“We’re heading to bed now!”
“Alright, goodnight, Aslan.”
Pitter-patter.
After saying their goodbyes and pretending to head to their rooms, Charlotte and Julia peeked outside to check the situation before quietly slipping back out.
“Charlotte, you heard it too, right?”
“Yeah. Yuri is coming today.”
“And she’s coming to get her engagement ring…”
After hearing something that shocking, there was no way they could sleep.
She was coming to get an engagement ring?
And of all times, she was doing it while they were supposed to be asleep?
‘What exactly are they planning to do!?’
An engagement basically meant they were as good as married, right?
That wasn’t much different from being a married couple, was it?
So did that mean they were putting the kids—us—to bed so they could spend time alone in the dead of night!?
Fwaaah.
Julia’s imagination ran wild, and her face turned bright red.
‘Hehehe. I’ll get to see the engagement ring…!’
Meanwhile, Charlotte was simply beaming at the thought of seeing the ring.
The old man was secretly a bit of a coward, so there was no way he’d actually get engaged before his coming-of-age ceremony.
That meant Charlotte still had two more years if she wanted to get engaged to him.
In other words, she had to wait two whole years before she could wear an engagement ring.
At the very least, she wanted to see what an engagement ring looked like.
And more than anything, the fact that they were trying to exchange rings in secret made her even more curious.
Just how amazing was the ring that they were being so secretive about it!?
“Charlotte… We have to be quiet from here on.”
“Mm-hmm. I know.”
Shhh.
Julia placed a finger on her lips, and Charlotte nodded vigorously before clamping her mouth shut.
Slowly and carefully, Julia pushed the door open.
Thankfully, it didn’t make a sound.
Aslan had always warned them that eavesdropping was bad…
But that only applied to his private space, like his office.
The lounge, however, was a shared space, so surely it didn’t count as something bad…?
All they were doing was cracking the door open slightly and crouching just outside.
Yeah. This wasn’t really wrong.
Charlotte and Julia huddled together in front of the door, already preparing their excuses in case they got caught.
“Yuri, do you like Darjeeling tea?”
“Yes…”
“But I remember you used to say you hated tea. That’s quite the improvement.”
“That’s because Mr. Black made it a habit for me to drink tea…”
As Charlotte and Julia eavesdropped on the conversation between Yuri and Aslan, their mouths slowly fell open.
What the—?
Why did they sound so close?
At a glance, it seemed like they were bickering.
But there was a warmth in Yuri’s voice that she had never shown when speaking to Aslan before.
“Oh, I just remembered. I put the ring case in my inner pocket and completely forgot about it.”
“Hmm… Is it even possible to forget something that big in your pocket?”
“Huuuuh!?”
“J-Julia, shh!”
“Mm…”
The moment the engagement ring came up, Julia couldn’t help but gasp.
They were so lovey-dovey!
Had they always been this close?
Was her bond with Mr. Black really this strong…!?
Even when she found out Aslan was Mr. Black.
Even when she realized Yuri not only admired but liked him.
Even when she heard that Yuri had proposed to him.
None of those moments had shaken her this much.
But now, watching them exchange deep, unwavering gazes filled with trust—her heart ached, as if it were being pricked.
‘Ah… This isn’t good…’
She knew how much Yuri adored Mr. Black.
She’d heard about it so much that her ears could fall off.
She also knew how hard Yuri had searched for him, even without knowing his face.
So instead of letting this ugly, bubbling jealousy take over, she should be cheering for her…
As Julia bit her lip, trying to suppress the turmoil in her heart—
“Ha! Got you! I just had to set the mood a little, and you fell for it immediately! Count, you’re so naive!”
“…?”
A sudden commotion broke out in the lounge.
Charlotte and Julia’s eyes widened in shock.
Wait, what?
A… recorder?
Had Yuri been acting all along?
Did she intentionally create a sweet atmosphere to get Aslan to confess that he was Mr. Black!?
“I’ve just recorded your own voice admitting that you’re Mr. Black! There’s no way you can keep up that shameless act now!”
“Hah. You were clever, but your execution was sloppy.”
“…What?”
“If you successfully recorded it, you should have kept it hidden until you left the estate. But you got too caught up in your own victory and ruined everything.”
“Huh? Huh!? Ahhh!”
…And Aslan just destroyed the recording with Black Magic.
Yuri’s triumphant expression crumbled into one of despair, while Aslan, in turn, looked rather smug.
“And just like that, all your evidence is gone.”
“Agh, come on! Seriously!?”
What were they even doing…?
Why were they acting so childish?
Their mental ages seemed surprisingly similar…
Just like that, the jealousy that had been bubbling inside Julia completely evaporated.
“I think we’ve seen enough…”
“Yeah. I got a good show out of it.”
Seeing how they were still bickering even after getting engaged, it seemed there was no need to worry about them suddenly speeding through their relationship.
Before or after the engagement, they weren’t all that different.
Charlotte and Julia, both exasperated, quietly closed the door and stood up.
***
“Today is finally the day! The day we go to the Academy…!”
Charlotte’s excited voice echoed throughout the entire mansion.
The long-awaited opening day of the Imperial Magic Academy!
Finally, she would get to attend school alongside Yuri and Julia.
Even though their majors were different, a good portion of their general education classes overlapped, so they might even share some classes.
Back when she lived at the orphanage, it had always been her dream to go to school with friends.
She never expected her wish to come true like this.
Just as Charlotte was about to rush outside in excitement—
“Ah.”
“Looks like you woke up too early. Go back to bed.”
“…Okay.”
What greeted her was the pitch-black night sky.
Aslan, who had been out for some fresh air, turned her around immediately.
And with a dejected shuffle, Charlotte trudged back to her room.
‘I’ll just sleep for three more hours and wake up again!’
Careful not to wake Julia, Charlotte slipped back under her covers.
She closed her eyes and slowly started counting in her head.
One… two… three…
Ten…
“Ah!?”
Charlotte’s eyes snapped open.
A fresh, invigorating sensation washed over her entire body.
This feeling—
It was unmistakably the feeling of waking up late!
Sure enough, when she glanced to the side, Julia’s bed was empty.
Panic-stricken, Charlotte bolted out of the room.
The sun was already up!?
“Mister! Today’s the first day, right? Right!?”
“Yeah. Today’s the opening day of the Imperial Magic Academy.”
“Did Julia already leave for the Academy?”
“She left a while ago. She’s probably in her first class by now.”
“Ahhh! Why didn’t Julia or you wake me up!? Now I’m the only one who’s late on the first day…!”
Tears welled up in Charlotte’s eyes.
Sure, she was partly to blame for not waking up on time on such an important day.
But Julia could have woken her up before leaving.
Or Mister could have shaken her awake too!
A wave of sorrow hit her, and it felt like she was about to burst into tears.
“You don’t have any classes today.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. You don’t have classes on Mondays. You made this schedule yourself.”
“Hehehe! I totally forgot!”
“…”
The misunderstanding finally cleared up.
Charlotte wiped her tears away and grinned sheepishly.
So that’s why no one woke her up…!
“Still! I want to go to the Academy today!”
“What? Even though you don’t have any classes?”
“I just want to soak in the atmosphere! Going on the first day feels different from going on the second day! I want to experience opening day properly!”
“…”
Aslan gave up trying to understand.
He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he figured it boiled down to her wanting to spend the first day at the Academy with Julia.
He couldn’t fathom why someone would waste their precious free time just to be there, but whatever.
“I’ll take you there. Get in.”
“Yay…!”
In just a minute, Charlotte hastily tied her hair, changed into some comfortable training clothes, and dashed out.
With that, the carriage carrying Aslan and Charlotte set off toward the Imperial Magic Academy.
.
.
.
“Wait, WHAT!? Yuri got engaged!?”
“She had her coming-of-age ceremony over the winter break, so… it must have been then?”
“Heh. That’s right.”
Yuri casually placed her hand, adorned with an engagement ring, on the table.
The students around her gasped in astonishment.
“Our saintess, engaged!? Engaged! This can’t be happening! This is a nightmare! Arghhhh!”
“Hey, someone drag this crazy unicorn out of here. So, Yuri, who’s the lucky guy?”
“I don’t know.”
“…What?”
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
She didn’t know?
Not his face, his name, his age, or even his status?
They had never spoken directly, only exchanged letters?
Everyone had assumed that Yuri was too smart to fall for a scam.
But to think she had been roped into an engagement because of her inexperience with love…
A murmur of concern spread through the group, and worried gazes focused on Yuri.
“Yuri… You should really call off this engagement.”
“Yeah, seriously. What kind of adult gets engaged to a minor without even showing their face?”
“Ah. Yuri. Here you are.”
“…?”
At that moment—
Schfft.
A tall man suddenly appeared behind Yuri and placed a hand on her head.
And everyone’s eyes immediately snapped to his hand—
The large hand, adorned with a ring that looked exactly like Yuri’s.
“…Huh!?”
