Flare's Panic and a Family Meeting
Flare's Panic and a Family Meeting
While Yune was being thoroughly chewed out by Nibuer and Chloe, Flare sat frozen, as if her soul had left her body.
"Well, Miss Flare, we'll be off now. Next time I'll definitely bring my mother's permission!"
"Y-yes... Take care..."
She only came back to her senses after Yune's trio had filed out of the lab.
Once she had come back to her senses, the very first thought that crossed her mind was...
'...No, seriously, is it all right for a young nobleman to act like that? When he was eight, I just figured he was at that clueless-about-everything age. But he's still acting like that now? Am I dreaming?'
It was pure escapism—wondering if this was all a dream.
Academy professor or not, she was still a commoner at the end of the day. Worse, a dragonkin who faced discrimination whether people admitted it or not.
And into the arms of someone like her had snuggled the most precious young man in the empire—the youngest son of the Northern Grand Ducal House—cooing and fussing and saying things like "I've always waited only for you, please take me in"?
Wasn't that as surreal as something out of a dream?
She hastily pinched her own cheek.
-Tweeeak.
'...It hurts, so I guess it's not a dream.'
The dull ache and the feel of her skin between her fingers confirmed it: this was real.
And with that realization, all manner of tangled thoughts began storming through her head.
The first thing she considered was the fallout if she actually accepted Yune as her undergraduate researcher.
It wasn't that noble students had never become undergraduate researchers in the academy's history, but when it did happen, they were always the second or third daughters of some obscure baronial house—young ladies who needed to learn something marketable from a professor just to get by.
A scion of a great noble family like Yune becoming an undergraduate researcher—and starting from his first year, no less—was completely unprecedented.
If Yune did become her researcher, everyone's attention would be fixed squarely on her lab.
A lab that had the youngest son of a grand ducal house working as an undergraduate researcher—who could possibly ignore a topic that juicy?
But it was just as obvious that not all of that attention would be positive.
Her expression clouded as she imagined how exhausting things would get if she took him on.
'...I just want to do my research. First the Magic Tower, now the academy—they never let me be.'
Yet Flare quickly abandoned that line of thought. Brooding wouldn't magically give her any real choice in the matter.
The second thought that surfaced was about the person Yune said he would get permission from—the Northern Grand Duchess, Erengard.
'If Her Grace ever learns what happened today... ugh.'
Seven summers ago, Yune had clung to her, bawling his eyes out when she departed.
And the look Erengard had leveled at her back then—watching young Yune spout nonsense about following her to become an adventurer—had been nothing short of murderous.
If the Grand Duchess had already looked like that over a mere hug, what would happen if she saw Yune pressed flush against her today, whispering about how he'd missed her and wanted to be held?
At the thought that she'd either quietly disappear, or be publicly executed in a way the entire empire would hear about, the color drained from Flare's face.
But.
'...Still, Her Grace dotes on Young Master Yune that much, doesn't she? So there's no way she'll ever give permission for him to become my sla—... I mean, my undergraduate researcher.'
Her thoughts reached the point where she remembered just how fiercely Erengard loved her children. Surely, the Grand Duchess would never grant Yune such a wish.
Only then did Flare let herself relax a little.
'Honestly... I got worked up for nothing. Imagine getting this flustered just because a child fifty years younger than me got clingy.'
-Squelch.
'Ugh, look at this sweat. Enchanted uniforms still can't stop cold sweat, I guess.'
Now that she had the room to herself, she soon hitched up her clothes and began wiping away the sheen of perspiration coating her body.
Each pass of her hand met damp, sticky skin. A faint sour smell rose from where her chest pressed against itself—the stale sweat of a woman, nothing like the fragrant powder-scent that had clung to Yune when he'd been pressed against her moments ago. Her face scrunched slightly.
'What in the world does the young master see in a mage like me that he's so set on becoming my undergraduate researcher? All I ever did was serve as his personal mattress for a year. Life really is strange.'
* * * * * *
That night. The Nordkirchen Grand Ducal Residence.
"You'll say yes, right, Mom? Hehe."
"...This doesn't seem like something I should answer right away. I'll think it over and let you know."
"If you don't let me become an undergraduate researcher, Mom, I might get really, really sad... Sniff. Sniff."
"Who in the world fake-cries by actually saying 'sniff sniff' out loud? At any rate, I'll contact you tomorrow. I believe I should speak with your sisters first."
"Tch... Fine. Then you're definitely saying yes tomorrow, right? That's a promise?"
"Do not try to corner me with that sly tone. Now off to bed with you. It's gotten late."
"It's only nine o'clock... Fine. Good night, Mom! Dream about me!"
"Yes. You have good dreams too."
As the lengthy call with Yune finally ended, Erengard's expression stiffened.
'...I'm glad Yune seems to have adjusted well to the academy, but an undergraduate researcher? Haa.'
The reason her face had hardened was none other than the request Yune had so deftly slipped in: he wanted to join Flare's lab as an undergraduate researcher.
After a moment of silent deliberation, she summoned the two daughters staying at the residence.
* * * * * *
The two sisters arrived almost simultaneously.
"You called for us, Mother?"
"...You summoned us."
Albert's face showed curiosity about the sudden summons, while Charl's drooping expression practically screamed, 'I am miserable.'
The pair could not have looked more different—
"...Yune says he wants to become an undergraduate researcher."
""What?!""
But the instant Erengard got to the point, their expressions snapped into perfect unison: sheer, startled shock.
Though their reasons for being shocked were entirely different.
'Yune, an undergraduate researcher? Why on earth?'
'...So that's why Yune hasn't called me. He only contacted the Head of House? I'm jealous. So incredibly jealous...!'
Yet both sisters loved Yune dearly, and their next words came out thick with concern.
"Why in the world? There isn't a single reason for him to do something like that."
"Exactly. If he wants to learn magic, our family can simply hire a suitable tutor with our own funds..."
A perfectly reasonable opinion: why should Yune ever do such a thing?
Erengard let out a long sigh.
"...It's been decades since I graduated from the academy, so I asked hoping things might have changed. But it seems the undergraduate researcher position is exactly what it's always been."
"Of course it is. A trainee graduate student—no, worse than a graduate student. Compared to the workload, you learn almost nothing as an undergraduate researcher. We should find a way to stop him, Mother."
"I agree. I tried to dissuade him as well. However..."
Erengard then recounted the explanation she'd received from Yune.
He had met Flare, the very teacher who first taught him magic, now as a professor, and he wanted to study by her side and learn magic from her. He wanted to repay his debt of gratitude to the woman who had saved his life, and so on.
When Erengard added that it was thanks to Flare that the perpetually sickly Yune had regained his health by age eight, both sisters' expressions turned complicated.
"...Honestly, Yune. His only flaw is being too kind for his own good."
"It was merely a mercenary contract, and it's not as though we didn't pay her. He has absolutely no reason to feel any obligation."
"My thoughts exactly."
Looking at her daughters, who were voicing her own sentiments, Erengard exhaled heavily.
"His intentions are good, but I think we should dissuade him somehow, Mother."
"I concur with Albert."
But a quiet murmur from Erengard stopped them dead.
"...Yune was pleading with so much cuteness, begging me to please let him. I found it very difficult to tell him no."
"...."
'Oh, for heaven's sake. Utterly hopeless.'
In their heads, the sisters were both calling their mother a complete pushover, but they understood the feeling well enough to keep the sentiment to themselves.
Taking their silence as agreement, Erengard finally voiced the real reason she'd called them together.
"That is why I called you. Charlotte. Albert. Is there no way to make Yune give up on being an undergraduate researcher—without drawing his ire in the process?"
She wanted a method to make him drop it without making Yune sulk at them.
Charl's expression grew subtly complicated.
'Wait, did the Head of House summon us just to dump this mess in our laps? I don't want Yune to be upset with me either...'
Charl was busy stewing in her usual useless thoughts, unable to speak up.
Unlike her, Albert stood with her arms crossed in thought for a moment before letting out a small exclamation.
"...Ah."
"Have you thought of something good, Albert?"
"No, well, calling it 'good' is a bit..."
Yet for whatever reason, she hesitated briefly.
Then, a little awkwardly, she opened her mouth.
"Why don't we just let him do it? Be an undergraduate researcher."
"...What?"