A few days later, when Elysia brought home the small decorative cord she had made at the club, the Valerion family showed interest as well.
Isolde looked at the knot Elysia had made and smiled gently.
“For a first attempt, I can see a great deal of care in it.”
At those words, Elysia’s face brightened a little.
Lucius examined the decorative cord with interest.
“If this were developed into an ornament for a sword sheath, it could be rather fine. The accessory-making club may draw attention during the Seonghwi Festival.”
Camilla leaned toward me, her eyes sparkling.
“Then later, we could make something that suits Haku too, couldn’t we?”
I immediately folded my ears down.
Camilla laughed and said,
“All right, all right. I won’t do it yet.”
Yet?
That word bothered me a little.
Mina quietly set down the tea and said,
“Still, I’m glad to hear Lord Haku is spending his time comfortably at the club.
I’ll prepare snacks that aren’t too sweet as well.”
As expected of Mina, the sanctuary of my heart.
And so, the after-school hours spent at the accessory-making club became a more peaceful routine than I had expected.
Elysia learned to make accessories.
I sat still as a model.
From time to time, tired students would ask permission and pet me for healing.
And whenever the decorative designs started to resemble my face a little too much, I shook my head myself and made them revise it.
The club members had grown quite good at reading my reactions now.
“Haku shook his head, so this design is rejected.”
“I guess it was too cute.”
“Then let’s make it a little more dignified.”
Good.
That was the direction.
I wagged my tail in satisfaction.
An ordinary daily life.
It was the first quiet, warm time I had felt since coming to the academy.
Of course, if asked whether it was truly ordinary, it would be hard to nod.
I was still a strange fox with a resonance level of 101, and Elysia was the young lady of Valerion who had received a double crown on her first exam.
Iris could appear at any time with a new request form, and the Seonghwi Council did not seem to have given up on turning me into a mascot.
But at least while I was in the after-school accessory-making club, those things felt a little distant.
Needles and thread.
Small metal ornaments.
A cushion in the sunlight.
Elysia’s cautious fingertips.
And the smiles of students who occasionally stroked my head and felt relieved.
Within that peaceful scene, I yawned softly.
‘This much isn’t bad.’
I truly thought so.
Though, of course, I had come to understand by now that peaceful days at this academy were unlikely to last long.
Still, at least in this moment.
I quietly closed my eyes at Elysia’s side.
At some point, Iris began eating lunch with Elysia and me.
To be precise, it was not as if she had suddenly appeared one day.
She first formally asked Elysia for permission.
“Would it be all right if I joined you during lunch?”
Elysia did not answer right away.
Instead, she looked down at me in her arms.
“If Haku is uncomfortable, I will refuse.”
As expected of Elysia.
I looked at Iris for a moment.
Silver-blue hair, blue-green eyes, a composed expression.
On the surface, it sounded like an ordinary request to simply eat lunch together, but I knew.
There was no way Iris Asteria wanted to eat lunch with me for the simple sake of friendship.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘You’re definitely trying to observe me, aren’t you?’
Iris met my gaze and calmly said,
“I will not disturb you.”
That answer came far too quickly.
As expected, it seemed I had guessed correctly.
After thinking for a moment, Elysia said,
“You must not touch Haku. You must not use measurement magic during the meal.
If Haku becomes uncomfortable, you must leave at once. And your records must not be made public.”
Iris nodded without hesitation.
“I agree.”
I sighed inwardly.
Even with conditions attached, we had ended up eating lunch together after all.
And so, from that day on, Iris joined us for lunch.
For the first few days, the student dining hall was a little unsettled.
Elysia von Valerion.
Iris Asteria.
The young ladies of the Valerion duchy and the Asteria marquisate were sitting at the same table and eating lunch together.
On top of that, between them was a silver-pink baby fox who had recorded a resonance level of 101.
It would have been stranger if the students showed no interest.
“Lady Valerion and Lady Asteria are sitting together.”
“Is it because of Haku?”
“I heard Lady Iris is researching Haku.”
“Be quiet. Didn’t you see the Seonghwi Council’s notice?”
Fortunately, the effect of the Seonghwi Council’s notice still remained.
The students whispered among themselves, but they did not approach recklessly.
Iris also truly kept her promise.
She did not reach out toward me.
She did not use measurement magic.
She did not suddenly bombard me with questions during the meal.
She merely sat across from Elysia and quietly ate.
And observed me.
Truly without disturbing me.
Truly not in an obvious way.
But truly diligently.
That actually bothered me even more.
As I held a piece of bread Elysia had cut into small pieces for me with my forepaws and nibbled on it, I suddenly felt Iris’s gaze.
When I raised my head, Iris was eating soup with her usual calm face.
But her eyes were clearly looking at me.
‘You’re not measuring my eating speed, are you?’
I deliberately chewed the bread slowly.
Then Iris lowered her gaze ever so slightly.
She seemed as if she wanted to write something on the small note sheet near her wrist.
But perhaps because of her promise with Elysia, she did not take out her pen.
Good.
At least she did not seem to be making official records during meals.
Elysia looked at Iris and quietly said,
“You really aren’t recording anything.”
“I promised.”
Iris answered calmly.
“However, I am remembering.”
That’s even scarier.
I tightly held the piece of bread with my forepaws.
Elysia also seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
Iris continued as if nothing were wrong.
“Haku reacts longer to plain bread than to bread with a strong sweetness.
If soup is hot, he does not eat it immediately and only eats after Student Elysia cools it for him.
As for fruit, he seems to prefer fresh fruit over dried fruit.”
“……You remembered all of that?”
“Yes.”
Iris nodded as if it were only natural.
I lamented inwardly.
‘I told you not to record it, so you’re recording it in your head.’
Wasn’t that cheating?
But strictly speaking, she had not broken her promise.
She truly had not taken out a pen, had not used magic, and had not disturbed me.
She was merely storing my eating habits with her genius memory.
That was all.
……Though calling that “all” made it far too burdensome.
As the lunches continued for a few more days, a strange change occurred as well.
At first, there had been a slight tension between Elysia and Iris.
Elysia was wary of Iris seeing me only as a research subject,
and Iris seemed to think Elysia was protecting me too much.
But as they ate together, the two gradually began to talk.
“Is the afternoon training in the Department of Magic Knights always that intense?”
“I thought it would ease a little now that the exam period is over, but they’re actually being stricter about our basic stances.”
“Because repeated training is necessary to stabilize the flow of aura.”
“Do you know about aura as well, Lady Iris?”
“It is not my specialty. However, I am interested in the fact that it is a different system from mana.”
I quietly lapped at my soup while listening to their conversation.
Iris had begun to show interest in Elysia as well.
Not simply because she was Haku’s owner, but as a person changing through resonance with Haku.
Elysia was cautious at first, but when Iris did not cross the line, she slowly lowered her guard.
Of course, she had not become completely comfortable.
Because Iris sometimes asked questions that were too sharp.
“When Haku is nearby, do you feel the tangling of your aura lessen?”
Elysia’s hand stopped.
I immediately glared at Iris.
Iris looked at me for a moment, then obediently corrected herself.
“If the question is uncomfortable, you do not have to answer.”
Good.
She had learned a little.
After thinking for a moment, Elysia quietly said,
“I do. But it’s difficult to explain in words.
When Haku is beside me…… it feels like I can breathe more easily.”
Iris’s gaze deepened.
“Breathe more easily.”
I grew tense.
But Iris did not dig any further into those words.
Instead, she slowly nodded.
“I understand. Thank you for answering.”
That much was fine.
I went back to eating my piece of bread.
And one day, Iris placed a small plate in front of me.
Of course, she did not give it to me directly.
She checked with Elysia first.
“This is unsalted bread from the dining hall menu.
It contains neither sugar nor spices, so it is not very popular.
Would you confirm whether Haku may eat it?”
After Elysia examined the bread, she looked down at me.
“Do you want to try it?”
I carefully sniffed it.
It was not bad.
After lightly touching it with my forepaw, I took a bite.
It was plain and soft.
Iris blinked ever so slightly.
She seemed pleased.
Truly, just a little.
“His preference does not seem bad.”
“You’re holding yourself back from writing that down right now, aren’t you?”
When Elysia asked with a faint smile, Iris quietly turned her gaze aside.
“……Yes.”
Honest.
That was a little funny.
I chewed the bread while looking at Iris.
At first, I had thought of her only as a truly troublesome person.
A dangerous researcher who saw me as an unidentified phenomenon, recorded spirit reactions, and probed into the meaning of a resonance level of 101.
That impression had been strong.
But after eating lunch together, I came to understand a little.
Iris was certainly very curious.
And she was observant to a degree that felt burdensome to me.
But at the very least, she kept her promises.
If she tried to cross the line, Elysia stopped her, and if I became uncomfortable, she backed off.
And above all, she did not only try to force an interpretation onto me.
Sometimes, she quietly waited.
Until I reacted on my own.
That point was not bad.
The problem was that even while she quietly waited, she noticed far too much.