Chapter 60

After leaving the meeting room at the space station, Erik walked through the beautiful corridors of the station, eventually arriving at a splendid private room. He entered with Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina, all displaying an elegant and serious, almost aristocratic demeanor. However, the moment the doors closed and a barrier extended completely covering the room, Sigrún excitedly jumped on Erik, discarding any semblance of elegance or seriousness without the slightest concern.

Sigrún kissed Erik's cheek with excitement, then hugged him tightly, exclaiming excitedly and hopping around like a teenager.

"You're the best, Erik!!! Did you see the faces of those old bastards? How they were dying of envy because they don't have a disciple as good as you? I could show off thanks to you, hahaha, you're the best disciple in the world!!!"

Erik smiled warmly at hearing his master's joyous voice and returned the hug, causing Sigrún to stop spinning, melting into the warm and loving embrace of her disciple.

Initially, Erik had been a little worried that he hadn't done enough for his masters to brag as they wanted. After all, apart from his dramatic entrance at the beginning and his blatant theft of the staff, there weren't many moments for him to act. But it seemed his worries were unnecessary, and everything turned out well.

Eleonora approached Erik and lovingly hugged him from behind, then kissed his cheek and commented in a low, delighted voice.

"You really outdid yourself, Erik. You made me feel so proud."

Eleonora and Sigrún rested their heads on Erik's shoulders from their positions, wanting to express their feelings through their warm embrace, while a soft and warm feeling filled their hearts with happiness and tranquility, leaving in their minds only gratitude for the day they met their beloved disciple who brought them so much joy.

Erik, for his part, turned to look at Seraphina, who, despite her serious and professional expression, couldn't hide a hint of loneliness. Seraphina was quite surprised when she saw Erik release one of his arms from Sigrún's embrace and extend it towards her with a pleasant smile. This put a complicated expression on her face; she really wanted to be part of the hug, but at the same time, it wasn't an appropriate attitude for a perfect maid like her, filling her mind with endless doubts about what she should do.

Upon noticing Seraphina's conflicted expression, Erik smiled playfully and used the most powerful spell he knew to convince Seraphina. A phantom hand materialized out of nowhere on Seraphina's back and gave her a strong, soundless spank, causing her to lift her head in surprise, while Erik put on a haughty and dominant expression, sending Seraphina an ultimatum with his gaze.

Seraphina's face turned a soft pink as she sent timid, yet pleased glances towards Erik, and then slowly and with short steps, almost fearfully, she approached him.

When Seraphina reached Erik's side, Sigrún smiled mischievously and made room for her. Seraphina hugged Erik and buried her face in his chest, refusing to look at anyone, almost like a frightened turtle withdrawing into its shell for protection.

"Seraphina, the perfect maid, is interrupting her young lady's affectionate moment. How disrespectful, fufufufu," Eleonora commented, laughing while sending a teasing look at Seraphina, who was using Erik as a shield and refused to lift her head.

"Yes, Sera, the perfect maid, has broken character. What a tragedy, hehehe," Sigrún joined in, teasing Seraphina with a broad smile on her face.

"Don't tease Seraphina. She didn't want to; I made her," Erik spoke calmly, trying to stop his masters from mocking his poor maid, but Sigrún showed no mercy and mockingly commented.

"Don't defend this brazen maid, Erik. Just look at her, getting between her young lady and young master. How audacious, hehehehe."

"Yes, Erik, let us tell this 'perfect shadow' her truths, fufufufu."

Erik shook his head and tightened his embrace around Seraphina a bit more, while she trembled slightly in his chest each time Eleonora or Sigrún made fun of her.

"Actually, as a punishment, we should forbid her from serving Erik for a week. What do you say, Eli?"

"I think that..."

Eleonora's words got stuck in her throat, and at the same time, Sigrún's teasing expression vanished at lightning speed, turning into one of panic, due to a single cold look that Seraphina sent from Erik's chest, careful to avoid Erik noticing it.

"...we've teased Seraphina enough. Let's do something more productive and start planning our trip, don't you think?"

Sigrún quickly responded, nodding repeatedly and trying to sound as calm as possible, "Yes, you're right. Let's stop playing around and plan our trip."

Erik was a bit surprised by his masters' sudden change of attitude, who immediately dragged him to a beautiful table to discuss the trip. He turned to look at Seraphina with a hint of suspicion, but she responded with a pleasant smile as if nothing had happened, while placing a plate full of cookies on the table for him.

"So, how about we keep an eye on the tournament for one more week and then leave?" Sigrún suggested as she sipped tea served by Seraphina with a smile.

After enjoying the sweet bribe from his beautiful maid, who stood beside him with a charming smile, Erik spoke up, "Aren't we going to wait for Liliana?"

Eleonora answered while gently arranging Erik's hair, with a soft smile on her face, "Actually, none of those who are here stay until their disciples leave. They'll likely stay close for about a month before leaving and will return when their disciples are about to leave, or at the end of the tournament."

"I see… then good thing I got out quickly," Erik commented to himself as he pulled out his notebook to write something, but at that moment, the hands of Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina appeared over his notebook, preventing him from writing.

Erik looked up, slightly confused, to his masters and his maid, who were looking at him with small smiles on their faces. "What's wrong?"

"You're planning to write that you should remember to leave quickly or find things to do while waiting for us to come back for you, right?" Sigrún asked, looking into Erik's eyes, who simply nodded in response.

"Of course, I need to write it down so I don't forget for the next time, or I'll be bored a lot waiting for you to come back for me."

"You don't need to write anything down. That's not going to happen to you," Eleonora commented softly as she withdrew her hand from the notebook, followed by Seraphina and Sigrún. As she removed her hand, Sigrún took the notebook and placed it in the center of the table, away from Erik.

"It was just a coincidence that I left early this time. If there's another occasion, it's necessary to be prepared in case things don't go as well," Erik said, confused, looking at his notebook in the center of the table with a hint of sadness, almost as if he were watching the love of his life being forcefully taken away from him.

"We've already told you, Erik, you don't need to write that down because it's not going to happen to you. What we told you is the general situation for a disciple, and it doesn't apply to you," Sigrún commented with a small smile on her face while affectionately caressing Erik's face.

Sigrún's words left Erik a bit confused for a moment, but he quickly connected the dots and nodded with an expression of realization, then spoke with a pleasant smile.

"Oh, I understand. Thank you, Sigrún, Eleonora, Seraphina."

Erik smiled cheerfully as he addressed the three women by their names, causing Eleonora and Sigrún to blush slightly. Nonetheless, they nodded with smiles on their faces, and shortly after, they began planning the itinerary for their trip.