"Anton! Long time no see!"
"Yes, is my father well?"
Anton, a big, burly man, made his way towards the academy entrance.
He was there to inspect the magical tools delivered from his family.
These tools were part of an agreement between his father and Oliver, the academy's vice-principal.
There was no sign of corruption in this process.
Everything was bought at market price, and the quantity matched the agreement.
However, the purchases were made exclusively through Anton's family, avoiding competition, and raising questions.
Nonetheless, since they supplied the academy with much-needed tools, it wasn't an actual problem.
Seeing Anton, the family butler spoke up.
"Your lordship is well, as always."
This man wasn't your average butler.
Trusted by Anton's father, he was more of a close confidant.
"Hehe, didn't my father say anything specific?"
At Anton's question, the butler paused briefly before replying.
"Ah, your lordship asked if there was a problem with what he mentioned last time."
"What my father mentioned?"
Anton tried to recall, but most of his father's naggings were usually forgotten quickly.
He thought for a moment, his eyes widening as he remembered.
"Oh...!"
It was about Levian.
Levian's spellbook, and the experiments carried out by the Fred family.
"Luna... Railer..."
He remembered Luna Railer's spellbook from the practical.
On second thought, her spellbook shared an uncanny resemblance to the one his father had shown him.
Immediately, Anton gave his orders.
"The Railer family."
"Yes?"
"Tell my father to investigate the Railer family."
A sinister smile spread across Anton's face.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Four days to the midterm exam.
"Ah, when will he get here…"
Sitting in the library, Luna kept stealing glances at the entrance.
Rudy should be coming in any time now.
She hadn't seen him much lately because he'd been helping out the student council.
But she'd heard he would be at the library today.
-Luna, it's time to bring out your secret weapons!
Even though Ena wasn't physically in the library, her words echoed in Luna's mind.
'Ena... can I really do it...'
Luna shook off the doubt.
Ena didn't say 'can you' but 'you must'!
Just then, she spotted Rudy entering the library.
'Here goes!'
With a faint smile at the sight of Rudy, Luna raised her hand, flicked her hair back, and turned her head.
"Ru, Rudy h-hi!"
Luna tried to put into practice one of Ena's dating techniques.
These techniques were all from romance novels, but Ena was so sure of them that Luna thought it must be right.
The first step was to casually flick her hair back, revealing her neck and ears, a supposedly alluring gesture.
Her greeting, however, came out a bit stuttered, and the gesture seemed somewhat forced.
"Uh... Hi."
Rudy greeted her back, looking slightly puzzled.
'Uh...'
Luna felt her cheeks heat up a bit, but she couldn't let that stop her.
This was only the start.
Once Rudy sat down, she would move to the next step.
As Rudy sat down and started to take out his books, Luna initiated her next move.
"Ah~ Rudy, isn't it hot today?"
She fanned herself with her hand, trying to play up the heat.
Rudy looked at her, even more puzzled.
"Hot today...?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Even Luna found her comment out of place.
It was fall, and the temperature had been dropping lately.
Despite this, she pressed on.
"Ah... It's so warm."
She untied the ribbon from around her neck, placed it on the desk, and started to unbutton her shirt, revealing her collarbone and the fair skin underneath.
This was Ena's second technique.
Unbuttoning.
Apparently, men found it intriguing when a usually well-dressed person loosened their attire a bit.
Luna could understand that.
She often found herself feeling a bit flustered when she saw Rudy in his sweaty shirt after a workout.
"......"
Rudy glanced at her briefly before focusing on his book.
Her face turned even redder.
'Ugh....'
Her embarrassment was becoming unbearable, making her feel genuinely hot.
"Ah... it's really hot...."
But Luna wasn't done yet. She had one more trick up her sleeve.
As she pretended to study, she kept a close eye on Rudy.
'Okay....'
Taking a deep breath, she spoke up.
"Um... Rudy."
"......Yes?"
"I'm having trouble with this. Could you help me?"
She showed him a book on black magic, a subject she knew he was well-versed in.
The fear, though, was that Rudy might not know the answer.
"Ah... I know this one."
Hearing that, Luna brightened up.
"Really? Can you show me how it's done?"
"Sure, it's about─."
Before Rudy could start explaining, Luna stood up.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Huh?"
Rudy seemed confused, but Luna held her ground.
She walked around the table, positioning herself next to him.
Luna took a seat next to Rudy, her heart pounding.
-This is the real secret weapon.
This was her secret weapon, a gift passed onto her by Ena - a subtly fragrant bath soap.
She had bathed with it just before coming to the library, giving her a sweet, comforting scent.
"Um..."
Moving a little closer to Rudy, Luna nudged the book towards him.
"Could you explain this part?"
"Uh... sure."
'Is this... is this right?'
Her secret weapon seemed to have little effect.
According to Ena, when you ask for help, you create a sense of dependency that stimulates the man's protective instincts.
Being close and smelling good should then disorient him.
But Rudy's face remained focused, utterly absorbed in explaining the answer.
Luna felt a pang of disappointment at his lack of reaction.
'It's guaranteed to work on anyone of the opposite sex!'
'Could it be... Does Rudy not see me as a woman....'
With this thought echoing in her mind, Luna found herself staring at Rudy's face.
Suddenly, Rudy turned to her.
"Eek...!"
Caught off guard, Luna jumped.
Rudy looked slightly puzzled.
"Did you understand?"
"Yes, yes, yes! You're such a great teacher, Rudy!"
She hadn't really followed any of his explanations.
But she could hardly tell him that she'd been too distracted looking at his face!
"Thank you."
He smiled, making Luna's heart flutter.
Rudy was usually so serious, always absorbed in something.
But she adored these fleeting moments when his warm smile broke through.
And speaking of warm smiles...
"Uh, Luna...."
Suddenly, Rudy leaned in closer.
They were already quite close, and his movement startled her.
His face was getting closer and closer.
'What is happening....!'
Without thinking, Luna shut her eyes as Rudy's face drew nearer.
Before she could make sense of what was happening, she felt a gentle touch on her face.
'What on earth....!!!!'
She flinched, eyes still tightly shut.
"It's done."
Rudy's voice pulled her back to reality.
"Huh?"
Opening her eyes, Luna saw Rudy holding out his hand, a broad smile on his face.
He was holding a small eyebrow hair.
"It was stuck near your eye. I thought it might prick you, so I removed it."
"Uh... ah."
Her face turned a deep shade of red as she looked at Rudy's broad smile.
In a panic, she sprang up from her seat.
"Huh?"
"Ah, thanks for the help! I need to use the, the restroom!"
With that, Luna practically fled the table, hoping Rudy wouldn't notice her blushing face.
Rudy watched in puzzlement as Luna rushed out of the library.
"But... I wasn't finished explaining?"
His gaze flickered between the empty space where Luna had been and the book they'd been studying.
"Was that the only part she didn't understand?"
Scratching his head, Rudy slid the book towards Luna's belongings.
Meanwhile, Astina found herself alone in the student council room, sifting through mountains of paperwork.
"That damned...."
Astina had made several trips to vice-principal Oliver, complaining about the unending stream of paperwork.
He'd apologize with a grin, promising to rectify the situation.
Yet nothing changed.
The vice-principal's tasks continued to pile up, with Astina bearing the brunt of it all.
She suspected he was dumping the majority of the work onto the student council to avoid the backlash he'd receive if he delegated it to the professors.
Astina contemplated staging a protest but dismissed the thought.
This was a crucial time for her, having recently assumed the role of an heir.
She didn't want to stir controversy.
Besides, her term as student council president was nearing its end.
Reluctantly, she turned her attention back to the paperwork.
That's when she noticed a crimson drop staining the document she was reading.
"Ah...."
It was a nosebleed.
Astina quickly tilted her head back and rummaged for a handkerchief.
It was becoming a regular occurrence, her nosebleeds.
She'd lost count of how many times it had happened this month.
"I want to run away."
Yet, she had responsibilities to consider.
The responsibility of being the student council president and the responsibility of being the heir to the Persia family.
"Rudy Astria...."
His confession of fear towards such responsibility resonated with her now.
But she couldn't afford to back down.
Power came hand in hand with responsibility, and with power...
"I can achieve what I want...."
What exactly that was, she wasn't sure.
But she knew that without preparation, she wouldn't stand a chance when the time came to seize what she desired.
Astina sighed and set aside the blood-stained documents.
She plunged back into the paperwork, knowing that once she was done, she would have to hit the books for the midterms.
"Just a little longer..."
With another sigh, Astina refocused on her work.
