The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 76

Chapter 77
My Talk Therapy Is Working Fast
While chatting with Lily, Isabel quickly asked for the maid’s original surname.
Of course, it was also because Lily chose not to hide it.
“—Dross?”
Isabel frowned slightly when she heard this, “He actually did such a thing?”
She felt a little angry.
Because before this, her impression of Minister Dross had always been quite good. She even thought he was a rare good person among the ministers.
—Charles Dross. The name belonged to the Kingdom’s Trade Minister.
Although he looked old and fat, he was a patient and polite old man.
He usually laughed heartily and was very capable at his job. Most importantly, he respected and was loyal to the Queen. Even when facing Isabel, who was more timid than she was now, the old man never looked down on her, but communicated with her as an equal.
At least, when Her Majesty the Queen complained to Isabel about those ministers’ incompetence and disloyalty to the Kingdom, the surname Dross rarely came up in her words.
This old knight was married with children. In fact, his grandchildren were now in college.
At his age, he was still mingling with prostitutes outside and had a child not much younger than his grandchildren.
After all, Isabel had a classmate the same age as her who was Dross’s granddaughter.
She was nineteen years old and in her second year.
Miss Lily, on the other hand, was twenty-six years old and in her first year.
However, in terms of relationship, Lily was considered her little aunt.
Even when the other party brought the child to him, Old Dross directly gave away his fourteen-year-old illegitimate daughter to be a personal maid to someone else.
According to Teacher Janis, personal maids were generally used for…
Isabel knew Lily was innocent, of course.
But for this very reason, Isabel couldn’t help but frown at the old knight who always laughed heartily. She secretly remembered the name.
As Isabel frowned, Lily realized for the first time that this Princess also possessed a certain dignity.
When Isabel put on a serious face, this girl, who looked as shy and quiet as Miss Yulia, indeed revealed a faint sense of dignity…
As the girls chatted, they strolled around the villa.
After they finished their tour and went downstairs, they saw Eivass sleeping quietly beside the record player.
Eivass, curled up and sleeping in his wheelchair, made Isabel instinctively hold her breath.
Lily tiptoed over, wanting to cover Eivass with a blanket. But as she approached, Eivass suddenly opened his eyes quietly.
“I’m not asleep,” he said softly in a hoarse voice.
Liar, you just woke up.
Isabel thought.
But she quickly realized something else:
Eivass’s sleep was so light? Lily hadn’t made a sound, but he could sense her approaching him.
Just then, the electronic doorbell rang at the entrance of the villa.
Isabel instinctively reached for the door, but was immediately stopped by Lily’s voice, “I’ll get it, Your Highness.”
She opened the door and found Haina, who had come to call Eivass to class.
Haina peeked in from the doorway, her eyes filled with admiration and envy.
It was only then that Isabel realized it was already two o’clock. She quickly bid farewell to Eivass and Lily, and then to Senior Haina, before hurrying back to the Sixth Department—she hadn’t taken leave for her afternoon classes.
Lily took a clean towel and gently wiped Eivass’s face as he sat immobile in his wheelchair.
Then, she took him and followed Senior Haina to the afternoon classroom.
The afternoon class was a language class, and the subject was Elven Language. The textbook used was “Eighty Selected Poems by Sil Dell.”
When she saw it, Haina couldn’t help but chuckle.
—This was the book that Eivass had tried to throw into the fireplace the first time she met him, and she had stopped him. It was still full of Eivass’s annotations of key points and difficulties from his self-study.
Thinking of that scene, Haina suddenly understood… why he knew so much about the founding history of the Star Antimony Kingdom and the Extraordinary War of the Empire that morning.
Eivass was indeed a person who loved to study. The reason he couldn’t come to school two months ago must have been for some unspoken reason…
He deliberately annoyed her back then, probably because she was two hours late, which made him a little upset, Haina thought.
After all, Eivass was still young, no matter what.
It was normal to throw a little tantrum… It was her fault for being late in the first place.
With that thought, Haina shook her head helplessly.
She reminded herself again.
—I must not be late next time.
She had always had a poor sense of time. Before coming to the capital, her classmates said she was a child cursed by the Hourglass (Deity).
But Haina actually felt it was more like a blessing than a curse, just that she didn’t utilize it properly.
Back then, Haina would often spend the entire afternoon reading, or she would unknowingly spend hours practicing sword fighting or running. Time seemed to pass exceptionally quickly for her. She didn’t feel it at all, nor did it make her tired, nor did she become lazy or lose focus.
In her freshman year, she thought she was very intelligent and could get by with minimal effort, but she almost failed. However, once she got serious, her grades shot up instantly. What she relied on was this extremely high learning efficiency, as if she had “skipped the process.”
This also gave Haina a clear understanding of her own abilities.
She was not actually intelligent, but skilled at studying.
Because of this, she no longer felt arrogant. In her opinion, those classmates who didn’t study much and spent their days playing and partying could easily maintain their grades. They were much smarter than her.
After leaving university, she found it difficult to continue studying. The environment was no longer as good.
But her classmates could still adapt quickly in new environments with their intelligence and spirituality—this fully proved that her own level was not as outstanding as her grades suggested.
Haina arrived at the classroom half an hour early with Eivass. Elven Language was also a general course, so the academy’s common lecture hall was used.
She waited until the lecturer arrived, and Haina went to quietly explain Eivass’s situation to the Elven lecturer before leaving.
Eivass did not have a high level of understanding of Elven Language, so he attended this class diligently. Eivass listened attentively and did not cause any trouble. The Elven lecturer, who spoke almost entirely in Elven Language, did not specifically ask Eivass to answer questions.
She moved like a butterfly in front of the blackboard, constantly writing and drawing complex grammatical rules on it. She led the students in reciting Elven poems, repeatedly experiencing the ethereal pronunciation that sounded like reciting poetry, and constantly correcting students’ pronunciation errors.
Although this Elven instructor was only a lecturer, the lowest level in Avalon’s teaching system, equivalent to a doctoral student who had just graduated and stayed on as faculty… her teaching level was unexpectedly good.
In less than two hours of class, Eivass felt that his level had significantly improved. Compared to his memory of self-studying Elven Language before, he immediately realized… this was the improvement in learning ability after entering the extraordinary!
To be precise, it was the Power of the Path of Devotion that strengthened a part of his body and soul.
His logical thinking ability and imagination had not significantly improved… but at least in terms of memory, Eivass felt a very obvious difference.
Secondly, there was the speed of physical recovery. If it were the previous Eivass, sitting still in a wheelchair all day would have made him feel stiffness in his joints and muscle fatigue.
But now, he felt it was very easy. He even had a vague feeling that even if he sat still like this without using Fire Worship Magic to recover his health… his physical strength would not decline at all.
Although Eivass’s stats panel did not display his basic attributes, he did feel an improvement.
After class, Eivass, as per their prior agreement, chatted with Aiden and the others on the way as they leisurely headed to the White Dance Shoe Club.
The White Dance Shoe Club was located in the Sixth Department. Therefore, when Eivass arrived, Princess Isabel had already been waiting anxiously at the entrance for a long time.
She couldn’t pretend to look at the playground outside to pass the time like she did when waiting outside Eivass’s classroom earlier.
There was nothing outside the White Dance Shoe Club. There was only a bicycle shop, a musical instrument shop, and a store selling cigars and tobacco. Next to the club was a shop selling handmade sterling silver mechanical pencils, and a bar.
No matter where she looked, it was inappropriate.
So, Isabel simply stood at the entrance, putting on a bold pretense of waiting for someone.
When Eivass arrived, Isabel was dealing with a senior student who had come out of the club to inquire about the situation.
The senior student clearly knew Isabel’s identity. At this moment, he had a solemn expression, a grave demeanor, and a humble attitude.
He was practically begging, “Please don’t hold it against me, it has nothing to do with me.”
It was obvious that he had probably lost the lottery and was pushed forward by his friends.
To Eivass’s surprise, Isabel’s tone of voice became visibly smoother when interacting with a stranger this time.
Although she still seemed a little nervous, she was completely able to express her thoughts clearly. She was no longer so timid and overly polite.
She was just a bit quiet… she would only reply after two or three sentences from the other person, making her seem a bit aloof. Other than that, she was almost a normal person.
Eivass let out a soft hiss.
…My talk therapy is working this fast?
Social phobia can be cured this quickly? Effective in half a day?
He recalled the unintentional aggression Isabel had shown before. And the fact that their private conversations were very normal, indistinguishable from anyone else…
It seemed the only difference was that Isabel’s mood had clearly improved.
Eivass suddenly realized.
—This Princess of Avalon actually doesn’t have social phobia at all… It’s just that this child simply lacks social experience, and combined with the immense pressure, she became withdrawn!
No wonder she didn’t show much hatred after the fall of Avalon. It wasn’t that she had matured and suppressed her emotions, not showing them to outsiders…
So she really didn’t want to be this princess!
Update complete!
Recommending a friend’s new book to stabilize its performance!
Book Title: “I Became Light in the American Comics”
Telekinesis pushes back tsunamis, light beams detonate planets, and miraculous giants of light can travel faster than light between stars.
Superman: “He is an ideal of progress, a radiance that illuminates the darkness.”
Wonder Woman: “He is a glorious warrior.”
Batman remained silent, and quietly created a new plan: “Ultraman Rampage Contingency.”
Steppenwolf (climbing back to Apokolips with difficulty): “No, Ultraman is too strong!”
Shen You: “Don’t listen to them. I’m just an ordinary scientist from the Land of Light, without their power.”