was attentively tending to things suggested this wasn’t an ordinary fixation.
Deacon was already scheming to make Runelk Ains his own man.
The Finance Department and the merchant house were always short on talent, but for his target to be Runelk Ains of all people…
“……It’s complicated.”
Padilla slumped deep into her chair, murmuring to herself.
“Interesting, though.”
Until now, Runelk Ains had been to her “a trainee with good stats but whose circumstances don’t add up.”
A walking contradiction.
He’d broken the top score on the Entrance Examination without proper preparation, displayed strength on par with Maximilian Degrave despite coming from the Action Division, and carried zero documented connections to Nox, yet somehow had both Dupont and Deacon backing him—all of this was obvious enough.
And there was that matter too.
“And he definitely seemed to react to Aura back then…….”
In any case, Runelk Ains was an existence that activated Padilla’s intuition in multiple ways.
The kind of instinct she relied on when discovering either formidable experts or unpolished raw talent.
Clang—
Then the Training Camp bell rang.
“Heavens, is it already that late?”
Startled, she hurried to her feet and donned her outer robe.
After confirming that no one lingered in the corridor where her office stood, she locked the door.
***
“What?!”
“You got a single room?!”
When I informed my classmates back at the Dormitory, Matthias yelped in astonishment.
I quickly gathered my belongings and nodded.
Having so little made moving remarkably convenient.
“Your guardian must have made a donation.”
“What?! You have a rich guardian?!”
“……If you’re going to keep reacting like that, come back tomorrow morning.”
“No, no, that’s not it! I’m just so surprised!”
Matthias came rushing over, flailing his arms dramatically.
Ah, this guy’s shirtless again.
Apparently he’d been exercising; covered in sweat, I took a quick step back to avoid him, and spoke.
“Anyway, that’s how it is. So I’m moving now.”
“Right now? Then you’ll finally have the bathroom to yourself! That’s great——!”
Matthias’s hands shot up in celebration, but he caught my expression and awkwardly laughed.
“I mean, you get privacy now too, so good for you! I definitely wasn’t saying I hated sharing a room with you or anything!”
“Come on, at least try to smile while you say that.”
“Heh.”
By then, packing was finished.
I slung the bag across my shoulder and gave Matthias a light punch on the shoulder.
“Thanks for putting up with me, Matthias. And thanks to Hanno and Zander too.”
“It was good sharing a room with Rookie…….”
Hanno Becker followed me with a sullen expression, trailing behind as he spoke.
“You’ll visit often, right?”
“Of course. Once I get the other room settled, I’ll have you all over. Housewarming and all.”
“Got it……. Zander, don’t you have something to say to Rookie?”
“Me?”
Zander Mork, shirtless like Matthias, gave a shrug before answering.
“We’ll see each other at every meal anyway. What’s there to say?”
Though casual, the words seemed to comfort the downhearted Hanno Becker.
You could tell by how his gentle, bear-like face brightened slightly.
I nodded to Zander Mork as well and bid all three goodbye.
“Alright, I’m going. See you all at the Dining Hall tomorrow morning.”
Sorry as I felt toward the disappointed Hanno Becker, my footsteps toward Room 102 on the ground floor felt light as air.
I was finally free from the anxiety of not knowing when the Necklace might stop working—a relief that left me practically gasping for breath.
“Let me see……. Here it is, Room 102!”
I wanted to cheer like Matthias had, but restrained myself.
It seemed someone was in the adjacent room, 101.
Click!
The lock turned with a heavy, satisfying sound, and I opened the door with a broad smile.
“First thing, I should take a bath……. What is all this?”
Had I walked into someone else’s room?
I double-checked the number on the door, but this was indeed Room 102, assigned to me.
So what were all these things?
I closed the door and secured it, then began cautiously exploring the space.
“I suppose this is what you get with a donation—nice.”
The first space I saw appeared to be a living area or reception room.
Given the several large sofas, a low tea table, and various display cabinets arranged throughout.
Besides the door leading to the corridor, three more doors were visible from the living room.
Two were probably a bedroom and bathroom, with the third likely a closet or storage room.
I set my duffel bag down beside a narrow, tall table placed near the door.
It was just a simple console table with an attached large mirror, yet even it was remarkably luxurious.
“Do expensive things last longer?”
Actually, no. Expensive things tend to break more easily.
But everything here looked pristine, like brand new.
There was no sign of use despite all the trainees who must have passed through this room.
I ran my palm across the surface of the large white fabric sofa dominating the living room’s center.
Not a single loose fiber caught on my skin.
Then I recalled what Padilla Bondayz had said in her office.
“Oh, and there will be some unfamiliar items—don’t throw them away, just use them. They’re Gifts from Deacon.”
……Surely not.
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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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