房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

The black-haired boy greeted the short girl dressed up in a butler's uniform and tried making some small talk.

"Negative."

She shook her head and gave a short answer while looking away.

"Oh?"

Zoemi raised his brow but didn't ask more about it since it was rather clear that the brown-haired girl didn't want to talk about it.

"Is it possible that you want to return to the first prince? I know that my master can be a handful – if that's the case you don't have to hold back."

"..."

The handsome attendant asked but that apparently was also a bad thing to talk about since even though Teo was trying to keep the emotionless expression she started giving off the aura of sulking.

"Negative."

She gave another short answer and turned around so much that she had trouble walking in a straight line...

"Mistress is a very nice person actually, I really changed my opinion of her – for the better."

"...!"

Teo's answer stunned Zoemi.

"Wait... what do you mean by that? Did you dislike my lady before?!"

He ended up gasping in disbelief as if he didn't just admit that he knows that Miriette is hard to like...

"..."

The short girl went silent but this time Zoemi couldn't stop himself and leaned over her and carefully observed her reaction.

"Well? Did you?"

The black-haired attendant asked giving off the unyielding aura.

"...m-maybe... What's the point of talking about it now?! I changed my mind about her and I think she is a good person, alright?! I even think that we could be friends! What about it?!"

Teo could not withstand the pressure and groaned in defeat while stepping away from the black-haired attendant and glared at him sulkily.

"Whoa...! My lady's first female friend...!"

Zoemi gasped and put his hands to his face in an exaggerated motion...

"P-pfffft...! Sir Zoemi, stop it!"

...making Teo snort and let out a giggle before she stopped herself and waved her hand towards him as if she intended to smack his shoulder but stopped herself in time.

"Then, is it final, you will stay as the second attendant of my lady?"

Zoemi smirked and stopped fooling around before asking curiously.

"What about the school regulations and whatnots? The one attendant per student one?"

He added curiously.

"Well, originally I was counted as half the attendant, making me a set with my sister, but when I discussed it with master and mistress, they said that there will be no problem with me getting transferred – master mentioned something about the Academy bending the rules once making the precedence and he will deal with everything if I will make a decision."

Teo explained glancing back at Zoemi – who seemed to be deep in thoughts.

"I remember that Veo said something about being unable to do chores... who will deal with the first prince's chores with you gone...?"

The black-haired boy asked, pointing out the potential problem.

"…"

The short brown-haired girl in a butler's uniform closed her mouth and looked away – again.

"Teo, what about your master?"

"..."

Zoemi asked again but no matter how many times he asked Teo just kept her mouth shut stubbornly.

"You want me to get angry at you, don't you?"

He asked in a cold voice, furrowing his brows.

"N-no...!"

Finally, a threat worked on the short girl and she turned right back and faced the black-haired boy.

"Master decided that Patishi will become his attendant-in-training, so everything will be fine! She can already do a good job – or so I've heard."

Teo hurriedly waved her hands and declared – although her eyes were darting all over the place as if she was unable to make eye contact with the black-haired boy making him suspicious...

"I see... well, I'm sure that Patishi can do a good job, and if Veo told you that she is confident in her abilities..."

"Don't involve Veo into this, sir Zoemi!"

"...!"

Zoemi leaned back and stared at Teo in shock – her reaction because of the black-haired attendant mentioning her older sister was very vicious – and very out of character for the short girl...

"What happened between the two of you...?"

He leaned back and asked cautiously – but he already knew that he will not hear an answer to that question just by looking at the sulking girl.

"Sir Zoemi, we should go prepare breakfast for the mistress, or she and you will be late for your lectures."

Teo complained and hastened her peace.

"..."

Zoemi tilted his head in confusion, looking at her back, and shook his head before hastening his peace.

...in the end, Teo had a point...

--------

"Big brother Zoemi, hello! Did your father go back already?"

When they got to the kitchen Patishi ran up toward the black-haired boy like an overjoyed puppy.

"That's right, I've seen him off five minutes ago. How are you today? I've heard that you become an official attendant-in-training of the first prince!"

Zoemi greeted her with a smile and affectionately tousled the younger girl's hair.

"That's right! There's a lot to do and I have a lot to learn – but Veo and my prince both told me to just try my best and not worry! Oh! And now I can bring my food to his highness whenever I make something new! He said that he loves my food and he wanted to be my taste tester!"

Patishi exclaimed bouncing up and down with joy.

"And, big brother, will you need help with cooking? You said that you were fine, but maybe you need some help after all? I can make lady Epsine's food or carry the tray for you if you want!"

The petite girl looked more energetic than usual or maybe Zoemi just forgot how she usually acted in the kitchen...

...no, it definitely felt like Patishi was forcing herself to be that cheerful – and she clearly was trying to not acknowledge the existence of the short brown-haired girl in the butler's uniform beside Zoemi....