Ch. 167 One More Thing (1)

Louise bowed as she entered the greenhouse.

Professor Hill was found squatting in the corner mixing dirt, and he slowly stood up. It was the first time the two of them had met since the incident. Louise had been busy with exams, while Professor Hill was on probation. She didn’t ask him how well he was doing, but the brightness of his expression was answer enough.

The snow and ice often threatened the leafy residents of the greenhouse.

Professor Hill straightened his shoulders and smiled proudly.

Louise naturally a.s.sumed it was him. Simon had been to this greenhouse many times, and he was good at physical labor.

Louise looked at Professor Hill questioningly, and he nervously scratched his cheek.

The professor gave a smile.

Louise held her hands together as if it were a wish come true, and Professor Hill nodded.

Professor Hill scratched his cheek again, and he looked bashfully at the red roses. Although they were standing in the greenhouse, even winter could make its icy grip felt inside. However, the roses won the fight to bloom even in these circ.u.mstances.

He murmured to himself in a small voice.

Louise remembered that Professor Hill was on shaky ground and she didn’t pursue the topic further.

After giving a brief bow, Louise immediately returned to the student council room. With the graduation ceremony just one day away, everyone was up to their necks in busywork.

Ian asked her in a businesslike manner.

Louise leaned over to see the papers Ian had been studying intently. On it were the names of the graduates along with times.

Ian tapped Louise lightly on the forehead with his pen.

Louise straightened her fringe and nodded quickly.

Ah, she understood. The student council president cared for the students up until the last moment.

Ian patted Louise on the shoulder encouragingly.

That was a lie. Anyone could see that Ian was obviously suffering from fatigue.

Louise summoned a witness who had seen Ian work for the past two years.

Claire looked up from her work, looking startled as if she hadn’t heard their conversation.

Claire swept away her long hair and held her pen again. She looked like she was immersed in writing a doc.u.ment. Louise turned back to Ian and whispered to him.

Before Ian could explain, Claire handed over a sheet of paper next to her.

The address written by the dean was t.i.tled, “The Past, Present and Future of the Academy.”

Her fingers were red as she laid down the pen. She must have been working on rewriting the address for some time.

When Claire said “famous people,” she gave a pointed look towards Ian.

There was nothing more unfortunate than suffering through the dean’s long, winding speeches at events. The Academy’s student council, which fought injustice against students and opposed terrible menus, secretly decided to make corrections to the dean’s speech.

This time Ian answered.

There he wouldn’t be able to vent his anger in front of all the guests. It would be bad for business.

Ian will wear his ident.i.ty as Crown Prince again.

Dean Crissis, who had been lying with his head down next to Claire, woke up.

Dean gave a mumble of agreement and dropped his head back down to the table again. He must have been tired after staying up all night making paper flower ornaments.

There was a note of stubbornness in his sleepy voice. Louise smiled to herself as she looked alternately between the workaholic Claire and nearly asleep Dean. They seem to still get along very well.

Luckily, Claire completed her revisions before dinner. Ian read the ma.n.u.script in the dean’s voice, and timed it for exactly four minutes and thirty six seconds. It was still quite long, but the original ma.n.u.script had been much longer. After dinner, they all went to the auditorium to hang the paper flower decorations, then returned to the student council room to put back the glue and scissors.

After all that work, they all finally made their way back to the dormitories. Claire took Louise’s arm as she spoke in a somber tone.

She shook her head gently, frowning.

Louise squeezed Claire’s arm tightly.

Such a future felt so natural. It was strange that in reality this was Claire’s last night.

The pair walked side by side with the unanswered question hanging between them. The path was familiar to Claire now, and so she walked with her eyes closed.

They smiled as they reminisced together. Before they knew it, Ian and Dean appeared behind them too, smiling all the way.

Ian made an important addendum to Claire’s story.

However, Claire was smiling brightly.