She grabbed her heart that had sunk down and rushed out of the conference room more urgently than anyone else.

Emily looked at Nia faintly and vacantly, like a zombie.

Her eyes were as serene as those of someone who had been to both heaven and hell.

Emily, whose longprepared plans had been messed up by Lucia.

After having wandered in the hellish fields for a few days in agonizing emotions, she had suddenly tasted heaven when she took over as the headteacher due to a teacher’s sudden resignation yesterday.

And now, she was tasting hell again, looking at the blackhaired child in front of her.

In her head now, many incidents from the past academy where she tormented Lucia were passing by.

‘You’re insane. Why did you do that, past me? Ahh, how will you avoid it during school hours?’

When Lucia brought Nia to the Sparrow class, luckily she was able to hide under a nearby platform.

But would such good luck happen every time?

Seriously considering whether she’d rather get a turtle shell to wear, was Emily.

Ivanne, who had been watching Emily, whispered to Nia.

“That teacher, her eyes are strange.”

“Uhm…….”

Since it was free time now, five children were seated facing each other at a round table, drawing pictures or folding paper.

Just then, a child seated at the same table held up a sparkling gold paper and said,

“I might be a saint.”

The Cupidlike cute blond boy looked quite serious.

“What nonsense?”

“Well, yesterday night the Aesir goddess came in my dream. But today there’s a baptism ceremony. Many children became saint candidates after baptism.”

The blond boy folded the gold paper into a triangle, held it to his forehead like a crown, and spoke confidently.

The young children who didn’t know that a saint was female thought of it as some hero or warrior.

“Really? I want to be one too, but I’ve already received the baptism at the temple when I was a baby. I’m not a saint then. Too bad.”

Usually, a newborn baby would receive a baptism ceremony in the sacred grand temple shortly after birth.

However, the empire, composed of countries with different ideologies, encouraged even older children to receive baptism late for unity, like now.

Moreover, from the temple’s perspective, even coming out on a business trip like this had a significant meaning to select a saint.

“Anni, you don’t know? A saint is a girl with black hair!”

“Really? But I’m a boy, so why did the goddess come to me… Huh? You have black hair, don’t you?!”

As the Cupidlike child pointed at Nia and yelled, the eyes of the children seated at nearby tables turned to her.
Though her black hair was already eyecatching, the children who had been hesitant to approach due to the watching adults seemed more curious when they heard she was a saint.

After the mention of the black hair, Nia, who had been tense, huddled closer to Ivana.

“Nia, why are you cowering?”

Focused on drawing the absentminded teacher, Ivana looked at Nia with an inexplicable face when she suddenly clung to her.

When Nia conspicuously avoided her, the children began to gather around.

“The girl with black hair, what’s your name?”

While Ivana stared straight into the eyes of the approaching crowd, Nia, with nowhere else to look, let out a soft moan.

“……Nia…….”

“What? What did you say?”

“Nia…….”

“Your voice is too faint! I can’t hear you. Is it because of this black hair?”

A pale blond child grabbed a lock of black hair covering her ear with her small hand.

“……!”

Then, Nia began to tremble in fear.

The thing she had feared since morning had happened.

Harassment from the children always started with the black hair and gradually grew worse, turning into violence, and she would eventually become a loner.

But she just had to endure this. At home, her mother was there.

And then, there was Vernon, Gilliana, and Hiss. If she wished for more, she’d be a bad child.

With these happy thoughts, Nia endured, but suddenly, she remembered the principal’s words.

‘Give your experiences at kindergarten as a gift. Mom will feel really, really good when she hears your story.’

Contrary to the principal’s words, such painful and scary stories couldn’t be a gift to her mother.

Nia simply pondered what to say on her way home, her eyes welling with tears.

But then,

“Goodness gracious! Nia! How many times do I have to tell you! Are you picking a fight?!”

Ivana, perhaps frustrated, struck the hand of the child who had grabbed Nia’s hair, yelling for them to leave.

The gathered children were frightened by Ivana, who had sent them scattering, and backed away.

The pale blond boy clenched his slightly reddened hand, and immediately his eyes began to fill with tears.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant…….”

“Then what?”

“I, I was going to ask Nia to bless me first when she becomes a saint……. I wanted to be friends with her before that…….”

“You dumb girl! Don’t you know manners? You should ask with words first. If you touch her first, it hurts.”

Ivana, who had reached out first, spoke.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry……. I’m Roy Whitney. Will you be my friend?”

Nia, who had been lying down with her eyes tightly closed, slightly raised her head and saw Roy’s small hand before her.

Could it be true? Does he want to be friends with me?

Nia got up and looked into Roy’s warm green eyes.

Scolded by Ivana, Roy looked as if he would burst into tears if Nia didn’t take his hand.

It was the first time for the child in such a situation.

So, when she looked at Ivana, she was already back to coloring as if nothing had happened.

Nia contemplated for a while longer before gently taking Roy’s fingertips.

Then Roy, showing off his cute front teeth,

“So, if Nia becomes a saint! Will you bless me first?”

When Nia rolled her eyes at the incomprehensible words, a child next to Roy asked,

“What do you get from being blessed?”

“My mom said, it means you live a long life without disease.”

Then, finally understanding the meaning of the blessing, the children shouted one by one.

“Oh, so it means I won’t have a runny nose anymore? Then I’ll be second.”

“So, I won’t be allergic to shrimp anymore? I’m third!”

“I’m fourth!”

The children who had been hovering around Nia all held out their short arms to shake hands.

Nia, who had never experienced anything like this before, blinked in surprise at the children’s goodwill.

Thud

Then, Ivana, who had been coloring, firmly put down her colored pencil and spoke.
“Hey, you guys. What are you doing if Nia is not the Saintess? And if Nia is the Saintess, I’m closer, so I should be first. Is this nonsense? Right?”

At once, Nia, who would affirm anything that Ivanna said, quickly nodded her head.

On the day of the real awakening, will Ivanna truly be able to receive the first blessing?

“…….”

Emily, who had been languishing, watching the children’s commotion, listlessly lifted one corner of her mouth.

‘…Not to mention the Saintess, it would be fortunate if she is not banished from this country for making a mistake. You little brats.’

This morning, Emily, who had heard about Ivanna’s incident among the teachers, had undoubtedly suspected that Lucia had a hand in it.

Even though it was certain to take time to even begin an investigation on a smuggler who had hidden evidence for a long time, they had secured all the evidence in one night by searching the entire harbor, and she was banished from the empire before morning.

It was an incredibly swift action, as if the Emperor had given the order himself.

What if Lucia, who has that much influence, finds out that her enemy is Nia’s teacher?

Emily was once again engulfed in despair and tore at her meticulously arranged hair for the day.