The Boss is an Elementary Schooler!
“Nngh……”
Crack—!
After several sounds that should never come from a child’s body echoed through the room, Regalia stretched her stiff limbs and stood up from her seat.
As the president of a major corporation, she wasn’t supposed to leave her desk, but today was different. She had finally cleared the mountain of work that had piled up and built a system to handle it all.
“At last, I can breathe a little easier.”
“Congratulations, Young Lady.”
“Thank you, Kitty.”
Regalia brushed off her subordinate’s fuss and sank into the sofa in the corner of the office, flipping through the TV channels until she landed on a children’s animation station.
That scientist had once told her there was nothing shameful about watching cartoons at her age. She decided to take that advice to heart.
She was enjoying the program when Kitty approached from behind and whispered in her ear.
“Young Lady? Since you’ve finished everything, you should be able to go to school now.”
“……School?”
“Yes. Your attendance is hanging by a thread.”
Regalia was an elementary school student.
And, naturally, elementary school was compulsory. No matter how much power she held as the ruler of E City and the head of a massive corporation, she couldn’t skip it.
She had been absent until now because of Evils Enterprise’s rapid expansion and the resulting workload, but that excuse couldn’t last forever.
“I have to go…… don’t I?”
“Yes. Even if you dislike it.”
“Ugh…… I hate being around other children.”
The boss is a child herself—Kitty swallowed the words that almost escaped her lips and handed over the notice that had arrived from the school.
Regalia took the paper and frowned. It was an invitation for parent observation class. Of all the days she had planned to return, why did it have to be scheduled for this exact moment?
“Nngh…… Can’t I just go after this is over?”
“No, Young Lady.”
“But……”
There was a bigger problem. Regalia was an orphan. Her parents were gone, and there was no adult who could step in as a guardian.
‘Well, if I leave it to the scientist, he’ll figure something out……’
That was the very reason she had assigned Eight the role of her father.
I immediately called an executive meeting. I didn’t think I could handle something this important alone.
As expected, the executives who gathered were thrilled when they heard about Regalia’s parent observation class.
“Parent observation class?”
“Yes. It’s at the school the boss attends.”
“Then why was I called?”
Galrm, who had never attended school and couldn’t possibly play the role of a parent, grumbled. It was true there was no need to summon him, but I couldn’t risk him whining later about being left out and treated like an outcast.
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud. The beast would definitely start cursing and throwing a fit. So I phrased it more diplomatically.
“Since it concerns the boss, it’s only natural for all executives to put our heads together. Therefore, we need to decide who will take on the role of the boss’s mother right here.”
At those words, Vira’s body twitched. She trembled so violently that the table shook, her eyes darting around as she muttered.
“The young lady…… I could become the young lady’s mother? I could hear her call me ‘maman’……?”
“……Vira?”
“I-I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
The other executives, realizing they could dump this troublesome task on Vira, nodded in agreement.
Just as the mother role seemed about to be settled on Vira, Arima quietly spoke up.
“But who’s going to play the father♠?”
“I’ve already decided to take that role.”
Thud—!
The same loud noise from earlier rang out again. This time, there were two of them.
I looked at Vira again and realized the source of the sounds wasn’t her, but two other people.
Aile and Levitan were staring at each other, smiling sweetly.
Then they both turned to Vira and began persuading her.
“V-Vira unni…? I don’t think it’s right for you to shoulder this burden alone……”
“Me! Me! I’ll do it! Vira! Please yield!”
“……Why are you two acting like this all of a sudden? I can’t give up the role of the young lady’s maman.”
“V-Vira unni, you’re already of marriageable age…… If you take on that role and get caught, people might misunderstand and think you’re a divorcee who can’t get married……!”
“I’ll give you the boss’s maman spot, so let me take the wife role instead-!”
“Aile…? What are you suddenly saying…… And Levitan, the roles of mother and wife can’t be separated. What kind of broken household are you imagining?”
It was a fierce, no-holds-barred fight over the position. Watching them, I frowned slightly at Arima. He met my gaze, smiled brightly, and stuck out his tongue.
Realizing he had deliberately created this situation, I frowned again. Some great sage archmage he was. He was just a clown who enjoyed stirring up chaos.
“Enough, enough! Everyone, please quiet down.”
After clapping to get their attention, I looked at the three women fighting over the mother role and made a fair proposal.
“Let’s draw lots. Fair and square.”
“Ugh…… I was supposed to do it normally……”
“I-If that’s what the scientist says……”
“We’ll do what Eight says!”
Once the three of them agreed, I brought out a tablet and opened a roulette app. Just as I was about to enter their names and spin it, Aile suddenly shouted.
“W-Wait a second-!”
“Now what?”
“I-If only three people draw, the probability is 99.999…9%. That 0.000…1% won’t go to any of us, right? It’ll go to someone else!”
“0.000…1 is zero, Aile. Didn’t you study properly?”
“B-But still! It’s a program! What if it adds the remaining probability to someone else!?”
Despite my scientific and mathematical assurances that it was impossible, she kept insisting, so I had no choice but to include Arima and Galrm in the draw as well.
“Hah, me playing the mother role. That’ll be interesting.”
“Indeed♣ If it ends up being Galrm or me, that would be entertaining too.”
With the two of them added, the roulette began with five participants. The original three stared at the monitor as if willing their names to appear.
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
“Puhahahaha-!”
The three of them let out sighs of despair while Galrm burst into roaring laughter.
They glared at him as if they wanted to kill him.
The very person who had just been saying it would be fun if he got chosen scratched his cheek awkwardly while staring at his own name on the screen.
“It really became me……♠.”
Arima had been chosen for the mother role.
Like any child her age, Regalia whined that she didn’t want to go to school, but the attendants serving her paid no attention. They simply dressed her up so she could attend.
Once she put on the elementary school uniform, slung the bulky backpack over her shoulders, and wore the hat that added a touch of cuteness, the charismatic queen of Evils vanished, leaving behind only an adorable young lady.
A beautiful girl who could be called the very model of an elementary school student. Kitty covered her face and let out a moan at the sight.
“Young Lady…… You’re adorable.”
“Mmm- These clothes are so stuffy.”
“That can’t be helped. We stuffed every possible function into them—knife-proof, bulletproof, explosion-proof, ability-proof. I’m sorry, but please bear with it for a little while.”
With that, Kitty escorted Regalia to school. Since Regalia was pretending to be the ordinary daughter of an ordinary family rather than the heir of Evils Enterprise, the chauffeur dropped her off at a reasonable distance and kept watch from afar.
She had only been walking alone for a short while when she heard the sound of running footsteps behind her. From the cute pitter-patter alone, she could tell exactly who was approaching.
“Ria! Are you just heading to school now!?”
“Mare. It’s been a while.”
“Are you all better now? The teacher said you were sick and couldn’t come!”
Facing a child her own age who was nothing but pure, Regalia smiled and explained that she was fully recovered.
The children around them let out gasps of admiration from a distance at her smile. Regalia’s beauty was so striking that even elementary schoolers could tell, and there were already plenty of children in the school who had discovered the feeling of love because of her.
Of course, none of them dared to approach her or confess. Even without knowing she was the president of Evils, it wouldn’t have mattered. Her status as president might disappear, but her majesty as a king would not.
Upon arriving at school, Regalia greeted her classmates she hadn’t seen in a long time and took her seat.
“Ria-! You came to school!”
“R-Ria. I made this…… Do you want some?”
“I bought snacks for you! Eat them!”
Smiling at the pure, goodwill-filled faces and laughter of the children, Regalia’s expression hardened when the teacher entered the classroom.
Seeing the teacher’s face reminded her what day it was.
“Ahem- Everyone. Do you know what day it is today?”
““It’s the day Mom and Dad are coming!””
“Yes! That’s right. Even if your parents can’t make it today, don’t complain when you get home, okay?”
She said that, but in reality, there probably wasn’t a single student whose parents wouldn’t show up. This was an elementary school in E City. Most of the parents worked for companies affiliated with Evils, and Evils Enterprise gave paid leave to any parent with school-aged children.
If someone took the day off to see their child but didn’t actually come, they could be disciplined for abusing the leave.
That was why Regalia had specifically called for Eight. She didn’t want to stand out by being different from everyone else.
‘……He’ll come normally, right?’
Yet Regalia began to feel uneasy.
She had asked him, but she couldn’t help wondering if that scientist would actually show up looking normal.
“Now, I don’t know exactly when your parents will arrive…… but don’t talk to them during class, okay?”
The school bell rang, and class began.
Parents entered one by one, quietly taking their seats without disturbing the lesson.
Just as the back of the classroom and the hallway filled with parents—
Suddenly, murmurs began to grow louder in the hallway.
—Hey, since when was someone like that around……
—Whose parents are they……
—Whoa……
Adults’ exclamations stirred the children’s curiosity. When a few of them turned to look, they finally understood why the grown-ups had been so impressed.
People who were obviously someone’s parents walked into the classroom.
The girl sitting next to Regalia, who had also turned around, poked her and spoke up.
“Ria, your parents are really pretty……!”
“Hm-?”
Pretty?
The scientist didn’t look like that.
Regalia turned around without thinking, her doubts growing, and found herself locking eyes with a handsome blond man and beautiful woman.
She tilted her head in confusion.
‘……Who?’
They were clearly not the scientist.
Strangers were standing there.
Yet their faces resembled Regalia’s far too closely.
Anyone would think they were her parents……