Rosa calmly looked at him and nodded:
"Yes, I know."
That was indeed the case. The Arden Academy was a renowned educational institution in the empire, intended exclusively for young men.
In fact, there were many educational institutions in their empire, Cordon, that were divided by gender. This was because the traditions of the empire were quite conservative, and the older generation still believed that young men and women should not study together.
Thus, young men from noble families usually studied in separate academies, and girls studied separately as well.
The first co-educational academies for boys and girls appeared relatively recently. However, due to the fact that society was still conservative, they were not particularly popular.
Most aristocrats still preferred to send their children to separate educational institutions because, in their opinion, in co-educational schools young people would only engage in debauchery before marriage...
So, the Arden Academy was also one such educational institution.
Simply put, it was a classic academy for boys, where only men could enroll.
And since Arden Academy was also a famous educational institution, Rosa had, of course, heard of it.
She knew from the beginning that it was an academy exclusively for young men, and yet...
Was that really such a big problem?
After all, if her brother had created a false identity for himself and thus entered the academy, why couldn't she do the same?
Thus, Rosa saw no problem in pretending to be a man for a while.
She wasn't going to study there for several years.
Ultimately, Rosa only planned to quickly find her brother and return home. It shouldn't take long.
In other words, it was unlikely that anyone would figure her out.
Nevertheless, both the detective and her mother were equally stunned by the girl's determination.
After all, not every young lady would actually decide to do something like this. It was a move bordering on insanity.
"No, Rosa, it's too dangerous!" the countess immediately protested. "How do you imagine it? How can a lady like you enroll in a men's academy?!"
"Don't worry, Mother. I know what I'm doing," Rosa said calmly. "If I'm careful, everything will be fine."
"Careful?! Rosa, I think you're taking this too lightly!"
While her mother, overcome with emotion, threw her hands up in the air, Rosa herself only sighed quietly.
Yes, from the outside, her behavior and reaction might have seemed overly calm.
After all, secretly entering a men's academy as a lady was not only dangerous but also illegal. The fact that her public reputation would suffer if this deception were discovered was actually the easiest of the possible outcomes.
And yet...
Rosa felt no anxiety about this precisely because she was already at her limit.
Although she was only twenty years old, several months of constant stress had caused more than a few gray hairs to appear on her head!
If they did not find a solution to this problem soon, sooner or later they would have to face the consequences of the Valentino family's wrath.
Was there anything worse in this empire that they could face besides this?
The fear of possible punishment from the Valentino family made Rosa lose all sense of "fear."
What can I say—she was ready to descend even into the depths of hell just to grab her brother by the scruff of his neck and drag him to the feet of the Valentino heiress.
And here they were talking about just some kind of men's academy...
Compared to the Valentino family, Rosa felt no anxiety about this.
Or maybe, over the past couple of months, she had gone a little crazy from the constant stress...
Thus, Rosa had already made her decision and was determined.
She squeezed her mother's hand tighter, who was much more worried about this than she was.
"Mother, trust me."
"I will definitely bring Gilbert home, you'll see!"
Rose smiled confidently at her mother's pale face, as if she were truly confident in her abilities.
Although in reality...
No matter what anyone said, Rose was still a little worried about it.
After all, she was going to illegally enter a male academy.
And yet...
The person who really should have been worried was not her at all.
It should have been Gilbert.
Because as soon as Rosa found him, she was going to skin her younger brother alive!
***
It took less than a week to prepare the necessary documents for Rosa's admission to the Arden Academy.
And all this was thanks to the efforts of the very detective that she and her mother had hired.
Detective Colum really turned out to be a true professional in his field. Not only was he able to find the right people even with minimal clues, but he could also make sure that anyone's identity was erased or changed.
Simply put, he was a true professional who was equally skilled in all such matters.
Of course, his services were far from cheap...
In order for Detective Colum to prepare fake documents for Rosa as soon as possible, she and her mother had to pay a large sum of money again.
Yes, Rosa's younger brother was really too expensive for them!
To be honest, even if the marriage between her brother and Valentino's heiress fell through in the end, Rosa was no longer averse to the idea of selling her brother's organs just to pay off their debts somehow.
No, really. After all the money they had spent on him, that little shit should have donated at least one kidney! Or better yet, two!
Yes, Rosa was indeed a kind and loving older sister.
But that wasn't the point right now.
Standing in front of the mirror, the girl sighed deeply.
Her departure for the Arden Academy was scheduled for tomorrow. Everything else was ready, but she still hadn't decided what to do with her hair.
Should she really cut it off?
A rather pretty young girl looked back at Rosa in the mirror.
Her long pink hair, the color of cherry blossoms, was soft and silky. A small, neat face with regular, pleasant features and beautiful violet eyes completed the picture.
Yes, Rosa's appearance and the origin of her name were indeed quite ironic. Even too much so.
Her first name was Rosa, and her last name was Rosmund.
On top of that, her hair was pink and her eyes were violet.
It made you want to ask: wasn't there too much pink in her?
No matter how you looked at her, she really did resemble walking cotton candy!
And while it looked quite cute when she was a child, it became more and more annoying to her as she grew older.
No, really, what were her parents thinking when they gave her that name?
Did they really lack the imagination to name their daughter something else?
Rose de Rosmund, and with that appearance... Wasn't that a bit too much?!
Well, in any case, right now Rose was at a rather difficult crossroads.
If she was going to enroll in a male academy, then a short haircut would be the safest solution so as not to give herself away.
And yet...
In fact, she really was only going to stay there for a very short time.
Just to find and pick up her younger brother and return home.
It would hardly take more than a week.
So was it worth cutting her hair for that?
Especially since it would take a long time to grow back.
After all, hair was a very important thing for any girl, and even more so for a noble lady.
So these thoughts were really painful for her.
But at that moment, her mother knocked on her door.
"Rose, are you busy?"
The girl immediately replied:
"Come in, Mom."
After that, Countess Rosmund entered the room. She approached her daughter and sighed heavily.
It seemed that the countess still did not quite believe that all this was really happening.
"Rosa, are you really sure about this?"
The countess's voice was very agitated.
"If you want, you can change your mind right now."
But Rosa just shook her head.
"No, Mother, I've already decided. I'm going to the academy."
Countess Rosmund sighed heavily.
She knew her daughter's stubborn nature all too well, so she didn't argue.
"All right, then... In that case, all I can do is wish you luck."
Rose nodded.
"By the way, what are you doing right now?"
"Thinking about what to do with my hair."
"You want to cut it off?!"
The countess was stunned.
"I'm not sure yet..." the girl said doubtfully.
"Don't even think about it!" the countess demanded immediately. "Your hair is so beautiful. Do you have any idea how long it will take to grow it back?!"
Rose hesitated.
"And yet... I thought that if I cut my hair, it would be safer..."
Countess Rosmund did not hesitate for long after her words. Then she came even closer and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
Rose was a little surprised and looked at her and her mother's reflection in the mirror.
"About that... Don't worry. Your mother has already thought of something."
The countess's tone seemed strangely mysterious to Rosa.
"Hmm?"
"Don't worry," the countess said confidently. "With this disguise, no one will be able to recognize you!"