Chapter 20: Valeria li Roses

Like weeds in a rickety field, books and documents were splayed all over Isaac von Episteme Athenus' private room. The faraway palace that he had erected himself was always this filled with dirt.

As Isaac put on a shirt and buttoned up his suit, someone behind picked up the mess on the ground and sorted through them.

Noticing, Isaac raised his brow and turned back.

"You're here," he said.

"Good morning, professor," the voice answered. "Looking at this the state of this dump, I believe your entire class is going to fail and you're going to lose your job?"

Isaac's face remained as stony as ever as he heard the silver-haired lady's mutters. Her frilly shirt and trousers that seemed comfortable yet elegant was the same as ever, and so was her slight make-up that tinted her cheeks a rosy blush and her lips a plump pink.

"Despite what it looks like," Isaac said, turning back to his wardrobe. "I have been preparing my books rather diligently."

"You, who can't even keep a room clean?"

"It's not unclean, I know where everything is."

"Still unclean, professor."

Sighing, the lady stacked the papers away and started piling up the notes and documents for today's lecture. It was set to be a discourse on the origin of sigils and how the structures invoked different properties and classes of magic.

"Has your mother been well, Valeria?"

"She has," the lady answered, placing the documents in a binder. "She sent you her blessings and some sweets."

"Handmade?"

"Handmade."

"We won't be needing lunch today." After fixing his gloves up, Isaac snapped his fingers and the binder flew into his suitcase, which then flew straight into his hands. Standing at the desk with a bag hanging from her shoulder, in an attire that revealed her humility but never managed to dampen her beauty, stood his most trusted aide.

Valeria il Roses, the daughter of a dying barony, and one of the greatest wizard geniuses the world had seen. Someone sure to lead the world of wizardry, had it not been for the man standing in front of her.

"Shall we set off?"

"I noticed you picked your bag on your own," Valeria muttered. "Is something the matter?"

Isaac glanced at his bag, and then back at Valeria. Her observation skills were still as sharp as an arrow, just what he expected from a wizard of her caliber.

Thinking of it again, there was no reason for her to be his teaching assistant. From the beginning, the only thing that tied their fates together was how Valeria was always in the second place and him in the first.

From the moment Isaac decided to become a researcher, Valeria had no reason to be associated with him.

"It's because there was a spy from Kaiser amongst the maids."

Valeria's brows narrowed. "Spy from Kaiser."

But there was one thing that kept her sticking anyway.

Isaac nodded.

"I let her help me with the book—"

Like wind on a stormy day, Valeria shot off from the ground and jumped right in front of Isaac. Her stern yet elegant face broke as her eyes turned mushy and her smile wide. Grabbing Isaac's collars with both hands, she screamed.

"Tell. Me. Everything! Oh Lords! Such a big development happened and you didn't tell me? Oh no, oh no, oh no, did I miss the confession? Did she find out?"

Isaac leaned back and tried to push her away.

"She hasn't, Valeria. I do not know how she feels about me, so I made sure to always carry things that showed my achievements."

"Dear Hades help me if I would have missed it!" Valeria hugged her shoulders and squealed. "Kyaaaa! So cute! So romantic! I ship it, I ship it!"

Yes! The one single glue keeping her by Isaac's side was none other than the fact that she was severely ill with the Ishipit Disease! And her targets were Isaac and Kristine.

"Professor, what else happened. There can't be nothing, I mean two months passed!"

"There was something…" Isaac muttered, his voice still as stable as ever. Though, if someone had seen him up close, they would have noticed that the edge of his eyes were closer by half a millimeter.

He wasn't grand at dealing with this woman. But staunch was her support, and deep ran his gratitude. For someone who's most interactions with women centered around spells, he was more than happy to have his secret discovered by her.

"What happened? Tell me now! Professor! Tell me!"

"I… had dinner with her—"

"AAAAAA!"

Really not grand at dealing with her.