Chapter 67 "Wish me first place"
Zebulun really didn't even care about the people around him. He was silent for a few seconds, breathing a little hurriedly: "The king has an adoption policy for orphans. Your sister should meet the criteria, and you don't have to bear the responsibility of raising her."
"That's great." Edith sighed, "It's a pity that I'm not from the capital."
However, this policy is really useless. As an area with no slums and where the rent of even the most marginal houses is ridiculously expensive, children born here are either rich or noble. Even if something happens to their parents, there will be other relatives who want to inherit the estate to help, so it will not be the orphanage's turn to adopt them.
It's ironic that people who have lost both parents can be adopted by orphanages and grow up safely, while people like Shelly who have both parents but were sold as slaves live a miserable life. I don't know whether not having parents is a blessing or a curse for some people.
Zebulon was eerily quiet.
"If we haven't known each other since childhood... then when did you become Miss Turner's study partner?" He took a long time to speak, and at this moment his attention was no longer on the sight of the people around him.
He had no study partner - the Queen was afraid that a study partner who was too close to the two children might be used by someone with ulterior motives; secondly, she was extremely confident and believed that children from the royal family were more capable than anything else and did not need a study partner to assist them. Therefore, she was not clear at what age the study partners of each family began to be trained.
However, based on what he heard from classmates he had a good relationship with, a qualified companion should be taken home as soon as his talent is tested at the age of seven and trained together with his owner.
"It will be exactly one year in December this year." This year's life was too full. Edith looked up and thought for a while before giving an answer, "That means ten months."
Zebulon: "......"
"Why is it so late?"
"I thought you had a deep understanding of the royal nobles." Edith was surprised by Zebulon's question. "The royal family doesn't care about the issue of the Turner family's heir?"
"It was not until last year that the Turner family made the decision to train Hedda as an heir. They temporarily decided to let her study instead of marrying her, and they could only find a study partner temporarily."
Zebulon was speechless.
He really knew very little about the royal capital.
With such a powerful sister, he had to face a lot of comparisons since he was a child, and the comparisons were all about magical talent - at what age could Ursula cast her first spell, and at what age could she draw her first magic circle.
Under such pressure, he naturally ignored his political abilities that could not be demonstrated on the surface. When he realized it, Ursula had already surpassed him by a long way and began to take over some of the power from his mother.
Edith pointed out the flaw in his heart directly, which made him angry for a moment. Without bothering to ask Edith more questions, he turned around and played the role of the perfect prince again.
But Zebulun was still very confused.
Is what Edith said really true?
If she really had only been a companion for one year - no, that's not right. Even if she had studied in the Turner family since she was a child, she shouldn't have been stronger than herself at this age.
She is very good, but her performance in the promotion match must have been due to luck.
Zebulon slowly exhaled the air from his chest and forced himself to calm down.
It didn't matter whether Edith was strong or not, what mattered was who was stronger between him and Edith. He needed a crushing victory to redeem the reputation he lost in the second round.
If Edith's luck is greater than her ability, this can still be achieved.
Now I just hope she won’t be eliminated by others before meeting me.
…
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Now we are having the opening ceremony of the 97th Campus League of Beaujolais College. I am the docent No. 1!"
The stands were finally filled with students. Even though they were all well-educated in etiquette, it was still noisy when they were crowded together. The magic loudspeakers hanging on both sides of the lecture table repeated the opening words three times before the sound was barely suppressed.
"I am Docent No. 2." After the voice died down, another voice slowly sounded, "The opening ceremony will officially begin in ten minutes. Please take your seats quietly."
It is impossible to be quiet.
Heda twisted and turned on her stool. All the familiar people were sitting in the contestant area. She was sitting alone with students of the same grade and felt very uncomfortable.
"I kind of regret not signing up." Heda muttered, "It's easy to get into the first round, and I'll have Edith in the second round, so it should be no problem to get into the finals."
"Is it easy to get into the first round?"
The people around Heda couldn't help but turn their heads, "...Really?"
Hedda was startled: "Your Highness Campbell?"
Why is Ivan, the queen's youngest son, who is also a first-year student, sitting here? Shouldn't he sit in the center stand?
Ivan looked uncomfortable. "Okay, can you not call me by that name?"
"I'm sorry, I should—"
"Ivan, Ivan is fine."
Heda agreed and scratched her head awkwardly. Ever since they discussed in the dormitory the question of "who exactly is the college setting up the same-grade challenge mechanism for?", she had always seen Ivan as a weakling who was supported by everyone despite his lack of ability. It was really difficult for her to communicate normally at this time.
"I'd better call you His Highness Ivan." There are three His Highnesses Campbell. Hedda thought for a long time and finally chose this somewhat awkward title.
The light in Ivan's eyes dimmed.
"It's okay." He turned back, looking a little lonely.
Hedda: “…”
Weird.
......
The principal's opening speech was long and boring. For some reason it took so long that everyone was drowsy. Every time we thought he had finally finished and started applauding, the person on the stage would calmly pull out another speech script.
Finally, after the principal formally read out the last piece of paper, everyone in the audience was completely absent-minded. They even forgot to applaud at the most important moment, and only realized something was wrong after the other person left the room.
The belated applause rang out enthusiastically, but the principal had already walked off the stage, leaving everyone with an empty podium.
Edith straightened her school robe and stood up to go forward.
A leader who was standing by rushed forward at this moment.
"Wait a minute, let His Royal Highness Campbell go first."
Edith tilted her head in confusion, "The procedure says I'm the second one."
"The situation has changed." The leader was sweating profusely. Who knew that the principal would speak for so long than originally planned? If Edith was allowed to finish the speech step by step, the golden time he specially selected for Zebulon would be over.
Edith didn't care much about the order, but Zebulon was obviously embarrassed. He pursed his lips, as if trying to hide his anger: "I don't--"
Before he could finish his words, the principal who had walked off the stage suddenly changed direction and walked straight in front of the few people.
Then he reached out, patted Edith's shoulder hard, and pushed her towards the podium.
Edith was startled by the sudden change, and the leader was also stunned. He didn't even have time to take back the hand on Zebulon's shoulder.
Seeing the principal's clear attitude, Zebulun felt half relieved and half embarrassed, but finally he controlled his temper and patted the man lightly to signal him to put his hand down.
The leader opened his mouth: "Principal——"
It seems that he hasn't given up yet.
The principal ignored him and raised his chin towards the stage. "Go up," he said to Edith, his eyes full of love.
Edith: “…”
So sudden.
She simply said thank you and stood up and walked to the stage.
As if to make up for the insufficiency, everyone continued to applaud after the principal left. Edith stood on the stage accompanied by applause.
The applause gradually died down.
The leader's timing was indeed excellent. The sun shone from overhead, casting a dazzling halo on Edith. People who looked at her had to squint their eyes, and there were fewer malicious glances.
But there are still a lot of whispers.
"Is this the first grader?"
"Are you really letting the first graders go? I thought the representative would definitely be His Royal Highness the Prince..."
"I'm curious. In previous years, the student representative would always be the final winner. This year, the situation seems to be much more special."
"It must be special. I saw that Edith's preliminary results were quite poor. It seems that she just barely passed the line. It's just that her promotion results were high. I guess she has leadership ability, but her one-on-one performance is a little bit worse. It's a pity that the finals are a one-on-one competition."
"I also think that Zebulon will definitely win in the end. If Edith participates in the competition again when she is in the third grade, she will definitely win first place. It seems a bit difficult now - Her Majesty the Queen will definitely not let him lose."
That's true.
Edith was a freshman and was the student representative. Her mission for the year had been accomplished, and it would not be surprising if she lost at any time. But Zebulon was different. He was a candidate for the succession to the kingdom, and not only Her Majesty the Queen, but also the ministers who secretly supported him would never allow him to lose the game.
It's not only about face, but also about inheritance.
Although countless eyes were staring at Edith at this time, she was quite calm and began to read the manuscript.
The crowd who were eager to try gradually became indifferent.
"...So bland."
Edith's speech was very formal and was completely based on a template. Although it was not interesting, it was not wrong either. It was indeed a good choice.
...but is this the answer you should give!
"A first-year student signed up for the league and beat the prince. Shouldn't he be very arrogant?" A fourth-year student raised an eyebrow. "He is more patient than I thought."
"Is her academic performance not very good and she can't write a good manuscript?" someone couldn't help but ask.
The people around him immediately rolled their eyes at him: "Are you blind? Can't you see the badge on her collar?"
The man took a closer look and immediately gasped: "Golden?!"
It’s all because the sun is too glaring, this reflective thing has dazzled his eyes!
"She's among the best in both theory and practice, no wonder I heard that Dean Keith asked her to be his assistant. I've never seen her in person before and always thought it was a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true." He looked down along the golden first badge, and saw the assistant badge pasted neatly underneath, dazzling.
Edith could not hear the trivial muttering. She finished reading the penultimate paragraph of the manuscript perfectly, looked at the last line, and suddenly felt a little bit of evil interest.
Zebulon had already stood up behind her. She had also finished reading the manuscript that had been submitted to the leadership for review in advance. Logically, she should have gone down—
"——I wish this league a complete success." Edith said calmly, "and I also wish me first place."
"Thanks."
Zebulon stumbled.
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