Became the Academy Romantic Phantom Thief

98 – The Uncle’s Apple

To be honest, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised.

Yulia is a phantom thief follower.

She never imagined she would admit that to herself.

It’s easy to think what’s wrong with that. You might ask back, “Isn’t it natural that people like someone?”

However, ‘Phantom Thieves Followers’ is not just a fan club.

Of course, it is true that they gathered under the justification of liking phantom thieves. However, beyond simply liking the thieves, they hate the rich and nobles, claiming that their property should be taken away and shared among the citizens.

He openly reveals his hostility towards the upper class and even insists on the abolition of the royal family.

In harmony with the rapidly changing background of the times, he has become an anarchist with more extreme thoughts than anyone else.

Of course, not everyone is like that.

Even among phantom thief followers, opinions are divided and there is no systematic organizational system, so all they do is call themselves phantom thief followers.

However, the media has already turned them into a scumbag that advocates anti-governmentism and crime.

A daughter of an influential duke entered such an organization with many problems?

If this fact was revealed, it was obvious how she would be treated by her world.

No wonder the Duke of Grace was suspicious of his one and only nephew.

If you act as a phantom thief follower, you might betray your family and stick to the phantom thief’s side.

I was at a loss as to how to react to the unexpected confession.

The people below were already coming up this way, so there was little time.

“Can you tell me why?”

“When I asked the same question, you didn’t answer until the end.”

Ah, it was. But if you ask why he helped, you can’t answer that because he’s a classmate.

Yulia replied with her complex subtle smile.

“Can’t I just like you for no reason?”

“It won’t work. It’s natural to feel a crush on someone.”

Do we really need a reason for a middle school girl who is obsessed with an idol and admires her?

She must be doing it just because it’s nice. Because no matter how grown-up Yulia she is, she is only her student after all.

Now is really the time. I briefly informed her one last time just before her departure.

“Measures have been roughly taken.”

“Yes?”

“Probably Miss Grace’s secret will never be revealed.”

“What is that…”

Boom!!

“Yulia!!”

Earl Henry appeared at just the right time. His whole body was covered with sweat from how hastily he ran.

“Enough then. I hope to see you again someday.”

“Wait…!”

I escaped her hand that was trying to grab me and jumped through her window.

It was slightly different from the scenario I initially thought of, but in the end, I succeeded in saving Yulia safely.

The problem is that her secret is that she is bigger than I expected.

Even if you’ve passed safely now, this problem may catch your ankles again someday.

For safety’s sake, I should stop him immediately.

If Yulia ignores the choices she made herself and forces her to do so, wouldn’t she be no different from what the housekeeper did?

“Are you following a phantom thief…”

Until now, I hadn’t paid much attention to it.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that she intentionally ignored her.

I call myself a fan, but most of them only put my name forward for their own ends.

But now that I know that Yulia is related to that group, it seems that I need to check it properly from now on.

“The moon is so bright.”

[Are you suddenly confessing? I’m still not ready mentally.]

“·······.”

[Whoops, it’s a joke.]

***

“Are you hurt? Body?”

“···Ah. Are you okay.”

To her father’s concern, she belatedly came to her senses and answered.

“What harm did he do?”

“Yes. Just come to this room…”

The two of us had a conversation.

It was a wish I had always dreamed of. In reality, it was quite different from what I had imagined.

I wasn’t nervous at all. Rather, it was comfortable enough to feel uncomfortable.

It’s like chatting with a close friend.

Looking back, it was hard to see the content of the conversation as particularly nutritious.

Even though I mustered up the courage to confess that I was a follower, he wasn’t as happy as I thought.

On the contrary, the expression he made at that moment was like.

‘I felt worried…’

Perhaps the phantom thief doesn’t welcome his followers very much.

Thinking like that made her troubles over the past few days, which had been bothering her, feel futile.

Checking her daughter’s expression as if she was deep in thought, the Count decided not to pry further.

“Yes. Glad you weren’t hurt. You must have been very surprised, but take a break in your room. Adults will take care of cleaning up after themselves.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Without refusing her father’s consideration, Yulia flopped down on her bed.

She looked up at the ceiling she had been familiar with since childhood and was lost in her thoughts.

A voice called to stop the count who was about to leave the room.

“Dad.”

“Yes. What’s happen?”

“Did you find the culprit? Should we meet again later…?”

I don’t like that. Thanks to Raven’s appearance, she managed to escape, but in the end she had to go through that again.

“The culprit has been found. They say it was a phantom thief’s own play.”

“Do-it-yourself play…?”

“I stole the family seal and exchanged it for a fake one. It says in the notice that you came to return it.”

Then Henry clicked his tongue and murmured softly.

“I don’t know what to do if the notice is found after the incident is over.”

“Then… Is it over?”

“I admitted it myself, so what can I do? There’s no reason for him to lie.”

I chewed on those words over and over again.

The reason why the phantom thief would lie.

He said he had taken steps to prevent his secret from being revealed.

In other words, for his own sake, he dumped all his mistakes.

“Do you have any more questions?”

“·······.”

“Rest. After all, tomorrow is the weekend, so you can sleep overnight.”

The door that closes smoothly. In the room where she was left completely alone, she recalled the events of the day one by one in her mind.

It was a very ironic day. It would have been the most unlucky day until just before the fire, but when he appeared, everything magically changed.

Is this just a coincidence?

No, it couldn’t have been. If the phantom thief was really the culprit and came to return the seal, why did he appear at that timing and attract everyone’s attention?

If he quietly returned the seal and then got out, he would have committed the perfect crime. The search for the culprit continued without anyone noticing, and the trust between family members must have crumbled.

Above all, Raven intentionally saved herself. From the first time the head of the family tried to reveal the secret, to the time he was in trouble in the dark, and finally to end his situation by overturning everything.

‘And… I called her Julia.’

I heard it clearly. When he told him to run away, he called himself Yulia.

From then on, he always called her Miss Grace.

He honestly still didn’t quite realize it.

He even went so far as to say that he met the phantom thief and that he saved him.

Even if I thought rationally, it was difficult to understand why.

It’s just that today’s events feel like a dream.

The kind of dream where you run wild and struggle, only to wake up and realize later that it wasn’t real.

“·······.”

Since I was lying still on the bed, I slowly started to fall asleep.

I hoped that when I woke up tomorrow, it would be a normal morning.

It would be nice if all the members of the family who were summoned left and the mansion became quiet.

Around the time I closed my eyes and took a slow, even breath.

Smart.

A knocking sound that drives away sleep.

Yulia stared at the closed door with her blank eyes for a moment before answering quietly.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me for a second.”

And as soon as I saw the face of the guest who entered the room, all my sleep ran away.

Because Lord Grace, who was the culprit behind all the incidents today, personally made the procession.

“Why is this…”

“I thought we should talk about it.”

“Tomorrow. Can I do it tomorrow morning? I’m a bit tired today…”

Even with the euphemistic expression of refusal, he did not blink an eye.

“Of course I understand. You’ve been through something like that, so you need to calm down. But I also have to leave early tomorrow morning. Can we talk at least briefly?”

“Yes. All right.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

If you think about it, the fundamental problem has not been resolved.

Other family members didn’t listen and passed on, but in the end, the family head still knows her secret.

It wasn’t a job for him to reveal his secret to everyone if he was willing.

“First of all, I should apologize. I’m really sorry. To be honest, I suspected the culprit.”

“·······.”

“I heard a rumor that you hang out with a phantom thief follower. That’s why I hastily judged that you, who accidentally obtained information about the palace raid, did this without notifying me. It’s all my mistakes that I have no excuse for.”

No one knew whether the words were true or simply made up.

Maybe the head of the household knew that Yulia wasn’t the culprit. Even though she knew that, she could have been trying to find out the culprit, or for some other reason, casually trying to reveal it in front of everyone.

“Will you forgive this ugly uncle?”

Yulia, who had her head down, met her eyes with him.

She replied with her soft smile.

“Of course. I understand Uncle.”

“I see. If so, that’s good.”

As if that was all there was to it, the family head finished her story without hesitation and turned around.

“You must be tired, so take a good rest. Think of today as a nightmare and forget everything.”

“Yes. Get some rest too, Uncle.”

“Yes.”

Clap. As soon as the door closed, the smile completely disappeared from Yulia’s lips.

She stared at the closed door with a cold, expressionless expression. After that, she couldn’t sleep for a long time.