"Nnn? Aahhhh~ Tsar~!"
"...!?"
With her eyes heavy from drowsiness, Mira mumbled, and then her face lit up with the happiest smile! She leaned in to Rotsard so that the tips of their noses touched, and then she rubbed them together, momentarily stunning the boy.
"Tsar~! My Tsar~ Nufufu~fun~"
Mira then continued to mumble and even giggle drowsily and nuzzled against Rotsard's chest, going right back to sleep without a care in the world.
"Oh. You two are CLOSE close."
"I…! I mean…!"
Nurse Lilla put her hand to her mouth and chuckled while Rotsard's face was turning completely red from the deep blush as Mira's affection took him by surprise.
A welcomed one, but a surprise nonetheless.
"Don't worry! Leave looking for solid evidence to me! You won't have to continue acting like a scumbag, and instead you and your fiancee will be able to act lovey-dovey in public without a care in the world in no time!"
"Evidence…? Wait! No! I'm telling you that…!"
The woman then nodded her head and put her hands on her hips before declaring, causing Rotsard to let out a gasp of disbelief.
"!!!"
"...?"
"?!"
But then Mira jolted, causing the other two to focus on her again.
The next moment, the wild movement under the blanket suggested that Mira was wildly checking the state of her wardrobe…
"..."
And upon realizing that she was in there bare, her movement stopped…
"...!"
"!?"
Only for her to suddenly lean back, covering herself with a blanket, and staring in Rotsard's worried face…
"..."
Then she looked back at her own body, slightly opening the blankets to confirm one more time that there was nothing else covering her…
"!!!"
And then back at Rotsard and…
"Mira…! Mira, I can explain…!"
Rotsard moved between Mira and Lila and raised his hands trying to appease the black-haired girl before she panics, but he was slightly too late…
"NHOOOoooo…!"
…and Mira cried out, her voice loud only for a moment and quickly turned into a pitiful, extremely embarrassed whimper. She then curled up into a tiny ball of embarrassment and covered herself tightly with the blanket in an attempt to disappear from the visible plain.
"...you know… It's almost morning anyway, how about you return to your room and I will have a conversation with student Vultress… You know, woman to woman."
"I… Shouldn't I…?"
Nurse Lilla cleared her throat and spoke up, making Rotsard turn to her and hesitate.
"… just tell her you love her, and go… I got you…!"
The woman then mouthed silently to the bleached-blond-haired boy while pointing at the bundle of embarrassment.
"...?"
"I got you…!"
It took one more silent mouthing and encouragement for Rotsard to understand what was going on.
"M-Mira… Just… I just wanted to know that… I… I… love… you…"
"…good job…! You can go…!"
"…?"
Rotsard fidgetted, but ended up muttering out what Lilla encouraged him to, making the woman give him a thumbs up and point him to the door, while the bundle of embarrassment squirmed in disbelief.
"Let's talk later!"
Rotsard then added as the full brunt of the embarrassment crushed onto his shoulder, causing him to rush out of the room and then out of the hospital wing as a whole.
"...eh…?"
Mira hatched out from the bundle of embarrassment and shyly peeked from underneath the blanket.
"Student Vultress, you have such a caring fiance~!"
"EH!?"
She then repeated herself much louder when nurse Lilla praised her as she moved her seat from the chair to the bed next to the girl.
"Now, about that explanation I owe you. You see, around 10 pm…"
Then, the woman began to actually explain what happened, while the utterly confused Mira was clutching the blanket as she listened.
—-
"..."
Rotsard calmed down as he went, ending up walking peacefully while looking through the windows on his way back.
"...!"
"...?"
At least he was until he came closer to the hallway leading to the abandoned wing he occupied and began to hear some sort of commotion.
"..."
There shouldn't really be anyone walking around at that time, much less someone having a quarrel, but at the same time, Rotsard also shouldn't be out there parading in just his underwear…
That said, he wasn't going to hide or sneak around, as no matter what kind of opinion he had amongst his peers, the Academy wasn't going to do anything to him unless he actually commits some serious crime.
Just as he was about to turn the corner and enter the hallway with barriers fending off the cold, he finally managed to recognize the voice of at least one person causing the commotion.
"...stay out of their business. Even if something happened, it is only between my Young Master and your Young Lady in the first place."
It was none other than Rotsard's maid, Nan. She sounded quite upset, so the prior subject must have really gotten to her.
"You…! That trashy master of yours is the problem! What did he do to the Young Miss!?"
"I told you I don't know!"
As for the other one… Rotsard had no clue. Besides the fact that it was another woman and that she was probably someone's servant and was greatly upset at Nan and also him, apparently.
"Stop covering for him! What if he lured the Young Miss and is assaulting her right now!?"
"It's their business!"
Rotsard was listening in but didn't slow his pace and turned the corner…
*THWAP*
Just in time to witness Nan getting slapped in the face by another maid.
"...!"
The snapping sound the hit produced suggested that it had quite an impact, and Nan ended up taking a step back and swaying on her feet as she lowered her head, clutching her face.
"I'll ask one more time! Is your trashy ma… AHA!"
The other maid raised her hand again and took a threatening step towards Nan, only to stop in place and let out a furious gasp at the sight of the barely clothed Rotsard approaching.
"You! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE YOUNG MI…!"
*WHAM* *THUMP*
The aggressive maid launched herself at Rotsard with a screech and a fearsome expression, only to get slammed face-first into a wall as the bleached-blond-haired boy intercepted her approach with a devastating slap.
*thump*
With her face against the wall, the maid slid down, leaving a thin bloody trail, and fell to her knees.
"..."
Rotsard then passed by her without as much as sparing her a single glance. The maid also understood her position and didn't move an inch from her new spot despite the pain from her crushed nose forcing tears out of her eyes...
"Young Master…!"
"Nan. You are serving a member of the Vallhall family. Have some pride."
Nan, with half her face burning red from the slap she received from the other maid, called out and trotted over to Rotsard, but the boy interrupted her with a stern scolding.
"I…! I understand. I'm sorry for showing you unbecoming behavior as a servant of the Vallhall family."
Nan flinched and straightened her back only to then bow deeply towards Rotsard.
"Young Master… It has been two weeks already… I… I came here to inform you that the Academy began voicing their concerns about your attendance already being dangerously low…"
Nan raised her head and said in an apologetic voice, ignoring both the appearance of her master, the possible circumstances that led him to walk around looking like that, and the twitching maid who got reminded of the difference in social status in the back.
"Attendance? What's the problem with it…?"
Rotsard furrowed his brows and asked in confusion.
"It seems that the faculty has recently created a rule stating that if a student would be absent for more than a certain number of days during the school year, they will not meet the standard of education and end up expelled."
"...then it is something that they created specifically with me in mind…? They seem to want to have a semblance of a valid excuse to get rid of me."
His maid fidgeted in unease and explained, making Rotsard look to the side and smirk.
"...that… does appear to be the case, Young Master…"
Nan tensed up and agreed hesitantly, unable to figure out what her master was thinking about the Royal Academy taking such action.
"..."
The whole time she kept glancing at Rotsard's skinny body with increased worry, bordering with despair, as it was blatantly obvious that her master turned into skin and bones during the time he stayed locked inside the cold room.
But since she knew Rotsard's stance on the matter, she remained quiet as a maid should.
"Oh…! If they keep making new rules based on my actions, won't my dear genius of a cousin have quite the hard time when she enrolls here next year? That's right… Isn't that the only way for her to experience any difficulties?"
"...Young Master…?"
But Nan couldn't stay still and flinched in confusion when Rotsard's eyes widened, and he whispered to himself in realisation while absentmindedly gazing into the distance.
"From today, you can come pick me up for the lectures again."
"As you wish, young master!"
As if nothing happened, Rotsard commanded, and Nan lowered her head again with an obedient call.
Then, Rotsard casually passed the barrier and entered the vacant wing...
"..."
…while Nan stared at his back in silence as the bleached-blond-haired boy got covered in frost within the first few seconds….