“Oh? You woke up?” the old woman in the infirmary asked when she noticed Aether stirring and opening his eyes.
“Y-Yeah,” Aether mumbled, his head throbbing with dull pain as he slowly sat up, clutching his temples. The room spun slightly, and he took a moment to steady himself before asking, “What happened?”
The old woman explained that two young ladies had brought him in, unconscious. She had informed them that he had merely fainted from fatigue, but they had insisted on using healing potions and had almost caused a ruckus. In the end, she had to throw them out of the infirmary, but not before treating their wounds.
Aether chuckled softly, glancing out the window to see the sky already dark. The girls must have returned to their dorms by now. He then thanked the old woman for her care.
“Be careful, young man, and take care of those beautiful girlfriends of yours,” the old woman remarked with an amused smile, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She vividly remembered the bluish-black-haired girl’s frantic pacing and the blonde girl’s anxious nail-biting. ‘Ah, youth…’ she thought to herself.
Aether smiled awkwardly not knowing how to respond, then replied, “They aren’t my girlfriends,” before leaving the infirmary.
“Not girlfriends, eh?” the old woman murmured to herself as she watched Aether’s back disappear through the door, “Then why do you wear that happy smile? Haha… that’s youth for you!”
As he walked towards his dorm, Aether’s thoughts were occupied with the day’s events, especially the near-death experience of the two girls. He sighed, trying to shake off those unsettling thoughts.
“Help the pure form of beings that need you in their life,” Aether mumbled, reflecting on the requirement for his Ethereal Domain.
Now it all made sense to him. Children were the purest form of every being, and his presence in their lives meant he had to be the one to save them. Thinking back to the baby he had helped, he realized that even without his intervention, Raven Noir would have saved the baby.
“I see…” Aether nodded to himself, pondering where he might find a child who needed only his help, “This is going to be hard now…”
His thoughts then drifted to the strange pillars and trials, “Hey, Log, why did you pull me there, and what do you want me to achieve?” he asked, but there was no reply.
Aether shrugged. It was pointless to dwell on it. He knew that, more often than not, his Log would mess with him. So why bother thinking too much? He would just continue with his mission.
“Beginning, huh?” Aether mumbled, still considering those words as part of his mission. One thing he understood was that he and the chosen ones were somehow entangled together.
‘Sigh, what a pain…’ Aether thought as he entered his room, only to be taken aback. MVLeMpYr-your-novel-source
“What the heck is this?” Aether exclaimed, seeing numerous boxes scattered inside the room.
“You finally came,” Taylor sighed in relief upon seeing Aether. She then explained that two of the boxes were delivered by a Clothing company, another two were from the Empress, and the last two were anonymous.
“Empress?” Aether was surprised. He checked the sender’s details on one of the boxes and saw it was from the Palace. Carefully, he opened it, expecting something dangerous since he had angered her. To his surprise, it contained costly clothes…. really expensive ones, judging by the fabrics.
“Hmm?” Then he noticed a small letter inside:
/
Do your best to survive…. and next time, I will prove who is gonna tremble like a little cat!!!
/
Seeing the short and terse message, Aether couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Really? Let’s see…’ he thought, an evil smirk playing on his lips, he was waiting to see her blushing face.
He then turned his attention to the two anonymous packages.
Aether examined the details but found no sender information. He glanced at Taylor, who nodded, reassuring him, “Everything entering the Academy is scanned, so there’s no need to worry.”
Aether nodded and opened the first package, revealing white clothes… Yeah, just pure white clothes. Everything from innerwear to shoes, all pure white as if he shouldn’t be tainted by anyone. There was also a letter inside:
/
I miss you… Please be safe! I pray for your safety and I will always protect you wherever you are.
/
“Stella…” Aether whispered, a gentle smile forming on his face. He could picture her worried expression even without seeing her name. But then, remembering her sister, the Archpriestess, his smile faded, and sweat beaded on his forehead, ‘I-I need to deal with her somehow…’ he thought and shrugged.
He then looked at the final package.
Opening it, he was shocked, “!!”
Even Taylor was surprised to see fluffy clothes…. everything was fluffy and girly, though still male attire. It looked like something an overprotective grandmother or Clingy Overprotective Mother would choose.
Aether stared at the pink underwear with a cute elephant image on it, his eyes and lips twitching in disbelief. He was about to close the box when he noticed a letter. Sighing, he read it:
/
I-I h-hope you like it and I attached a few Zenith… Hope you utilize it responsibly and….
I-I love you!
/
“…..” Aether stared blankly at the letter, then saw an envelope attached to it. Opening the envelope, he was stunned.
“10,000 Zenith!” Taylor mumbled in surprise, seeing the substantial amount.
Aether sighed, uncertain of the sender, ‘I love you? Who the fuck are you even?’ He screamed inwardly and most of all, He couldn’t accept such a high amount, especially without knowing the identity of the sender,
“Can we trace who sent this?” he asked Taylor, who shook her head in denial.
Aether sighed again, unsure of what to do with so many clothes.
“Should I arrange them?” Taylor offered.
Aether shook his head, “Give me some time to think about this.”
“Sss~” Snowflake peeked out from Aether’s pocket and looked at him worried, as if asking whether he was fine or not.
“Hah.” Aether smiled a little and patted her head, which seemed to make her happy.
[+2000 Affection]
Taylor stared at Snowflake. She wanted to pet her, but…
“HIISSS!!”
Snowflake’s reaction was swift and fierce, a sharp hiss escaping her tiny form as she rebuffed Taylor’s attempt to touch her head.
Taylor’s expression morphed into a pout of disappointment.
Aether found amusement in their interaction, a chuckle escaping his lips as he observed their playful exchange. Then, a thought struck him.
“Hey, Taylor, could tell me how to use this to increase my level?” he queried, producing a Golden 1-Star Crystal obtained from the Bears as an example.
Though he could increase his level through Affection, still he wanted to see how others normally do this.
Taylor hesitated before saying, “You are a Blank Arcane Card holder, so it’s not possible to increase your level”