"That's why I have to win his heart within that one day! Make him fall for me even after the magic is gone."
Zenita clenched her fists.
Frondier said,
"If it's the kind of charm that will make him stay even after the magic is gone, why not try using that charm before you cast the spell?"
"You don't understand, teacher! To attract a man, it's all about looks!"
"....Is that so?"
"Yes! Look at the Headmaster or Teacher Elodie! They're so pretty that men just..."
"There aren't any."
"Huh?"
Zenita was momentarily confused as her unshakeable belief was shaken at once.
However, she soon came to her senses and said,
"St, Still, if those two decided to have a man, they could have one anytime, right?"
"Hmm. That's true. I won't deny it."
"Right?"
"And that goes for you too, Miss Zenita."
At Frondier's words, Zenita looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
"Me? Teacher, I'm different from them."
"How are you different?"
"First of all, it's about looks, teacher. If I'm exceptionally beautiful, men will come to me even if I don't do anything."
"If you're exceptionally beautiful, to what extent?"
"Well, like Teacher Elodie! If I'm that beautiful, men will come to me..."
"They won't."
"Huh?"
Zenita was confused once again.
Frondier sighed and said,
"In the end, it's the same. Miss Zenita. Teacher Elodie, the Headmaster, and you. You have to make up your mind for a man to come into your life."
"....But it'll be easier for them than for me. The probability of success will be different."
Probability of success.
She was certainly a wizard.
"Do you want countless men to swarm around you, Miss Zenita?"
"That would be nice. If Basileo was among them, I wouldn't even have this worry."
"What if he's not?"
"....Hmm, then, well."
"Does Student Basileo like girls who have countless men swarming around them?"
"....I don't think so."
"Then wouldn't it be a shame to choose one of those countless men?"
"No way!"
Zenita shook her head.
Frondier smiled and said,
"Then one person is enough. That one person you like."
"....You're right."
"I understand how you feel, Miss Zenita. You want the person you like to like you back. You wish they would approach you first. And I understand why you're focusing on your looks because of that."
"....As expected, instead of having these thoughts, I should be the one to gather my courage and approach him, right?"
Zenita made a determined expression.
Looking at her, Frondier said,
"No?"
"Huh?"
"If you're going to do it, do it more cleverly."
"Ex, Excuse me?"
It was then.
Once again, the smell of medicine reached Frondier's nose.
Unconsciously, Frondier looked up.
'...It's the floor above.'
This was the second floor, so the smell of medicine must be coming from the third floor.
Who on earth was the medicine for?
"It's my mother."
It was Zenita who answered.
"....Your mother, Miss Zenita. Come to think of it, I didn't get to see her last time either."
"Yes. I'm sorry. My mother hates showing her face. The smell of medicine and all, she's ashamed of how thin she's become."
"....She must be very ill."
"Well, I've heard it's an illness she has to live with for the rest of her life."
Zenita put her finger to her cheek as if recalling a memory.
"It's not life-threatening, but I guess the smell makes people avoid her, so she's been a bit depressed lately."
If you can't meet people, you get depressed easily.
That's not simply because you don't meet people, but because it easily leads to self-deprecation like:
I'm not someone other people would like.
I'm not someone who can make others happy.
Especially if it's because of an illness that's not even her fault and the smell of medicine it causes, the stress must be considerable.
"....I'm sorry, Miss Zenita. I should have been more considerate."
"It's okay. It's something our family is used to."
"If there's anything I can do to help..."
As Frondier was saying that.
Iaijutsu!!
Something in Frondier's arms began to glow.
"Wh, What is it, teacher?"
Zenita was surprised. Frondier was just as taken aback.
Frondier took out the glowing object from his arms.
'...The Golden Apple!'
The Ring of Origin, the Golden Apple, that Evelyn, the leader of the Nine, had given him.
It suddenly began to glow, and then,
Swoosh-
Something, like black smoke, flowed down from the ceiling of the second floor and seeped into the Ring of Origin.
No, it was the other way around.
The Ring of Origin was sucking in the black mist.
"What is this smoke?"
"Smoke?"
"There's black smoke coming from the ceiling."
"....Uh, I can't see it."
Zenita said, frowning.
That's when Frondier realized.
'It's a Sixth Sense reaction. Ordinary people can't see it.'
And the Ring of Origin continued to suck in the black smoke until its light finally subsided as if it had devoured it all.
Zenita blinked.
"Wh, What was that?"
"....Well."
After a moment of thought, Frondier asked,
"In the room right above us, by any chance..."
"Yes. It's my mother. That's why the smell of medicine is stronger here."
Frondier pu tthe Ring of Origin back in his arms as he listened to her.
Even as he put it away, he couldn't shake off a strange feeling.
"....Then I'll be on my way for now. I need to talk to your father, Miss Zenita."
He still had to discuss the request. With his complicated thoughts, Frondier got up from his seat.
"Ah, wait a minute, teacher. What did you mean by 'do it more cleverly'?"
"Ah, that."
This was a serious matter for Zenita.
Frondier also tried to explain it properly. Right now, it was important to speak simply and effectively.
As he was about to speak, a certain sentence came to mind.
'...But wait, this wasn't something you say about love, was it?'
His memory was a bit hazy, but he decided to just spit it out.
"There's a saying, Miss Zenita."
"What is it?"
"Be kind to everyone you meet, for..."
"For...?"
"....Amazing things will happen?"
"Why the question mark?"
Only after he said it did he realize that he had mixed something up.
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