In front of St. Freya Academy.
A girl with a large suitcase stood before the school, looking left and right.
She was a girl so beautiful it was almost unreal.
Her chestnut-brown hair was smooth and glossy, shimmering like silk. Her eyes were a magnificent shade of pink. A blue-violet hairpin was fastened to the left side of her hair. On her head, she wore a black beret decorated with two white, four-pointed stars.
Her name was Ana Schariac.
Not long ago, she had confessed to the Director of Chaldeas, only to be gently rejected. Afterward, she had made a request: "I want to get to know you better."
The Director had not refused.
And so, today, she had come.
This girl, who according to the original plan should have been the subject of the third experiment within the next two days, had instead spent a day or two at Chaldeas. After gaining a more thorough understanding of the organization's greatness, she arrived at St. Freya Academy with an even more fervent sense of admiration.
She would probably be staying here for half a week.
After half a week, the Director would return to Chaldeas to proceed with the plan to retrieve the soul of Saintess Kallen from five hundred years ago—a soul said to be able to influence the course of the world.
Following that was a series of plans: the second Artificial Herrscher Project, retrieving the soul of Lady Cecilia, retrieving Joyce's soul, the third Artificial Herrscher Project, and so on.
Starting with the plan to resurrect Saintess Kallen, the Director would be living at Chaldeas full-time, so there would naturally be no need for her to remain at St. Freya Academy.
Still, she thought, lost in her own musings, by insisting on observing the Director's daily life for the next few days, will I be interfering with his work?
The girl desperately wanted to understand the person who seemed destined to be connected to her, yet she worried that her sudden appearance might cause him trouble.
However, her thoughts didn't linger for long.
In her line of sight, a young man with striking red eyes was approaching from a distance.
"Eh? Eh—, is that you, Director?!"
Ana's pink eyes widened as she looked at the handsome young man, and she immediately grew flustered and anxious.
She had contacted Li Zihan before arriving, and he had said he would come to pick her up.
But she truly hadn't expected that "coming to pick her up" meant he would come personally.
"I don't have much to do recently, so I just came to get you myself."
The young man, having just dispersed all the intimate girls except for Seele to ensure he wouldn't face a catastrophic scene on the spot, wore a polite smile.
It was currently class time, so Seele should be in class. Thus, Seele wouldn't appear either.
With this in mind, he extended a hand toward Ana.
Eh? Eh—
Is he… asking to hold my hand?
Is the Director this forward?!
Should I accept?
Looking at the outstretched hand, Miss Ana, who upheld the traditions of the Schariac family, felt her pretty face flush as she became completely flustered.
"Let me take your suitcase."
"Things like carrying luggage are better left to men."
The words that came from the young man's mouth sounded decidedly unromantic, snapping Miss Ana out of her wild thoughts.
So… was I just reading too much into it?
Watching as that slender hand took the suitcase from her, the girl, feeling like she had gotten ahead of herself, found her cheeks burning with the crimson of shame before the initial blush had even faded.
That's right. How could someone as proper as the Director think of something like holding hands while leading the way?
So dense.
The girl muttered quietly in her heart.
Then, the young man's other hand reached out to her.
"Eh? Eh—"
Miss Ana, failing to react for a moment, let out a very cute, confused sound.
"I'm not sure why, but my intuition is telling me that I should extend my hand to a lovely girl right now and lead her to her temporary home."
The young man, enhanced by Karna's Saint Graph and possessing observational skills that were frankly terrifying, pulled the suitcase with one hand while extending the other before the girl.
The girl named Ana looked at the slender, fair, and well-defined hand before her, her pretty face blushing once more.
The Director… doesn't seem to be as dense as I imagined.
The girl, who had just been imagining the Director holding her hand and leading the way, gently placed her hand in his.
Then, his hand closed around hers, holding it firmly.
Feeling the warmth spreading from his palm, Miss Ana's heart shamelessly began to race again.
Her little face flushed scarlet, the girl complained to the young man who had just sent her heart on a roller coaster.
"Director, has anyone ever told you that your intuition is kind of cheating?"
"When I'm with cute girls, my intuition has always been very reliable," the young man, who was indeed cheating, said with a slight smile.
"The fact that my intuition is working here is probably because you're a very cute girl, Ana!"
Hearing the praise from the Director, the blush on the girl's face became even more vivid, as if two pomegranate petals had suddenly flown onto her cheeks, with a tendency to spread to the back of her neck.
Is the Director this improper in his daily life?!
But...
An improper Director seems pretty nice, too. He's not as serious as he is in Chaldeas; he has a kind of neighborly feel.
It wasn't the grand love of famous poems: "Not the birth of spring waters, nor the bloom of spring forests, nor ten miles of spring breeze can compare to you."
Instead, it was a more personal feeling: "Upon meeting you, a gentle breeze stirs, the new willows turn green, bees and butterflies flutter through the flowers, and joy fills my eyes to my brows."
For some reason, these words came to Ana's mind.
This was likely a true reflection of Miss Ana's current state.
In the eyes of a girl in love, everything associated with the boy she adores is wonderful. Even just pulling a suitcase and chatting on the way to her lodging was, in her view, an exceptionally interesting affair.
Feeling her heart pound at their touch, the girl named Ana watched the young man who held her hand and led her forward, her eyes shimmering with a watery light.
And then—
The young man beside her suddenly stopped.
"What is it, Director?"
The girl, who actually wanted to keep walking hand-in-hand all the way to her destination, tilted her head, looking at him in confusion.
"Are we here?"
Ana turned her head, looking around.
They were surrounded by academic buildings, none of which looked like a place someone could live in.
"Good morning, Big Brother."
A very soft, sweet, and pleasant voice came from the direction of one of the school buildings.
It was an unbelievably cute girl.
Her skin was snow-white, she had blackish-blue shoulder-length hair, and her azure eyes were so deep they reminded one of the sea.
And then—
The girl's sapphire eyes, which seemed tinged with a hint of wine-red, shifted to look at Miss Ana, whose hand was being held by the young man.
"And… who might you be, big sister?"