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THAT day, August assisted in their lessons. While Charles supervised Lille, August tutored Leo. It soon became apparent that Leo was still deathly afraid of the man; he couldn’t reply with anything more than “yes” or “no.” Normally, he overflowed with arrogance and smart retorts—but now, he was acting like a meek, little kitten. He even messed up his spells, and ultimately had to switch places with Lille.
Poor thing.
August was a strict teacher, but his instructions were very clear. Lille quickly realized that he was just as wonderful a mentor as Charles, although his style was vastly different.
Thankfully, Charles returned to his usual self once the lesson was underway. Every now and then, August glanced over at the other pair to see Charles’s teaching in action, but he showed no signs of wanting to intervene.
Before she knew it, the day passed by, and it was time for dinner. August mentioned that he liked seafood, so she decided to include a fish dish in their feast. For the main course they made lemon sole meunière paired with a warm mushroom salad, and for dessert they drizzled apple compote over ice cream. Naturally, they froze the cream using magic.
Typically, they chose more flavorful dishes, but Lille didn’t really mind either way. Leo, on the other hand, had prepared the meal with a disappointed scowl on his face.
“Charles. Have you no plans to move back to our home country?” August asked, holding his knife in an elegant grip. Lille wondered how on earth he would eat without getting sauce in his long beard, and she couldn’t help but stare at him uneasily. He ate without spilling a single drop, however, and was a mustachioed paragon of polite dining.
“Sorry, but I don’t,” Charles said firmly, “although I’m sure you’ll ask many, many more times.”
“Is running that magic item shop really so much fun?” he asked in disdain.
“Well…yes, I suppose it is. Besides, I have my apprentices here to mentor.”
“As I’m sure you’re aware, I could take good care of your apprentices at my academy.”
“But…” Charles hesitated. As he struggled to find the right words, August topped off his glass with more wine. They had opened a new bottle before dinner for the occasion, but it was already nearly empty.
“Master August, isn’t that enough…?” Charles commented timidly.
“Did you say something?”
“Uh, no…” he said, backing off.
August gulped down a large mouthful of wine, disregarding Charles’s advice entirely. “You graduated top of your class, and even became a government official when I put in a good word for you. Despite all that, out of the blue, you resigned. You never even discussed the matter with me,” August huffed.
“I really am sorry about that,” Charles sighed. “But I thought I had already done all I could for the country.”
“Because you prevented the sorcery war and became a hero?”
“Yes…and no.”
“You’ve always been like this. Nothing you say ever makes sense,” August said in frustration. “Surely, refusing to lend your powers to the country can only be detrimental to you.”
“Even out here, I can do lots to help people,” Charles insisted.
August’s patience seemed to be wearing thin. As he tapped his fingers irritably against the table, he drank from his glass in increasingly shorter intervals. Eventually, the wine bottle was drained completely. Charles had barely had any, so August must have drunk the entire bottle himself.
“Charles. The bottle’s empty,” he remarked pointedly.
“Uh… I really think you ought to stop there, Master August. Especially since you can’t really hold your liquor…” Charles winced.
“Quiet,” August snapped.
Leo glanced over at Lille anxiously, trying to tell her something with his eyes.
“S-Sorry, but we don’t have any more wine,” she apologized. “The other bottle we have is for cooking.” Further clued in by Charles’s wariness, she had gotten the hint that things could go very badly if August were to drink any more. She hoped what she’d said would be enough to deter him from raiding the kitchen.
“Oh dear.” He frowned. “In that case, water will do.”
Lille dutifully filled his glass with water. Then, with a quick flick of his finger, the contents of the glass turned a deep red.
“What?!”
“Hey!”
She reacted at the same time as Charles. Leo’s bottom lip quivered as if he were about to cry, while Ark roared with laughter from the top of his perch as though he found something extremely funny. August was the only one unfazed by the situation and he gulped down the magical wine without a moment’s hesitation.
“Master August! I already apologized for everything! Stop being so childish!” Charles yelled, at the end of his tether. He shot up from his chair and slammed his hands on the table. “You know what you’re like when you’re drunk! The lectures never end! They’re bad enough when you’re sober!”
Lille and Leo flinched, looking up at Charles nervously. August, on the other hand, launched himself to his feet to face him. The chair toppled off-balance, falling behind him with a crash.
“You’re the one who needs to stop being so childish. Your temper is far too short!”
“That’s only when I’m with you! Besides, I’ve told you a million times not to show up here—I’ll go visit you!”
“Well, it’s your own fault for forgetting your promise to visit every month!”
“I literally visited you last month!”
“But you always leave so early!”
“Because you do nothing but lecture me!” Charles fumed. It was strange to see someone who was usually so composed shout so loudly. Lille was still struggling to work out if they had a good or bad relationship.
“Uh-oh. We’ve got a family quarrel on our hands now,” Ark interjected.
“It’s more like a squabble between two kids…” Leo said. “I can’t deal with any more of this. I’m too tired.”
“No problem.” Ark fluffed up. “Leave this to me and Master Charlie. You two can go to your room and get ready for bed.”
“Okay…”
Ark’s wings fluttered as he swooped into the midst of the fight to try to calm things down. August’s plate was still full of dessert, untouched. When Lille saw the melted ice cream, she felt slightly crestfallen. She had been really proud of how it came out, so it was a shame he hadn’t tried it.