My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 22
In a desperate attempt to console herself, Regina muttered silent prayers. Suddenly, one of the interviewers began the session.
“Let’s begin the interview. Miss Regina Heather, why do you wish to join our Academy?”
“Excuse me. Allow me to start.”
Skyler’s reincarnation suddenly intervened. Regina, who was relieved and was about to answer the straightforward question, was struck by a sense of foreboding.
With a sly smile, he asked.
“Among the ‘Seven Guardians’, who do you think assassinated Empress Yekarna?”
The sudden question caught the other interviewers off guard. Interviews were typically a formality, a final check for any serious disqualifying factors before admission. This wasn’t meant to be a test of critical thinking, yet here was this unexpected question.
While the interviewers exchanged confused glances of ‘what is that person doing again?’, Regina felt a chill run down her spine. The warmth that had risen from her embarrassment a moment ago now disappeared leaving her head and chest cold.
How dare he act like that?
“Skyler Linzmeyer, the Margrave.”
Regina stared directly at him and said clearly.
“I believe he is the one who assassinated the Great Empress.”
For the first time, his composed face faltered.
“…Pardon?”
“Dean, we need to assess other candidates as well. We don’t have much time, so we should perhaps focus on the essential matters and move on to the next candidate…”
Another interviewer intervened cautiously, hinting that it was time to stop the irrelevant questioning.
With a look of dissatisfaction, he fell silent. After exchanging a few more routine questions and answers, Regina left the interview room. But her troubles were far from over.
Should she enroll in the Academy in these circumstances? If he’s the dean, she’d inevitably encounter him as long as she attended the Academy. It would be putting herself under his influence. Regina, who wished to avoid anything to do from her past life, found this prospect unwelcome.
‘But it’s embarrassing just to turn back.’
It was one thing to leave home for the Imperial Academy’s entrance examination with high hopes as if she had passed, but returning empty-handed seemed undignified.
Some might say family shouldn’t care about such things, but precisely because they were family, she didn’t want to show them a defeated version of herself. She could endure humiliation in front of strangers any day, but she didn’t want to appear diminished in front of her loved ones.
‘But that means dealing with Skyler’s reincarnation.’
Not for a day or two, but throughout her four years at the Academy!
“Guh.”
With a disgruntled groan, Regina slammed her head on the table. No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t come up with a solution.
The innkeeper couple whispered cautiously to each other while observing her.
“Looks like the interview didn’t go well, huh?”
“If it had, she wouldn’t be acting like this.”
“I don’t get it. What’s lacking in our Regina? Are the interviewers blind or what?”
The husband glanced at his wife, slightly taken aback by her indignation. Since when has Regina become ‘our’ Regina? To a stranger, she might seem like their own daughter.
“What to do? You’re usually better with this kind of thing than I am.”
“What can we do? We need to feed her plenty of delicious food.”
His wife walked determinedly towards the kitchen, and the husband hurriedly followed after her.
“Hey, wait for me!”
After the couple left, Regina, who had been repeatedly burying her face into the table, finally made up her mind.
‘Just act as if I’m dead and enroll.’
If she kept denying any knowledge of her past life, what could he possibly do? He’s the dean, he would unlikely to torture his own students at the academy, right? After all, she was a student.
Her original life tends to favor the shameless. She had no choice but to put on a thick iron plate face and stand her ground. Her conscience would have to be temporarily entrusted to the devil.
“You are truly someone with a remarkably thick face.”
A voice from her past life echoed like a hallucination.
Back then, Yekarna had replied,
“An Emperor is shameless.”
‘Now I’m not even the Empress, so there’s no excuse.’
With a short sigh, Regina wetted her lips and braced herself for the bleak future ahead. Her mind was heavy with worries. Yet, despite that, her stomach was already reacting to the delicious scents wafting through the air.
Shouldn’t she have no appetite in such a situation? Her body was too susceptible to hunger. The scent of roasting meat, the simmering stew, the rich aroma of butter – why was her mouth watering already?
‘What are they cooking so diligently? Did someone order a special meal?’
As she sat blankly with these thoughts with one cheek on the wooden table, the scent of food grew closer.
“Regina. You must be exhausted after today’s interview, so have some of this.”
The innkeeper lady’s voice made Regina sit up. A large tray filled with various dishes was presented to her.
“Madam, did you make all this for me?”
“When your mind is complicated, it’s a good strategy to stress the stomach instead. That way, all your energy goes into digestion, leaving no room to think.”
Regina realized that she must have looked quite distressed that everyone could see. She felt a bit remorseful.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble. I’ll enjoy the meal, thank you.”
“Of course. Eat well and cheer up.”
The innkeeper lady patted her shoulder before leaving.
Regina felt puzzled. She didn’t particularly need to ‘cheer up’. The only thing she had to do was put up a bold front or… cheer up and put on a bold front?
The odd combination of words made her tilt her head in confusion, but she took hold of her fork anyway.
* * *
While Regina was unknowingly enjoying the lavish feast prepared with care by the innkeeper couple, the man with red hair and green eyes was drinking in a dark bedroom.
“Skyler Linzmeyer, the Margrave. I believe he is the one who assassinated the Great Empress.”
“Haha.”
He laughed aloud, recalling the girl who had looked him straight in the eye and said those words without even blinking.
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