Ch.357357. The Intent Behind Early Graduation (2)

“Hueee… I can’t run anymore…”

“You mustn’t whine like that, my lady. Come on, quickly. Drink some water and get up.”

“Eek! You’re so mean, Maria!”

When Renias made a horrified expression toward her personal maid Maria, Maria smiled sweetly, called the other maids, and together they helped Renias to her feet.

“This is why you should have been consistently taking care of your body. How much have you been lazing around that you’re collapsing in the summer heat? Start moving diligently from now on.”

“B-but the quota is way too much. It’s not like I was actually sick, so why on earth…”

“It’s not much at all. I heard you used to run at this intensity regularly. If you keep lying about not wanting to do it, shall I punish you?”

Seeing no sign of Maria softening her stern attitude, Renias made a tearful face and turned to the other maids.

“H-hey, girls. Maria’s acting strange. She must be possessed by some demon desperate to make me exercise!”

But.

“My lady!”

“H-hieek! Why are you all like this too…”

“Hurry up!”

Unfortunately, the other maids were also maintaining a consistent attitude of showing no mercy, so the silver rabbit’s wishes would not be granted.

They were giving stern looks to their own master, as if telling her to just hurry up and run. They had all become nagging caretakers just like Maria.

“Uuugh… You’re all so mean.”

She wondered how things had come to this.

There were plenty of reasons why she had been carried to the hospital, but no matter what, it wasn’t serious enough to warrant such strenuous training that had nothing to do with her health.

It was useless to explain that she wasn’t so weak as to collapse from catching a cold in summer weather or from going out to play.

Yes. The first person responsible for causing this outcome was Junon.

-‘I haven’t been making you exercise lately. You’ve been just playing around whenever you had free time… What’s surprising is that I didn’t realize your stamina was this poor just from riding amusement park rides.’

He said this couldn’t continue and that they should start health management again from today.

‘Health management?! That’s because of you, not because of me…’

It’s because her brother is so caring. It happened because he’s such a wonderful man that she wants to depend on him!

It would be nice if she could say that, but if she had that kind of courage, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

But how could she blame him? She couldn’t hold a grudge against someone who was purely expressing concern due to a misunderstanding.

Instead, when it came to health management, there was another person who created this situation by spreading lies.

The second person responsible was Dahlia.

-‘How strange~? Was Reni’s health this bad? Her stamina seems to have dropped completely compared to before, which is why she keeps collapsing.’

Apparently concerned about her sickly cute niece, she even went so far as to ask Junon to make her exercise.

When a credible person makes such a mischievous lie with a devilish smile, how could it not be believed? The one who made everyone believe her health had deteriorated was none other than Aunt Dahlia.

If she wanted to blame someone, it should be her.

‘This is all because of Aunt Dahlia…!’

There’s absolutely no way that could be true.

Her body is clearly healthy, yet she remembers that mischievous smile as her aunt claimed it had deteriorated, just to tease her.

But there was one undeniable fact, no matter what complaints she had.

Namely, that she had collapsed right in front of Junon. Since that was entirely a problem of Renias’s own making, she couldn’t even blame anyone else.

Even if she tried to blame someone, it would be her past self who had worried Junon by acting embarrassingly the day before, causing her face to turn bright red.

“My lady!”

“If you don’t run, we’ll come catch you?”

“Catch me…? Why?”

“The Grand Duchess has received this news. So we’ve been given special permission?”

It might seem irrelevant, but hearing the rest of the story revealed it was quite significant.

“We’ve been given permission to help you for your health. So, our personal wishes can be sneakily included?”

“Whaaat?”

She couldn’t even cry out that such a thing was absurd. Since this was directly permitted by Rohinithe, the Grand Duchess of the Lantana Duchy, no matter how much Renias disliked it, the maids were simply following Rohinithe’s instructions.

Maria and the other maids were already wearing sinister smiles.

“If we catch you… we’ll spend hours in the dressing room you hate so much, just trying on clothes. Hehe.”

“And the Grand Duchess is actually looking forward to it, so she’s already given us this check. Don’t worry about money, it’s not an issue at all.”

“H-hieek!”

The silver rabbit, sensing danger, immediately had a blue shadow cast over her eyes.

More frightening than exercise was the shopping time these maids wanted. They would bring all the clothes they wanted to try on from famous boutiques’ dressing rooms and gain vicarious satisfaction by making her wear each one.

Wearing those uncomfortable clothes one by one, changing again and again. Repeating dressing and undressing according to their requests made her feel like a doll. For Renias, it was the worst time imaginable, even worse than exercise.

“Lady Renias~ Let’s set the time limit at a light 30 minutes.”

“T-thirty minutes?! That’s too long…”

“We maids are in good shape from taking care of you, you know? With all the laundry and cleaning we do, this is actually quite short.”

“So try your best to run, my lady. This time we’re determined to catch you, and we won’t be giving any quarter.”

“Of course, if you want to give up and let us catch you, we’d welcome that?”

“I don’t want thaaaat─!”

The silver rabbit, sensing danger, started running with a look of disgust.

Though it was involuntary rather than voluntary, at least the exercise effect seemed certain.

***

Puwap-!

Aris, who was drinking a beverage in the Tembris club room, choked and started coughing as if something had gone down the wrong pipe. What she heard was so absurd that the drink simply wouldn’t go down her throat.

“W-what did you say? Junon is… a professor?”

Aris asked again, wondering if it was a lie.

“It’s true. Look, Junon’s name is written right here in the course selection.”

Senia pointed to his name with her finger. Aris doubted her eyes several times as she looked at the communication.

She thought Senia might be playing a prank, but Junon’s name was indeed listed among the course instructors. It was undeniable evidence that he, who had been active as a fourth-year student after re-enrollment, had become a professor.

Charlotte, who was watching alongside them, was also surprised.

“Wow… Senior Junon, I thought he just re-enrolled as a student to maintain his academy affiliation.”

“Huh? Affiliation?”

“Aris, how much curiosity do you think people have about Junon? He needs an affiliation to avoid being overwhelmed by the crowds.”

“Ah…”

“So if he comes in as a student, he belongs to the academy, and the faculty, not to mention the administration, can refuse requests on his behalf. Given Senior Junon’s personality, he wouldn’t want to accept titles or territory, and it would be awkward for him to work under someone else.”

“True, he’s too much of a big shot. There’s no really suitable affiliation for a man who saved the Principality.”

That’s why the academy was a very appropriate place for him to choose as his affiliation.

Although he was technically a dropout who hadn’t graduated yet, he was undoubtedly a valuable talent worth readmitting, and the academy was the largest institution in the Principality that could somewhat meet conditions that wouldn’t be satisfied anywhere else.

“Well, I don’t think that’s the only reason.”

“Why not?”

“It’s obvious whose handiwork this is.”

At Senia’s words, Aris tilted her head, still not quite understanding.

Just then, Cain, Lumia, and Michelle entered in sequence and provided the answer.

“If he graduates from the academy, his affiliation would disappear. Given Senior Junon’s skills, he would probably graduate quickly. But that turned out to be a disadvantage.”

“He’s not just excellent, he’s too excellent… Even now, he’s maintained his winning streak, so there’s no one who can match him, which is intimidating for other students. It’s quite problematic.”

“Things have gotten so bad that there’s talk of excluding Junon from team competitions. When Junon is present, tactics change completely, and there’s no way to counter him.”

“Ah…”

It was a reason she had to acknowledge. Due to his unmatched proficiency, excellent combat sense, and extraordinary intellect, there was no one at Levrant Academy who could surpass Junon in any field.

It wouldn’t be strange if many people lost confidence watching him.

“But it would be troublesome if his affiliation disappeared… So he got an early graduation to become a professor?”

“That’s right. He didn’t even touch the merchant or guild options, and he more than satisfied the early graduation requirements.”

“Then by ‘handiwork,’ do you mean… the professors?”

“They recommended early graduation to fill an empty professor position. While his career path still isn’t decided, his natural skills make him perfect for a professorship. You haven’t forgotten the results of the faction battle, have you?”

Sirah’s great victory. The person credited as the main contributor was undoubtedly Junon.

In a way, it wasn’t an achievement he accomplished alone, but it was also proof that he had a knack for teaching students.

The connections lined up so neatly that it seemed like the professors had deliberately planned it. Of course, even if it was intentional, it wasn’t necessarily disadvantageous for Junon.

The academy and the Principality were accommodating him in most matters, and it resolved his career concerns and employment issues.

However, there was one person who might be quite upset by this intention.

“On one hand, I’m looking forward to it… but I’m more worried than anything. I guess my concerns outweigh my expectations.”

“You’re right, Aris, it is concerning.”

“Cain and I feel the same way.”

“That’s right. Senior Junon… he’s super famous now. And on top of that, a professor…”

“Yeah. It might be a bit harsh on Renias. That blockhead Junon probably doesn’t realize it at all.”

The Tembris club room was filled with sighs.

***

“Huff, haaah…”

“Well done, Lady Renias.”

─Well done!

Here was one silver rabbit on the verge of collapse.

Though she had avoided becoming a doll in a famous boutique’s dressing room by running hard for 30 minutes to avoid being caught by the maids, the thought of having to do this every day made her future look bleak.

Of course, it wasn’t without reward.

“Since I wasn’t caught, I can go to Levrant Academy now, right? Right?”

“Of course!”

After all that effort, she easily received permission to meet her boyfriend.

“But you need to wash up and get ready quickly! You can’t go all sweaty like that.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll wash up right away.”

Renias’s cheeks were already turning rosy.

Not knowing what scene she would encounter there.