I Become a Secret Police Officer of The Imperial Academy

Chapter 21

About two weeks had passed.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to stick with others.

Since my parents—who had initially told me to keep an eye on people—were already dead, I had been spending breaks and lunch times alone lately.

Theo-sunbae was so persistent that even if I holed up in some corner of the school eating bread, he would still find me.

Aside from things like that, I thought I had been managing to live decently in my own way—but perhaps not.

After class, I had to walk home these days because all the carriage drivers had been reassigned underground.

And then, Theo-sunbae blocked my way.

Isabel, Diana, and Ethel were nowhere to be seen.

I thought he usually hung out with Petra and her companions after class, but perhaps I was wrong.

“…Ellen, how about we have a little chat? It’s been a while.”

“What kind of chat?”

“You’ve just seemed tired and stressed lately.

You’ve been deliberately keeping your distance and spending time alone. I wanted to check if something’s going on.”

“If we keep standing here on the street, people might think you’re confessing to me, and they’ll start giving us awkward looks. Shall we move somewhere else?”

It was meant to be a joke, but Theo didn’t laugh.

Of course, it wasn’t just empty words—I’d actually noticed some curious gazes.

So, we walked down the street together for quite some time.

Apparently bored, Theo couldn’t hold back and asked, “Where are we going?”

“Anywhere. Your house, my house—it doesn’t matter. Or we could go to a café and get something to drink.”

The streets were clean.

It was as if the horror from a month ago now only existed in people’s memories.

The townspeople smiled as they passed each other on the street, and the marketplace bustled with shoppers.

Memory was a strange thing.

Before the loss came, I’d paid no attention to sights like these. 

My focus had been only on the person next to me and the things I was interested in.

But now, I found myself looking around, comparing the present view with the scenes of the past, as if confirming whether they matched.

Back then, the scenery hadn’t mattered to me at all.

The landscapes remained vivid in my memory, but Alicia’s face was fading away.

Even though I had a photograph of her.

Maybe it was because she had been the only person who greeted me when I returned home, someone I hadn’t cared much for back then.

Now, I was walking alongside someone I wasn’t interested in, exchanging words I didn’t care about, with no Alicia by my side.

And even if I went home, there would be no one to welcome me.

Julian was hardly human anymore—he was no better than an empty shell of a corpse.

A robot living out a programmed routine after losing everything.

Where had Alicia gone?

I didn’t want to think about silly notions like her going to heaven or hell after death.

Life on the grand wheel created by the almighty already spun endlessly. If that life wasn’t even happy, it was nothing but torment.

“My house is nearby. Let’s go there,” Theo said.

“And what do you plan to do with a grown woman at your house? Ahaha.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Of course, I knew that wasn’t his intention, but wouldn’t it be better to just take the joke?

I could already guess what he wanted to say next.

True to his words, it took about two minutes of walking before we arrived at a modest house.

It was an ordinary home, one that wouldn’t feel too cramped for five people to live in.

When we entered, Theo’s siblings ran out to greet him.

A younger sister and a younger brother, it seemed.

“Welcome back!”

“Mom, Brother brought his girlfriend home!”

As his sister ran into the kitchen to announce this to their mother, Theo didn’t bother denying it; he just gave a wry smile.

Then, looking at me still standing at the doorway, he said, “What are you doing, not coming in?”

“Oh, uh. Right. I should come in.”

The house was ordinary—nothing luxurious, but nothing shabby either. Just a regular home.

I was… envious.

Following Theo further in, his mother came to greet me.

“So, Theo really brought a girl home. Sweetheart, what’s your name?”

“Ellen Shu… Just Ellen is fine.”

No need to mention my last name.

“Wait here in the room. I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Theo’s room was as ordinary as the rest of the house.

Aside from a fancy sword hanging on the wall, it was just a desk piled with books and a single bed.

“So, what did you want to talk about, that you brought me all the way here?”

“…While you’ve been avoiding us, I’ve been doing some investigating.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“About the large underground area beneath your mansion…”

Knock. Knock.

The sound of knocking interrupted him, and Theo looked flustered.

His mother must have answered the door, as she soon came into the room holding a tray with two iced drinks and slices of cake.

“I know it’s silly, but I couldn’t help myself. Please take care of Theo in the future.”

She placed the tray on the desk, waved to me, and left.

“What were we talking about?”

The tea was loaded with sugar.

I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t particularly like it either.

“I wanted to say that I know what’s happening beneath your mansion. That’s why I brought you here.”

The determination in his eyes was apparent, his words unnecessarily grave.

It was a bit unpleasant.

“Ellen, you’re not doing it willingly, are you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Theo stood abruptly, as if to yell, but seemed to remember where he was and merely rose from his seat, silent.

“Stop pretending. It’s pointless.”

Not doing it willingly? Then who was?

“If the head of the Speyer Family—your brother—is forcing you to do this, then help us.”

So, he had figured it out.

I’d already sensed that, but I had been hoping it wouldn’t be Theo.

And yet, even at a moment like this, he came to me with the ridiculous notion that I wasn’t acting of my own volition.

Such naivety.

Theo wasn’t stupid, but he was someone who wanted to believe in foolishly optimistic answers.

“What exactly do you want me to help with?”

He didn’t answer. Of course not. He didn’t trust me. Then why even bother trying to convince me?

Was I dragged here instead?

If things went south, I might consider taking a hostage—but the only viable option was his mother, who had just brought me this overly sweet tea.

I couldn’t harm children.

Not for any particular reason, but because it just felt wrong.

“You know what’s happening underground, so you must know what I’m doing there too.”

“That’s all because your brother…”

I cut him off.

He didn’t even seem to believe his own words, so why say them?

“Theo-sunbae, as you probably know, forced work isn’t exactly efficient.

If someone were to try to make me do something against my will, I wouldn’t obediently comply.”

“…So, are you saying you’ve been doing all this willingly?”

“Yes.”

“Why on earth?”

“Who knows. Maybe it’s what you’d call a purpose in life.

I just needed something like that.”

The reason Julian had hastily set everything in motion without much thought was likely because he just wanted to end it all quickly and shut himself away in his room, giving up on everything.

I had Julian, and Julian had me, so neither of us would go as far as committing suicide. But living without doing anything? That much we could manage.

Even getting caught like this didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

What would they even do if I got caught? By now, I’d probably already killed half of them.

My throat felt a bit dry, so I took a sip of the overly sweet tea and crunched down on the ice.

A chilling sensation crept into my gums.

“I did it all because I wanted to. Because I felt like it.

No one else’s will had any influence on me whatsoever.

So, what exactly were you hoping to achieve by bringing me here in the first place?”

“What do you mean, ‘hoping to achieve’?”

“You’re lucky to still have your family.

A kind mother, a healthy younger brother, an adorable little sister, and, if I’m not mistaken, your father is still alive too.”

“…Are you threatening me?”

It wasn’t as though I was in any position to make threats.

All the manpower that could have been used to kidnap his family had already been ground to dust. 

And even if I somehow did, it would only provoke Theo further; there wasn’t anyone who could stop him anyway.

He was a person impervious to bullets and magic—what more could anyone ask for?

“What kind of damn threat would that be, Theo-sunbae?

I’m just envious, that’s all.

If you drag me to your house and show me this harmonious scene, of course thoughts like that are bound to cross my mind.”

I cut a small piece of cake with the fork and placed it in my mouth.

It, too, was annoyingly sweet.

“You brought me here saying you wanted to talk.

What exactly is it that you’re so eager to say?”

Theo annoyed me.

Because he was handsome and talented, he believed that just showing up and taking charge would solve everything.

And most of the time, it worked out for him.

Did he really think that pulling me aside for a serious one-on-one conversation would suddenly make me repent, betray my brother, and release all the demons?

“…You said you did everything because you wanted to, by your own will?”

“Yes.”

“Breaking their legs, implanting explosive spells in their necks, throwing disobedient ones alive into the incinerator—did you do all that too?”

“What, do you think someone forced me into it?

I actually found it quite enjoya—”

Slap.

A dull sound accompanied by a slight loss of strength.

Theo had slapped me across the face.

My body flew back, crashing into the wall.