Chapter 77: Must Rely on Myself
Beside her, Daphne also seemed to sense Erika’s discomfort. She immediately stood up and leisurely walked to Erika’s side, stepping in to smooth things over.
“All right, everyone, let’s not make wild assumptions.
While elemental attributes are often inherited, there are exceptions where one is simply born with them.
Miss Erika only recently arrived in the Imperial Capital—this is a misunderstanding.”
With Daphne’s explanation, the crowd’s suspicions began to ease.
As for Erika, her gaze turned to Daphne, full of silent blame.
If you hadn’t run your mouth, would all this nonsense have happened?
Without responding to anyone else, Erika turned and went back to her seat.
No sooner had she sat down than Isana, as always, came sidling up. She clung to Erika’s arm, praising her without hesitation:
“Erika, you’re amazing! As expected, only my Erika can pull this off. You looked so cool during your elementalization—everyone was stunned!”
“Isana… you’re too close.”
Erika blinked. Now she actually regretted what she had done earlier. If she could redo it, she would have rather played it down than show off her elementalization in front of everyone.
The compulsory class ended.
As expected, among over a hundred students, only three succeeded in elementalization.
Erika’s name spread completely.
Now, all the freshmen at Wode Academy knew that a powerful little girl had arrived. White hair, red eyes, beautiful and cute, not a noble—definitely dateable...
The rumors spread wildly, and Erika became the hot topic on campus.
…
The heavy rain in the sky had finally stopped—the sun came out.
Unsurprisingly, students came flocking to Erika to strike up conversations, bombarding her with questions.
To avoid this hassle, Erika had no choice but to seek out Isana.
Since everyone knew Isana was the daughter of the Duke of Daylight, no one wanted to mess with a noble girl.
So as long as Isana was around, Erika could avoid these annoyances.
As for Isana, she was clearly very happy. Her slightly pink cheeks were full of joy, and her small hands clutched Erika’s arm like they were lovers.
“Isana…”
Feeling a bit uneasy, Erika blinked and said, “Can you not always hang on my arm like this… So many people are staring at us.”
“But Erika, you’re the one who asked me to come with you.”
Beneath her silver hair, Isana still wore a cheerful expression.
“But I didn’t ask you to cling to me…”
“Do you hate me, Erika?”
“No, I’m just used to it… It’s just, it might cause misunderstandings.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“Just… just…”
Muttering a couple of words, Erika’s face blushed.
“Just… that kind of weird relationship…”
“Huh?”
Isana blinked wide-eyed. “What weird relationship? Aren’t we friends?”
“Ugh… never mind.”
Shaking her head helplessly, Erika gave up explaining. If Isana wanted to hang on her, fine—she was already used to it. A little more wouldn’t kill her…
“By the way, Isana, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Um… is there anyone named Jocelyn in Wode Academy?”
Hearing that, Isana thought for a moment. “There are too many people in Wode Academy. I’ve seen some rosters before, but I can’t remember that many names… Is this Jocelyn a teacher or a student?”
“I don’t know.”
Erika thought about it. “I think she must’ve just joined Wode Academy not long ago.”
“If she’s new…”
After thinking further, Isana said, “I do remember the recently added names. I looked them up when I was researching your file.
But whether it’s teachers or students, there’s no one named Jocelyn on the list.”
“There isn’t…?”
Hearing that, Erika furrowed her brow.
Had she mistaken that figure this morning? But it really looked like Jocelyn…
Or maybe… Jocelyn wasn’t using her real name?
In any case, she’d have to investigate it slowly—that Dragon Core Crystal was too important!
…
Wode Academy’s curriculum was simple. Besides daily compulsory classes, there were plenty of elective ones.
As long as you attended the compulsory class, you could skip electives or even go straight home.
Daphne’s compulsory class had already given Erika a lot. She wasn’t interested in electives right now—there was something she had to do.
“Erika, let’s go have lunch.”
Isana clung to Erika’s arm and invited her warmly.
But this time, even faced with food, Erika hesitated for a moment—then resisted the temptation.
Her expression was off. Pressing her lips together, she blinked at Isana.
“Sorry, Isana. I have something to do. You go ahead and eat.”
Isana looked surprised. “Something more important than food?”
“It’s very important.”
Nodding, Erika slipped her hand out of Isana’s grasp and tucked it into her pocket, tightly gripping the half-full healing potion inside.
“What is it? Can you tell me?”
“It’s about Gladys…”
“Your mom?”
“A family member—a very important one.”
Erika bit her lip and spoke softly.
Her eyes glanced at Isana and flickered slightly, but the words stopped at the tip of her tongue.
“Forget it, Isana. I’ll handle this myself—it’s fine.”
“You can tell me, Erika. What’s wrong? I’ll help you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Erika!”
Suddenly grabbing Erika’s shoulders, Isana’s expression turned serious.
“If you’re troubled by anything, you can always tell me. If you need help, I’d do anything for you.”
“Don’t… Isana.”
Erika gently pulled away. To avoid worrying her, she smiled sweetly, revealing two tiny tiger teeth—her cute expression returned.
“Thank you, but this time, it’s something I have to handle on my own. If I rely on your help, it wouldn’t mean the same thing.”
“Then what’s really going on?”
“I’m still not going to tell you… I’ll take care of it myself.”
Erika shook her head. Stepping through the puddles, she turned and ran out of the academy.
“Erika, where are you going?!”
Without looking back, Erika kept her gaze forward. Determination gleamed in her eyes, and her small hand stayed tucked in her pocket, clutching the healing potion tightly.
After running for a long time, finally putting distance between herself and Isana, Erika called back.
“To your house—!”
To my house?
Watching Erika’s retreating back, Isana stood there bewildered.
Why is she going to my house?
She had wanted to follow, but thinking of what Erika had said, she hesitated and stayed put. Her expression dimmed.