“Oh, a working man cannot miss the chance to make some business~!” *ching* *cha-ching*

Zoemi smirked at Lithfreid and retrieved Teofee’s purse from his pocket before shaking it while wiggling his brows triumphantly.

“Yoooo! Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! Young ladies are into edgy guys so those exposed teeth must drive them crazy! I remember the times when I was around your age and roping in the ladies in their early twenties thanks to acting like a charming thug!”

“…!”

The man clasped his hands together and laughed – surprisingly causing Rothilis to block his own ears.

“…?”

“…?”

Both Lithfreid and Zoemi exchanged confused glances before looking back at the youngest boy.

“…umm… sorry – Inviderie always covers my ears when Lithfreid talks about his past so I thought that I shouldn’t… be… hearing… it…”

The young attendant lowered his hands and explained while getting completely red from embarrassment and explained in quiet voice.

“Pffft…!”

“Thfahahahaha! What a sweetheart, I can’t…!”

“H-hey…!”

Zoemi snorted and Lithfreid laughed openly causing the boy to get flustered even more and call out.

“Speaking of Invi, he’s also running late?”

Zoemi changed the subject to let the younger boy recover some composure.

“His master showed symptoms of a cold and Invi nursed him through the night in order to make sure that he would be able to perform well during the magic examination, and our friend ended up getting sick himself. But speaking about that accursed examination, what the hell is the Academy thinking? Suddenly changing the date of something so important! My young master got a stomachache when he saw the announcement!”

Lithfreid explained before furrowing his brows and complaining.

“They must have their reasons.”

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders – it would be incredibly dumb of him to reveal the secret information right there… actually, it would be dumb of him to reveal it at all, so he just kept quiet.

“Big brother is also worried…”

Rothilis lowered his head and muttered while returning to buttering the bread for the sandwiches.

“Big brother?”

“I-I mean, master!”

Lithfreid raised his brow and looked at the younger boy, making him flinch and hurriedly correct the way he addressed his employer.

No matter how close a relationship the attendant and master could have, in public the attendant should always speak about their master with respect – that was one of the important rules of the profession.

“Master wants to show that he is worthy of his fiance. He is worried, but I think he has no reason to be! Master is a transcended wind magician and young lady Espine is absent, so he will take first place amongst the wind magicians for sure!”

Rothilis corrected his mishap and added while clenching his fists greatly invested in the magic examination.

“Is there even a need for him to show off? He is literally stronger than his fiance even though she is a light magician. Not to mention your family is waaaay wealthier than hers… shouldn’t she be the one wanting to impress him?”

Lithfreid furrowed his brows while scrambling eggs and sprinkling them with salt.

“No, but… their family name is higher on the ladder though? Big br… master always says that young lady and her younger sister grew up in luxury and that’s why we should work hard to impress them and… I… I…!”

Rothilis furrowed his brows and said in an anxious voice before his hand froze over the sliced tomatoes as he realized that he had said too much… awfully too much…

” …please forget what I just said…!”

The young boy panicked, turning towards the two older attendants and bowed deeply towards them while pleading with a pale face.

“Hmm? Sorry, I was too focused on the eggs, you said something?”

“Pass me the pepper, please~”

“…whew… yes! Here~!”

Lithfreid and Zoemi did the right thing and acted as if they missed the whole thing, causing Rothilis to breathe out in relief and happily pass the spice to the scarred boy.

As the trio was done with cooking, they all left the kitchen together chatting. It was quite a refreshing experience so Zoemi took the longer route again so they could walk together a bit longer.

“Ah~! Master is still training! I go to him, bye-bye!”They were in the main hall when Rothilis gasped and cheered out while looking at one of the windows and hurried towards the exit instead of the boy’s part of the building.

“Huh, he’s a good kid.”

“A bit too carefree though.”

Zoemi smirked softly looking at the younger boy struggling to open the door with his elbow before leaving the building and happily calling out to a green-haired first-year student – Lithfreid nodded but also sighed with a worried frown.

“You do realize what their family is trying to pull off, right?”

The man asked giving the black-haired boy a side glance.

“If the family that his big brother’s fiance is from has only her and that younger sister as their heirs then Rothilis’s family is aiming to strengthen their social position. Rothilis’s master is already engaged to the older daughter and in due time their family will arrange an engagement between Rothilis and the younger daughter assuring that they will get everything. The fiancee’s family might be poor now but it also sounds as if they are proud. In their conceit lingering since the times when they were powerful, they might have not sold any land and buildings they inherited from the past generations and the other family is aiming for that. Even a barren plot of land might be turned into profit if it’s in a good location… How would you score my answer?”

Zoemi tilted his head and said with an indifferent expression before looking at Lithfreid.

“A rich lonely lady past her prime ready to shower me with money out of ten.”

“…you have a peculiar way of seeing the world…”

The brown-haired man nodded with approval causing the younger attendant to shake his head taken aback by the evaluation result.

“To each their own. See you later, Zoe~!”

“Have a good day~”

The two attendants couldn’t continue walking together as their destinations were at opposite parts of the building so they said their farewells and parted ways.

“…that does give me an idea…”

After a few moments, Zoemi muttered to himself standing in front of Kierul’s door.

*click*

Only a second later his copy opened the door from the inside and let him in.𝒩𝗈𝗏𝑙xt.𝓒𝑶𝔪