"…huh…? Oh, no…!

"

Zoemi spent the rest of the night experimenting with various spells, slowly gaining proficiency with mixing a spell from one attribute with the mana of another – and even succeeded with mixing together two attributes – but when he reached out towards the nightstand to have a look at his pocket watch to check the time, he discovered that the poor, innocent watch ended up a victim to his fist during the shadow corpse puppet's visit, together with the nightstand and the magic crystal lamp.

"…

"

The black-haired boy picked up the pitiful remains of the mechanism, barely recognizable after getting crushed flat and almost torn in half, and stared at it with sadness.

This watch was the reward Zoemi received from the head-butler of the Espine's family after completing the attendant's training course – and the black-haired boy cherished it greatly.

…that day certainly didn't start nearly as good as Zoemi hoped for…

"Shadow theater… heal…?

"

Zoemi knew it was stupid, but nonetheless, he tried to use the healing spell on the murdered watch – but, just as it was expected, the spell that haled up the black-haired boy's broken finger could not do anything to help the broken inorganic mechanism.

"…

"

Zoemi really didn't have any more options after doing that – he wasn't completely sure what time it was, only that it was before the sunrise, with that in mind he decided to get ready for the day and go to the kitchen – it was honestly better to be early than late when it comes to preparing a meal for Miriette.

The worst thing that could happen would be that the breakfast would get too fancy.

Although, speaking of time, they were supposed to go shopping because they had a free day thanks to the second- and third-year students having mandatory duels – maybe Miriette would want a late breakfast…?

"…no, she seemed very eager… she cannot sleep when she's like that…

"

Zoemi breathed out and went to the kitchen – picking the mana potion on his way there – and considering it was already there, it couldn't be all that early anyway…

In the half-empty kitchen, he started preparing the meal, but soon enough all the other staff showed up – and the short brown-haired girl in a butler's uniform wasn't any different.

"Good morning, sir Zoemi.

"

Teo gave the boy a short nod and started helping him out – surprising him a little bit with her distant behavior.

The short brown-haired girl was acting a bit strange, once every two or three minutes she would pull on her ear with a worried expression as if the heavy-looking earring bothered her greatly.

As she was about to do the same thing for the twentieth time Zoemi couldn't stand it and grabbed her hand.

"Let me have a look at it.

"

The black-haired boy asked while holding onto Teo's wrist and leaning close to her, to check on her ear.

"…you do know that you have an infection? Why do you insist on wearing that thing…?

"

Zoemi sighed, seeing the ugly inflammation spreading from the hole in the girl's ear – to make things worse, Teo's constant tugging made the earing dig into her earlobe and it looked like it was close to ripping through it completely.

"Sorry, sir Zoemi. I'll try to not mess with it…

"

She said embarrassed, trying to lean away but the boy didn't let her

"What's going on? It looks like it really hurt! Sigh… You know what? Stay still.

"

Halfway through his questioning – or more like light scolding – he changed his mind and firmly grabbed Teo's head.

"Just… don't remove it, please…

"

Since the girl didn't protest and allowed him to do so, albeit while blushing deeply, he proceeded with the check-up.

"…

"

He focused and reached out his shadow towards the faltering shadow of the earring…

This tie, it felt like the shadow itself contracted and cowered before Zoemi could come in contact with it, that was certainly the first time something like that happened.

Before Zoemi's shadow reached the shadow of the earring, it was gone.

The small piece of jewelry became completely normal and almost inconspicuous.

"Can I take it off?

"

Zoemi furrowed his brows and asked the brown-haired girl.

"Yes, please… my ear really hurts…

"

"…!

"

The boy asked even though before Teo was very stern about not removing the earring no matter what – but just as he expected, without the mysterious shadow, the short girl nodded her head and actually moved her head so that he had an easier time freeing her ear.

"Teo, I really think this thing might be dangerous, cursed even. Well, maybe not cursed, but some malicious spell could have been cast on it…

"

Zoemi spoke with a bothered voice while removing the now seemingly harmless piece of jewelry.

"…the first prince has said the same thing – sir Zoemi, you and mistress are going shopping today I've heard – I'll use that time to show this thing to some teacher.

"

Teo nodded and reached out both of her hands to take the reading and Zoemi gave it to her with a concerned expression.

"You… don't want to go with us…?

"

He asked while the short brown-haired girl hid the earring into her pocket.

"Hmm…? Wha…? N-no, I don't think that's what mistress wants… I will stay behind.

"

At first, Teo flinched and straightened her back while blushing but then her shoulders slumped and she shook her head and refused.

"B-but, you can make it up to me in some other way afterward…

"

…and then she started fidgetting while glancing upwards at the boy's face – which definitely was an improvement in her mood.

"If you say so – but hold still – I am not finished.

"

"…!

"

Zoemi furrowed his brows for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and leaning forward towards the girl and reaching out towards her wounded ear.

"…ack…!

"

Teo flinched when Zoemi's hand touched her earlobe but didn't pull away and bravely stayed in place.

"Shadow theater, heal.

"

"…?!

"

Zoemi focused on the shadow of the heroine's healing spell and used it – since he was doing it again, this time he felt that the spell activates a lot faster, which was a very nice discovery.

|Practice does make perfect, huh…|

"…

"

He thought to himself while the inflammation and tearing healed up within seconds – the black-haired boy was very focused on the spell so he didn't notice the longing gaze that his fellow attendant was giving him, looking up at him while getting more and more red in the face from the very short distance.

…if she would climb on her tiptoes, Teo would have been able to kiss Zoemi – and that very thought entered her mind and made the girl tens up!

Should she do it…?

Zoemi was healing her, so maybe she could dress it up as a thank you kiss…?

Would he even like that? What if he would get angry…?!

"It looks fine – but I am not entirely sure if it works all that well with infections – I am getting better with healing magic, but just to be sure you should ask Burushi to check up on it.

"

"…!

"

Teo was taking so much time that Zoemi ended up healing her ear and pulling away – which solved the girl's inner turmoil but also made her tense up and grit her teeth.

"Thank you… Sir Zoemi, what do you think about hat girl…?

"

The brown-haired girl showed her gratefulness by bowing her head and asking with a sulky voice without straightening her back.

"Burushi? I consider her my friend – don't worry, she is a nice person.

"

Zoemi smiled reassuringly, thinking that Teo who was not that good with people – just like her older sister – was simply worried about talking with someone new, and not at all expected a different reason for the girl's tone.

"…?

"

…although to tell the truth, he did notice that something was off…

"…sir Zoemi, I actually don't feel all that well… I think I will return to my room and if nothing changes I will go to see that girl…

"

To his great surprise, Teo stepped back and declared in a weak voice.

"Oh, no…! Did… did I mess up something while healing you…?!

"

Zoemi flinched and asked in a worried voice.

"N-no, I don't think so – I was feeling pretty under the weather anyway… I'll go back to my room – there's no reason for you to walk me all the way there…!

"

The brown-haired attendant shook her head while constantly backing away towards the door.

"But you're feeling unwell… Shouldn't I go with you just in case…?

"

The black-haired boy tilted his head, genuinely concerned about his fellow attendant.

"Denied! No! No way! Just in case please don't come anywhere near my room, sir Zoemi, I'm serious!

"

As if some sort of switch in her head flipped, Teo went from cautious anxiousness into complete defense within a split of a second.

She crossed her arms on her chest, making them into an x-shape, and shook her head vigorously – before actually turning around and running away…!

"Wha…?!

"

…leaving Zoemi stunned in the kitchen….