Ch.326I’ll Become a Professor (4)

# Stellarium Academy was being hit by a torrential downpour.

Rumble. Thunder roared.

I bought some bread and entered the Natural Sciences building.

“Young master, do you know where Miss Ireh might be?”

“I have an idea.”

I know Ireh’s daily routine by heart.

She wakes up early in the dormitory and heads to her lab. She does self-study or personal research until it’s time for class. She usually eats her meals in the lab or at a nearby restaurant.

Most of her day is spent in classrooms and the lab, or somewhere nearby.

“Tsk, I’m quite soaked.”

“I’ll bring you a change of clothes.”

“Thanks. If I’m not here when you return, wait for me in the lab.”

While Sonia went to get clothes, I wandered around looking for Ireh.

First I checked the lab, and after confirming no one was there, I systematically checked nearby classrooms and meeting rooms.

Sure enough.

There she was.

I found Ireh in the department’s multipurpose conference room.

As soon as our eyes met, Ireh flinched like someone caught doing something wrong. I entered the room with a bitter smile.

“Sister, it’s been a while.”

“…Brother, when did you arrive?”

“I just got back after finishing my work.”

“Oh, um, yes.”

Ireh’s expression was seriously downcast. She seemed to be avoiding me.

Probably because of the professor who would soon appear here. My presence would just make things uncomfortable.

“…”

How should I put it—my chest feels tight.

What kind of professor has captivated Ireh? She clearly said she would join my lab, but well, people can change their minds… still.

My thoughts are a mess.

“Um, brother… I actually have something to tell you.”

Here it comes.

“Go ahead.”

“W-well, you see.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Pardon?”

That was unexpected.

“What are you sorry for?”

“About that paper I wrote recently… our research topics overlapped, but I didn’t tell you beforehand. I completed it on my own first, and made you waste your time…”

She’s rambling.

But I understand what she’s trying to say.

“So you’re saying you knew what I was researching and intentionally scooped me?”

Ireh nodded. Her gaze fell to the floor.

“Well.”

When I sighed, Ireh looked like she wanted to dig a hole and disappear into it. Knowing her personality well, this was an awkward situation for me.

“Sister, I’m not angry.”

“…Huh?”

“I was the one who told you to research a different topic. The lack of communication was my fault. I apologize.”

I pulled up a chair and sat down the hesitant Ireh who was standing there blankly.

“I was actually happy. The sister who used to ask me about basic concepts has now produced a paper of this quality. You’ve grown so much.”

“But I…”

Ireh’s words trailed off. I placed a cake on the table. I also brought salmon sandwiches, her favorite.

“W-what’s all this?”

“We need to celebrate.”

“Why?”

“Because you published a paper.”

This is what normally happens in a properly functioning lab. They probably had a separate party, but I felt sorry for not being there. And I felt a bit left out too.

Ireh looked at me and the cake with bewildered eyes. Her voice became slightly choked up.

“B-brother, I…”

“Come on, let’s eat quickly and clean up. The professor will be here soon, right?”

Actually, there was a devious intention behind this.

Ireh had said she would have dinner with the professor she was meeting. If I could get her to eat even a slice of cake before that, I could reduce the time they would spend talking together.

While I was thinking this, Ireh shook her head.

“The professor is already here.”

I turned around thinking, “No way.”

But there was no one there. I looked back at her.

There was something in Ireh’s hand.

Lunchboxes.

Two of them.

Ireh held out the lunchboxes and said:

“Let’s eat first, Professor.”

My mind went blank.

***

Ireh breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness.’

She had misunderstood.

Eidel didn’t hate her. He was simply too busy to reply properly. He still called her “sister.”

Even after she confessed what was bothering her, not only did he not get angry, he even praised her.

That part was surprising.

She thought he would be at least a little upset.

[“What did I tell you? Rheinland isn’t that petty.”]

Was it the composure of a genius, or the dignity of a magnanimous person?

Perhaps it was both.

With the knot in her heart completely gone, Ireh picked up her fork with a refreshed feeling.

“Where’s Sonia?”

“She went to take care of something else.”

Dining alone together.

In an eight-pyeong conference room, no less.

Thump, thump.

Her heart was racing.

Ireh barely managed to collect herself. She couldn’t let herself be overwhelmed here.

Currently, Cartesia and Ireh were in a silent war. A battle for the position of office wife and first research partner.

The battle lines had stagnated. To gain the upper hand, she needed an even more definitive position. Beyond simply being a research colleague, beyond being called “sister.”

[“You can be bold. You’ve earned that right.”]

Ireh stood up and picked up her chair. She met Eidel’s eyes as he was nibbling with his chopsticks. Before he could tilt his head in confusion, Ireh placed her chair next to Eidel and sat down.

“Sister?”

“Professor, does it suit your taste?”

“Pardon?”

“The lunchbox I made myself. Is there anything lacking, like not enough salt, or any other deficiencies…?”

Eidel cleared his throat with a “Ahem.”

“It’s delicious.”

“Really?”

“Really. It’s flawless.”

Eidel’s face turned red.

How cute.

Though they were only a year apart, seeing a younger man blush while eating food she made was enough to ignite a fire in the heart of Ireh Hazlen, who had discovered men late in life.

“Professor.”

“Sister, I’m not a professor.”

“Then, Professor-to-be.”

Eidel’s face grew even redder.

Now was her chance.

Ireh leaned against Eidel’s shoulder and whispered:

“I’m a bad student. I stole achievements that could have been added to your career as a professor-to-be. But you know what? I thought this was the only way I could show that I’m a student worthy of your lab. So…”

Ireh looked up at Eidel with heated breath.

“Please take this naughty student as your graduate student.”

Eidel’s mouth fell open.

From the beginning, Ireh hadn’t contacted any other professors. Rather, other professors had tried to tempt her by sharing lab tour schedules, but she ignored them all.

She was single-minded.

It had to be this man. It had to be this man’s lab. Ireh’s eyes burned like moonlight.

Eidel laughed softly and finally spoke.

“…There’s a joke that when teenagers do wrong, they go to juvenile detention, and when college students do wrong, they go to graduate school. So, student? Tell me in your own words. How many years do you think you’ll need to spend under me?”

Eidel thought.

At most 3 years.

If done quickly, she could get her doctorate in about 1.5 years. Ireh had that level of skill now.

But Ireh broke Eidel’s expectations and whispered in his ear.

“…For life.”

Rumble.

Thunder roared outside.

Eidel dropped the chopsticks he was holding.

“Haha, what an amusing joke…”

“For life.”

Eidel’s expression hardened. Ireh continued:

“My offense is too severe.”

The crime of loving you.

“If I don’t stay under you until I die, I don’t think I can atone for this sin.”

Eidel’s gaze turned to Ireh, and Ireh’s gaze to Eidel.

Sometimes, things can be understood without words.

Like telepathy, they exchanged information through each other’s intuition.

“Sister.”

“Del.”

“…You seduced me first.”

Eidel placed his hand on Ireh’s shoulder. Ireh grabbed Eidel’s wet shirt collar and brought her face close.

Their noses touched.

And then.

Their lips met too.

Ireh, with her eyes tightly shut, accepted the intertwining sensation as it came.

It was sticky like honey and warm like being inside a blanket. With each twist and turn, a sweet fragrance wafted through, stirring her mind into a mess.

Yes, this is the feeling.

This is what she wanted.

Not something dominated solely by desire, but confirming each other’s feelings within pure and innocent affection…

That’s when it happened.

“What are you two doing?”

A dry voice penetrated both their ears.

Ireh and Eidel yelped and fell backward. Sonia sighed and threw some clothes at Eidel.

“S-Sonia? You’re back already?”

“Not ‘already’—it’s been an hour, young master.”

Sonia’s gaze turned to Ireh.

“I thought you two would be peacefully eating cake… was it not sweet enough for you?”

Eidel was speechless. He had no choice. Although they hadn’t held a wedding ceremony, Sonia was Eidel’s partner in name and reality.

“H-how long have you…”

“Since Miss Ireh started saying ‘Professor this’ and ‘Professor that.'”

That meant she had seen everything from the beginning.

“Please take me as your graduate student. Until when? For life.”

“N-no, that’s not what I…”

“I’ve never seen such a confession method before. Bioroids still have a long way to go in imitating humans.”

“Please, stop…!”

“In a way, it’s admirable. You managed to break down the rationality of my husband, who has a sense of responsibility. It took me quite a while to get to a mutually agreed-upon kiss.”

Ireh’s face turned as red as a ripe apple.

She was caught. She was completely caught.

Her head was spinning.

What should she do now?

“Sonia.”

“Young master, you don’t need to apologize. As you know, I’m in no position to lecture you about infidelity.”

“…”

“Rather, it’s good.”

The next moment, vulgar words flowed from Sonia’s mouth.

“Doesn’t the triangle effect duplicate stamina?”

***

Meanwhile, at that time.

At the main house of the Rheinland family.

Cartesia was grinding her teeth on Eidel’s bed.

“Damn that woman…”

Though she was using the Rheinland main house as a temporary residence after losing her Black Hole, she still knew where Eidel was and what he was doing as his shadow.

Cartesia added a paralyzing sting to her tentacles.

“Just wait until you get back, kid.”