“Wear your hat properly. Everything will be visible.”
“This was pressed down hard, though?”
“Don’t lie. How could this possibly…?”
“Is it real?”
“…..”
Tia was flustered while trying to adjust her hat.
It wasn’t that she had put it on carelessly.
Her horns were so large that the hat was slightly lifted at the top.
It looked like she would have to buy a new hat soon.
“You don’t have to be so desperate to hide it at school. As I mentioned before, there are many half-human students and staff at St. Sophia.”
“The problem is which half-human name you should use.”
“Wouldn’t a lizard half-human be fine?”
“Where in the world would you find a horned lizard?”
“Hmm…”
The Duke crossed his legs and cupped his chin.
Feign to be a half-human?
That was absurd.
As far as I knew, the only species with black horns and a rough tail were dragons.
But you never know.
There could be other bizarre beasts out there.
I decided to rely on the Duke’s extensive knowledge one more time.
“Do you think of anything? A species with both horns and a tail.”
“Hmm. No matter how I think about it, it’s only dragons, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me…”
My head started to ache.
He really had no ideas.
I was the fool for even hoping for a moment.
“Anyway, you won’t be able to hide it completely. Among the staff there, even if they’re not as sharp as me, there are many mages with keen eyes. It would be better to inform the faculty and try to keep your identity hidden only from the students.”
“That… makes sense…”
It was the right thing to say.
Faculty members have an obligation to protect students, regardless of Tia’s identity.
The issue would arise when a student recognizes Tia’s identity.
So, it seemed like it would be better to inform the school in advance.
“Still, we need to have a species name to tell the students.”
“How about lizard half-human?”
“In the end, we’re back to lizards…”
“Muhuhuh…”
I slipped my hand inside Tia’s skirt, where she lay sleeping against me.
And like I was touching iron armor, I felt her hard tail.
It’s already big enough, but it’s bound to get even larger.
Moreover, sometimes when Tia gets excited, her tail shoots up and pokes through her skirt, so there’s no way she could hide it.
It’s definitely the right choice to go with a lizard with a tail similar to this.
“But is there really a lizard half-human?”
“I don’t think there is. I’ve never heard of one. But since this world has all sorts of half-humans, everyone will accept it without a problem. Let’s try to hide the horns as much as possible, and if we get caught, we’ll insist that Tia is a rare horned lizard half-human.”
“……”
It seemed that she was increasingly speaking as if it wasn’t her own story.
Still, I decided to bear with it since she was practically providing help.
After all, it was the Duke who hired me and helped Tia get into school.
Now that I think about it, the bastard who raped me was also the Duke…
“Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?”
“Nothing…”
The Duke smiled awkwardly, as if taken aback.
He wouldn’t think I had forgotten my grudge, would he?
I will never forget.
No matter how nice he was to me, I would never forgive him.
The Duke has never genuinely atoned for his actions.
He has never even said a word of apology to me until now.
Thinking about that made my teeth grind again.
“Muhuh?”
The carriage came to a sudden stop.
Tia, who was sleeping on my arm, woke up with drool on her mouth and looked around with bleary eyes.
She was so cute that I felt like biting her head off in a loving way.
I quickly wiped the drool from Tia’s mouth with a cloth.
“We’ve arrived. Shall we take a look at the school Tia will be attending?”
“We’re here?! Yay!”
As soon as she heard we had arrived, Tia flung open the carriage door and jumped out.
The Duke followed with a chuckle, and I held onto the Duke’s hand and finally climbed down.
I still wasn’t used to the position of the carriage’s footrest.
It felt like I might be able to get down without the Duke’s help once I got the hang of it…
“This is…!”
“Yes. St. Sophia. It’s a prestigious school with a long history.”
“Wow!”
Tia exclaimed in awe as she stood in front of the school gate.
She was so excited…
Seeing her so happy made me feel good too.
We passed through the main gate and entered inside.
The internal grounds were much larger than I had imagined.
There were many buildings.
They even had dormitories, making it feel just like a university.
In the middle, I saw an old building completely covered in ivy, which looked like it had been around for a long time.
It seemed that having a long history was not just for show.
“Hold my hand.”
“Muuh, why?”
“Your hands are cold.”
“Okay!”
She fell for that.
She was only holding my hand because she was afraid I would suddenly run away.
“Would you like to hold the Uncle’s hand too?”
“Muhuh, sure!”
“……”
But the problem was that Tia’s other hand was being held by the Duke.
When the Duke asked to hold his hand, I didn’t question it.
Betrayal.
Does she prefer that sneaky uncle over her mother?
Ignoring my feelings entirely, Tia just happily hummed and dragged us both along.
The smug smile the Duke gave me was terribly irritating, but all I could do was smile back with a calm demeanor.
“You’ve arrived.”
There was someone already waiting in front of the entrance and the building.
After gently squeezing Tia’s hand, she seemed to remember what she had forgotten and jolted, trembling, before bowing to the staff in greeting.
“Hello!”
“So you are Tiamat. Nice to meet you. And these people are…?”
“They’re my guardians.”
“Guardian, huh.”
“……”
The Duke and I spoke almost simultaneously.
Because of that, our eyes met.
The staff glanced at us for a moment before realizing something and opened their mouths.
“Oh, are you a couple?”
“No!”
“Ah, was it not?”
“I’m the guardian. I’m this child’s mother, and this person is merely her guardian.”
“This person…? That sounds a bit harsh.”
“What’s harsh is pretending to be a guardian. If we just sent the two of them, he would have become Tia’s father for sure.”
“True. That’s quite unfortunate.”
This man…
Why is he so obsessed with someone else’s child?
It’s as if he treats her like his own daughter.
“May I ask your name? I am Petrov, the deputy principal of St. Sophia.”
“I’m Julia.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Schwarz Dragania.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you too, deputy principal… wait?”
The deputy principal’s face turned pale when he held the Duke’s hand.
He trembled as he slowly scanned the Duke from head to toe, soon looking terrified.
“Ah…”
“Deputy Principal?!”
The deputy principal’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed backward.
This is crazy.
That’s why I said this person shouldn’t be brought along…
—
“Ah, I apologize for the rudeness.”
“Is the place where you bumped your head okay?”
“Yes, yes! I’m fine!”
“That’s a relief.”
Petrov sat across from the Duke, nervously shaking with trembling legs.
The principal glared at the back of Petrov’s head with disapproval.
It was indeed unexpected for the Duke of Dragania to come personally after providing the recommendation letter.
However, in St. Sophia, there were many students from different noble families and even foreign royalty, so it was inexcusable to faint just from being surprised by a Duke.
“Formally, Tia will officially enroll after the winter break and next term, but I requested your visit to explain about the school and guide you on dormitory assignments. There will also be a simple test for Tiamat as well.”
“Dormitory? Is it mandatory to be assigned one in this school?”
“It’s not compulsory, but around 70 percent of the students reside in the dormitory. It’s quite distant from the urban center, making it difficult to commute. In the case of the dormitory, it operates on a twin-share basis, and there’s a 100 percent chance of accommodation upon application. Also, during the summer break…”
Julia’s mind was already racing towards another topic.
Most of the students seem to stay in dormitories due to commuting difficulties.
Tia would not be an exception.
Walking from the villa to the school would take at least three hours.
“Oh. When the term starts, I’ll have to live apart from Tia.”
Suddenly, I didn’t want to send Tia to school.
Julia turned around abruptly to look at Tia.
“Tia. Will you be alright without mommy? Won’t you feel lonely?”
“Muuh? Why is mommy gone?”
“When you go to the dormitory, you won’t be able to be with mommy… and you can’t commute.”
“Tia can just run there!”
“If you run, everything in your backpack will be messed up. No.”
“Then Tia… will I really have to live apart from mommy…?”
“Yeah. You can manage, right?”
Julia said as she sniffled.
Maybe it would be harder for her than for Tia.
A life without Tia.
Just imagining it was already so difficult that Julia felt like crying any moment.
“Phew. What are you two doing?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll give you a carriage for Tia’s commuting. That would solve the problem.”
“Oh.”
Julia’s face turned bright red in an instant.
She thought she’d have to part with Tia for life and was about to cry.
What she couldn’t bear the most was the Duke’s expression that seemed to be holding back laughter.
Thinking that she had been staring at that face all this time made Julia feel embarrassed and as if she wanted to disappear immediately.
“You could have told me that sooner…”
“I missed the timing.”
“Just say it without that expression.”
“Ahaha. I’m sorry.”
Seeing them chatter as if they forgot where they were, the principal frowned.
This was a place meant to finalize a student’s enrollment.
It was indeed unexpected for the Duke’s recommendation to get the enrollment approved, but they were now excessively fawning over one another, which was unacceptable.
The principal couldn’t stand it anymore and abruptly stood up.
“Let’s put the explanations on hold and proceed with the test first. Tia, follow me.”
“Muuh…!”
The principal walked briskly toward the testing room.
Usually, the tests conducted before enrollment were simple written exams to check if the student had at least minimal intelligence.
However, this time, he decided to fully exercise his discretion as the principal.
They arrived at a building with a massive domed ceiling.
It was a cutting-edge facility equipped with Greater Magic Barriers, Physical Protection Barriers, and various magical projection capabilities.
It was a pride of St. Sophia.
Reservations for this facility were backed up for over a year.
“Now. Would you like to go inside? Soon, you’ll see a scenery similar to reality all around you. When that happens, just act as if everything is real. No need to worry about breaking anything; this facility is sturdy. This test is to assess your response capability. Do you understand?”
“Muuh!”
A determined affirmation came back.
The principal manipulated the controls and returned to the observation room, crossing his arms.
There was a faint smile on his lips.
“Let’s begin.”
Thump.
The lights in the testing room went out, and darkness enveloped the area.
Then gradually, as the light returned, Tia was startled.
Instead of a room with a dome-shaped ceiling, a dense forest spread around her.
The phrase “similar to reality” was misleading.
It was scenery that looked exactly like reality.
The smells, sounds, and even the tactile sensations.
Tia even doubted whether she had fallen into a forest for real.
“Rrroooo!”
“Muuh?!”
Upon hearing a chilling sound from behind, Tia quickly turned around.
However, that bizarre cry echoed again from behind, then from the side, and then straight ahead once more.
Tia instinctively realized.
That she was surrounded by something.
Soon, shapes that exuded black mists began to emerge from all directions, breaking through the foliage.
Those beast-like entities stimulated Tia’s primal instincts in no time.
Without any thought to escape or resist, Tia sat down right there.
The monsters slowly narrowed the encirclement, opening their mouths wide as they charged at Tia.
Tia ended up making a face as if she were about to cry.
‘Was it only this much?’
If the Duke was putting the pressure on, there had to be something extraordinary about it.
The principal felt greatly disappointed.
Of course, a test preparing for a monster’s attack is difficult even for upper-grade students.
If you let your guard down just a little, even the strongest warrior can become frightened prey.
As the principal thought it wasn’t a big deal and was about to forcibly end the test, his eyes twisted in surprise.
“Mwaaaah!!!”
Tia’s wail exploded and enveloped the testing room.
The monsters rushing towards Tia and the view of the forest disappeared in an instant.
In a moment, darkness returned to the testing room.
Every building at St. Sophia experienced a massive blackout that day.
