Thanks to Eleanor’s help and Esme being… Esme, Enid managed to finish the shortlisting before dinner.

  After sharing a meal with them, Enid decided to turn in early. Tomorrow was interview day, and she wanted to be ready.

  The next morning, Enid arrived at her office bright and early.

  Nino followed the list and brought every candidate to wait outside. Once everyone had arrived, Enid began calling them in one by one, in order.

  Her interviews were straightforward. She wanted to know how each student viewed the nature magic system, whether they had the nerve to challenge conventions, and whether they actually had the drive to act on their ideas.

  After several rounds, Enid had to admit it, she still hadn’t found the kind of student she was looking for.

  Every candidate was excellent, no question about that. But their thinking was far too conservative. They clung to the established framework and didn’t dig deeper the way Eleanor and Nino did.

  When the second-to-last student left, Enid leaned back and stretched. Sitting for so long was murder on her lower back.

  At least there was only one person left.

  She told herself to push through. Once this was done, she could head to the cafeteria and finally do something about the hollow ache in her stomach.

  Enid called for the last interviewee.

  The moment the words left her mouth, the curse inside her stirred again, a familiar pulse of pain and irritability. It was bearable, but annoying in that way that got under your skin.

  That feeling.

  Enid knew it well.

  If she had to guess, the last person was going to be…

  "Hey hey. Good afternoon, Professor Innis. Look who it is. We finally meet again. I haven’t seen you in days and I’ve been sooo lonely."

  There she was.

  Rosalie swept in with sunshine-bright blond hair, a face pretty enough to pass for royalty, a voice like chiming bells, and a ridiculous amount of divine power spilling out of her like it had nowhere else to go.

  Enid’s first thought was pure disbelief.

  She hadn’t seen Rosalie’s application at all yesterday.

  So was this Eleanor’s doing…?

  Enid’s heart started thumping, half from the curse messing with her nerves.

  Her ears felt like they were twitching too, because Rosalie never came with an indoor voice.

  Even her eyelids started jumping. She was tired the instant Rosalie appeared, apparently.

  Rosalie marched up cheerfully, then dropped into the interview chair in the flashiest way possible. The movement was over the top, but clean and crisp, unmistakably Rosalie.

  "Huh. You don’t look so great, Innis. Didn’t sleep well last night"

  When Rosalie noticed Enid wasn’t smiling, but instead looked like she’d just bitten into something painfully sour, she stood up, reached over, and physically tugged Enid’s mouth into a grin.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Come on. When you see someone as gorgeous and cool as Rosalie, you’re supposed to look happy. We worked together so well before. Keep that energy up."

  Enid felt like she’d be less exhausted if she’d climbed all the way up from the main gate to this floor on foot.

  The curse kept needling her, poking at her nerves, making her skin feel tight with irritation.

  But Rosalie hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Being pretty and having too much divine power wasn’t her fault.

  If anyone was to blame, it was Enid herself for taking that cursed hit years ago.

  She couldn’t even remember which miserable piece of work had done it, but the pain had carved itself into her memory. It was the kind you didn’t forget, no matter how much you wanted to.

  "And also, Innis, you really can’t stay up late. Late nights are every beauty’s worst enemy. If you want to stay glowing, you have to protect your sleep and take care of your skin. If you want, I can recommend a few skincare products that actually work."

  Enid’s thoughts got yanked back to the present.

  "Thanks for the concern, Rosalie. Also, please stop kneading my face. I’m going to end up looking like dough."

  Rosalie finally let go and sat back down properly.

  "Hehe. Your face is so pale and soft. It’s like it got blessed by the Holy Spirit’s divine messenger. I couldn’t help myself. Sorry."

  Enid’s eyelid twitched again.

  Divine messenger.

  That sounded like something Elena used to call her, didn’t it…?

  And the Holy Spirit’s divine messenger, what deity was that supposed to be. Enid hadn’t paid attention to religion in a very long time.

  Seeing Enid drift off again, Rosalie politely nudged her back on track.

  "Um, Innis. I’m here for the TA interview. Can we start"

  "…Right. Yes. Sorry, I spaced out. That’s not like me."

  Somehow, every time Rosalie talked, Enid got dragged along by her pace and her topic jumps. Worse, part of Enid felt weirdly nostalgic about it.

  Still, an interview was an interview.

  Enid asked Rosalie the same questions she’d asked the other students.

  She’d expected Rosalie, as a student from the Divine Arts school, to have a weaker grasp of nature magic.

  She was wrong.

  As the Holy Church’s chosen heir, Rosalie clearly saw nature through a lens most people never even considered.

  "A lot of people talk like we can reshape nature, or control it. But I think we’re part of nature, one piece of it.

  Our ancestors were scared of the beasts in the forest, so they left and built houses. People gathered, and over time that became kingdoms and civilization.

  But we never escaped nature.

  The food that fills our stomachs, the wood that holds up our homes, even the knowledge we have about magic, it all comes from nature, doesn’t it

  So why do we keep telling ourselves we have to stay away from it

  We rely on nature, and we take so much from it. Nature gives us the right to live, and we change it.

  Sometimes we make it better. Sometimes we make it worse. So what are we, really, in that relationship That’s something I keep thinking about.

  Nature can exist without us. If we vanished, it would carry on just fine.

  But we can’t exist without nature. We depend on it completely.

  So instead of trying to stand apart from it, shouldn’t we be trying to understand it more deeply That’s how we make life better, isn’t it

  And another thing, why are there only ten elemental attributes for nature magic

  Why does divine power feel so similar to the light element

  Evil power has a lot in common with the dark element too.

  Even the demon race’s twisted magic shares certain similarities with nature magic.

  What if nature is made of many elements, and all forms of power come from different elements

  What if we’ve only identified the most basic ones so far, and there are still more elements and truths about mana waiting to be discovered

  I’m really curious about that. And also, and also…"

  Enid raised a hand and cut her off before Rosalie started a second round.

  "Stop. Stop, stop, stop. My ears can’t keep up. Most of those questions aren’t things I’ve ever seriously considered, but your perspective is definitely unusual. Some of what you said is actually worth chewing on."

  Rosalie scratched her head.

  "Heh. So that means you’re admitting I’m different, right"

  Enid nodded.

  She hadn’t expected Rosalie to say anything useful for her own work, but she genuinely meant it. Rosalie really did have the ability to break out of the usual mental box.

  "Yes. You’re different from most people, Rosalie. Either way, I’m satisfied with your answers. You pass. I approve your TA application."

  Rosalie threw both hands up in celebration.

  "Yes. Now I get to spend even more time with you, Innis."

  Enid immediately felt a twinge of regret.

  But she’d made the call, and she wasn’t going to walk it back.

  With Rosalie confirmed as the fifth TA, Enid’s lineup was complete.

  She decided to gather all the TAs that evening and host a small tea get-together so they could meet one another and get familiar.