Chapter 2054 – 2054. Savior Of The Academy
While Sung Yu-jin was taking care of personal matters, Yuria and Elena changed into Arashi Academy uniforms. It was the result of Sung Yu-jin’s influence, who wanted to see them in school uniforms.
“Wearing this makes me feel like a student. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but not bad,” Elena said, looking in the mirror. The uniform suited her well, as she was a beautiful woman.
Next to her, Yuria was tidying her hair and clothes. Yuria’s hands didn’t allow a single wrinkle on the uniform.
“Elena, have you never attended an academy? Your empire must be quite advanced, so there must be educational institutions,” Yuria asked.
“Of course, academies exist. Talented commoners receive sponsorship from nobles and enter. I also actively sponsor academies and their students. It’s an opportunity to bring in talent.”
“It seems nobles don’t attend the academy.”
“The children of lower nobles below the rank of Baron enter the academy. It’s quite helpful for building connections.”
“That wouldn’t apply to Elena.”
“There’s no need to enter an academy when you can invite distinguished scholars to your family. As for connections, nobles flock like clouds when you throw a party. You can subtly use them under the guise of business. What about you? Have you ever attended an academy?”
“I am attending an academy. Though it’s in another world.”
“Oh. Is it similar to the academy here?”
“It’s completely different. There are more things to protect and learn.”
“Is the academy enjoyable?”
Yuria paused. She thought of the maid academy. After pondering for quite a while, she nodded.
“It was quite enjoyable in its own way.”
“That’s an unexpected answer.”
“Of course, serving Master is more enjoyable.”
“That’s the answer I expected.”
After checking their outfits one last time, they went outside the room. Originally, they were going to wait in the room until Sung Yu-jin returned, but at Elena’s request, they decided to look around the cultural festival.
For Elena, it was like a vacation. She wanted to put everything aside and enjoy the culture and food of this world. The Valdert family, which always weighed on her shoulders, didn’t exist in this world, so she could act lightly.
“Where are you going?”
Sung Ha-ri, who was leaning against the hallway wall, asked.
Elena looked at her and chuckled.
“Were you spying on us?”
“You two look suspicious no matter how I look at you, so I investigated you separately. Do you know what the result was? There was nothing. It’s as if you don’t exist in this world. So, I’m monitoring you directly to make sure you don’t do anything strange. If you do, I can subdue you immediately.”
“You’re making things difficult for yourself. Didn’t you see our relationship with Yu-jin directly?”
“Ugh.”
Sung Ha-ri’s cheeks flushed. She remembered the scene of the two women in front of her and Sung Yu-jin intertwined naked. It was a truly lewd scene. A scene that was more embarrassing for the one watching.
“That’s that, and this is this. I’ve never acknowledged you as my daughters-in-law.”
“Are you still planning to play mother with Yu-jin? You’ve got a thick face.”
“…Mother play? You know, your tone has been a bit off since yesterday? There’s a limit to how much I can tolerate.”
“Be grateful to Yu-jin. If it weren’t for Yu-jin, you’d be sitting on the floor crying.”
A fierce smile appeared on Sung Ha-ri’s lips. At the same time, her aura intensified. Elena wasn’t fazed at all. She crossed her arms and raised her chin as if to say, ‘Go ahead and try.’
Yuria stepped between them.
“Both of you, please stop. If you cause a ruckus here, it will be a disservice to Master. Elena, we are strangers. Mother, we don’t want to disappoint Master by causing a disturbance. I won’t tell you to reconcile. At least, please endure for now. We don’t mind if you monitor us.”
Sung Ha-ri sighed and dispersed her aura. Elena turned her head away as if she had no interest.
“Hey. Yuria, was it? That ‘Mother’ title is a bit much.”
“It’s a sign of respect.”
“I know. I know, but… even so, being called ‘Mother’ is a bit much. It’s awkward, and it makes me look too old.”
“You’re mistaken about something. This title isn’t respect for you. It’s respect for Master.”
“…What?”
“Pfft.”
It was Elena who burst into laughter. She could somewhat deduce Yuria’s way of thinking. Yuria’s focus was on Sung Yu-jin. The reason she called Sung Ha-ri ‘Mother’ without truly treating her as a mother-in-law was because Sung Yu-jin didn’t really think of Sung Ha-ri as his mother.
Sung Yu-jin’s mother play. Yuria was just going along with it.
‘She’d probably fawn over Sung Yu-jin’s real mother with all her might. …Hmm. There’s no information about that. Sung Yu-jin’s mother is also my future mother-in-law, so I need to make her an ally. Using illusions is the worst… A gift offensive is the answer.’
Under Sung Ha-ri’s glaring watch, Elena and Yuria left the dormitory building.
As soon as they went outside, men started bothering them. Their appearances were too eye-catching. From blatant questions about whether they had boyfriends to requests to take pictures together, nothing was not annoying.
Feeling displeased, Elena used illusions to drive the men away. The men would have traumas they didn’t even know about, but that wasn’t Elena’s concern.
“This is annoying. I’ll use illusions. Is that okay?”
“Please do.”
Elena’s gaze turned to Sung Ha-ri.
“Uh, me too?”
“Consider your appearance too. It’s not like men were only talking to us.”
“……I’ll ask you too. You’re not doing anything weird, are you?”
Elena waved her hand as if it wasn’t worth answering. The illusion activated, and the gazes that had been focused on them disappeared. Now, other people would see them as ordinary women.
Elena grabbed Yuria’s arm and walked briskly. The festive atmosphere of the cultural festival made her excited. Sung Ha-ri followed behind them.
Their steps stopped in front of a street stall.
“What is this?”
“It’s cotton candy. Have you never seen it before?”
“You don’t know cotton candy?”
Yuria and Sung Ha-ri were surprised for different reasons.
“Cotton candy? It does look like cotton. I should try it.”
“…Why are you looking at me?”
“I don’t have any money from this world. I’d like to borrow some.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have yen either.”
Elena’s gaze turned to Sung Ha-ri.
“Lend me some.”
“Out of the blue?!”
“It’s not a large amount of money. Don’t be so stingy.”
“You’re too confident for someone who’s borrowing. …I’m lending it to you because I pity you. I can’t believe you’ve never even eaten cotton candy.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but pitying me… It hurts my pride, but I’ll forgive you since you lent me money.”
Elena bought three cotton candies and handed them to Yuria and Sung Ha-ri.
“I’m fine.”
“You already bought it. You’re a noble, but how can you be so selfish?”
“It’s a festival. You two should eat it too.”
“Are you perhaps embarrassed to eat alone?”
“……It’s been a long time since I’ve had cotton candy.”
They opened their mouths wide and tore off pieces of the cotton candy. Elena made a subtle expression.
“It’s sweet. I like that it melts as soon as it goes into my mouth, but… it’s too sweet.”
“It seems they’re using cheap sugar. If it were me, I’d make cotton candy in a slightly different way…”
“I used to like it a lot… Has my taste changed?”
The comments they each made were all critical. Elena threw her cotton candy in the trash, and Yuria melted hers with magic. Only Sung Ha-ri was munching on her cotton candy.
“By the way, Elena. How do you plan to repay the money? It’s not going to be a crime, is it?”
“What do you take me for? I’ve planned everything. First, I’ll use the gold coins I have as seed money and invest in stocks.”
“You’d have enough money just by selling the gold coins.”
“I want to try this thing called stocks. There aren’t any stocks in my world.”
Sung Ha-ri, who had been listening to the conversation, frowned and interrupted.
“Stocks? Don’t do it.”
“Why?”
“Don’t do it if I tell you not to. You could lose half of your entire fortune. I thought you hit rock bottom, but… no, I thought it was really the bottom…”
“……”
The next place they went was the art gallery.
It was a place where the works of Arashi Academy students were displayed. Elena looked around the entrance of the art gallery and smiled.
“They’ve displayed trash that no one would take even if you gave it to them. Modern art? The level of civilization has increased, but art seems to have regressed. Yuria, what do you think?”
“I think everyone has their own standards. What’s here might be art to someone.”
“So, in your eyes, what’s here is art?”
“No. It’s trash.”
Sung Ha-ri glanced at the two of them.
‘Honestly, aren’t these pretty good pieces?’
In her eyes, they seemed like decent works. Some of them were so good that she thought she could buy them and decorate her house.
The next place they visited after the gallery was the haunted house. All three of them felt bored rather than scared by the ghosts. They could feel the presence of all the people hiding, and the ghost costumes felt somewhat clumsy.
“Why don’t we go see the monster circus? Arashi Academy is famous for taming monsters and doing circuses.”
It was rare for Sung Ha-ri to offer an opinion. She had become friendly with the people she was monitoring by wandering around.
“Monster circus? They’re doing something interesting.”
“It’s certainly intriguing.”
The monster circus was enough to surprise them. Taming and training monsters. It was easy to say, but in reality, it was never an easy task.
After watching the monster circus for about an hour, they were satisfied. Afterward, they had dinner at the culinary research club’s restaurant, which was known for its delicious food.
“The omelet rice isn’t bad.”
“What? This is incredibly delicious. Especially the culinary research club’s omelet rice is very famous, you know?”
“Sung Ha-ri is right. I have to admit that this omelet rice dish is good.”
“……If you say so, then I guess it is.”
After that, they wandered around here and there, watched the magic fireworks, and returned to the dormitory.
