‘Cheating…?’


  In case she misread it, Leticia checked the letter once again, but the content didn’t change.

  The day she decided to sponsor that child, she asked them to contact her in case something happened. She didn’t imagine it would be about something like this.

  ‘I didn’t think he’d cheat.’


  We had only seen each other once, but she didn’t think he would do anything disgraceful with that sincere face.

  ‘I’d better go see him.’


  Come to think of it, she was just supporting his tuition. She suddenly wondered if it was okay to visit him just because of the news that he had cheated.

  She really wanted to make sure if the child had actually cheated, or if there was a misunderstanding.

  Leticia sighed and put the correspondence in the drawer and stood up.

  ‘It’s better to go check for myself.’


  She would be disappointed if he cheated, but if it was a misunderstanding she wanted to help as his sponsor.

  ‘I hope it’s a misunderstanding.’


  Nothing is certain yet, so she hoped the child was not a dishonourable child.

  ***

  Upon arriving at the Academy of Magic, Leticia went to the teacher’s office first. She was going to listen to the circumstances first.

  Even before the teacher’s door opened, a loud voice could be heard from inside.

  “I told you, it’s not my brother!”


  The voice sounded familiar.

  Leticia opened the door cautiously, thinking she was imagining it. She was sure it was a person she knew who was arguing with the professor.

  “Everyone saw the cheat sheet coming out of that child’s desk.”


  “Please listen to my brother, he says he doesn’t know where it came from.”


  As she slowly approached, the sorrowful voice became closer.

  She’s shorter than me, with long brown hair tied in pigtails. When she checked the side of her face, Leticia found out that she was correct that she recognized the woman’s voice.

  “Mary…?”


  At the call of her name, Mary turned around curious about who called her.

  Then Mary’s eyes opened wide in surprise as their eyes met. At the same time, Leticia remembered what Mary had told her before.

  [My brother entered a magic academy.]

  ‘Right, she said that.’


  She never thought the magic academy would be this one.

  Mary seemed puzzled as well.

  “How long have you been here, My Lady?”


  “I’ve been here for a little while”


  “Oh, I see…”


  Mary nodded her head without responding to Leticia’s casual answer.

  The professor belatedly noticed Leticia.

  “Why are you here?”


  “I got a letter about the child I’m sponsoring.”


  “Can you tell me the name of the student?”


  She could feel Mary’s eyes on her when the professor asked for the name, but Leticia remained calm while answering.

  “It’s Ronan Hillary.”


  “What?”


  When Leticia answered quietly, Mary was the first to respond.

  “Do you happen to know this lady?”


  “….?”


  Mary was having trouble answering because she looked like she was going to cry at any moment……

  She went to the lounge for Academy guests, but both Leticia and Mary stood in awkward silence.

  Mary looked as if she did not know what to say, so Letitia began first.

  “I didn’t know that the child I was sponsoring was your brother.”


  Leticia gave a friendly smile to try and ease her mind.

  Mary had her head bowed down when she slowly began to speak.

  “First of all…. Thank you so much, My Lady.”


  Mary clenched her hands on the table to help hold back her tears before she continued.

  “I was happy to hear that Ronan has a talent for magic, but it was actually very difficult to pay for his tuition.”


  She had worked hard to earn money for her sick brother’s medicine. When she was told her now healthy younger brother had a talent for magic, she congratulated him more than anyone else.

  What awaited Mary was a huge amount of tuition for the schooling, which commoners could not easily afford.

  “I was very happy and grateful to hear that Ronan had a sponsor and that he didn’t have to worry about his tuition fees anymore.”


  Even now, she could recall his face clearly.

  Her brother had always felt badly about the sacrifices she made to pay for his medicine, and then his tuition. He was determined to care for his sister once he graduated.

  “He said he would study hard and repay those who supported him so that he could live without regret.”


  “Mary…”


  “It’s not because he’s my brother, but Ronan’s isn’t a child who would cheat. He’s a child who would never think of doing such bad things, even though he’s still so young.”


  Tears that Mary had been holding back for so long began to flow down her cheeks.

  “I don’t know why this happened…”


  If Ronan was to blame for anything, it was studying so hard he lost sleep.

  The result of trying to be a distinguished student who his sister, and sponsor, could be proud of.

  Mary couldn’t stop crying because she still couldn’t believe what happened.

  “Don’t cry, Mary. Hmm?”


  Leticia handed over a handkerchief because Mary’s crying face made her sad.

  Mary simply wiped her tears with her sleeves, saying she did not dare to receive her handkerchief.

  “I can’t face you.”


  “Mary….”


  “I’m sorry to show you such a disgraceful sight when you’ve helped my brother and I so much.”


  Mary kept saying thank you, sorry, and thank you to Leticia, even as she tried to swallow her tears.

  Mary’s sobbing continued in the lounge……

  “Haaaa…”


  As soon as she left the lounge, a mixed sigh came out.

  By the time Mary’s tears had stopped, Ronan had arrived and Leticia could talk to Ronan properly. He also seemed to have suffered a lot, and couldn’t speak properly because his voice kept breaking.

  However, she was able to read enough of what he was trying to convey with his face.

  This is unfair and angering. At the same time, he felt frustrated.

  When he made eye contact with Leticia, he shook his head with a mortified expression.

  According to Ronan, there was a cheat sheet in his desk that he’d never seen or made before. He asked if anyone had seen someone suspicious, but it was difficult to find the culprit since all of the noble students were hostile towards him.

  ‘I wish there was a way I could help him.’


  She walked down the halls for a while, when Leticia came across Irene and she stopped in her tracks.

  ‘What is this?’


  She seemed to be nervously looking around for some unknown reason, so Leticia watched her.

  Irene’s body was tense, and she was unaware of her surroundings.

  There were obvious signs of anxiety.

  ‘That’s weird.’


  Irene had always been sensitive to trivial things since she was young. After Leticia was judged not to be family anymore, her feelings towards her family were frighteningly gone, so she felt very detached watching Irene now.

  Just as Ronan was being bullied and they were acting ignorant of the situation.

  ‘Maybe…’


  Is it related to Ronan being accused of cheating?

  She knew it was a far-fetched idea, but she couldn’t shake her suspicions.

  Recognizing Leticia belatedly, Irene was startled as soon as she made eye contact with Leticia and quickly left.

  It looked like she was running away.

  “Irene…”


  No, right?

  I don’t think so.

  Deep in thought, Leticia slowly turned around.

  Somehow she had a bad feeling.

  ***

  “How was it?”


  Leticia arrived at the Achilles’ mansion in the evening.

  Enoch approached her with a soft smile, as if he had been waiting for her to come home. She was trudging along without any strength, and as soon as she was close enough she hung off of Enoch’s sleeve.

  “Lord Achilles…”


  “What’s wrong?”


  “That…”


  Leticia slowly told Enoch everything that had happened. From the day she decided to sponsor a child by chance, to her visit to the academy today because she’d heard the child had cheated.

  As she spoke, she was confused and her face turned gloomy.

  “He said he would never do it. I even asked him the test questions just in case, and he was able to answer them easily.”


  “Is that so?”


  “Yes, I don’t think he was lying.”


  She wanted to clear up the misunderstanding that he’d cheated, but she couldn’t figure out a way to help. Leticia sighed sadly.

  “Are there any other things you can tell me about the test?”


  “I heard they introduced descriptive questions on this exam.”


  “Doesn’t that make this easier?”


  “What?”


  Leticia didn’t understand what he meant, she looked at him in question and he lightly shrugged his shoulders.

  “You should just look for someone who wrote the same short answers as the cheat sheet.”


  “Ah…!”


  Leticia briefly admired his unexpected suggestion, but soon another concern came to her.

  “Would the person have written the exact same thing as the cheat sheet? I don’t know if we’ll catch someone with that method.”


  “If you’re a first-time cheater, you’ll definitely do something clumsy like that.”


  Leticia was surprised and shut her mouth.

  ‘First-time cheater…’


  Irene’s face lingered in her head for a long time.

  Irene was always a precious and cute little sister to Leticia, who she always held in her arms because she was such a scaredy cat. However, now she felt a bit bitter when she thought of Irene.

  The next morning, Leticia left for the Academy in a rush.

  The professor was not pleased with Leticia’s early visit, and refused Leticia’s proposal immediately.

  “I can’t show you my student’s tests.”


  She had already anticipated that the professor would refuse her request to see the cheat sheet and tests, so Leticia began to explain her reasoning with a calm expression, without showing a single sign of panic.

  “If it’s clear that Ronan really cheated, I will sponsor the school instead of him.”


  “Still…”


  “Sponsoring the school, not a student, doesn’t sound like a bad deal, does it?”


  Unlike her gentle impression, she was determined not to step down easily, and the professor seemed troubled and stroked his chin for a moment.

  Soon he sighed as if it couldn’t be helped.

  “All right, I’ll show you, but don’t let others see you.”


  “Thank you, Professor.”


  Leticia thanked the professor and began to compare the students’ test to the cheat sheet.

  ‘Hopefully…’


  It was harder to find that she thought because there were a lot of students attending the academy.

  It was after checking half of the tests.

  ‘There it is!’


  As Enoch had theorized, there was a test who’s answers were written exactly like the cheat sheet. Leticia immediately looked to confirm the name with a cheerful expression.

  As soon as she saw the name, her bright smile suddenly stiffened.

  ‘I thought it was impossible…’


  She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, a sigh of disbelief escaped Leticia’s lip.

  On the test, the name ‘Irene Leroy’ was neatly written.

  *********************************************************