-668- Owe you a favour

Raphael Men's Dormitory, behind the dorms.

Guided by Sigmund, Rozen emerged from the dormitories and arrived here. As soon as he arrived, Rozen spotted a nervous girl with her back turned to them, muttering something.

Seeing this, Rozen and Sigmund exchanged glances, and they both silently approached, trying not to make any noise.

Upon getting closer, Rozen overheard her conversation.

"T-That thing was an accident! Since you're a man, don't take such trivial matters to heart!"

Charl seemed to speak as if addressing an unseen person, and she huffed, quite proud of herself.

However, a little later, Charl lowered her head and mumbled to herself.

"This won't do; it feels more like I'm picking a fight. I came here to apologize, after all."

With a cough, Charl then spoke seriously to the empty air.

"I was in the wrong, I apologize. Please forgive me."

After saying this, the seriousness on Charl's face faded.

"No, no, it makes me look too submissive. I'm Charlotte from the Belew family, an earl's daughter with the unicorn emblem bestowed by the queen. Being so meek to a foreign transfer student would bring shame to my family and country."

Charl shook her head, continuously changing her approach, speaking to the empty air in front of her in various ways.

Seeing this, Rozen understood everything. Not only Rozen but even Sigmund seemed to comprehend what was happening, as if watching his own somewhat clumsy daughter, feeling both helpless and indulgent.

This made Rozen chuckle, and he finally chose to speak.

"What are you doing? Practicing an apology?"

"Yaaah!"

Charl immediately jumped up, letting out a scream.

Then, Charl awkwardly turned around, only to see Rozen standing behind her with a somewhat amused expression.

"You, you, you, you, you!" Charl suddenly widened her eyes and exclaimed in a panic, "When did you get there!?"

"Me?" Rozen replied with a sly smile. "Right when you said, 'That thing was an accident! Since you're a man, don't take such trivial matters to heart,' I suppose?"

Upon hearing Rozen's words, Charl's delicate and pretty face turned bright red in an instant.

"You, you impolite scoundrel, hiding behind a lady like that!"

Charl, with tears in her eyes due to intense embarrassment, clenched her small fists and continuously pounded on Rozen.

"Clearly, it was your fault for openly doing something like that in a place like this. Don't act too innocent."

Rozen calmly avoided Charl's incoming punches and spoke nonchalantly.

"Then what?" Rozen looked at Charl, almost with a teasing tone. "You came here in the middle of the night to apologize?"

Apologize for what?

"Because you leaked my whereabouts to Felix, and this made you feel uncomfortable about everything he's done to me. So, you came to apologize, right?"

Rozen exposed the situation.

In other words, Rozen had already guessed what was going on. After all, the only person who knew that Rozen was monitoring Frey was Charl. For Felix to know about Rozen's surveillance in the forest and set up a trap with the disciplinary committee waiting for him to reveal himself, it was likely that he learned about Rozen's situation from Charl.

Now, it seemed that Felix was preparing for reconnaissance and selecting his prey for the night. Instead of attacking Frey, he intended to frame Rozen, imprison him temporarily as a suspect, and then, with both Rozen and Yaya separated, the Disciplinary Committee would strip Rozen of his automaton and Yaya would lose her supply of magical energy, rendering her defenseless.

At that point, Felix could safely attack Yaya and acquire her magical circuit. He'd later use his position as the Disciplinary Committee chairman to clean up the mess.

Unfortunately for Felix, he was unaware that Rozen had already suspected the Academy and had a deep sense of mistrust. His timely appearance, combined with the lesson of his previous incident at the Onmyoudou Agency, made Rozen determined not to compromise.

In fact, even if Rozen initially agreed, Felix wouldn't have succeeded, would he? After all, Rozen and Yaya had already formed a Shikigami Contract. Even if they were separated, they could still transfer magical energy between each other through the contract.

So, if Felix really wanted to attack the isolated Yaya, Rozen thought that unless it was an instant lethal strike, Yaya would make him regret it once she realized what was happening.

Of course, without Rozen manipulating it, Yaya's "Kongouriki" likely couldn't fully unleash its potential. Whether it could withstand "Cannibal Candy" was another matter.

In any case, Charl seemed to think that Rozen was going to face such a situation, and the reason for that lay entirely with her actions. That's why she had come to apologize in such an unguarded manner.

"You're surprisingly a very conscientious and rule-abiding girl," Rozen said with a hint of approval.

Originally, Rozen thought Charl was an arrogant and bad-tempered young lady with an overinflated sense of self. This contributed to her poor reputation. However, now he realized that she was simply unguarded, and her personality wasn't that bad.

However...

"I didn't take this matter to heart," Rozen told Charl. "You don't need to assume all the responsibility for this."

Charl seemed to be shouldering all the blame herself.

"Even if you say that," Charl bit her lip and said stubbornly, "even if you say that, it's because of my actions that you're being treated unfairly, and I can't just sit by and ignore it."

From this, it's clear that deep down, this young lady indeed possesses a considerable level of seriousness.

"So, how do you plan to proceed?" Rozen shrugged and asked, "Is accepting your apology enough?"

"Of course, it's not just that," Charl shook her head and said earnestly, "This time, I owe you a favour. In the future, no matter what happens, as long as you need my help, and it doesn't go against my principles, I will lend you my strength."

"This is my promise to you."

With that, Charl finally relaxed a bit and regained her usual demeanor.

"Make good use of this opportunity," Charl said triumphantly.

"Not many people can claim to owe favors to Charlotte Belew."

With those words left behind, Charl turned around and departed from there without hesitation.

"Don't mind her," Sigmund finally spoke and said to Rozen, "Charl is just a little embarrassed. You should accept it, Rorelai."

With that, Sigmund followed Charl, and they left together.

Rozen watched the departure of the girl and the dragon.

Then, he turned his head and looked towards the shade of the tree.

"And what about you? Are you here to find me as well?" Rozen inquired in the direction of the tree's shadow.