“But why didn’t she answer when you called for her?” I wondered.
“I think she just wasn’t in the mood,” Alice said.
Kitty apparently only answered Alice’s calls once every five times, and that was on a good day. Alice also set the potency of her summoning powers on the weakest level so that she wouldn’t put a strain on Kitty’s tiny body, making it more difficult for the familiar to heed the call.
“I’m sorry,” Alice apologized. “I panicked and forgot all about that.”
“I don’t blame you.”
After she calmed down, she served me a cup of delicious tea. The teacup was decorated with a cat, and the snack she served, langue de chats, was shaped like a cat’s tongue. She really loves cats, huh…
“To be honest, I never thought the day would come when I could spend time like this with you, Alice,” I said.
“Oh? But I’ve always wanted to get to know you better,” she replied.
“Wait, really?”
During the entrance exams, she came up to me smugly and implied that I was too poor to afford a mantle.
“N-No, I said that out of kindness,” Alice insisted. “You didn’t have a mantle, so I was offering to lend you some money if you needed it to keep you nice and toasty.”
“Oh… I see…” I murmured.
Her sharp tone made me misunderstand her intentions.
“Then why were you glaring at me during the exams?” I asked.
“I was just staring at you out of curiosity,” she replied. “I heard rumors that you came from a faraway region for the exams, so I wanted to help you out if you ever needed some assistance.”
“G-Got it…”
An incredibly beautiful lady like her was intimidating, even if she only stared; it was my fault for misinterpreting her intentions in all the wrong ways.
“And when you disapproved of my relationship with Ehr?” I asked.
“I’d heard that he was born and raised in the slums,” Alice explained. “I… Well, I doubted him and his motives. I’d assumed that he was after your money… I was wrong; I know that now. I should be ashamed of myself for judging someone solely due to their origins… I deeply regret what I said.”
So, she was worried about me and warned me in a roundabout way. Now all her actions make sense. I was the first applicant she spotted, and so, she wished to become my friend. She tried her best to act considerate, but it backfired.
“I just didn’t know how to interact with you…” she admitted.
Until now, people flocked toward her, and she was always the center of attention. But when I didn’t approach her, she wasn’t sure how to come up to me and clumsily did her best.
“I was desperate, and I suppose I came off harsher than I hoped,” Alice said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Honestly, I got more worried when you lost that gusto.”
“I-I’m not normally that sharp, I’ll have you know, my dear.”
“Oh? But no matter the case, I hope you can act as you please without hiding your true self. We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
Alice’s large eyes widened with astonishment.
“Why do you look shocked?” I asked. “I thought you wished to become friends with me.”
“Y-Yes, but you do not like my attitude, no?” she asked.
“I’m used to it. I don’t mind.”
I offered a hand as a sign of friendship, and Alice gingerly but gently shook my hand in reply.
✦ ✦ ✦
MR. VIL dropped by today as well with his army of hedgehogs. He arrived at the Garden Plant, right on time, and little birds flocked around him as his lesson began. Gem was our dinette again, and when the sun grew a bit too bright, it even made a parasol for me. I was so grateful.
“Tomorrow’s classes will be on defensive spells…” Mr. Vil muttered.
“Yessir,” I replied. “I skimmed the textbook for tomorrow’s class, but I’m confused about quite a few things.”
At least I could point out where I was stuck and avoid not even knowing what parts gave me trouble. When I asked him about an issue that I was particularly puzzled about, he broke it down into easily understandable parts. Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye, and Gem’s parasol became a lamp that illuminated the table for me as the sun started to set.
“Thank you for teaching me until this late,” I said.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Vil replied.
I invited him to dinner again, as I did yesterday, but he scrunched up his face in response.
“Um, if it’s inconvenient for you…” I started.
“No, that’s not it,” he replied. “It’s just… Isn’t it a pain to cook for someone else all the time?”
“Oh, please don’t worry about that. I made a lot, so I’d love it if you ate your fill.”
Since I insisted, he graciously accepted my invitation. Tonight’s dinner was simple: cream stew, whole grain herbal biscuits, and macaroni and cheese. Though there wasn’t much variety, I added plenty of ingredients to the stew. We stayed warm thanks to Gem as we dug into our food. The potatoes were soft and creamy, and the carrots were very sweet. The tender meat almost melted in my mouth, and I loved soaking my biscuits in the stew.
“How does it taste, Mr. Vil?”
“It’s good.”
Apparently, he felt better after he ate the meal I prepared last night.
“I usually feel sluggish every day, and I’m plagued by constant migraines,” he admitted. “I’m a bit of an insomniac as well. But yesterday, my body felt light and energetic, and I was able to rest well.”
Yesterday, he told me he had been feeling better lately, but clearly, he wasn’t. He was hiding plenty of health problems.
“I’m surprised you acted so normal yesterday,” I said.
“This is the new norm for me,” he said. “I’ve always been sick.”
He wasn’t born with this condition—he started to be constantly plagued by health problems a mere three to four years ago.
“I went to a few doctors, but they all said that I was fine.” He then suspected that perhaps he had far too much mana for his body to handle, making him feel ill. He went to a magic doctor in search of a solution, but no luck. “I was told that while I do have a bit more mana than most, it’s not so excessive that my body can’t handle it.”
“Hmm…” I muttered.
I guess ailments with no proper explanation exist in this world, too.
“I actually had a headache since this morning, but after eating your food, I feel a lot better,” he said.
“I’m glad to hear it helped.”
If he feels that much better, why did he decline my invitation for a meal?
“Um, didn’t you think about testing your theory out?” I asked. “Like you could eat my meal today, too, and see if it makes you feel better again. Why did you initially decline my invitation?”
“Miracles don’t happen twice,” Mr. Vil replied. “I’ve learned that the hard way. And yet, here I am, blessed with a second miracle.”
He asked if I was imbuing the dishes with some sort of special spell, but I shook my head.
“I haven’t done anything like that, but… Hmm…”
“What is it?” he asked.
“I did make these dishes out of the ingredients that my classmate, Rena von Wiegert, gave me.”
“Rena von Wiegert…”
“He’s the top student in our grade.”
Mr. Vil nodded in recognition. “Yes, I know him. Maybe I’ll ask if the ingredients were anything special the next time I see him.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
Mr. Vil’s friends with the crown prince? What in the world? Clearly, he’s either a royal or very close to them. It might be worth having good ties with him. I invited him to dinner tomorrow, my ulterior motives rearing their ugly head.
“Why don’t you have dinner with me until you can find the cause behind your improved condition?” I offered.
“You don’t have to do all that for me,” Mr. Vil said, turning me down.
“You can pay me back when you become a big shot.”
He looked at me, surprised by the offer. “All right. I promise to repay you one day.”
“I look forward to the day.”
And so, our little get-togethers now had the additional objective of tracking down the mystery behind Mr. Vil’s chronic pain.