Why Is the Professor Coming to Our House?
As soon as I stepped down in front of the main gate of the Ash mansion, I rolled my shoulders without thinking. Crack. They creaked like old hinges. Practical training, dungeons, golems—I’d slammed into far too many oversized events in just a few days. At this point, the sight of my own front door should’ve felt like a warm blanket, but… why did my mind refuse to settle?
“Welcome back, young master.”
Estel, sweeping the entrance, offered her usual flawless greeting. That cold, impeccable face. Posture without a single wrinkle. Even the subtly condescending maid tone that somehow made you feel judged. Yep. This was definitely our house.
But then—
“...!”
The instant Estel’s eyes landed on Lena beside me, her pupils trembled. It was an incredibly tiny movement. Anyone who didn’t know her would’ve thought a speck of dust had simply caught in her lashes.
“...I see Lady Lena has accompanied you.”
A hairline fracture in Estel’s perfect mask. Inside that tiny crack, I could clearly read an entire bouquet of Why? How? No way?
Best to shut down the most likely misunderstanding first.
“No, I’m not here for marriage greetings or anything.”
Estel’s gaze slid slowly back to me.
“I haven’t said a word yet.”
“Your face was saying everything.”
“...I was under the impression I maintained a blank expression.”
“There’s always a way to tell.”
At my reply, Estel bit her lip slightly and muttered, “Actually, I had a different question.”
“A different question?”
“I thought you had gotten her pregnant.”
“As if.”
While Lena’s face flushed scarlet beside me, the sharp edge in Estel’s eyes softened—just a fraction. Satisfied, was she?
At this rate, I seemed to have passively unlocked the Estel Expression Reader skill. And right away, Estel turned to Lena again—this time bypassing me completely.
“Then may I ask why you have come together?”
Lena flinched. Why are you the one getting nervous?
I answered for her. “We decided to prepare for high society together.”
“...You mean debutante preparations?”
“Yeah. I was going to ask my eldest sister to check my dancing.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the air in the entrance grew subtly colder. Without looking at me, Estel spoke in a voice that was perfectly polite and perfectly icy.
“Lady Lena.”
“Y-yes?”
“If this degenerate young master requested it, you are under no obligation to indulge him.”
Whoa. “Degenerate” had officially graduated from nickname to proper noun.
But the one who reacted far more strongly than expected was Lena.
“N-no!”
Her face turned beet red in an instant. Ears burning crimson, she waved her hands in a frantic blur. “I-I was the one who suggested we go together...”
A beat of silence fell.
Estel’s eyes froze for a split second. Even I caught it this time. That was a genuinely unexpected expression.
“...I see.”
Her answer came a full tempo slower than usual. For Estel, that was practically sluggish. Was it really that shocking?
Lena spun around like someone who’d die if she stayed another second. “A-anyway! I’ll head to Amelia unnie first! We need to prepare quickly!”
She practically fled inside.
I stared blankly at her retreating back and muttered, “Why is she acting like that?”
“The fact that you don’t understand is the more pressing issue, young master.”
It was the usual line, so it didn’t even sting anymore.
Anyway.
I pulled a small box from my pocket and held it out to Estel.
“Here.”
She accepted it with open wariness, then carefully lifted the lid.
“Are you truly presenting something like this as a gift?”
Huh? Why?
It was just a plain pair of deep navy gloves and a scented hand cream for the backs of the hands.
The air behind Estel seemed to freeze solid.
“I no longer know how far you intend to descend into degeneracy. I fear I cannot follow. Is this not the item that appeared in the picture you drew, young master?”
“N-no.”
What kind of misunderstanding was she cooking up now?
“There was definitely a scene where you made the maid apply the cream and then had her grasp—”
“No! It’s not that!”
Okay, yes, that scene existed. But this was bought with purely innocent intentions. Maid work might not look strenuous, but it was hell on the hands. Estel always pretended to be fine, yet if you looked closely, there were days when her fingertips were noticeably rough. I’d simply remembered that.
“........”
After my explanation, Estel fell silent for a moment. Then she spoke.
“...Were you observing a maid’s hands that attentively?”
“Why do you always phrase it like that?”
“...For a gift from the pervert young master, it is surprisingly wholesome.”
“If you don’t like it, throw it away. I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“Who said I would throw it away?”
Estel answered instantly and tucked the box against her chest. She turned her gaze away with a small cough, then continued as if nothing had happened.
“On another note, the young lady has been waiting for you quite eagerly.”
“Chloe?”
“Yes.”
Obviously about money.
Estel shook her head. “That as well, but it is not only that.”
“Then what?”
“Between Lady Lena’s incident and the fact that your name has been circulating frequently at the academy lately...”
Now that she mentioned it, Chloe was strangely well-informed about academy affairs. She was also the one who kept our father, Head Albert, in check. Her competence was honestly terrifying. Maybe that was the real reason the Ashy family hadn’t collapsed yet.
“Then I shall summon the young lady and attend to my duties.”
I had only been sitting in the living room for a short while.
BANG!
The door flew open violently as Chloe stormed in.
“Ian Ashy!”
Why did she look like a victim who had finally found her mortal enemy?
“The door’s going to fall off, Chloe.”
And it really did. Crack.
“.......”
A brief, awkward silence. Even Chloe stared down at the door panel now rolling across the floor with a dumbfounded expression.
“You’ve gotten stronger while I was gone. You may descend the mountain now.”
“Want to die?”
Chloe snapped, then hoisted the door panel and slotted it back into the frame. It was one of the secret techniques every Ashy family member learned—fixing broken stuff.
Dean Lucy would probably love this. If I had free time later, I should drag her home and make her do chores. She’d probably look good in a maid outfit, too.
Chloe dropped onto the sofa across from me, still huffing.
“Why don’t you ever come home?”
“......”
“Your name keeps popping up at the academy, you keep getting tangled with weird young ladies, and what the hell even happened during practical training? If something’s going on, you should at least come home and explain. So that...”
She rattled on like a machine gun. I let out a small chuckle and cut in.
“Did you miss your big brother that much?”
Chloe’s face crumpled with genuine disgust.
“Ugh.”
...That actually stung a little.
“That bad?”
“Shut up. It’s seriously gross.”
Yeah. This was the Chloe I knew. Way more in character than some improbable blushing-and-thanking development.
She snorted and tried to resume her lecture. At exactly the right moment, I pulled out an envelope and dropped it on the table with a soft thud.
Chloe’s mouth froze mid-sentence.
“...What is this?”
“Money.”
Her lips twitched upward like a wriggling caterpillar. She snatched the envelope, peeked inside, and her eyes flew wide.
“Wait, what’s with this amount? They gave you this much just for winning the practical training?”
I shrugged. “I worked hard.”
Chloe looked back and forth between my face and the envelope, then asked in a deadly serious voice, “You didn’t actually put in money from selling your body, did you?”
“Who the hell would buy my body?”
“Your face is halfway decent… Never mind. You idiot. Pervert with zero principles.”
...Did insulting people run in this family’s blood? Estel wasn’t blood-related, so maybe it was just the household vibe.
Strangely, though, Chloe didn’t press any further. She kept fidgeting with the envelope, lips twitching, clearly hesitating.
Why is she acting like this? It’s making me nervous.
After a long moment, she pulled out a one-million-krone check and held it out to me.
“...?”
“You earned it through hard work.”
“So?”
“Taking it all just feels… a little wrong.”
What? Why was she suddenly acting like a sensible, normal sister?
How scary.
But the real horror was still coming. Chloe’s face flushed bright red. She couldn’t meet my eyes, so she whipped her head to the side.
“A-and.”
Her voice dropped to a mumble.
“Thank you.”
“......”
“Th-this much will really help.”
...Holy crap.
Goosebumps exploded across my entire body.
The Chloe Ashy I knew was not this character. Overflowing with talent, even more overflowing with temper, a vicious little sister who never showed gratitude and only spewed nagging. That was Chloe.
For her to thank me first? It defied logic. It made no sense.
A warning siren blared inside my head. Had someone possessed her body and was putting on an act?
No. The way she’d smashed the door earlier was pure Chloe. Which meant...
Is this buildup?
I had secretly skimmed two million krone. But the rumor that the scholarship was ten million krone had already spread across the academy. Chloe, who was suspiciously well-informed about rumors, might already know.
Had I been caught? Should I confess now?
Honestly, this was the most spine-chilling moment I’d experienced since possessing this body.
That was when—
Creak!
This time the door opened normally as Estel hurried in. Her face was perfectly composed as usual, but her breathing was slightly ragged.
“Young master. The head of the family is looking for you.”
I blinked. Was it urgent enough to make Estel pant?
Our father was a professional freeloader; I could see him anytime. Chloe wore a similar puzzled expression.
Estel added briefly, “A professor from the academy has come to visit.”
What? A professor?
Why is the professor coming to our house?