Chapter 123

 

***

 

“Did you sleep well, Miss Melody?”

“……?”

As Melody lifted her head, she saw Claude Baldwin sitting across the desk, elegantly sipping on black tea.

Leisurely flipping through a newspaper.

Melody was so surprised that she inadvertently pointed a finger at him.

“What exactly are you reading!”

Despite her shocked reaction, he responded with a peaceful smile.

“A gentleman never relinquishes his morning tea and newspaper.”

He tapped the edge of the newspaper with the tips of his long fingers, where today’s date was clearly written.

Meaning, it was a newspaper published this morning.

“Young master.”

With her hands trembling, Melody clenched her fists and confirmed the most important fact first.

“You didn’t bring that from outside the archive, did you?”

“Why not?”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

Naturally, it was strictly forbidden for an examinee or their associates to leave the designated examination site and bring in items from outside.

If this fact were to be revealed, Melody’s examination would be completely ruined. Moreover, with a newspaper as perfect physical evidence, there was no denying it.

‘I need to do something, somehow…!’

But just then.

A heavy knocking sound came from the direction of the entrance.

“……!”

It was undoubtedly the signal for the end of the examination. Melody grabbed her head with both hands.

‘I’m doomed! Completely doomed!’

Perhaps sensing her distress, Claude momentarily lifted his head from the newspaper.

“Miss Melody.”

His call was calm, and Melody could only glare at him furiously.

“Don’t make such a worried face.”

His voice was incredibly calm, even as the knocking continued outside the door of the archive.

“The wrinkles on your brow really do resemble Mrs. Higgins. That face, it’s kind of scary.”

“…….”

If only I could punch that man just once.

Melody harbored this impossible wish, but her thoughts were short-lived.

The knocking from outside had become somewhat more urgent, this time accompanied by a shout, “Miss Higgins!”

‘What should I do?’

Melody pondered for a moment, but in reality, there was no proper answer.

She couldn’t just continue to hold out.

She sighed deeply and slowly approached the door.

The bookshelves around her sparkled in the sunlight, thanks to her diligent cleaning the night before.

‘…Is this the end?’

Melody shook her head slowly.

“Sigh.”

After taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door.

Pulling open the heavy door revealed the female officer who had supervised yesterday’s exam, standing there with a knight fully armed from sword to helmet behind her.

Melody quickly bowed her head, somewhat frightened.

“Miss Higgins.”

“…Yes.”

The officer scanned her tired appearance and nodded.

“You’ve worked hard during the examination. You may now leave.”

Melody cautiously looked up at her, worried that it might mean “You’ve failed.”

“The examination has completely concluded. The grading will be done slowly after all the examinees have left. The officers will meticulously check all the archives in turn.”

“Then, may I.”

Melody cautiously began, her face somewhat relieved.

“Go back in to get my keys and bag? I left them on the desk.”

She intended to remind Claude to make sure he took the newspaper out without getting caught.

“No.”

However, the officer firmly shook her head.

“Excuse me?”

“After this time, you cannot return to the archive. It’s a rule.”

“But…”

Melody trailed off, implying ‘My bag is in there.’

“Don’t worry.”

After saying that, the officer gestured towards the knight.

“Please go in and check. Bring Miss Higgins’s bag and keys, but if you find anything even slightly suspicious, do not touch it and report back to me.”

“Suspicious?!”

As Melody stumbled over her question regarding that part, the officer reassured her as if to say not to worry.

“It’s just a formal procedure. In reality, it’s unlikely there’s anything suspicious here.”

No, there is something.

Melody wanted to confess.

Of course, her lips, frozen solid, didn’t move at all.

In the meantime, the knight passed by Melody’s side and entered the archive.

Melody hoped Claude would cleverly hide the newspaper somewhere.

In reality, that was an unrealistic hope.

He was someone who acted confidently anywhere.

Even at the scene of an examination fraud being discovered, he would surely be flipping through today’s newspaper and sipping on black tea.

The sound of the knight’s footsteps walking deeper inside could be heard.

‘…I’m doomed.’

Melody bit her lip to suppress the desire to scream.

“There are no unusual findings.”

Then, the knight who had quickly searched the inside and returned, gave a surprising answer.

“……?”

Melody’s mouth gaped open in surprise, and the knight approached her to hand over her bag.

“Please check if anything is missing. Miss… Higgins.”

“……Yes? Yes!”

Melody hurriedly checked the inside of her bag. Despite not having organized it, everything she had brought was there.

“Everything’s here. Nothing’s missing….”

“That’s fortunate.”

The knight said, then handed the keys back to the officer.

“Well.”

The officer gestured for Melody to come out quickly.

“You’ve worked hard, Miss Melody Higgins. The person from your family may also leave now.”

“Yes.”

“We will contact you with the results of the examination by winter. So, please.”

She paused her words for a moment. Naturally, Melody tensed up, waiting for what would come next.

“Make sure you do not get involved in any controversies in the meantime.”

“Controversies?”

“Yes. We cannot employ someone involved in trouble to the royal archives, especially to the royal family.”

“Ah.”

Feeling the sincerity in the advice, Melody bowed slightly to express her gratitude.

“Thank you for the advice.”

“I just don’t want to miss out on a capable person over trivial matters.”

Finally, the officer gave a faint smile and turned away.

Melody watched her leave and then suddenly remembered something, quickly running to her side and calling out.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it?”

“I, of course, trust the officers. But still.”

The officer stopped walking and nodded, and Melody continued cautiously with her hands clasped together.

“I didn’t perform well enough in the exam to deserve being called ‘capable’.”

“Miss Higgins.”

“Yes?”

“Even if you say that, I won’t reveal the passing criteria.”

Melody quickly waved her hands in response.

“That’s not what I was hoping for! I just…”

It was because getting a good evaluation despite ‘that’ kind of performance on the exam somehow weighed on her mind.

“I see.”

The officer nodded and then passed by Melody again.

However, she paused as if something occurred to her.

“By the way, you’ll be leaving through the south gate, won’t you?”

That would naturally be the case, since it was the closest gate from here.

“Then, take care on your way back.”

The officer resumed her path, followed closely by the knight who had checked the archive just before.

Melody had something she wanted to ask the knight, but decided to return to the mansion for now.

‘And as for Young Master Claude… he’ll find his own way out, I guess.’

She hurried towards the south gate, unlike when she entered, it was quiet, allowing her to proceed without waiting.

The person verifying identities checked her belongings briefly and then struck up a friendly conversation.

“Staying till morning means you took the exam till the last moment.”

“I was lucky.”

“Not at all. It must be your skill. I hope you pass.”

“Thank you. Oh, by the way.”

Melody looked around for a moment and then asked him.

“Wasn’t there a falcon statue around here?”

“There was, about a decade ago.”

“…That means.”

 

“That means it’s not there anymore.”

He seemed to know about the exam question, laughing as he said, “Of course, it wasn’t there yesterday either.” Likely, those who had failed and were returning yesterday had asked the same question repeatedly.

‘That means.’

Melody recalled what the officer had said during yesterday’s exam.

“It was a gift from His Majesty the Emperor, a falcon statue made of granite. I believe you all must have seen it.”

“After all, it would be hard to miss such a large statue.”

It seems that was all a trap.

Moreover, several examinees had nodded in agreement with her statement.

They probably thought they had missed it in their hurry to enter.

They must have made up appropriate responses, imagining and describing the falcon statue, writing with a sense of unease.

The reason there were no special remarks when disqualification was announced was probably because they believed the lack of truthfulness in their records had been caught.

‘So, the correct answer to that question was.’

What Melody had written, “I did not see it.”

‘I thought the second exam was just to check our ability to write.’

But that wasn’t it. What they wanted to evaluate was only one thing.

Whether a person could stay true to their own eyes and ears, not swayed by what others say.

That must have been it.

Somehow, she found herself smiling. Who would have thought that was the correct answer?

“Melody!”

Just then, a lively voice came from beyond the south gate.

It seemed Loretta had come out to meet her, accompanied by Mrs. Higgins.

Melody bowed her head to thank the staff member who had given her the answer and then started running towards them with quick steps.