The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 37
Hasa realized from her own reaction that it had been a while since she’d received such looks – the kind she’d gotten until her death. It seemed she had grown quite accustomed to this life. With a face incomparably stronger than her previous life, Hasa smiled.
“You say it’s stupid to get the right answers to questions that have answers. That’s quite strange.”
There wasn’t even a small crack in Hasa’s smile. Due to Preju Academy’s uniqueness in requiring proof of ability rather than titles, professors held strong authority.
Naturally, any student hoping to enter the academy would be nervous in front of gathered professors, and yet…
Mandro swallowed dryly. He had thought this would be an easy task, but anxiety seemed to be pulling at his ankles. Trying to hide his unease, Jual Mandro spoke more forcefully.
“Are you trying to deceive me?”
“Of course not.”
He clenched his lips before drawing a sneer.
“I regret having to say this myself, but you’re not known for your intelligence, Lady. The rumors of you causing trouble due to your inability to properly understand social rules and being confined to the Duke’s residence are quite famous.”
“I have no intention of explaining the rumors about me. I only asked why you think I cheated. If I had cheated, it would mean I copied someone else’s exam, but it seems I’m the only one with a perfect score.”
“There should be limits to such brazenness.”
While the surrounding professors could only watch the tense exchange without intervening, Mandro smiled as if holding a trump card.
“Cheating isn’t limited to just that, I hear you spent nearly a month preparing in the academy library despite not being a student.”
“Yes, thanks to my brother’s help. Though I understand outside visitors are allowed during vacation periods.”
“Listen to me completely. You weren’t studying alone in the library, were you?”
“……”
At Hasa’s first silence, Jual Mandro grinned like a predator who had found a weakness.
“Bertolph. There are many witnesses who saw you together.”
The mention of the Grand Duke’s son instantly froze the atmosphere in the conference room.
“Jual, you…!”
Even the professors who had been supporting him couldn’t hide their shock at the mention of the Grand Duke’s son. No matter how free from status the academy claimed to be, the Radant family was its foundation and cornerstone. He wasn’t someone to be implicated in dishonorable matters without evidence.
As the professors broke into cold sweats, Hasa asked with an icy expression.
“Yes, I received help from the Young Grand Duke, but I don’t see what the problem is.”
To this, Jual Mandro raised his lips vilely and replied.
“Who knows, perhaps he used his position as the Grand Duke’s son to learn the questions from the professors in advance.”
“……!”
The professors who had been hesitant to speak now drew sharp breaths, exchanging glances with each other.
Even without his title as the Grand Duke’s son, Bertolph was an exemplary man. Even other men acknowledged his outstanding appearance and spotless reputation.
But his very perfection attracted more vermin. While some praised him, others sought to find flaws in the Grand Duke’s son.
The circulating suspicions connecting him to the Grand Duke’s death were one such example.
If such a perfect Grand Duke’s son had helped a noble lady cheat, it would be a major scandal. If someone were to expose this, they might rise not just to a professor but to a key position in the academy.
The professors in the room felt ambitions they had never considered before beginning to sprout in their hearts.
“……”
A chilling silence fell. Hasa felt her hair standing on end strangely. There had been a rotten smell since she first entered the room. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but no. The disgust from the terrible smell made it difficult even to breathe. And the source of this smell was that man glaring at her as if he wanted to kill her.
Jual Mandro, something was definitely wrong with that man. The atmosphere was strangely easily swayed by his words. If this continued much longer, not just Jual Mandro but the other professors seemed likely to show aggression as well. With the single thought that she needed to change this situation, Hasa quickly spoke up.
“If you think this isn’t my own ability, I think there’s a simple solution.”
“Yes, if we just invalidate Lady Cellie’s acceptance…!”
As Mandro began to speak in agreement, Hasa cut him off.
“Give me questions right now. I’ll solve them on the spot.”
“What?”
“Let me prove right here that it was my own ability, not cheating.”
“How impudent.”
Blood vessels popped on Jual Mandro’s forehead. That’s when Zhao spoke up.
“It seems like a perfectly reasonable solution to me. Given that our suspicions had no basis, that should be sufficient.”
The professors with clouded eyes remained silent during the strange tension between Zhao and Mandro. Zhao stared at Mandro. If they refused Hasa’s offer to solve problems on the spot, it would make Mandro’s position look suspicious instead. Eventually, he clicked his tongue as if having no choice and answered.
“Then I’ll be the one setting the questions.”
Mandro had felt his throat burning since earlier. That pink-haired woman seemed inexplicably impudent to him. At first, he had escalated things out of anxiety about facing severe consequences from that person if he failed, but as time passed, only anger filled his heart.
He wanted to somehow push this woman he was meeting for the first time today into the abyss. It felt as if someone was urging him to do exactly that.
Jual Mandro opened his notebook and wrote down several ancient words.
Hasa calmly looked down at the letters and slowly provided her interpretation. Despite most sentences being difficult and full of metaphorical expressions, Hasa showed flexibility in not only providing literal translations but also contextual interpretations fitting the empire’s culture.
Even Hasa herself was surprised at how smoothly the translation flowed.
Teaching Dayan and Berl had helped. As Hasa spoke more confidently, the murmuring among the watching professors grew louder.
Jual Mandro too stopped writing, his face pale. Hasa calmly asked.
“Is this enough to resolve your doubts?”
“No… Not yet.”
Jual Mandro muttered anxiously, clenching his fist until veins stood out on the back of his hand. After trembling slightly for a while, he stopped shaking and began writing letters in the notebook with a strange intensity.
But it was different from the ancient language sentences until now. Unlike the previous ancient text written in single strokes, this consisted of multiple strokes. It was an unfamiliar composition. As she furrowed her brow, wondering if he was writing nonsense just to fail her, somehow Hasa felt she could read it.
Just as Hasa, who had been focusing on the text as if being drawn in, was about to open her lips, Tilia Zhao shouted loud enough to shake the room.
“Professor Jual Mandro!”
Startled, she looked up to see Zhao’s face completely contorted. As Hasa was taken aback by the outburst from someone who had never shown emotional fluctuation, he let out a small sigh and continued speaking to her.
“That’s enough. This should suffice, Lady Cellie. I apologize for suspecting you without cause.”
“Then.”
“Yes, regarding the matter of cheating…”
“Who decides that!”
Jual Mandro screamed almost hysterically.
“I told you. She definitely cheated.”
“Professor Mandro, that’s enough. This is becoming unseemly.”
“Unseemly or not, I told you. She definitely bought the questions with money. Being from a Duke’s family, she must be rolling in money. Even if not that, look at her, she must have acted wantonly. Yes, that’s it. She seduced the Grand Duke’s son with her body. It must be that. Otherwise, how could someone so worthless solve the questions I set?”
Professor Mandro’s condition was strange. Like someone possessed, he leaned on the desk and rapidly spat out nonsensical words. Cutting through these continuous words, Zhao spoke.
“Mandro. Have you gone mad?”
At that moment, Mandro’s words cut off, and he slowly raised his head. Hasa momentarily stopped breathing. Then Mandro, smiling grotesquely wide, spoke as if he’d found the answer.
“Yes, that’s what it was. Zhao, you helped that wench.”
Mandro’s pupils narrowed vertically, and the whites of his eyes turned black.
