房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"Pffft! Oh, you sweet little prude~! If the young master will report me back to the family, what do you think will happen? I know the family heads the best after his wife! If he heard a complaint about how I scored one of the teachers at the Academy he would high-five me!"

Lithfreid laughed right in the sharp-eyed attendant\'s face before boastfully puffing out his chest.

"You are unbelievable!"

The flustered red-haired attendant gasped, looking around in worry but thankfully the lectures have already started so the hallway was empty.

"Hey, the family I serve isn\'t the most well off but I like them. I will not do anything to harm them, so what\'s wrong with me putting my body to work for the good of my relatives while also having some fun on the side? It\'s not against the attendant\'s code."

"I...! Gh...! Gfgh...! Khh...! UUURGHHHH!"

Lithfreid rolled his eyes and motioned at his sharp-eyed colleague who was so lost for words that he could only huff and puff still completely red in the face.

"Our boiling kettle friend here is Inviderie, the little confused munchkin is called Rothillis. Zoemi, if you don\'t have any other plans maybe you would like to hang around with us for a bit? We were going for a joint practice session since Rothillis was asking for it since he learned that Inviderie and I completed the knight training."

Lithfreid introduced the other two to Zoemi, grinning cheekily while patting the head of the youngest attendant.

"Oh? Do you mind if I join? I haven\'t sparred with another human for quite some time."

"Sure!"

Intrigued Zoemi asked and Lithfreid agreed without even acting as if he would take the opinion of the other two attendants under consideration.

And because of that, despite originally planning only to plant the seed in Teofee\'s brain and walk away waiting for it to sprout, the black-haired boy ended up on the training ground behind the dormitory building together with three other attendants.

"Now, Rothillis, I know you probably want to start practicing combat with a weapon, but first we need to see where you stand in terms of endurance and strength. So we will begin with some light exercises – do not use any enchantments for that."

Despite being adverse to Zoemi being there, the sharp-eyed Inviderie seemed pretty serious about helping out his younger colleague – but there was something that he said that took Zoemi by surprise.

"Our Rothi is a magician?"

The black-haired boy asked, raising his brows and looking at the slightly embarrassed fellow black-haired individual.

Considering that he was not introduced with a surname, Zoemi assumed that the younger boy was a bit similar to him, born with black hair and eyes but without magic.

"About that..."

"Mom is a maid at master\'s summer house."

Lithfreid and Inviderie exchanged bothered looks while wondering how much can they say about the matter, but the youngest boy didn\'t seem to mind – he said only one sentence but it was a piece of information that told Zoemi everything that he needed to know.

"Basic exercise it is then. Invi, back to you~"

"...!"

Zoemi nodded at Rothillis and smirked at the sharp-eyed attendant who immediately made a grumpy expression over the overly familiar way he was addressed.

Nonetheless, the next hour was spent with the three more experienced attendants watching the youngest one do his best.

...still, Rothillis\'s best was below the average - and not even in Zoemi\'s opinion...

"Rothi, you said that you were doing some exercises back home and since you arrived with your master here at the Academy... were you always using enchantments while training?"

Lithfreid furrowed his brows, also using a more familiar way of addressing his youngest colleague while speaking with concern.

"Y-yes... I was always copying big broth... young master\'s enchantments."

The young attendant fidgetted and admitted, flinching and biting his tongue before lowering his head and correcting himself.

"That\'s the problem. Magicians always rely too much on magic and as result, their physical strength is lacking..."

The sharp-eyed attendant proceeded with the explanation that Zoemi knew all too well as it was basically the same thing that he explained to Kierul when he first started tutoring her in self-defense.

The only difference was that none of the three attendants knew that there was a way to im[roving both the efficiency of magic and the strength and endurance of one\'s magic.

Zoemi was going to share the secret, but he decided to hold back on it - especially since Teofee was trying to sneak up on him from behind...

The black-haired boy decided that it was okay to make things easier for her, so he announced that after all he would not be sparring and was just enough with watching over the progress the others made and walked towards the bench just outside the training ground.

A convenient bench was in front of some decorative bushes that were perfect for hiding and could be easily accessed from Teofee\'s position.

Zoemi didn\'t have to wait too long for the effect...

*clank*

While he was peacefully sitting, a hesitant hand emerged from between the leaves and placed a silver coin on the bench right beside the black-haired attendant.

"...hmm...? Is that the due observation fee?"

*rustle*

Zoemi hummed nonchalantly picking up the coin and putting it up to his face to enjoy it glistening in the sun while the bush trembled from embarrassment.

"After you snuck into my room the as time, I was expecting you to be more daring. Honestly, I was looking forward to some fun requests~ alas... I guess that if you want to just watch me then that\'s it."

The boy sighed with disappointment while pocketing the coin without even glancing at the bush behind him.

*rustle* *rustle*

Said bush shook frantically once more and a trembling hand emerged from within with another silver coin.

This time the coin was not left by Zoemi\'s side, instead, it was kept in the trembling hand an inch away from Zoemi\'s thigh.

"What\'s this~?"

The attendant asked playfully and reached out, but instead of just picking the coin he grabbed the girl\'s wrist and brushed his thumb against the side of her hand.

"...!" *clank*

The hand – and of course girl whose hand it was – flinched and dropped the coin, but the black-haired boy didn\'t let her retract back into the bush and instead intertwined their fingers while continuing to softly brush the side of her hand with his thumb.

"Now, now. You have paid for a request. You didn\'t specify what request exactly, so that means you wanted me to take the initiative~"

Zoemi explained in a hushed voice keenly surveilling the surroundings with his enhanced senses to make sure that his little fun time would not be discovered.

"Now then... a silver coin gets you..."

The boy hummed and leaned down slightly while raising his and Teofee\'s hands to...

*chuu*

Lightly kiss the fingernail of the girl\'s index finger.

*chuu* *chuu*

...then her knuckle, and then her hand...

...all while sensing how fast Teofee\'s heartbeat has become...

"...Z-Zoemi..."

"Aaaand time\'s out~!"

The hiding girl muttered in a feeble voice but right at that very moment Zoemi let go of her hand and stood up, declaring with a smug expression before walking over to the other attendants to join in on instructing the young Rothillis.

Teofee didn\'t follow him and instead stayed in the bushes observing the four attendants all the way until they all got back into the dormitory building in time to prepare their masters lunches.

Zoemi prepared one more portion. Despite being a prince, the second prince Surou didn\'t have an attendant by his side during his stay in the academy – once again a rather blatant showcase of favoritism displayed by the queen.

The black-haired boy didn\'t mind at all, after all, it was amusing watching Kierul doing her best to keep her distance from the blue-haired boy despite her affection for him growing with each day.

Honestly, it was adorable~

But of all things, to think that Kierul liked meek boys that sometimes cried when their emotions got too strong was out of Zoemi\'s expectations.

Nonetheless, the plans for the lunch were clear – if the weather would allow it, a picnic under the tree by the pond in the back of the Academy.

And considering that Zoemi spent most of the morning outside and confirmed not a single cloud in sight, the plan was a go~

Therefore, the black-haired boy was on his way to the cozy romantic spot holding a full picnic basket in one hand and a picnic blanket in the other for a few minutes before recess.

Zoemi finished the preparation and nodded to himself in content – the only part missing was a certain pair of red and blue disposition...

"...of which... what happened to the younger young lady Tallaran? I haven\'t seen her at all today. Like what, now both student supervisors for the second year are gone... will the teachers appoint someone else?"

"...?"

A few second-year students who seemed to have ended the lecture earlier were walking towards the training ground when one of them spoke out trying to act nonchalantly, getting Zoemi\'s attention with how badly she was hiding her real intentions.

"No. I\'ve seen her during breakfast. I asked her why did she start skipping lectures but she only shrugged it off as doing her duties and patrolling the perimeter."

"Patrolling? Why? Do we have some delinquents in our year that sneak out of the lectures to mess around?"

Her friend shook her head and another one added in surprise.

"..."

Zoemi raised his brows and acted as if he was too busy checking the picnic setup to be bothered by the conversation of the passing students...

"She\'s missing lectures just to stalk me and is lying about it being a part of her duties... that girl is something else, huh...?"

He muttered to himself while expanding his surveillance radius by activating the law of Sagittarius without speaking out its name to check whether Teofee was around.