[25.8] Two Emmy Nominees

Zephyr stood on a roof with his hands on his hips. He shouted loudly as a crowd gathered at his feet, "HAH HAH! Stupid human! You think that prison could contain me?! PAH! I spit on you!"

The Headmaster stood on the ground looking up at Zephyr with a bored expression.

As if on cue, Chief Gonza and Captain Lou appeared on the scene followed by their fellow officers.

Zephyr flipped the long brown hair arrogantly and grinned, "You think more people will make a difference!? HAHA! WHAT A JOKE! I'm an ancient demon capable of anything!!!"

I rolled my eyes.

This performance is so cringy.

Chief Gonza's eyes widened, "You were a demon all along!?! So then you must have been the one who stole my key of truth too!"

"Uhh…" Zephyr paused and calculated something quickly in his head. Then he nodded firmly, "That's right! I stole that key! And you won't see it again!... I think."

My face twitched.

Zephyr, that idiot. His acting is terrible! Who would possibly believe this?!

Captain Lou shouted, "Demon! You have finally shown your true self! Prepare to die!"

My face tightened.

Ah, this idiot would.

Chief Gonza clenched his jaw, "I knew you couldn't possibly be human!"

…And that idiot as well.

I slapped my face in disbelief and muttered, "Are they all brute strength without any sense of intelligence?!"

The Headmaster stared at Zephyr and forced out in a flat tone, "You… You demon. I should have known."

My face stiffened.

Oh.

My.

Gods.

The Headmaster is almost as bad as Zephyr!!

The Headmaster held out a cross I made out of twigs, "Begone demon. I command you to leave this body."

Zephyr started flailing dramatically, "AHHH! IT HURTS!"

I had to cover my face in shame at their terrible acting.

Luckily, the crowd was completely entranced by the whole scene.

Worried that people would be confused by the situation, the Headmaster spoke quickly, "This cross is an ancient relic capable of exorcising demons from possessed bodies. No demon can fight off its power and will be forced to vacate the body."

Zephyr stuck out his tongue, "AAHH! You're right! I can't fight it!"

Zephyr's smoke was released from the body, setting my mother free. Her unconscious body rolled off the building as his form materialized on the roof. The Headmaster stealthily caught her and looked back at Zephyr in boredom.

Zephyr's naked upper torso appeared from smoke as he shook his fist, "I will be back!"

Captain Lou shouted, "Aldrich! Don't let him escape!"

The Headmaster craned his neck to look in the opposite direction, "Bird."

Chief Gonza looked at the Headmaster in confusion, "...Bird?"

Zephyr took advantage of the Headmaster's poor, but successful, attempt to distract the others and flew into the distance. At that time, I tossed a magic spell to make people think he was flying in one direction, but in reality, he landed next to me.

The Headmaster straightened his tie, "Oh no. He got away."

As Zephyr "escaped into the distance", Chief Gonza and Captain Lou rushed over to the Headmaster.

Chief Gonza spoke, "Aldrich! When did you get a relic that could exorcise demons?"

The Headmaster averted his eyes, "...Recently."

Chief Gonza looked hurt, "And you didn't try to brag about it this time?"

His face twitched, "It was… Very recently… I didn't have the time."

Captain Lou looked at the cross with greed, "With this, we could get rid of so many demons!"

The Headmaster looked at the cross and tightened his fists, breaking it into pieces.

He wiped his hands, "It… It appears to have a one-time use only."

Captain Lou's face twitched, "R-Really..."

After Zephyr flew back to me and reverted into his normal form. He stared at me with bright eyes, "Did you see my acting?! Wasn't I amazing!?"

I forced on a smile, "Y-Yeah… I almost can't believe the skill you have…"

…Or lack of skill.

He held his body and trembled. He stuck out his tongue, "Ugh. I hate possessing bodies. It feels so dirty to be in that filthy human flesh. It's bad enough you make me wear clothes, but wearing someone else's skin is even worse!"

I laughed and rubbed his head, "You did very well. Thank you."

His eyes lit up, "Do I get my treat now?"

"You'll get some tasty chicken after this resolves itself." I stood up and pulled on his hand, "Now let's go back to the Academy before anyone notices."

…

[Author's note: This section is from no one's point of view.]

The Headmaster stared down at Della with a worried look, "Umm… Are you okay?"

Chief Gonza looked at her, "If she's been under the demon's influence for a long time, she may take a while to wake up."

Her eyebrows pinched together, "Ooh.."

Chief Gonza froze, "-Or not."

Her eyes slowly opened and stared up at the Headmaster who was still holding her. She beamed at him, "Oh! I've been saved by my own Prince charming! Let me bestow a kiss-"

The Headmaster promptly dropped her in a panic.

She landed on the ground roughly, "Ouch!"

Chief Gonza panicked and rushed to her side, "M-Madam! Are you okay?!" He hissed at the Headmaster, "Aldrich! This woman was just possessed! How could you drop her so heartlessly? Can't you see she's in pain?"

The Headmaster glanced at her with a cold expression, "Are you… Okay?"

She jumped to her feet and rushed towards him with shining eyes, "I have fallen in love with you! Please! Take me as your wife!"

Chief Gonza, Captain Lou, and the rest of the onlookers watched the scene with confusion clearly shown on their faces. However, despite being confused, they were enthralled by the sudden change of events.

The Headmaster took a few steps back with a dark expression.

Anyone who didn't know him would think that he was getting angry.

However, Chief Gonza recognized that his brother was actually extremely embarrassed.

Even though the Headmaster was handsome, charming, and a perfect bachelor; his cold expression and fierce eyes were enough to scare away any interested party. Thus, he never encountered anyone who pursued him without any sense of fear.

She twisted her hair with a shy look, "I will give you everything I can offer… Although it's not much, my heart and soul will always belong to you."

Ice spikes suddenly shot up around him as his expression turned darker.

She stepped around them with a grin, "Oh, an ice attribute? Then it's fate. I am also an ice attribute, so we will get along nicely."

She pulled the Headmaster close in an embrace and whispered into his ear, "Don't you think it would be strange for me to suddenly come live with you? Or didn't you think that far?"

It was obvious by his silence that he hadn't thought that far ahead.

She pondered her next steps and finally came to a conclusion in her head of how to proceed. She kissed his cheek, "Please marry me!"

This completely pushed the Headmaster over the edge.

He shoved her off and took more steps back while covering his cheek with his sleeve, "M-Marriage is too much!!!"

Having been shoved back, she recalculated in her head. She finally shouted, "Then a servant! Allow me to serve you faithfully in your house! After all, I was a slave so I'm used to-"

She suddenly froze, realizing her slip of the tongue. Her eyes shrank back as she nervously looked at the crowd around her.

Whispers suddenly started to circle around her.

"Poor woman… She was a slave?"

"No wonder the demon got her so easily!"

"Just think about the things she had to do!"

Della's face turned even paler.

"Such a beautiful face, what a pity."

"Aren't slaves sullied by their master? By offering herself to the powerful Headmaster-"

"Ah, he couldn't possibly marry a slave! You're right!"

"Can one even trust her? I mean… A slave is a little-"

Della bit down on her lips.

Even though the Kingdom claimed to take pity on refugees fleeing from slavery, there still lay a bias against people from those situations.

Chief Gonza noticed the shame and fear on her face and rushed to her side. He shouted at the Headmaster, "Aldrich! For several years you had no one to take care of your house. You can at least repay her sincerity by hiring her as a maid. Plus, I can see that she's a very kind and compassionate person. If you don't hire her, then I will."

The whispers ceased immediately.

Reika may not trust Gonza's judgment of people, but the rest of the City did.

The Headmaster looked away, "Fine."

Her eyes lit up, "Really?"

He nodded slowly, "I will hire you… Reika and I are leaving the Kingdom for a few years to study abroad, so I can use the help along the way. I will bring you with me."

Chief Gonza nodded happily, "That's a relief to hear. Now I can- WAIT!? YOU'RE LEAVING?!"

The Headmaster looked back at him with a nod, "We are. For a few years at least."

He shrieked, "WHY!?"

The Headmaster cleared his throat, "It came to my attention that Reika is in need of instilling better morals and could benefit from the experience of helping the less fortunate."

Captain Lou smirked, "Excellent choice. That brat really needed-"

Captain Lou was immediately silenced by the infamous glare from the Marlow brothers.

[End of Season One.]