Chapter 64: The Slap and the Steak

“There’s no need to be so… embarrassed. Maybe it just means they’re interested? It doesn’t sound like they could hear what you and I were saying….”

Zion scratched the back of his head.

Inside Estroza’s room, she was still hiding under the covers, not even showing her face.

How could he get her to come out…?

“When you think about it, isn’t it more embarrassing that I mistook you for Anna and acted all cute—”

“Okay, okay, be quiet!”

“…Sorry.”

He only made the atmosphere worse by saying more.

With nothing else to do, he simply looked out the window.

Before he knew it, Estroza was peeking out at Zion with just her eyes.

“…Why are you looking at me like that? Hiding under the covers.”

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Angry?”

“…I told you, I hate you. Aren’t you angry even after hearing that?”

“Hmm….”

Come to think of it, she was right.

Saying ‘I hate you’ to someone’s face, in a situation where you’re facing each other….

It was practically the same as saying you want to fight.

But why wasn’t he angry?

It was probably because…

“I don’t particularly dislike you.”

“…Huh? Who?”

“Who else is here besides you?”

“…!”

Rustle.

Estroza hid her face under the covers again.

She rustled and tossed around.

…I feel bad saying this, but it was like a caterpillar moving.

“W-What are you suddenly saying?”

“You were honest with me, so I’m just being honest with you.”

“…You don’t dislike me?”

“I guess.”

“What do you mean, ‘I guess’?”

Zion scratched his chin.

Estroza Farewell. If he were asked if he really hated her, Zion would shake his head.

If he hated her that much in the first place, he wouldn’t have bothered coming all the way here.

‘Why don’t I dislike her…? I don’t know.’

Zion pondered about his encounters with Estroza.

When he first met her, he just thought she was a refined noble lady.

Later, thanks to Patrick’s translation, he realized she was a somewhat twisted lady who used Kyoto-style speech….

Looking back at her actions after that….

She lost in a duel against him,

She tried to humiliate him with Professor Huriju’s disciple but failed,

She ordered him to gather teammates but ended up catching a cold herself.

Thump!

Zion hit his fist against his palm.

“Ah, I get it now.”

“…What?”

“I realized why I didn’t dislike you.”

“Wh-What is it? …Well, it’s probably obvious. Since you’re a man, you’re probably just charmed by my looks—”

“Even though you keep trying to mess with me, you keep failing, so I kind of… want to cheer you on.”

That’s right.

After losing to Zion in the duel, Estroza diligently planned her revenge.

But all of them failed.

‘Like Team Rocket from Pokémon!’

Team Rocket, the villainous organization that always gets beaten by the protagonist.

Estroza was just like Team Rocket.

That’s why he didn’t feel particularly bad about it.

Rather, he felt sorry for her… you could say he felt pity.

Thump!

Estroza, who had been holed up under the covers, raised her upper body.

Her eyebrows were twitching.

“What are you talking about!? Cheering me on, keep failing…!”

“…….”

“Let me tell you, just because you’re being nice to me today doesn’t mean I’ll give up. It’s your fault I caught a cold in the first place!”

“Ah, okay… well.”

“…?”

“D-Don’t you think it would be better to… get back under the covers…?”

Zion couldn’t meet Estroza’s eyes.

Why is he like this? Estroza wondered, and looked down at her body.

…She then realized that she was still only wearing a thin camisole.

A camisole that was soaked with sweat, at that.

-Knock knock.

To make matters worse, a knock was heard.

With the knock, Anna opened the door gently and entered.

She was pushing a tray, probably bringing food….

“Hello! The chef said that Zion’s food is ready, so I came to tell him to eat… Whoa.”

“…….”

“Oh, um. D-Do what you were doing. Sorry! I ruined the atmosphere…”

Anna covered her face with both hands.

But her eyes moved busily between her index and middle fingers.

She quickly pushed the tray backward and closed the door.

“…Miss, p-please make sure to use contraception properly. Then, I’ll be going…”

Squeak- Thud.

Silence poured down after she closed the door.

Even with his gaze forcibly averted, Zion could feel it.

He could sense what people call ‘murderous intent.’

“…Get out.”

“…Huh?”

“Get out of my mansion right now!! Nothing good has happened since you came here!!”

“Ah, okay! I’ll leave!!”

Swish! Swish, swish!

She began throwing dolls around again.

In his panic, Zion ran towards the door.

…He barely managed to escape Estroza’s room, getting hit in the back of the head by a barrage of dolls.

“Oh? W-Was it already over?”

“…We didn’t do anything.”

“Ah……. Did I interrupt? Sorry. I thought the atmosphere was good.”

Zion, who came down to the first floor, met the servant Anna.

She seemed depressed, thinking it was her fault.

…What was good about the atmosphere.

“I don’t know what you misunderstood… but I thought she had a bad cold, so I left.”

“Is it because you don’t want to pass on the illness?”

“…You could say that.”

“I knew it! Caring for each other… Isn’t that love?”

Anna’s sparkling eyes were very burdensome.

“I’ll tell the head maid! Please have a meal before you go.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“But we worked hard to prepare it…! Look here!”

Flutter!

Anna brought a plate from the kitchen.

When she opened the metal lid of the plate…

Whoosh! Steam rose up.

Zion’s eyes shook as he looked at the contents inside.

“The chef said that this is a popular dish among students these days!”

“…….”

“Isn’t it so touching that you can’t even speak?”

What was on the plate was a hamburger steak.

…Except the sauce was drizzled in the shape of a heart.

It was the same hamburger steak he had eaten with Serene.

Is this kind of thing popular among young students?

‘Could this be the food that Anna was trying to carry with the tray earlier?’

If so, that was a relief.

If Estroza had seen this… heart-shaped sauce hamburger steak,

The atmosphere would have become awkward again, for sure.

“Oh my, are you leaving already?”

“Ah! Head Maid!”

Step, step.

The head maid approached with a benevolent smile.

Zion also smiled and replied.

“Yes, I’m sorry I couldn’t eat the food.”

“It’s alright. If it’s before lunchtime, you can pack the food and take it with you. I’ll tell the chef.”

“Thank you, but I don’t want to cause any trouble….”

“Hehe, Estroza can only eat porridge anyway, so it’s fine. Anna, please.”

“Yes!”

Anna took the plate and went into the kitchen.

“Shall we take a walk for a while?”

“…Yes.”

Squeak.

The head maid left the entrance and took a walk in the garden with Zion.

He was unnecessarily nervous because she still misunderstood him as her boyfriend.

In the midst of this, the head maid suddenly stopped.

“Our young lady doesn’t express her feelings well.”

“…Yes?”

“I have been serving the young lady since she was a baby. That’s why I know the reason why she has changed like this.”

The head maid fiddled with the roses in the garden.

The red roses in full bloom were beautiful in themselves,

But it seemed difficult to reach out because of the sharp thorns on the stem.

“Every year, at the Farewell family’s banquet, the young lady, who was from a collateral line, had to be subtly discriminated against.”

Discrimination was nothing much.

The food came out a little late, they were seated on the outskirts of the banquet hall, and they received discriminatory gazes, etc.

It wasn’t much, but the subtle discrimination was perfect for stimulating resentment.

“When the young lady turned 10, an incident occurred.”

“…An incident?”

“It was a magical duel.”

‘Magical Duel’, one of the events of the banquet.

Estroza participated in the magic duel when she was 10 years old.

The opponent was a child of the same age from the direct line.

And she ‘overwhelmingly’ defeated the child from the direct line.

“…Isn’t that a good thing? It would have been an opportunity to be recognized by the direct line descendants….”

“I thought so too. But what came back was a ruthless slap.”

“…?!”

Slap.

Estroza, who was 10 years old and full of the thought of being praised.

Someone slapped her cheek hard.

The person who did it was…

“Your mother?”

“…Yes.”

“Why…?”

“A collateral line child defeated a direct line child. That was a result that no one wanted.”

“…!”

“Do you know why we hold magic duels?”

Zion got goosebumps at the head maid’s words.

Why would they bother calling the same-age children from the collateral and direct lines to the dueling arena?

Why is ‘Magic Duel’ one of the main events of the banquet hall?

“…To justify the discrimination between the direct and collateral lines, and to show the difference in their levels.”

“That’s right. That’s why the madam stepped in first. For the sake of the family, and for Estroza.”

“…….”

“If she hadn’t punished her first, even more, ruthless discrimination would have been waiting.”

She slapped her as an example to prevent future punishments.

The price for winning the magic duel after struggling in the collateral family, where she couldn’t even get a proper education.

Her mother slapping her in front of everyone.

He couldn’t imagine what Estroza’s heart must have been like.

And the feelings of the mother who had to slap her cheek.

“After that day, the young lady devoted herself even more to magic studies. And… she couldn’t smile sincerely anymore.”

“…….”

“So, I would like to ask you.”

The head maid looked at Zion with serious eyes.

“Please… don’t hate our young lady too much.”

“…….”

“She just can’t express her emotions properly. She just can’t form proper relationships with other people. So….”

“It’s okay.”

Zion smiled.

“I don’t particularly hate her.”

“…I see. I’m sorry for telling you unnecessary stories. Please keep it a secret from the young lady.”

“Of course.”

The head maid bowed to Zion.

‘As expected… there are so many people who follow her, she has good people around her.’

Having good people around means that the person themselves is upright.

In the academy, she’s like a villainous young lady who takes her followers around with her,

But in the family… she’s a pitiful young lady with a wounded heart.

Tadat dat!

“Head Maid! I packed the hamburger steak!”

“Oh my, that’s good. Please take it and eat it. Our chef said he’s showing off his skills, so it must be delicious.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Zion took the hamburger steak, which still felt warm.

He headed straight for the gate.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

“Young Master.”

Clang.

Closing the gate, the head maid left Zion with her last words.

“Next time, I’ll be waiting for you to come as her real boyfriend.”

“……Huh?”

Step, step.

As if she had said everything she wanted to say, the head maid turned around and headed for the mansion.

Zion blankly stared at her back.

‘…Since when did she know?’

He felt like a fool for worrying about how to clear up the misunderstanding.

His mind was blank with a haunted feeling.

…So that’s why she became the head maid of the mansion.

Still—

“Should I eat it on a park bench?”

He didn’t know if the misunderstanding had been resolved, or if there had never been a misunderstanding in the first place.

But he decided to be satisfied with just knowing that Estroza wasn’t as bad a person as he thought.

Zion walked towards the academy with the hamburger steak in his hand…

The warmth of the hamburger steak felt through the packaging seemed to melt Zion’s heart.

A little later.

Zion, who had finished eating the hamburger steak that showed off the chef’s excellent skills.

Was in Professor Shivrina’s classroom.

“Come to think of it, didn’t we have no class last week?”

“Zion, didn’t you look at the class bulletin board?”

“…No.”

“She canceled class due to personal reasons.”

When he searched the class bulletin board with his student ID at Patrick’s words.

The cancellation notice was really written there.

[Title: This week’s class is canceled.]

[Contents: Class is canceled due to personal reasons…. I’m sorry to the students who were looking forward to the class. We’ll schedule a makeup class later~.]

It was a textbook and plain notice.

He knew there was no class last week.

There were a lot of classes, and he was busy with club activities, so he didn’t even pay attention.

“Hahaha! From this week, other professors will come and show us each magic!”

“Oh, really?”

Zion’s ears perked up at Geibolg’s words.

‘If it’s 1st and 2nd circle magic, I can learn by watching, so it’s a good opportunity.’

The magic that Zion mainly uses now is elemental magic.

But since there are many types of magic, he wanted to see and learn various magic.

This class was perfect for Zion.

‘Which magic department professor will come? Spirit magic is already being learned, so it’s out of the question, and necromancy is also… out of the question, right?’

Zion was full of anticipation.

Finally, the front door of the classroom opened with a creak, and the professor appeared.

It was Professor Shivrina, a plump-looking female professor with sheep horns.

“Hello. It’s been two weeks. Has everyone been well?”

Professor Shivrina greeted the students with a motherly smile.

Looking at her made you feel warm.

She briefly called attendance and then explained the contents of today’s class.

“As I announced in the orientation, from this week, representative professors from other magic departments will come and introduce their departments.”

In the Magic Department of Byzantium Academy, students learn various magic at the same time right after entering….

From the 2nd grade, it is common to choose a magic department within the department and advance to it.

Professor Shivrina’s ‘Introduction to Magic’ class is there to introduce various magic before that.

“Now, let’s all welcome him with applause! It’s Professor Huein from the Alchemy Magic Department!”

“……Huh?”

Clap clap clap!

Everyone clapped and welcomed the professor from the Alchemy Magic Department.

Zion was frozen stiff and couldn’t clap.

It was because he remembered hearing the professor’s department and name somewhere.

Zion recalled his conversation with Professor Lunia.

-…So, the Alchemy Magic Department professor wants to see me?

-Yes, yes…. That’s right….

-Is there a reason why you want to meet me?

-Huh? I, I delivered the ideas that Zion, student, gave last time to Professor Huein….

-……Idea? Ah, no way….

Alchemy Magic Department Professor Huein.

The person who made the mud cookies that Professor Lunia had,

The person who unintentionally delivered the idea to Zion, and sent a love call to Zion.

“Oho~! A lot of guinea pigs have entered this year too!”

A female professor who appeared with transparent goggles used in the laboratory on her head.

Pink hair and twin tails that were so bright that you could call them neon signs.

…And she was wearing a laboratory coat.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Professor Huein, the supervising professor of the Research Magic Department. As you can see, I’m a dwarf!”

“…….”

“More than that, I heard there’s a guinea pig named Zion here?”

She had the body of a very small child.