Chapter 31
Looking at the system prompt from earlier, Charles realized that her simulation days had been refreshed. By lifting the curse of "Fated Death," she had expanded her days of destiny.
"Future: 16 Days (Saint Year 741, July 4, 11:58) (Cost: 10 Fate Points)"
"Past: 688 Days (Saint Year 739, July 31, 12:55) (Cost: 200 Fate Points)"
"Old Days: ***, *** Days (????) (Cost: 10,000 Fate Points)"
Sixteen days from now, two years ago, and the still incomprehensible Old Days.
However, based on this, Charles had managed to summarize some patterns.
It seemed that for every year she moved forward, the cost in Fate Points increased by 100. If she went back two years, it required 200 Fate Points, with the system's notorious rounding still in play.
Within a month, it appeared that the cost was consistently 10 Fate Points.
Having just gone through an event, Charles had no interest in checking what lay eight days ahead. She lay back down on her bed, slowly drifting off to sleep as she closed her eyes.
The emotional highs and lows, the transformation into a saved character, and a complete simulation had left her feeling mentally exhausted. After a few hours of sleep, she opened her eyes again just as dawn began to break.
She washed up, changed into her school uniform, and slung her bag over her shoulder, placing Thomas's notebook inside. Important items like that were best kept close.
Her sister was still asleep, so Charles prepared two breakfasts. After finishing one, she left a note and stepped out.
The streets outside were gradually coming to life, children laughing and playing. Suddenly, a child running past her with an iron hoop lost grip of it and began to cough violently, but quickly resumed running as if nothing had happened.
"Did you hear? The Blackwater Gang had an internal conflict last night—three people died! The leader is dead!"
"Of course I heard! My brother told me he saw them shooting each other. The last madman set fire to the place, burning the whole shop down!"
"Oh? What was it about? Dividing the spoils? Did your friend see anything?"
"Shh... Don't tell anyone, okay? They died in each other's arms—it's a love suicide!"
"Whoa..."
The gossip of passersby brought a smile to Charles's lips as she quickened her pace toward the academy.
These notorious criminals would never have imagined that after their deaths, they would be remembered by the very commoners they scorned as a couple of "perverts" who died for love.
Upon arriving at the academy, even though there were no classes today, most of the staff were present, directing servants to clean and arrange every corner of the hallways in preparation for tomorrow's graduation ceremony.
"Charles? What are you doing here?" A female teacher with black-rimmed glasses approached her with a smile. "You didn’t mix up the dates, did you? The graduation ceremony is tomorrow!"
"Teacher, you’re joking... I came to see the principal. I need to talk to her about something."
"About further studies? Of course! With your talent, the principal will definitely give you a recommendation letter for Ansu University," the teacher stepped aside, allowing Charles to enter the academy. "She’s in her office; you can go right in."
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**Chapter 32: The Principal and an Unexpected Encounter with Avelina (Part 1)**
Knock, knock, knock—
"Oh, for heaven's sake! I told you, no! The budget is limited! You want to hire a band, and they want to throw a ball, and we still need to provide desserts—oh, for heaven's sake, the desserts have to come from that damned Jazz Bridge! Why don’t you just say we should hold the graduation ceremony at the theater instead!!!"
In front of Charles, the deep brown wooden office door was ajar, and a somewhat sharp voice of complaint drifted out, sounding rather frazzled.
Once the complaints subsided, Charles softly spoke up, "Principal Jenny, it’s me, Charles."
"Oh!"
A flurry of rummaging sounds followed, and soon an elderly woman, leaning on a cane, pulled the door open and looked at Charles. "Sorry, sweetheart, I thought it was those vampires again. Come in, what are you waiting for?"
Charles helped the plainly dressed elderly woman into the room and settled her onto a sofa in the reception area.
"Wasn't yesterday the graduation ceremony? Did you sleep for two whole days?" Principal Jenny put on her round glasses and looked at Charles. "You look well-rested."
Jenny's humor, devoid of any wit, left Charles momentarily at a loss for words. She could only continue the conversation, "Yes, the oversleeping Charles has come to see the principal about the recommendation letter."
"Recommendation letter?" Jenny feigned surprise, glancing around before whispering, "Did they tell you?"
"Who?"
"The vampires!" Jenny laughed as she stood up slowly, walking over to her desk to pick up a letter sealed with red wax. "Come here, Charles."
Charles approached Jenny, puzzled, as she handed her the letter.
"Don’t open it yet," Jenny said, patting Charles on the shoulder with a smile. "I was planning to surprise you with it tomorrow."
"What is this...?" Charles asked, confused about the purpose of the letter.
"You don’t know?" Now it was Jenny's turn to be puzzled. If Charles didn’t know about this, why would she come to ask for a recommendation letter?
"This is a recommendation letter for the Law School at Ansu University," Jenny said softly after clearing her throat. "The teachers know your family situation is a bit tight, and after some discussion, they decided to forgo Ogusfu University and jointly wrote you a recommendation for Ansu United University. Take this letter to the dean of the Law School, and they’ll arrange a scholarship for you."
"I calculated it for you; the accommodation and food are a bit pricey, but the tuition is almost halved. In total, it’ll be about the same as here."
Seeing Charles remain silent, Jenny thought she might be rejecting Ansu United University and quickly added, "Although Ansu United University was just established, it has a dedicated Law School. You know Ogusfu Academy is just a place for nobles; they graduate to become officials. Good teachers don’t guarantee a good atmosphere."
"Principal Jenny, that’s not it. I don’t think Ansu University is bad." Charles took a deep breath and placed the recommendation letter on the desk.
According to Principal Jenny, with the scholarship reducing tuition by half, plus accommodation costs, the final price would be about the same as what she was paying now.
But attending this school was only possible because her sister had used her compensation for her disfigurement, along with her exhausting work, to barely afford it.
Now, that compensation had long been spent, and relying solely on an ordinary worker's salary, it was impossible to support a university student who didn’t contribute to the household.
She wanted to enjoy a peaceful life at university, but not now. At the very least, she needed to arrange everything before she could consider laundering money for tuition.
"I came here for a recommendation letter for a position at the Brolin City Police Department." Charles lowered her head, unable to meet Principal Jenny's gaze.
The air fell silent for a while before Charles felt Jenny pressing the letter back into her hands.
Then, Jenny shakily returned to her office, rummaging for a moment before pulling out a letter and beginning to write.
She wrote slowly, occasionally misspelling a few words. At the end, she sealed it with her signature stamp and placed the letter into an envelope, using a candle to melt the wax.
Throughout the process, neither of them spoke, remaining silent until Jenny poured wax over the envelope's seal and stamped it with the academy's seal, then handed the envelope to Charles.
"Thank you, Principal Jenny." Charles reached out to take the envelope, expressing her gratitude, but she couldn’t pull the letter from her hand.
Looking at Jenny, she found the principal staring at her seriously.
"You haven’t given up on your studies, have you?" Jenny asked.
"...No." Charles nodded.
If circumstances allowed, she would like to continue on a normal path.
"That’s good." Jenny released her grip, no longer looking at Charles, but rather speaking as if to herself. "The recommendation letter for Ansu University remains valid, but if you miss this academic year, you’ll have to wait until next year... You’re a girl with plans; go ahead and pursue them..."
Charles gave a slight bow, then turned to leave with the two letters in hand.
Though she felt she had somewhat let down the expectations of the principal and the other teachers, she had no other choice.
If she wanted, she could easily exchange dozens of Fate Points for hundreds of gold pounds, allowing her and her sister to live in peace, away from the world.
But who could say which would come first, tomorrow or an unexpected event? Fate Points couldn’t be carelessly spent, and she couldn’t exchange gold pounds without finding a way to launder them first.
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