Almost done

Melinda returned to the orphanage without the appearance-altering ring but with the signed contract in hand.

"Bad people will no longer bother you all~"

"...!"

She cheered out towards the girls doing their chores, playfully fanning herself with the document as she walked into the house and straight to Mister Jude's room.

The shocked but hopefully excited girl followed her to eavesdrop, expecting a rather explosive conversation.

"Here. Unless you mess with someone really big, this place basically has immunity now."

"Ah…!"

But there was hardly a conversation. Melinda merely threw the papers at the lap of the shocked Jude, making him gasp upon seeing whose signature was there.

"I'll come by to get the report card from you, so put some extra effort into framing me as the most compassionate human being. You know, aside from full score."

The gold-haired girl smirked at the joyful man.

"Of course! I… I don't know how useful my personal opinion will be in such a prestigious institution. Still, I will write the report as if you were the incarnation of goddess Perseverance itself!"

"Whoa there, don't force it that far."

Jude promised wholeheartedly, but Melinda scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.

"I'll make sure that the girl will also sing your praises, just in case someone from the Academy would show up."

The man assured, standing up and hurriedly hiding the contract in the desk drawer, which he had locked with a tiny key.

"I like it when people understand their assignments. Until tomorrow."

"Have a great rest of the day, young lady!"

Melinda chuckled as she turned around and was sent off with Jude bowing to her so deeply his head almost touched his knees.

"..."

As Melinda was leaving, she met the cold glare of the ashen-haired Olina…

"..."

"!!!"

…but the gold-haired girl had none of it, responding with a glare of her own, which had the intensity that the oldest girl in the orphanage could not handle, making her cower and avert her gaze.

By doing so, she exposed the left side of her face, accidentally showing off a dark spot right at her jawline.

The spot that wasn't dirt had gotten darker since Melinda last caught a glimpse of it.

"Miss... do you promise that nothing bad will happen? Not even to Olina…?"

"...?"

The youngest girl trotted over and made Melinda stop, looking up at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course. Mister Jude and I will keep you safe."

"...oh…"

The gold-haired girl puffed out her chest and declared, but the child ended up lowering her head and muttering with a sad expression.

"Tomorrow, I will show up with a trusted medic, so you can consult him if anything health-related bothers you."

Seeing that, Melinda decided on the spot and announced, giving the child a head pat and going her way immediately after.

Melinda returned to the Academy grounds without any obstacles, she even had a meal with a maid, and finally was on her way back to her room in the dormitory.

Well, not exactly.

She did have to make sure that the medic she promised the girls in the orphanage would actually show up.

"Huh?! Ah! G-good evening, young lady Fenrioette! I was… I was only… I…"

And luck was on her side, as the very person she wanted to meet ended up almost bumping into her in the door to the girls' dormitory building. He greeted her while getting almost as red as his fluffy and curly hair, which made him look like a colorful sheep.

Him. Yes, because it was a boy trying to sneakily leave the girls' dormitory.

"Rich~ Just the person I wanted to see~!"

"I was just… huh…? Y-you wanted to see me…?"

Melinda smiled benevolently, reaching out and patting the shoulder of the bewildered boy.

"That's riiiight~!"

"...?"

The gold-haired girl cheered out playfully, making the red-haired boy gulp down his saliva anxiously.

"You know how in the Empire it is obligatory to invite the person believed to be the one who introduced a couple to each other to their engagement party? I believe you and Leo, unfortunately… Hmm… failed to fulfill that very obligation, as I didn't receive anything of the sort despite you two holding an engagement party over the winter break… Did both of you miss what I did at the start of the school year…? Or did you think that I will not bother learning about the traditions of the Emeraldios Empire?"

"!!!"

Melinda asked, tilting her head without taking her sharp eyes off Richard. She observed as his face turned ghastly pale as all blood drained from it.

"M-my lady! I-I assure you that is not the case! Neither of us would ever want to disrespect you in such a way, but…!"

"...but…?"

Drenched in a cold sweat, Richard began to explain himself and his fiance, but Melinda interrupted him while tilting her head to the other side without changing her expression.

"O-our families aren't wealthy enough to prepare a party that would be worthy of hosting you so, so we… so we…"

"...made the decision for me…"

The red-haired boy trembled and began to explain himself, but the gold-haired girl cut him off again in exact same way and tone of voice as before.

"N-no! I… I mean… y-yes, in a way, but…!"

"And you even admit it."

Richard called out but hurriedly retracted his words and mumbled in great distress, which got even worse when Melinda pointed out the change.

Richard's face could not possibly got any paler so it turned slightly green in turn as the wave of nausea crushed against him, filling him to the brim with anxiety and dread.

How would someone like him, a third son of a baron that would not even inherit his father's title, dared to disrespect a member of the foreign aristocracy… and even worse - someone engaged to the future king of the neighbouring kingdom?

The implied consequences would be far beyond anything that someone like him could ever dream of handling!

"Aww, Rich, don't make such a face~ Aren't we classmates? I am willing to forget this jarring mishap and outrageous slap to the face in exchange for a small favor~!"

"!!!"

The gold-haired girl chuckled lighheartedly but the words she used felt like getting bludgeoned to death to the red-haired boy.

"Alright. Jokes aside, I do have a request."

"...j-jokes…?!"

And then, all of a sudden, Melinda laughed out, shaking her head and patting Richard's shoulder, disorienting him to no end.

"Would you mind doing some community service? The kids from the orphanage where I had my on-the-job training course could use a health check-up. One of them seems to have contracted some illness that none of the spells I know can get rid of, so your expertise on the site would be of great help."

The gold-haired girl explained, taking a step back to give the boy some space to breathe.

"You could take Leo with you. She always has this dreamy look in her eyes when she watches as you focus. A win-win scenario."

She added with a soft, encouraging smile.

"...a… umm… I-if you believe me to be the right person for the task, I will do my best to meet your expectations!"

The red-haired boy exclamied, bowing his head and biting his lips, doing his best to at least appear calm.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm~ It's the orphanage in the West outskirts of the city. I will be waiting for you, so do not forget your obligation this time~"

"O-of course!"

Melinda's smile turned into a grin, and she chuckled as she passed the shaken boy and entered the dormitory.