Wayne Hill let out a deep breath after he finished speaking. He had left nothing out, and confessed all his dishonesty throughout his days. He finished and looked around, and no one else said a word.

He waited. A young professor slipped out of the room, and he had no doubt that Professor La.s.sen would come running here soon.

“Is it all true?”

Wayne Hill nodded.

“Then why take it this far…”

“There she is.”

He saw Professor La.s.sen urgently rus.h.i.+ng towards them from beyond the open door. Wayne Hill paused for a moment, before confessing the rest.

“I didn’t have the courage. I thought the truth will be buried no matter what I did. I only thought that as long as I studied hard…”

Professor Hill scrubbed his sweaty palms on his wrinkled coat.

“It was because of my selfishness that I continued to enjoy my position. But now I confess.”

“Professor Wayne Hill!”

Professor La.s.sen raged at him. Wayne Hill looked straight ahead, striving to keep his gaze fixed on her.

“I enjoyed the unearned privilege provided by Professor La.s.sen. That led me to this position.”

An elderly scholar opened his mouth anxiously.

“We don’t want to lose a young genius, but Professor Hill…your remarks are too big to cover up now. Do you understand that?”

“I have cheated the innocent and defended lies. And so—”

He steeled his gaze.

“I would be happy to lose everything I had. So, dean.”

He sat quietly and turned to the dean who was listening to his speech. Professor La.s.sen’s face paled when she spotted him. The dean had never attended a forum in person before.

“Please punish me and expel me from the Academy.”

He accepted losing all the privileges he enjoyed, maybe forever. As Stella said not long ago, this moment may be the last time he would be lucky in his life. Professor La.s.sen’s final advice was correct after all.

“This will be a great opportunity for you, as you have strong connections to La.s.sen.”

Indeed a great opportunity, where old lies devoured his pride and integrity—yet there was a small fragment of Wayne Hill that hadn’t been consumed by lies. It was his conscience. He didn’t want to devote himself to those lies or take pleasure in them. He was unworthy to be a scholar, and was deserving of punishment instead.

“Also, please investigate Professor Juliana La.s.sen. And again—”

He briefly recalled the faces of a few students. One of them resembled his twisted past self, and another resembled the ones he hurt in the past. Every one of them was precious.

“—there shouldn’t be people like me.”

Wayne Hill approached Professor Juliana La.s.sen. The professor, who he had always been terrified of, looked small and old, when before, her shadow towered over him immensely…

Wayne Hill took the doc.u.ments from her hand and looked through them. Then he pulled out a fairly thick stack of papers— some wrinkled, some neatly folded—from his briefcase.

“This is the draft of Miss Stella Lapis’ statement. She had trouble writing it and so I a.s.sisted her.”

There were some hasty scribbles on the cluttered paper as they tried to write down all the facts they knew. A divine purpose gripped him as he made correction marks and notes.

The doc.u.ments had something that could never be found in Professor La.s.sen’s papers.

It was the truth.

*

*

*

“I’ll leave this doc.u.ment with Miss Sweeney.”

After Professor Hill’s speech, the dean gave Louise all the doc.u.ments which Professor La.s.sen had made.

“Do you mean you’ll give me the chance to defend myself?”

“If you want it.”

Louise, of course, did not want to miss it, and so she accepted it with thanks.

“And so, the Academy’s business—”

The dean looked up at the fake Mrs. Sweeney behind Louise and frowned. He seemed to recognize his ident.i.ty at first glance. Louise quickly completed the dean’s thought.

“The Academy’s business has to be resolved within the Academy!”

“I’m relieved that you think so. Come to think of it, the fake Mrs. Sweeney has been standing there for a while.”

“She’s not fake.”

“It’s a compliment.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’ll be happy if you can communicate a warning to the Prince.”

The dean quickly left the office, informing her that the ethics committee had to be called. Louise turned around and looked up at Hesse.

“Sir Hesse!”

“My sweet daughter!”

Hesse opened his arms as tears dripped from his eyes, and Louise backed away about three steps in a panic.

“Couldn’t your disguise been a bit more plausible? We’ve all been caught.”

“It’s a disguise I where was supposed to be caught.”

Hesse looked up proudly, and Louise couldn’t hold in her yell.

“The future count shouldn’t be proud of this!”

“Oh…were you worrying about me?”

“Of course. What would people think?”

“Well, they would think…that I’m very fond of Louise of the Greenhouse. In fact, it was on purpose to let you know.”

He added proudly, “I’m the best-known ally of the Crown Prince.”

“Ugh…”

“Are you impressed? “

“A little.”

“Then give me a hug. It is nonsense that a mother and daughter should meet and not hold each other tenderly. “

Sir Hesse really did seem to suit women’s clothing, and so she didn’t hesitate stepping towards his open arms.

“That’s far enough.”

The emotional reunion was cut off when Ian pulled Louise around the waist. When Louise looked up, she saw Ian breathing heavily, as if he had ran all the way here. Hesse had a maniacal grin on his face, as if it was his subtle way of teasing Ian.

“…Good work, Hesse.”

“Then kiss me on the back of my hand!”

“d.a.m.n, one time is enough.”

However, Ian placed a gentle peck on Hesse’s hand. Perhaps Hesse wouldn’t let him hold Louise if Ian refused.

Suddenly, Hesse s.n.a.t.c.hed Louise’s hand and kissed her there as well. Ian was caught by surprise and didn’t stop it in time, before Hesse flashed a grin and quickly disappeared.

“Really.”

Ian muttered as he rubbed the back of Louise’s hand.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to have Sir Hesse around you.”

“How is Stella?”

Louise turned right away and looked at Ian face-to-face.

“Everything’s fine. She’s staying at the counseling office for a while.”

Louise got gooseb.u.mps at the words “counseling office.” She had remembered the time she was locked in there until night.

“It’s alright.”

Ian swept Louise’s cheek as he continued.

“She’s not hurt.”

“That’s a relief, but…”

Louise hugged the papers in her arms.

“I…I feel guilty for giving up halfway.”

“There was no sign of that.”

Ian remembered Louise’s defiant stare at Professor La.s.sen.

“I thought there wasn’t anything I could do with the truth.”

“Firstly—”

Ian tapped Louise on the forehead.

“Professor La.s.sen is king in this Academy. You can’t deal with her alone.”

“Yeah.”

Louise’s voice came out as a mumble.

“I think that my Father has also given up on anything related to the n.o.bles…”

“What are you going to do if you immediately get gloomy like that?”

Frowning, Ian held out a book he had left lying on the side.

Louise recognized it at once. It was the plant encyclopedia written by Dr. Rogers. Judging from the slight dent in the corner, it must have belonged to Professor Wayne Hill.

“I don’t know what the situation will turn out like, so he asked me to give this to you now.”

“You mean Professor Wayne Hill?”

“Yes. He said it was repayment to you.”

Repayment? Louise wondered what the professor owed her. On the contrary, Louis was indebted to him. If he hadn’t revealed his past, Louise would have had to fight Professor La.s.sen alone. She remembered a conversation she had with him one day.

“I’m…I’m not that great. I’m not a genius and I can’t do anything well. And I’m a liar. It’s the worst thing for a professor.”

She thought deeper.

“Their purposes of their sponsors.h.i.+p is becoming strange. They don’t care what happens. “They will make sure their student is on the top.”

And she remembered his ominous warning.

“I like idealism, too. But…I don’t want Miss Sweeney to be sacrificed to a bad plan…”

This whole time he had worried about Louise. Perhaps his conscience had been suffering from the diversion of reality from his ideals, and Louise was the one that stimulated his guilt.

Louse accepted the encyclopedia with a heavy heart. As she slowly turned over the thick, dented cover, she saw a note attached inside the book.

“This is…”

“Professor Hill’s handwriting.”

I like idealism, too.

His handwriting seemed to smile at her. Louise held the doc.u.ments and the book tightly in her arms. Its weight was comforting. Truth and facts were sometimes apart, but when they met, they could have the volume and weight to change the world.

Louise liked that idea too.

Even if it would break her and hurt her one day.