The lunch with Surou went without any more breakthrough information but Zoemi couldn’t help noticing that Kierul was having a good time, it has been a while since the black-haired attendant had seen his master’s genuine smile.

The next few days were similar, both uneventful and full of strained anticipation for the update on the situation regarding the secretly brewing conflict.

After a week have passed, Kierul decided that she would like to have spent more time with the second prince – to be close to a good source of information – but her motives were blatantly obvious and pretty cute considering who she was as a person.

The second prince had nothing against that idea either, far from it – he actually agreed so fast that even Zoemi with his superior reflexes got surprised, from then on the red-haired girl and the blue-haired boy ate at least one meal together and even held study sessions.

As for the black-haired attendant, he found himself with as much time to train as he wanted, He was kind of disappointment that Patishi wasn’t showing up, but that was the obvious outcome since she was the absent first prince personal attendant – of course, he took her with him to the training course.

If there was a thing that was a bit more concerning for Zoemi – it was that Teofee Tallaran began stalking him.

He spotted her right from the start, but at the very beginning, it was only some almost coincidental peeks she sneaked at him while keeping a distance in the hallway.

…but within the week and a half of Zoemi’s and Kierul’s stay at the academy, these coincidences developed into full watch sessions that must have consumed every waking moment of the supposed student supervisor…

“Are you going to do something about your open admirer?”

One day, after getting escorted to the classroom Kierul breathed out and asked her attendant while leaning to the side and looking at Teofee sticking her head out of the girl’s bathroom – gazing at Zoemi with an indifferent expression doing the bare minimum of acting as if she wasn’t interested in him.

“I am considering something~ Do you mind if I monetize this relationship?”

“…?”

Zoemi didn’t look over his shoulder since he already knew that Teofee was there, and instead snickered and asked with excitement that only a cartoonish villain could have about his evil plan, which caused Kierul to raise her brow questioningly.

“You are hung up on me calling you a cheap slut back then so you want to prove to me that you are not cheap?”

The red-haired girl breathed out and shook her head in disbelief.

“Are you doubting me, master?”

“…”

The black-haired attendant titled his head and asked playing innocent – which earned him a scornful gaze from his master.

“…ughh… fine. I did tell you that you can play around and I am not going to take back my word. Just try to not cause any huge scandals!”

Kierul ended up folding up and entered the classroom while pointing her index finger at Zoemi with a strict expression.

“I will do my best to keep them all medium at most~!”

“Pffft…!”

Zoemi laughed happily pointing right back at Keirul who ended up snorting because of the ridiculous cheekiness of the black-haired boy.

|Now… how should I do this so it would be the most fun experience…?|

Zoemi thought to himself looking towards the empty bathroom door after Teofee hid back inside to remain hidden – at least that was what she wanted to happen.

|Oh…?|

And just then, a perfect opportunity emerged on itself.

A group of three attendants that Zoemi kept seeing in the kitchen every day was talking on the corner of the hallway after escorting their masters to their classrooms just as the black-haired boy did – and they were in perfect distance from the girls’ bathroom so that if spoke loudly enough their voices could carry on safely.

“Hmm~!”

Zoemi hummed, continuing the devilish snicker, and hurried over to the three attendants.

One of them was a tall and very handsome brown-haired man in his late twenties, his deep blue eyes were captivating enough to cause many young noble girls heart’ to falter. At first glance, he appeared to be serious and almost aloof.

The second one was a sharp-eyed young around eighteen years old with venomous green eyes and flaming red hair styled into a short braid. If Zoemi didn’t know that Burushi the healing magician was supposed to be the only person within the Academy that possess a dual attribute, he would assume that this attendant was a dual fire and wind attribute user. The medium-height attendant looked extremely strict and held himself as such with a perfect appearance.

The third one was a boy that could not even pass as a first-year student without any trouble, he must have been twelve at most. He had neatly cut short black hair and black eyes. He seemed overly nervous and jumpy whenever some students passed him but he seemed to be comfortable around the other two. He looked as if he wanted to do his best all the time – a cute kid like that.

“Hello, again you three~! I’ve seen you in a kitchen, do you have some time to spare for a talk~?”

“…!”

Zoemi reached the group and raised his hand, exposing the left side of his face more to appear more approachable and friendly, although he definitely startled the youngest boy of the group.

“You are the attendant who humiliated young lord Moyena and picked a fight with the second year’s student supervisor. What is it that you really want?”

“…”

The red-haired attendant raised his head, pushing out his jaw aggressively, which almost made Zoemi let out an aww – as it was obvious that the other attendant wanted to appear as big and threatening as possible while shielding the youngest one of the bunch, acting like a protective cat parent.

“I just wanted to talk. Man, I had this one thing that I wanted to talk out with someone but my master isn’t really the right person to do that~”

Zoemi wasn’t threatened and he didn’t feel like he should act as if he was, so he simply sighed and nodded his head while spreading his arms in a non-aggressive manner.

“…I see… and what about it…?”

The sharp-eyed attendant leaned back just a little bit and asked with suspicion.

“Haaa… I would really like to earn some bonus pocket money, but I don’t really want to bother with some mundane work or moan to my master for a rise. I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to get some cash for spending a nice time with some ladies and doing some favors for them~!”

“Wh-Wh-WHAAAA…?!”

Zoemi boasted loudly causing the sharp-eyed attendant to physically back off and raise both hands defensively while his face was burning crimson red matching colors with his hair as he screamed out in panic.

|Oh dear Guide, I will have to apologize to all of them later…|

The scarred attendant groaned to himself witnessing the reaction of the shockingly prudent peer of his.

“Gaaaah…! I know, right?!”

“!!!”

But then, to Zoemi’s – and the two other attendants’ – surprise, the tallest attendant leaned back and let out a long groan before leaning forward and making an upset expression at the scarred boy.

“During the attendant’s training, and then back when I served family head instead of his son and we traveled a lot, it was such a good way to make some good money…!”

“…!”

“…wha…?!”

The handsome attendant complained while the sharp-eyed attendant hurriedly turned around to cover the ears of the very confused youngest attendant with both hands to protect his innocence as much as possible.

“Mature ladies would buy me gifts and stuff coins in my pocket for merely walking with them and in case we would dance or they wanted a more intimate favor I would earn so much that I could send the surplus money to my parents and siblings because all of my own expenses would have been covered for months!”

The oldest attendant in the group breathed out heavily, making a heartbroken expression.

“But now I am stuck in the same place with the same people every day, none of the teachers who had been eyeing me out since the beginning of the year have the guts to ask me for compensated favors! This sucks! My second brother is a talented swordfighter but without my financial support our family will not be able to afford the knight training for him!”

…the aloofness that Zoemi initially assumed out of the tallest attendant was definitely a mirage or hallucination because that man began oversharing his personal history within seconds…!

“Hmmm? Is that really such a problem? My master is a lenient person and she doesn’t mind my promiscuous personality. If there was some noble lady with enough money to spend, I wouldn’t mind her approaching me~”

Zoemi could thankfully adapt fast not only in battle but in social situations – even ones like that one – and boasted, putting one hand on his hip while waving the other one dismissively.

“Oh, you are bold! Still, as for me, I’d rather die than try to do anything with the students here…”

The tall attendant grinned and winked at Zoemi with admiration before leaning back and waving his hands with disgust.

“But that means we will not get in each other’s way so we can be friends! Call me Lithfreid. You have given me the courage to aim for the teachers and other staff members after all!”

“That’s the spirit! I’m Zoemi.”

The two shook hands while the sharp-eyed attendant looked between them in utter horror.

“What in the world are you two doing?! Do you not care about your masters’ opinion at all?!”

“???”

He gasped while trying to walk away, taking the youngest attendant with him.𝒩𝗈𝗏𝑙xt.𝓒𝑶𝔪