episode_0035

I, Ms. Rosalie, Pisces, and Mirha boarded a train bound for Leone on Saturday morning.

Since it seemed to be their first time on a high-class ride, Pisces and Mirha were both very amazed and delighted.

I wanted to bring Ms. Anna too, but for the orphanage’s relocation, she had to stay there for the time being.

I’ll have to find a new place for Livingston to settle in the near future.

The short train trip that began like that was more enjoyable than I’d expected.

It wasn’t as openly sweet an atmosphere as when Ms. Rosalie and I rode the train alone, but the four of us ate delicious food, talked about various things, and played simple board games.

A day slipped by in the blink of an eye, and then it was Sunday morning.

I left a short message for Irha.

[Arriving around 3 PM. Come out to the front of Hiols. Let’s grab a meal.]

Still, I wanted to create a bit of a surprise, so I deliberately didn’t mention Mirha.

How happy would Irha be to see Mirha?

Thinking about her saying thank you with glistening eyes, I felt somehow good.

I’ve been busy all this time, so I haven’t been able to spend much time with Irha, but wouldn’t I say I’m a pretty excellent leader?

Irha, who usually sent instant replies right after I messaged her, was unusually silent today.

Is she sleeping in since it’s Sunday? Well, she’ll come out on her own.

“Ras~ Say ‘ah’. This is delicious.”

“Nom.”

“Good boy, Ras eats even rice cake balls so well~”

Meanwhile, Ms. Rosalie next to me put a chewy and sweet rice cake ball into my mouth, and I eagerly took it in.

*

Sunday morning, Irha’s dormitory.

Her roommate, Lina, was out on a date with her boyfriend.

Irha was left alone in the room, lonely, fiercely kicking her blanket.

For some reason, Irha was pouting a little.

“Ras…! He’s not coming, not coming at all! Ras is a terrible leader. What kind of leader abandons his minion for so long!”

Of course, Irha knew in her head that Ras wasn’t intentionally abandoning her.

She knew everything: that Ras had been very sick because of her (though Ras himself had intended it), and that he had to go to a big hospital in the capital for it.

But as a rule, what one knows intellectually and what one feels emotionally don’t always align.

Especially when one has just fallen for someone, emotions tend to work harder than reason, so it’s not fair to blame Irha too much.

“Hmph… Ras is probably being all sweet with Rosalie Teacher-nim… like, just…!”

A picture formed in Irha’s mind: Rosalie, who was incredibly beautiful even to another woman, and Ras, walking arm in arm through the bustling streets of the capital.

During the short period Ras was hospitalized, Ras and Rosalie had grown rapidly close, and for them to go out alone for a whole week…!

According to Irha’s prey animal’s intuition, Rosalie was a predator among predators, akin to a dragon.

For the gentle and innocent Ras, she would be a fatal temptation..!

Irha jumped up and went to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror.

Recently, by eating well, sleeping well, exercising diligently, and even falling into her first unknown love, Irha’s looks had blossomed considerably.

On top of that, she had even received a promise to help Mirha with her biggest worry for free, so Irha’s appearance had received a happiness buff as well…!

This meant that even by the standards of an academy rumored to have many beauties, she could confidently be called ‘beautiful!’.

Her innocent appearance was subtly unbalanced by her quite tall height and her well-toned and voluptuous figure.

However, when all of these combined, she exuded a quite unique charm.

“Ugh… but Rosalie Teacher-nim is too beautiful… No! But I have my own strengths. Because I’m a minion. Rosalie Teacher-nim can’t run errands for bread.”

But true to her positive nature, Irha soon thought of her own unique strength: being a ‘minion’.

Somehow, Ras had grown quite distant from Lizley, whom he had been dating, and a romantic vibe was flowing between him and Rosalie, but the position of minion was something no one could encroach upon.

“Love is short-lived, but a minion is forever. Irha..!! Fighting!!”

Having finished her bizarre self-encouragement, Irha came out of the bathroom in a much better mood.

Thrumthrumthrumthrumthrumthrum★

Just then, the cheerful vibration set specifically for Ras’s incoming messages rang out, and Irha hurriedly checked her communication device.

[Arrivingaround3PM.ComeouttothefrontofHiols.Letsgrabasnack.]

The message was short and concise, but to Irha, who was half-blinded by infatuation, even this looked quite cool.

“Hehe… Sending messages like this, it’s kind of like a bad boy? That feeling is nice. Ahem..! Should I try sending a message like a bad girl too?”

However, Irha, who had turned on her magic device to send a reply, flinched slightly and hesitated for a moment.

She was worried that sending an instant reply might make her seem too obedient.

“Hehe..! Then I’ll send it after twenty minutes.”

So, uncharacteristically, Irha racked her brain and, twenty minutes later, sent a brief and impactful reply in her own ‘bad girl’ style.

[Mmm..!!]

Of course, she didn’t fully realize that only the content was short.

*

[This stop is Leone, Leone Academy. Passengers disembarking, please prepare.]

The disembarking announcement played on the train.

Ms. Rosalie looked back at us and took care of us, just like a mother.

“Alright! You’ve packed everything without leaving anything behind, right?”

“Yes. I haven’t. What about Pisces and Mirha?”

“I haven’t either. My luggage was just a few clothes anyway…”

“Me too! Hehe. I really want to see my Unnie.”

Trains are fun and amazing, but I still prefer walking on solid ground.

Just thinking about seeing Irha again after so long made me naturally feel good.

Irha has a bit of a silly side, but she’s the kind of kid who makes people extremely happy when you’re with her.

[Mmm…!]

Her reply to the message I sent earlier was very short, but I think I knew what she was doing when she sent it.

No doubt, she must have been eating something with her mouth full and chewing noisily when she saw the message and hastily replied.

I chuckled lightly and sent her a new message.

[Where are you? When you arrive at Hiols, go inside. I made a reservation so you can enter if you state your name and show your ID card.]

[Okay. How long will it take? I just left the dorm too.]

This time, unlike before, an instant reply came.

We’ll arrive a little later, but our arrival times should roughly coincide.

[We’ll arrive in about 20 minutes, but you’ll probably get there a bit earlier. Anyway, see you inside later.]

[Mmm..!!]

“I’ve contacted Irha to come out. How about we all grab some lunch? I’d already made a reservation at Hiols near the academy.”

Pisces and Mirha, who didn’t know how high-class Hiols was, just stared blankly.

Ms. Rosalie, who had worked at the academy for several years and had likely been there before, clapped her hands and beamed in welcome.

“Oh my! Hiols! It’s been a really long time since I’ve been there. The last time was when I went to celebrate Solista Day with Isera last year.”

“Solista Day…. You truly enjoyed yourselves.”

Solista Day, though its name is grand, is simply a day for solos to celebrate their loneliness, either alone or gathered together.

“Yeah~ Ahh… This year, there shouldn’t be a disaster of spending Solista Day with Isera. Right, Ras?”

Thanks to Ms. Rosalie lacing her fingers with mine, I was unable to give a proper reply and blushed slightly.

I had already declared to my mother that she was my girlfriend, but in reality, I hadn’t yet reached an agreement with Ms. Rosalie herself.

Anyway, I felt it clearly over the past week: there was no doubt Ms. Rosalie also had a romantic interest in me, so I figured something would work out.

First, I should just clear away the mold-like girls clinging around me, like Lizley and Emma, and then officially begin my ‘loves’.

Anyway, they’re utterly useless.

As we were pleasantly walking and arrived at Hiols, I spoke to Pisces and Mirha for a surprise that had suddenly occurred to me.

“Mirha, I want to surprise your Unnie. Can you wait here for about 5 minutes and then come in with Pisces?”

“Hehe..! You want to surprise her. Okay, Oppa.”

Pisces and Mirha had grown much closer in just one day, and the two stood together, holding hands amicably.

I had hastily bought clothes and put them on Mirha, and perhaps because she had a good figure, she already looked quite refined.

It was a situation where it was understandable that our Rinaldo had completely fallen for her.

I entered the private room where Irha was waiting, accompanied by Ms. Rosalie.

*

“Ras! Rosalie Teacher-nim!!”

Irha greeted the two, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, with a bright smile.

The slight upset, the anxiety about the romantic vibe between the two of them, all of it was completely buried by her happiness at seeing them.

Irha was too bright and kind to be excessively jealous and anxious.

She hugged Rosalie once, then Ras once, and then clung to both of them, bouncing around while hugging them.

“Hehe. Hey, are you that happy? It’s quite heartwarming to be received so enthusiastically. Isn’t that right, Teacher-nim?”

“Yes! Our Irha overflows with positive energy. And her hugs feel so good too~”

Seeing the warm and friendly scene created by Irha, who was like a big puppy, Ras felt that it was the right time for the surprise.

It was the moment to give the best gift to the slightly chattering Irha, who had just sat down.

“Irha, I have a gift for you.”

“Huh?! What is it? Did you buy something delicious from the capital?”

Ras sent a telepathic message to Pisces with a grin.

[Pisces, come in.]

Clunk-

The door opened, and I expected Pisces and Mirha to come in together… but at that moment.

Only Pisces entered.

“What the, why are you coming in alone?”

“A staff member took her, saying she needed to use the restroom for a moment. Didn’t the Leader tell only me to come in for a moment?”

And upon hearing the word ‘Leader’, Irha’s brow furrowed with a crinkle.

“Leader…? Who… who are you to call Ras ‘Leader’…! Ras is our Leader-nim.”

“What’s with her? I’m Leader Ras’s minion. Who are you, looking at me like that?”

“Oh..!”

It was the moment the two minions, who had never once met before the regression, encountered each other for the first time in their changed lives.

At their pettiness, Ras’s chest truly swelled with an epic feeling.