...trouble...?

"...?"

The door opened, and Zane stepped in cautiously.

"My lady. If you would be so kind."

Adrianna looked back at the gold-haired girl and made a pose she wanted the girl to strike.

"..."

Following the example, Melinda turned her back to Zane before turning her head towards him, arching her back and therefore showing off her backside clad in the fabric, appearing to be ready to give up at any time.

"..."

For a second, Zane didn't react at all. His cautious expression didn't even budge.

"That's much better than befo…"

"..."

*thump*

"Zane!?"

Satisfied with the reaction, Adrianna jumped the gun and nodded with satisfaction, but right then, Zane slipped off the door and fell down like a log, face-first, just like the first time, causing Melinda to gasp in shock.

"..."

While on the floor, Zane lay prone and completely motionless - with the exception of his eyes staring right at Melinda with such intensity as if the monstrous servant wanted to burn the image into his retinas.

"Are… are you alright?"

Worried, Melinda called out while walking over to Zane…

"!!!"

…whose eyes, for some reason, bulged out at the sight of her foot's sole as she took a step towards him…

"You…! HMPH!"

"UMFPH!"

Adrianna saw the reaction, let out an angry gasp, and threw Melinda's shirt in Zane's face, causing him to flinch as the warm fabric covered his vision.

"OUT! Young Zane, you are banned from entering our lady's room!"

The brown-haired maid lost her patience and forced the monstrous servant up, scolding him while also pushing him out the door.

"Again?! Wasn't I already banned from entering her room without you?!"

Zane called out defensively, trying to resist the push, but his shoes were sliding seamlessly on the waxed floorboard, giving him no chance.

"Well, now you're completely banned regardless of my presence!"

Adrianna declared strictly, relentlessly forcing the young man into the hallway before shutting the door - again.

"See, my lady! Boys have no shame or delicacy!"

"Adi, I think you might be too harsh, generalizing like that. He was very cute."

The maid declared in an exasperated voice, but the gold-haired girl merely chuckled while blushing lightly.

"You say that only because you don't see the danger, my lady! You have a fiance! This whole arrangement is something you came up with to make your fiance realize how lucky he is to have you! But young Zane appears to forget himself more and more! I didn't want to tell you this yesterday not to bring down the mood, but he keeps glancing at you whenever he has a chance! Yesterday, during the dinner, he kept devouring you with his eyes more than he did the actual food!"

Adrianna's expression was troubled, as if she was making herself say stuff she didn't want to reveal, all for the good of her lady.

"He did~?"

"My lady, this isn't a laughing matter!"

Melinda giggled with excitement, which caused Adrianna to scold her with a bright red face.

"Adi… don't worry. Think about it. Do you believe that Zane could overpower me if he wanted to force me to do something I wouldn't like?"

"...but…! Oh… oooohhhh…!"

The gold-haired girl couldn't stop herself from laughing, but she did so with an apologetic face and pointed out, making her brown-haired maid flinch and let out a gasp of realization - effectively calming her down.

"...?"

"...?"

Someone knocked on the door again, and the girls looked at each other in confusion…

"Young Zane, I was serious!"

Still, right away, Adrianna furrowed her brows and scoffed, glaring at the door as if trying to pierce it with her gaze alone to scold her colleague.

"No, no. I don't want to enter… It's just that some gentlemen have come to escort young lady Melinda to the headmaster."

Zane didn't open the door, but he did call out through it.

"Finally, a proper welcome comity, it seems. Their treatment of essentially another ambassador was rather lacking."

Adrianna breathed out and scoffed before stepping towards the door, her hand on the handle, and waiting for Melinda's signal.

"Let's meet them. I'm rather curious what the headmaster will have to say… I hope they will not question us too much about the superstorm and the Royal Serpent of the Tempest… or about Chainlink port city in general."

The gold-haired girl raised her hand benevolently, glancing to the side and muttering to herself as she mentally prepared to act all prime and proper, as was expected of her.

The door opened, and the gold-haired girl stepped out to be greeted by the sight of two knights clad in full suits of heavy white armor with golden linings.

It was worth mentioning that it was heavy armor in the overexaggerated style of fantasy setting, so the two were basically two walking fortresses.

Zane, standing to the side of the pair, was still taller as he didn't bother to control his ability, but compared to the knights, he sure did look extra skinny and lanky.

"Miss Melinda Fenrioette?"

One of the knights spoke up, very rudely pointing his finger at the gold-haired girl.

Off to a bad start for sure…

"..."

Before Melinda even bothered to open her mouth, Adrianna was already in front of her, standing so close to the knight that his finger was almost touching her face.

"Young lady Melinda Fenrioette."

"..."

The brown-haired maid let out a low growl with such a fierce look in her eyes as if she wanted to bite the armored finger off, but the knight didn't budge.

"I would also request that you keep in mind the status of our lady, noble knights."

Zane joined in from the side, glaring down at the pair with ice-cold eyes.

"...please excuse me…"

"...?"

Only at Zane's words did the knight lower his hand and even mutter an apology, but it appeared to be directed toward Zane, making both the monstrous servant and the brown-haired maid exchange surprised glances.

"Young lady Melinda Fenrioette, you are being summoned to the office of the headmaster of the Jade Academy."

"..."

The second knight spoke up, not making the same affront as his colleague, but there was something about his words that made the gold-haired girl feel off.