CH 14

Chapter14 - Jealousy

“Colette-sensei…can you please let go of Lou’s, no…Brandell-sensei’s hands?”

Fran’s cold voice echoed in the staff room.

Adeline hurriedly came to her senses and looked up fearfully…

There she found Fran’s angry face, looking at her as if shooting her an icy stare.

“Eep!”

She was so startled that she let go of Lou’s hand and flopped down. 

But Lou shook his head as if to tell Fran, “No, don’t.”

Then he reached out his hand to Adeline, who collapsed…

He grabbed her hand firmly and helped her up with a jerk.

“I’m sorry…”

Fran muttered quietly to Lou.

That was a rare display of ferocity from the normally quiet Fran.

Adelaide laughed at the impulsive reaction of her beloved daughter.

“Whoa, Fran, it’s not me you should be apologizing to.”

Lou remained as calm as ever as he shook his head.

After Lou’s admonishment, Fran turned to Adeline and apologized honestly.

“…I’m sorry, Colette-sensei.”

After witnessing Fran’s apology, Lou also bowed to Adeline and apologized.

“Fran has apologized, so please forgive her.”

This turn of events has completely thrown Adeline off again.

“H-H-Huh? N-not at all! Forgive the Headmistress! How dare I?!”

Adeline was rattled.

Fran regained her composure and also bowed her head.

“Colette-sensei, I’m really sorry. I was at fault. Let’s talk again soon. I look forward to working with you.”

Adeline received a polite apology from Fran, but…

A complicated expression surfaced on her face at Fran’s extreme transformation.

***

After leaving the staff room, the three of them looked at the principal’s office and then knocked on the door of the vice-principal’s office.

There was no answer from inside.

She was scheduled to be at work today, but it seemed that the vice-principal had not yet arrived.

Adelaide flinched, seemingly reminded of the vice-principal’s face.

“The vice-principal is a very nice girl…but she’s too fastidious with everything.”

Fran frowned even more.　

“Yeah…that girl always looks so dour.”

Fran seconded Adelaide with a complaint.

When Adelaide heard her beloved daughter’s words, she laughed mischievously.

“Huh, you’re one to talk.”

Of course Adelaide was aware of the kind of nickname Fran was called by the students, but she couldn’t say it here.

“Come on! Mother!”

Fran’s cheeks puffed up at being lumped in with the dour vice principal Arlv.

She was short of saying, “That’s outrageous!”

“All right, fine. Let’s go to the third floor next.”

Adelaide nodded her head in amusement, ignoring her beloved daughter’s protests.

***

The third floor was the students’ classroom floor.

There were classrooms for second and third graders, with a total of six rooms; three rooms for each grade.

On the second floor, there were three classrooms for first graders as well.

There were three locker rooms for each grade, and a student council room.

All of the classrooms have a wooden podium with a majesty atmosphere, and a number of wooden desks with horizontal chairs are arranged in front of it.

On the other side of the room, there were several desks with wooden chairs lined up parallel to them.

In some schools in the Kingdom of Valentine, teachers stand on simple podiums and students sit on the floor without desks or chairs to listen to the lessons.

This scenery was quite idyllic.

In comparison, the classrooms at the Magical Girls’ Academy resembled a place where politicians held national political events.

Seeing the solemn atmosphere of the classrooms, Lou was honestly impressed.

“Hmmm. The royal capital is indeed amazing!”

“But Lou, there are many more buildings than this in the capital.”

Adelaide muttered to herself.

However, she secretly took pride in the fact that theirs was by far the best school.

***

After looking around the school building, the three of them returned to the Chairman’s office.

Adelaide brewed a pot of tea and prepared some sweets.

“Lou, I need to talk to Fran alone. Have some tea and wait for us, will you?”

“Yeah, sure.”

At Lou’s nod, Adelaide and Fran disappeared through the left back door into the lab.

Once the door closed, they were alone…

Adelaide regarded Fran seriously.

“Fran, no, Francesca!”

“What’s got into you all of a sudden, Mother?”

The expression on Adelaide’s face was completely different from the one she had just shown when she addressed her with her proper name instead of her usual nickname.

Fran looked at her mother, who was more serious than ever, and intuitively decided this talk was important.

Adelaide abruptly asked amidst Fran’s tension.

“Do you know why I hired Lou as her temporary teacher?”

After a moment’s thought, Fran returned to her mother’s question.

“I do. It’s because he’ll be welcomed into the school as an official teacher! After a year of work without any complaints, Lou will gain a proven track record as a teacher, right?”

Even though Lou’s skills were impressive, the Magical Girls Academy had solid employment rules.

Fran’s answer could be said to be a perfectly legitimate one.

Adelaide shook her head with a troubled look on her face.

It was an indication that she got it all wrong.

“Huh? N-No?”

“You know, you heard earlier why Lou left the village of Arlv, didn’t you?”

Adelaide laughed at Fran’s surprise.

She then prompted her to recall the reason why Lou went on the journey.

While Fran was touring the school campus…

She had asked Lou about what he and her mother had talked about last night.

“…He said he wanted to see the world.”

Fran replied again in a subdued voice…

She must have thought of something, so she argued vehemently against her mother.

“But, Mother. I think it would be m-much better if the Kingdom of Valentine’s royal capital, St. Helena is his first step…Ah!”

Fran cut off the words she was about to say and swallowed them back.

It seemed that she had realized her mother’s intentions.

She decided to assign him a temporary position, not a formal teaching position, but a procedural position that would make it easy for him to leave.

“Mmm, you seemed to have figured it out.”

“…………”

“We shouldn’t tie Lou down too much for our own convenience. After a year, if he wants to go on another trip, let’s willingly send him on his way.”

“…………”

“And Lou didn’t tell you one important thing.”

Adelaide muttered and stared at Fran.

Important thing?

When Fran heard that, she leaned toward her mother with a questioning look.

Seeing his beloved daughter, Adelaide’s expression became one of gentle compassion.

“Actually…Lou told me that he couldn’t abandon you and he also promised to be a teacher.”

“…………”

“Lou is a very disciplined person.”

Adelaide reiterated.

Of course he is!

Lou is kind and sincere.

Fran nodded in agreement with her mother, easily affirming deep inside.

“Moreover, Lou is unaware of how pre-eminent he is as a wizard. What a fix.”

Adelaide grumbled, but she also seemed to be very happy about it.

“I know this because of the way Sowell, the man who raised him, used to tell it.”

Upon hearing her mother’s words, Fran remembered Lou speaking with a bitter smile and nostalgia.

Yes, Lou said…”I’m still far from being ready.” He also said his master always said he was an amateur.

“That person…Of course, Sowell of Arlv is a perfectionist…”

Adelaide chuckled at that.

She probably imagined the grumpy old man of the Arlvs.

“He…I think he had very high expectations for Lou, that’s why he repeatedly told him that, so as to keep him from being full of himself.”

Fran nodded in agreement with her mother’s conjecture.

The man named Sowell of Arlv must have wanted his apprentice to surpass him.

Like Lou, a man of exceptional talent…

So, then.

Fran’s “thoughts” are suddenly broken by her mother’s words.

“Now…you get it, Fran? Here’s the thing. So far, we’ve been thinking of Lou and talking in general terms, common knowledge…From here onwards, it’s your problem.”

They’ve been talking in general terms so far?

It was Fran’s problem from here on out?

Adelaide sternly told her bewildered daughter.