房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

Zoemi was well versed in stealth and he could use spells that aided him in saying hidden, but the same could not be said about the girl who wielded the healing attribute.

So yeah – that was already hanging over Zoemi's head – but it wasn't his only worry either.

Well... it wasn't something that had something to do with him or his master, and not even the heroine either – but it was something that was getting on his nerves for some time already...

More specifically – the feud between Veo and Patishi and Teo.

Veo and Patishi were fine – the only thing they did was ignore Teo – but in turn, the ignored Teo was now Zoemi's direct coworker who was so distressed by the situation, that she was more of a burden than actual help.

Zoemi knew far too little to actually pick a side, but he sure knew that if the others didn't want to let him in on how and why this whole thing started, he at least would like Teo to act like her older sister and the younger girl.

Seriously – being the passive witness of Teo trying to get their attention was just painful!

And, that whole cold war wasn't even the last worry on the black-haired attendant's mind!

After going back to his room and picking up the laundry that the Academy's staff did for him while he was out cold, he noticed that quite a lot of his clothes went missing.

Four shirts, his other vest, even two pairs of pants and underwear!

That was just preposterous!

Zoemi went to complain about that to the responsible servants right after his talk with the heroine, but they only bowed apologetically and explained that such a thing sometimes happens!

Apparently, there has been a lot of incidents with laundry recently and lots of clothes got damaged so they had been deemed as beyond repair and they had to throw them all out.

|I have more than enough underwear but I'll seriously need to buy another set of uniforms... Ugh... The Academy doesn't provide it for free and that stupid uniform is so expensive...! My money...! I wanted to save up for a present for Miriette's birthday...|

Zoemi raised his head, staring at the ceiling in annoyance, and sighed...

"Haa..."

*sniffle*

...and it just so happened that Teo sniffled at the same time...

"..."

"..."

They looked at each other but none of them said anything.

|And now she is crying... Would it kill her to tell me what is wrong? Seriously, she really acts like Miriette sometimes, but with her, I have no idea how to coax her into telling me the truth...!|

He thought to himself glancing at the short brown-haired girl in a butler's uniform with concern.

"Alright. Teo. What happened between you all?"

The black-haired attendant breathed out and ended up asking out loud while turning towards the short girl.

"..."

Even so, Teo's only response was to look down apologetically without saying a word.

"It's not another scolding, you know? Something happened between the three of you – that much is obvious. You can just tell me and we could try to figure out how to make you reconcile with them, together."

"..."

Zoemi offered, but once again he was met with silence – the brown-haired girl even went and looked away from him...!

"Alright then... Can I at least know who started it - was it them...?"

"...!"

Zoemi asked and observed Teo's reaction – the short brown-haired girl in butler's uniform flinched and lowered her head even more so he wouldn't see her face – but with her neck and tips of her ears got exposed, and they were red from shame...

"I see. So, you are the one at fault here? What did you do?"

"..."

The black-haired boy asked but the brown-haired girl has chosen to remain silent once again.

"Is that so... Did you at least try to apologize? I can't imagine Patishi being so ruthless as to not forgive you when you show that you are sorry... although I cannot speak for Veo..."

Zoemi pointed out, tilting his head to the side, furrowing his brows while trying to offer at least some assistance without knowing the full story – and he glanced over at the brown-haired girl who...

"..."

Shook her head while keeping quiet.

"No? No to what? You didn't apologize or Patishi and Veo are actually mean bullies?"

The black-haired attendant asked in confusion, squinting his eyes trying to figure out the non-verbal response.

"...I... I didn't apologize..."

Without looking at him, Teo answered in a weak voice as her shoulders shook while she clenched her fists.

"You didn't? And why is that? You are clearly trying to get them to talk to you but you don't want to apologize for what you started? Is that it? How old are you? Like, five?"

"...!"

Zoemi rolled his eyes and sighed, shaking his head which made Teo's ears become even redder.

"B-but I'm not the one in the wrong...!"

The short brown-haired girl in the butler's uniform straightened her back and exclaimed with a pitiful expression.

"Oh, there's the progress - mind telling me more? So you started the fight but you aren't the one at fault? Is that it? They started ignoring you because you don't agree? That's rather mean. Too mean if you ask me, at least when it comes to Patishi."

"..."

Although it looked like Teo was going to talk, Zoemi's question and his voice filled with doubt shut her mouth and look away in shame again while her shoulders slumped down.

"I... I might have said a bit too much when I was arguing with my sister while you were being treated by the medics..."

The girl bit her lips but in the end, she gave up and began explaining...

"Did you say something about Patishi too?"

It was rather surprising for Zoemi - he always thought that Teo and Patishi were on rather friendly terms, if anything, he always thought that Patishi liked Teo way more than Veo!

After all, the black-haired attendant witnessed the younger girl trying to throw Veo out of the kitchen once before...

…which is why it seemed plausible for Teo to say something hurtful to the younger girl earning herself the silent treatment.

"N-no... I was only talking about my sister but... Patishi got really, really angry at me for that..."

"She did...?"

Teo started fidgeting as she explained, Zoemi raised his brow and glanced at Patishi who was preparing the meal for the prince in a separate area because Teo bothered her and Veo far too much when they were at their usual spot right next to the black-haired attendant, forcing them to move away to be able to do their work properly.

The skinny brown-haired girl had Veo by her side and was frowning while chopping the vegetables so viciously as if they were mortal enemies of her family for generations.

It was clear that despite moving away she still could hear Teo and Zoemi talking – which wasn't surprising considering that at one point Teo raised her voice so much that probably everyone in the kitchen heard hr whether they liked it or not - and was reminded of the unpleasant words that Teo said to Veo.

"What the hell did you say?"

Zoemi couldn't help but wonder and Teo glanced at him ashamed.

"..."

But in the end, she said nothing and Zoemi barely held back a loud sigh.

|I'll just ask Patishi tomorrow morning or something.|

He decided.

The black-haired boy really was working on a fully packed schedule that day and certainly had no time to spare despite his best wishes...

...not to mention that no other person came even close to how important Miriette was to Zoemi so he would not bother with anyone else's problem until she was absolutely safe – and the talk with the heroine would be helpful in assuring that safety...

Seriously.

If everyone he knew suddenly caught on fire and he had three buckets of water which of just one could extinguish the fire and save a single person, he would pour all three buckets on Miriette just to be absolutely sure she is fine.

Well... maybe that wasn't a good example...

His opinion might have been swayed because most of his acquaintances could extinguish a fire without breaking a sweat, after all...

"If you want we can always talk about it some more – if you decide to open up and let me in on the details – but for now... I finished cooking – let's go."

Zoemi decided to give up on the matter for the time being and picked up the tray, waved goodbye to Patishi and Veo, and left the kitchen together with Teo following him with her head still down.