Mentor and Mentee
After standing with one foot outside the bathroom for two hours waiting to receive the map again, lunch time finally arrived.
“Luan. Shall we go eat lunch now?”
“Yes. That sounds good. There’s a nice pasta place in the shopping district. How about there?”
“I’m all for it. But won’t it be too much trouble?”
“What’s the problem with moving a bit to eat something delicious? Then let’s wash up and meet in front of here.”
“Okay! Take your time washing up.”
Isis told me to take my time, but she herself dashed toward the shower room like the wind. She must have considered that women take longer to shower than men.
‘What should I do then?’
Since I didn’t know exactly how long Isis would take, I couldn’t decide whether to hurry or take it easy as she said. After pondering, I decided to just act naturally without overthinking it. It wasn’t like a big problem would arise if one of us had to wait.
Thus, after ten minutes had passed, I finished showering and came out to the promised spot, looking around. Isis was nowhere to be seen.
“As expected, she’s still not here?”
Her long straight black hair was as beautiful as it was high-maintenance, so it wasn’t surprising. As I leisurely watched people passing by, Isis soon appeared.
“Luan! Sorry! Did you wait long?”
“No. I just got here too. By the way, your outfit looks great on you.”
“R-really? Thanks. You look cool too.”
Isis smiled brightly at my compliment. She was wearing a simple white shirt and jeans, but her incredible figure made it hard to look away. Especially the line from her narrow waist to her wide hips was a work of art. She looked like she could easily give birth to three or four children without trouble.
“Shall we go now? Just follow me.”
“Ah, yes! Lead the way, please.”
“…….”
Facing her silver eyes that looked at me with such trust, I hesitated for a moment. Then, feeling frustrated at myself for even hesitating over something like this, I thought screw it and took Isis’s hand.
She was startled.
“Ah! L-Luan?”
“You might get lost.”
“…I’m not a child.”
“Still. There are a lot of people, so we should be careful. Let’s go.”
“U-um, okay. I understand.”
Isis answered obediently and lowered her head deeply. She seemed embarrassed at being treated like a child by her younger brother. I grasped her soft hand and led her to the pasta restaurant.
On the way, countless gazes fell upon us.
“Oh my, look over there.”
“It’s the student council president. And next to her is…”
“Her younger brother. They must be close.”
“The rumors seem different? I heard he was a good-for-nothing the family gave up on.”
“They say he’s changed lately.”
After rumors spread about me being a rapist or a possessor, my image had actually improved. As time passed, the truth of the rumors came into question, and opinions emerged that the good-for-nothing story might also have been exaggerated. Abel’s party and my classmates’ defense played a part in that too.
‘Not that it means anything.’
At this point, if I made one mistake, people would clearly flip and say as expected, that guy is useless after all.
Ignoring the whispers, we soon arrived at the pasta place.
“Here it is. Do you like it?”
“Yes. It’s not too flashy but has a nice atmosphere. Let’s go in quickly.”
The inside of the restaurant was quiet. There were customers, but they were mostly older, giving the place a dignified feel.
‘This is exactly why I chose this place.’
After being seated and ordering, we talked while waiting for the food. The topic was the incident at the clock tower.
“Luan. Do you know how surprised I was?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You can’t do that next time, okay? You must call for your sister.”
“But at that time, there was no choice. If I went to call you, the bomb would have exploded, right?”
“T-that’s true, but… hmm….”
Isis let out a small groan, finding it hard to respond to the logical rebuttal. After thinking for a moment, she took out a badge from her pocket.
“Luan, take this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a badge that student council officers carry. It has a calling function. I set it so it only connects to me, so if something dangerous happens, call me. Understand?”
The badge was small and easy to carry. After examining it briefly, I voiced the question that came to mind.
“But is it okay to give this to me? Isn’t it student council property?”
“I-it’s fine! Something like that can just be processed as lost.”
“No, that’s even worse, isn’t it? Aren’t you abusing the student council president’s authority too much?”
“Ugh!”
Hit with facts, Isis shrank back with a small groan as if her conscience had been pricked. But then, like a cornered mouse biting the cat, she puffed out her chest more confidently and scolded me.
“Y-you don’t need to worry about that! Just quietly carry the badge around. Got it?”
“Even so, this is a bit…”
“No talking back! Do you understand or not?”
“…I understand.”
“Good boy.”
When I finally yielded, Isis smiled with satisfaction and stroked my head. It felt strangely awkward.
‘Is she getting revenge for last time?’
I thought it was fine because her reaction back then hadn’t been bad, but it seemed she had been holding it in secretly. While being stroked, I decided to resolve one of my worries with this opportunity.
“By the way, sister. I have one request.”
“Hmm? What request?”
“You know Abel, right? My friend.”
“Of course. He’s the friend who first informed me when you disappeared. But why him?”
“You said that when we’re dispatched to the front lines in a month, several groups will go as teams, right? Can’t you make it so I’m on the same team as Abel? Using the student council president’s authority.”
“What? That’s…”
Isis’s face hardened the moment she heard my request. No matter how much it was her beloved brother’s plea, using such underhanded methods seemed unacceptable. Just as I was feeling disappointed and about to give up, an unexpected question came back.
“Is it because of Veronica?”
“Huh? Veronica?”
“Yes. The way you were staring at her last time, you must be interested, right? Did you fall in love at first sight?”
“…….”
I was momentarily at a loss for words. Looking at Isis’s serious eyes, it wasn’t a joke. She genuinely believed I wanted to create a connection with Veronica.
‘What the hell is this?’
Not only me, but even the original Luan Priulri before I possessed him wouldn’t have shown any lust in front of Isis. So why this misunderstanding? As I remained silent in bewilderment, Isis took it as confirmation.
“So it was that? Luan, Veronica already has a fiancé. You know that, right?”
“Of course I know that—no, but I don’t particularly like her.”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to deny it so much. Still, I’m glad you know. It’s better to sort out your feelings quickly. Veronica and her fiancé have a very good relationship.”
Isis wasn’t listening to me at all. I couldn’t understand why this usually intelligent person narrowed her vision only at times like this. Was there some serious issue?
‘Can’t be helped.’
Simple persuasion clearly wasn’t going to work, so I had to use shock therapy—something she couldn’t possibly ignore.
“My type is someone like you, sister.”
“I know it won’t be easy. But—…Huh? What did you just say?”
“I said my type is someone like you. This might sound bad, but honestly, senior Veronica has a rather poor figure. I prefer glamorous over slender.”
“Ah, ah, ah… eh?”
Like a broken robot, Isis creaked out a response and unconsciously looked down at her own chest. Her ample breasts were so large they looked like they could burst the shirt buttons if they grew even a little more. Even now they stretched the fabric taut, testing its limits.
Isis’s face turned bright red. Realizing her misunderstanding from my confession-like statement, she lowered her head deeply.
“S-sorry. For having a strange misunderstanding.”
“No. It’s fine.”
“…Thank you for understanding.”
Isis expressed her gratitude and subtly wrapped her right hand around her left shoulder, covering her chest with her arm. As an awkward atmosphere settled and silence threatened to stretch, I quickly changed the subject.
“So, can you grant my request?”
“Uh, yes?”
“The front-line dispatch. Is it possible to be on the same team as Abel?”
“Ah… O-of course. Leave it to your sister. I just need to make a small adjustment.”
Whether from extreme fluster or guilt over her misunderstanding, Isis—who hated corruption more than anything—gladly accepted the request. She would probably regret it later. So I needed to get her seal of approval before she came to her senses.
“Thank you. Then I’ll trust only in you, sister.”
“Yes! Don’t worry.”
We exchanged glances full of trust. With that matter settled, we were eating the pasta that had arrived when—
‘Why is she acting like that all of a sudden?’
Isis, who had been elegantly enjoying her food, suddenly became fidgety, her eyes darting left and right. Whenever our gazes met, she would flinch and bury her face in her plate. There was definitely something going on.
“Sister. Do you have something you want to say to me?”
“Ah! W-what do you mean? A request? Of course I have something to say, but…”
Isis smiled as if relieved I had opened the topic, yet pretended to be surprised. That fake reaction was oddly cute.
“Just say it comfortably. Since you granted my request, I can at least do this much. So what is it?”
“R-really? If you insist, I suppose I can’t help it. Do you know that next weekend is His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday?”
“His Majesty’s birthday? Yes, I know. So?”
I naturally knew about it because the Emperor’s birthday party appeared as an episode in the game. During summer vacation, after getting acquainted with the crown prince through matters related to the Scotti viscount family, he had sent an invitation. Abel attended as partners with Yuni, and there he grew closer to noble ladies like Alissa and Scadia.
Bringing up this topic meant…
“It’s good that you know. As you know, there will be a birthday party for His Majesty, and I have to attend. But I don’t have a partner. Could you possibly be my partner, Luan?”
“Me?”
“Yes. I don’t know any other suitable young nobles, and finding one now would be difficult. With you, I can feel at ease.”
Even while explaining, Isis smiled awkwardly, as if sorry for asking such a bothersome favor.
‘So that was it.’
Just the news that Isis Priuli was looking for a partner would cause an uproar. Countless people would approach her, and selecting the right one among them would be difficult no matter how careful she was. If the chosen partner spread strange rumors, it would become a headache.
‘A partner, huh…’
I wanted to avoid attending troublesome events like imperial parties as much as possible, but I didn’t want to leave Isis with some random man either. Since it would also be convenient for keeping an eye on Abel’s group by staying close, it wasn’t a bad offer.
I nodded.
“Then it can’t be helped. I understand.”
“Really? Is it okay?”
“What wouldn’t be okay? So we’ll attend together as partners?”
“Yes! Thank you. As expected, my brother is the best.”
Isis stroked my head once more with a satisfied expression. And just like that, a week flew by in the blink of an eye.