"I am not lying!
She was the one who asked for it!
You can even ask Seraphi-"
"Vaan~ I caaan't drink anymore~ Stop giving me mooore~"
Before Vaan could say anything else, Elara muttered in her sleep and the moment she did, Astra glanced at her son with a cold look on her face.
"So you are telling me that this angel of mine is lying?"
Astra questioned as she raised her eyebrow, obviously, she had zero trust in Vaan when it came to taking care of Elara.
This boy was corrupting her little angel.
Seeing how his mother was looking at him with doubtful eyes, Vaan felt wronged,
"She must be talking about the first time, I accept, I did push her a little drink more that time, today however, I did not do anything, she was the one who asked for it, actually, I didn't even have the chance to stop her today, she drank the entire bottle in one gulp."
Vaan explained.
Astra, however, shook her head, "I can't imagine Elara asking for alcohol and gulping the entire bottle down."
"I know! I can't imagine that either, even though I saw it with my own eyes!
Mother, you have to trust your son on this one."
Vaan spoke as he looked into Astra's eyes with a serious look on his face.
"Hmmm."
Astra turned silent.
Then, she glanced at her pupil who was still sleeping on her lap, and decided,
"Let's ask her."
"Should we really wake her up for something like this…?" Vaan questioned. He didn't want to wake Elara up, especially when she was sleeping so peacefully.
Astra, however, was unusually strict on her pupil, "I allowed her to sleep for more than 18 hours yesterday because it was her first time drinking alcohol. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, yet here she is, drunk and out again.
If this continues, her sleep schedule will mess up, which will eventually affect her casting speed and overall performance.
I cannot allow that."
"…I understand." Vaan didn't even bother arguing, from the look in his mother's eyes, he could tell it would be useless.
"Elara, wake up," Astra spoke as she gently tapped on Elara's cheeks.
Seeing that, Vaan couldn't help but pout inwardly, to think the difference in treatment was this huge. If it was him, he was sure that Astra would be pulling and twisting his ears to wake him up, yet in Elara's case, it was the most gentle and affectionate tap on her cheek.
"mm… hmm??"
Elara's eyelids moved.
She then tried to change her position, however, realizing that there was not much space to move her head, she momentarily opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurry, but then, she heard a muffled voice,
"Elara."
"Elara."
"Elara, wake up."
The more she heard it, the clearer the sound got, Elara's vision cleared up and then, her eyes fell on her teacher,
"Teacher~" She muttered, from her tipsy voice, it was clear that she was still under the influence of alcohol.
"Are you awake?" Astra questioned.
"Hehe~ How do you think I am talking to you? A Person sleeping cannot talk teacher~ It is obvious I am awake~"
"…"
Astra had no words.
She glanced at Vaan and seeing that the latter was trying to control his laughter, her mouth twitched.
"Anyways, Elara, I heard you drank quite a lot of alcohol today."
"N-No…?"
The smile on Elara's face disappeared.
"Are you lying to your teacher right now?" Astra raised her eyebrows.
"I… I…"
This time, Elara was the one who couldn't find any words. No matter how drunk, her respect for her teacher didn't allow her to speak irrationally. She didn't want to lie, but at the same time, admitting that she did something wrong in front of her teacher and disappointing her was not a good option either.
Elara started looking around, trying to find a way to get out of this situation and then, her eyes fell on Vaan.
"V-Vaan gave me."
She shifted the blame to Vaan.
After all, this wasn't exactly a lie either, Vaan was the one who gave her the alcohol.
"W-What?" Vaan's expression changed.
Astra, on the other hand, smiled as she glanced at her only son,
"You dare laugh at me and lie at the same time, you sure have gotten braver, my dear son."
Vaan gulped.
He couldn't believe that even his fiancée was going against him.
He glanced at Elara, however, seeing her pleading eyes, he was unable to do anything. He had to take the blame in her stead.
Vaan just lowered his head and tilted his head a little, silently offering his ear to his mother.
Astra moved and quickly held Vaan's ears, then, she started twisting,
"Ackkk!"
Vaan cried in pain.
"You need t-"
"W-Wait!"
Suddenly, Elara shouted.
She quickly moved away from Astra's lap and fell into Vaan's arm while placing her hand on her teacher's hand,
"Teacher! You can't hurt Vaan!"
She spoke as she looked right into Astra's eyes.
Astra was taken aback. This was the first time she had seen that look in Elara's eyes.
Was it because she was drunk?
Astra wondered in her head, however, seeing that clear look in those eyes, Astra was not sure.
Wanting to test it further, Astra narrowed her eyes,
"He made you drink alcohol which is not good for your health, he deserves punishment."
"No! I studied it, Alcohol is not harmful!" Elara retorted.
"Huh?" Astra frowned.
"Controlled, moderate drinking can have positive effects on the heart and flow of blood all over one's body. Alcohol can also promote social bonding and relaxation in certain situations. Even the teacher consumes alcohol sometimes, so Vaan should not be punished for giving me alcohol."
Elara spoke with a firm look on her face, at the same time, she tightened her hug around Vaan.
It was as if she was getting her courage to stand up to her teacher from Vaan, the person she was trying to defend.
Astra continued to observe her student, the only time Elara participated in such long conversations was when the topic was magic. Yes, she tried to defend Vaan before as well, however, that was usually her taking the blame for him, she never used words against her teacher.
It wasn't wrong to say that Astra was seeing a completely new side of her dear student.
"And what of your current condition shows your 'controlled and moderate' drinking?" Astra questioned. "I didn't know you could pass out when you drink responsibly."
"…"
Elara turned silent.
"Since Vaan was the one who gave you alcohol, was it not his responsibility to make sure that you do not drink recklessly?
Not to mention that this is the second day in a row.
I excused him yesterday, but to think he repeated the same mistake again,
Don't you think he should be punished for that?"
Astra questioned as she looked into Elara's eyes, wanting to see her reaction.
Elara's lips trembled, she tried to come up with an argument, however, there were only so many things her hazy mind could come up with, in the end, she decided to stick to her old tactic.
"I-It was not Vaan's fault…
I was the one who asked for more alcohol and drank carelessly, Vaan even tried to stop me, but I didn't listen… I apologize…
Teacher should punish me instead…"
Elara lowered her head with a dejected look on her face.
Astra nodded to herself, this was the Elara she was familiar with.
However,
Astra concluded a little too quickly.
"Teacher is weird…"
Suddenly, Elara muttered.
"Huh?"
Astra frowned.
"You keep smiling ever since bad Vaan turned into good Vaan, you always say how you are so proud of him but you never show that in front of him and try to punish him instead.
Shouldn't you be more honest with your feelings? I am sure that it would make Vaan happy as well.
Actually, teacher, I think you should drink together with us.
I don't know how it happens, but alcohol gives you the courage to say things that you normally never can.
It brings people close to each other.
It did the same with me and Vaan too.
We even kissed on the lips as well. Not to mention we did it two times since I couldn't understand anything the first time, I asked Vaan to kiss me again and he did. Hehe~ It was so easy~ You ask for what you want and you get it~
How good it would be if we could always stay drunk, no?"
Elara muttered as she glanced at Vaan with a silly smile on her face.
Seeing her like that, Vaan couldn't control the urge to rub her cheek as he smiled.
"Hehe~"
Elara laughed.
Astra, on the other hand, just blinked in absolute surprise.
This girl…
This is definitely not her dear pupil!
Who was she?
Who possessed her little angel!?
"Vaan! Bring another bottle for Teacher! We should drink together with her. Hehehe~ it will be fun~"
