CH 78

Ivan-sama, with his fluffy black fur standing up softly in the air, seemed angry at first, but when I called out to him, his attitude suddenly changed.

At first he seemed startled and huffed! But then, after that, he seemed to be turning red or blue in some way.

The rest of the younger kids here, on the other hand, were blinking their eyes. And then there was Brother Will, who was laughing hysterically, holding his stomach and laughing out loud, apparently amused by Ivan’s surprise and behavior.

…Somehow, the situation here seemed too chaotic.

For the time being, I was going to have to apologize to him about the surprise magic and try to calm the place down.

“Oh, I’m sorry for surprising you. Because you were watching us so intently, I got a little bit  mischievous…was it that cold?”

I said as such, and then—Huh!? Ivan-sama became even redder and more flustered.

As I watched, Ivan took one look at Brother Will, who was still laughing at his flustered behavior, and then managed to regain his composure and apologize.

“No, I’m sorry for shouting at you earlier. I thought it was an attack from an aide…It is my rude staring that I must apologize for.”

…Honestly, I thought he was the hot-blooded, runaway type, based on my impressions of him earlier, along with his image as a beastman…

Surprisingly, he was a good boy who could use respectful language and also apologize properly when he was calm.

I was suddenly delighted and replied with a smile on my face.

“No, not at all. You don’t have to apologize. Was there something you wanted to see me for?”

When he heard that, Ivan-sama turned his head away a little, puffing his cheeks and turning a pouty shade of red.

“Uh…no, I mean, I don’t really need…”

There was something fresh about this, but he did seem quite enthusiastic about something…

Just as I was tilting my head in confusion, Brother Will joined in with a flash! He started to grin a bit after that.

“Huh, I see…”

“What is that supposed to mean, Brother Will?”

Brother Will appeared to have a warm smile on his face.

Then, taking advantage of Ivan-sama’s averted gaze, he secretly made a heart symbol with both hands and smiled.

……Could this be…is that it? Is is that??

There was a girl in this self-study group that he likes…

Hohohoho!

I almost grinned too, but it wouldn’t have been attractive, so I gingerly held back. If that was the case, then I should invite him to join us right away.

“If you’re interested in self-studying, would you like to join us?”

When I said that, Ivan-sama’s cat ears and tail twitched! He stood up.

“Are you sure?!…Ah I mean, is it okay?!”

“Yes, of course. If you have any other friends who might be interested, they are welcome to join us as well.”

Mufufufu. When he’s happy, he can’t help but show his true colors.

It’s so cute. I want to pet him.

But, well, I also had a slight ulterior motive for inviting his friends to join in.

This Ivan Slaksin-san was a student of the neutral party…in other words, a student of the Platina class.

I didn’t remember all of  the students from the first year, or from any other class. But this Ivan-sama had been on my mind since the entrance ceremony.

After all, he had real cat ears. And a soft, fluffy tail. To top it all off, he was a beautiful boy with black hair and dark eyes.

I wanted to hug and pet him, so I had been fidgeting the entire entrance ceremony.

There were also a few other beastmen here and there, and all of them were soft and fluffy…But it was hard to talk to them because they were somewhat cautious.

…Ahem. I digress. But there was an ulterior motive besides wanting to hug the fluff.

In short, I thought this would be an opportunity to get along with the neutral party.

By the way, Ivan-sama was from a baronial family. The beastmen in this country were only allowed to become barons, no matter how great they were. In other words, it could be said that they were not treated very highly. In that sense, they would have little influence over the entire nobility.

However, I also heard that the beastmen had a beastmen network. Beastmen were often neutral because they didn’t interfere deeply in politics. They were one of the people I would definitely want to get along with.

……By no means is the number one reason because he’s cute. It’s definitely not just because he’s cute.

Ivan-sama, who smiled when he heard my words, shouted and ran off saying that he would go and call his friends.

Fufufu. He’s showing his true colors again~ How cute.

[Original Author’s Note]: It’s Ivan-sama who was acting suspiciously and Alice who was in a good mood.

By the way, this author here is unable to decide whether they are a cat person or a dog person!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: I don’t hate cats or anything, but I have to say that I’m definitely more of a dog person! What about you guys?