Chapter 98
A graduate student who failed every thesis defense she attended.
She didn’t know. Who could have known that someone who was considered talented as a child, praised for being smart, would fall into mediocrity once they became a graduate student?
“I want to graduate. I… I really want to earn my PhD.”
“But what happened to the last advice I gave you? Has the hippocampus in your brain malfunctioned?”
He was elegantly hinting at the fact that her memory had become as bad as a goldfish’s… Eugenie struggled to avoid the professor’s sharp gaze as she muttered,
“But wasn’t that the reason you accepted me into your lab in the first place?”
Developing a substitute material for magic stones. The paper Eugenie wrote when she graduated from undergraduate school had caught Professor Racquet’s attention, and that was what led to her acceptance into graduate school.
“When you transitioned from undergraduate to graduate school, that topic was fine. I could tell how smart and passionate you were.”
“So, what about now?”
“Do you not know that your graduate thesis is submitted to the imperial family?”
While undergraduate theses are merely for the academy level, graduate theses must be submitted to the imperial family. Of course, nominally, it’s for the Emperor and the Minister of Education to review, but in the end, it must pass through Empress Silvea’s eyes.
And if the topic is about magic stones…
That’s why Professor Racquet had deliberately rejected Eugenie’s thesis topic over and over.
“There’s no need to walk a path where you’ll just get hated for no reason.”
“…”
“Especially now, with the Crown Prince ill. You know her mood must be bad.”
Eugenie bit her lip tightly in response to the professor’s words. If she didn’t shut her mouth, he would likely blurt out even more dangerous comments.
That bastard isn’t ill; he died and was resurrected, unable to adjust… she didn’t finish what she started…
“Anyway, Miss Norton, why are you so obsessed with this topic?”
“Because I believe it’s socially unjust for one family to monopolize such an important material like magic stones.”
“Is that really the reason? You’re just stubborn about this for some selfless cause?”
“…”
Professor Racquet stared at Eugenie with the penetrating gaze of a thesis advisor. Usually, she was indifferent and seemed detached, but for some reason, she was unusually stubborn about this topic.
It was hard to call it mere academic enthusiasm.
But after a long pause, Professor Racquet let out a deep, exhausted sigh, as if the very ground beneath him had cracked.
“When the semester starts in the fall, I hope you’ll begin your final research with a different topic. It’s time for you to move on to the next stage of your life.”
“…Yes.”
“And introduce the husbands who came with you today. Who’s here? The automobiles and attendants outside are quite noisy.”
“It’s Carter Livingston and Magnus Napier, Professor.”
“Is that so? What a surprise.”
That look of sympathy, which one is it directed toward, Professor?
“Anyway, it would be nice to see their faces again after so long. Are they outside?”
“Yes, they’re waiting in the reception room. I’ll bring them in shortly.”
Could she really let her precious thesis advisor walk on his own two feet?
Eugenie quickly jumped up and walked toward the reception room connected to the office.
“Carter! Napier—”
Before she could call out to ask if they were inside, her vision suddenly darkened so completely that she could see nothing.
Srrr…
The sound of a massive snake slithering came from the end of the corridor, and in an instant, all the surrounding sounds were swallowed up.
* * *
It was only natural that Carter had been assigned to protect Eugenie today.
He was the only one who could provide the necessary protection from the temple, and if the entity in question turned out to be someone associated with dark magic, he would be the one best suited to deal with it.
“…But why are you following me, Napier?”
Magnus, dressed in a neat suit, glanced over at Carter as he stared out at the distant courtyard, giving him a cold look.
“I’m fulfilling my duty as a husband.”
“Oh, are you trying hard not to get kicked out?”
Carter’s cynical expression was far from the image of a noble priest.
Was there some strange magic at the place where they spent their school years? Even after leaving it for six years, that bitterness and sharp tone still managed to slip out.
Carter had despised Magnus Napier since their academy days. He was like the muddy footprints left on pristine white snow—an eyesore.
Carter took out a cigar and sneered at Magnus.
“Well, you wouldn’t have had anything to do with Eugenie originally.”
“…”
“If you turn out to be utterly useless, I guess that’s the end of the relationship too.”
“Heh. You really hide that trash personality well in front of Norton.”
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.