An idea, and the family

"EH?! My lady, but your fluffy hair is so beautiful!"

Taken by surprise, the maid flinched and gasped, sounding actually upset about the request.

"...?"

Her reaction made Melinda raise her brow and glance at Adrianna's hair.

It was a soothing shade of brown and styled into a proper bun so it wouldn't clash with the headdress of her maid uniform.

"Thank you. The thing is, I just got an idea, and to really make it stick, I need to make a certain impression."

"I-if that's what you want, my lady…"

Melinda lowered her elbows, and both her smile and the look in her eyes softened, making the maid lower her head apologetically for speaking out of turn.

"Ah. My plan includes very specific clothing style, too. I will be much obliged if you get a few things for me."

"...? I will do my best, my lady…?"

A few moments later, Melinda perked up while being dried out with the fluffy towel, and Adrianna's eyes widened in surprise, but she obliged with a nod.

—-----------

In a cozy office filled with vintage furniture carved out of expensive wood that went extinct in the past century, two men were facing each other.

A middle-aged man sitting behind a desk…

He wasn't the tallest one, and with his strong arms and stomach visibly bulging through the clothes too fancy for most aristocrats to consider houseware, he looked more like one of the dwarvenfolk instead of the human that he was.

Especially with his build focused on strength and not aesthetic perfection.

His shoulder-long braided golden hair and braided golden beard certainly didn't help any onlookers make the correct distinction either…

His dark gold, almost amber eyes were sternly looking at the other man.

A handsome, tall youngster in his later teens, dressed up only slightly less fancy than the sitting man.

His deep blue hair was moderately short—interestingly, the roots were a lot brighter than the ends. His face was cleanly shaved, but considering his brows were also blue, it wasn't that much of a stretch to assume the unusual color actually was his natural one.

The youngster's eyes were almost exactly like the eyes of the sitting man, and he certainly wasn't trying to break off eye contact with him signifying familiarity.

"Do you know how she is handling it?"

The gold-haired man breathed out and asked, reaching down and taking a few documents and a single sturdy seal stamp out of the desk's drawer.

"...Meia was devastated, father…"

The blue-haired youngster also took a deep breath and said with a worried look in his eyes.

"I do not expect her to be out of her room today. We might be looking at another week-long tantrum."

The youngster added, lowering his head as if part of whatever he was talking about was his fault.

"..."

The gold-haired man, Duke Brynhild Fenrioette, head of the ducal house of Fenrioette, was none other than Melinda's father. He froze as he was about to put the documents down on the desk, and his expression darkened.

"In a world of arranged marriages… can that brat not comprehend the fortune of having a partner who loves him that much…?"

The man glared at the documents as if they were the true perpetrators and pressed them down on the desk, not caring about crumpling them.

"I'm afraid so, father. In the words of the royal messenger, that bra… haa… that prince, Ester, feels overwhelmed by our Melinda's affection and doesn't know how to act."

The blue-haired youth nodded, his face twitching in anger before he breathed out and composed himself, relaying the rest of the information calmly.

"Melinda waited a whole year so that she could attend Brylant Academy in the same year that this ungrateful brat too…! Lazurii, it will be your final year there, and normally, I wouldn't try to put any more pressure on you, but…"

Brynhild clenched his fists to hold back the anger from overtaking him and declared without raising his head.

"That goes without question, father. I will keep an eye on Prince Ester. I will not shy from reprimanding him if I find ANY offense in his behavior towards Melinda."

Lazurii shook his head and declared, his cold expression clashing with the rage in his dark gold eyes.

"That's my boy… ah…"

Brynhild straightened his back and smiled at his son—until he opened his fists and realized that the seal stamp he was holding onto had been crushed and broken into splinters…

"...ah…! Another one?! Father…"

Lazurii managed to see it right before the duke managed to close his hand and stuff the evidence back into the desk drawer.

"...ummm… whoops…?"

Brynhild looked to the side while smiling awkwardly like a boy caught red-handed during mischief.

"I'm glad that you took more from your mother and not from me! How much of your mana can you safely use nowadays?"

The man hurriedly changed the subject while pulling out a backup seal stamp, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

"...I think I got plenty of physical strength too…"

Lazurii made an upset expression, raising his right hand and flexing his muscles, causing the fabric of the shirt's sleeve to stretch out and let out a noise, indicating the whole thing was about to be ripped apart.

"I didn't mean it like that! Lazurii, your old man simply meant that your talent for magic is unparalleled in the world! Even Astrid will not be able to match you when you gain more control."

Brynhild leaned forward and looked up at his son with an apologetic expression.

"...I know… As for my magic, at this point, I can use maybe a percent of my mana without it going out of control. I can easily outlast the royal magician, but our ingenuity and skill put us worlds apart. That's why I am considering switching to honing my abilities, shortening the incantation times and…" 

*knock* *knock* *knock*

His explanation was interrupted by a gentle yet firm knock, which made both men stop and look at the door that began to open.

"My lord… young Miss is here to talk with you…"

The gray-haired butler poked his head inside and said in a nervous voice...

...which was very uncommon for such an experienced employee...

"...!"

"Let her in…!"

The father and son exchanged shocked glances before the duke waved his hand, hastening the hesitant butler.