To become a king and a magician

Lydia took a small sip of her drink.

"I just feel that my age is no longer suitable. After all, I am already 28 years old. No matter what, I can't continue to work as an idol at this age. People will say that I am an auntie idol."

Twenty-eight years old is indeed an age when one could be called an aunt.

"Besides the monarch's affairs, the Acherot family's affairs... all sorts of things combined have kept me very busy, so I've decided to graduate from idol school and focus on the power struggles within the Clock Tower from now on."

At this point, Lydel looked at Natsukawa Torato: "Unfortunately, Torato has already been chosen by Lord El-Melloi, otherwise I would really like to bring you to my plant family."

"Why would I go to the botany department? I'm not going to study potions."

"To be a thug."

"Aha?"

"Our plant family is relatively weak among the twelve disciplines. We are often ridiculed and mocked during the monarchical council. If we had a capable enforcer to keep things in check, those old guys would probably behave themselves a bit, right?"

When those old guys were mentioned, Lydia's expression clearly showed some displeasure, obviously because she had been tormented by those older monarchs.

Xia Chuanhu felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this.

"In that case, wouldn't it be fine if I didn't go to the botany department? Besides, if I specifically switched to the botany department just to be your henchman, my position would become quite difficult. I still have to repay Professor Kenneth for his kindness in recognizing my talent."

Since they met during the Holy Grail War, Kenneth has helped Natsukawa Torato quite a bit, both openly and secretly. It's only right and proper that he should repay him, especially since he himself isn't uninterested in the Summoning Department.

"But don't worry, if you encounter any difficulties, just contact me and I will definitely come to help you—as a friend."

"My friend..."

Lidel picked up her glass, gave Natsukawa Tora a meaningful look, and downed her drink in one gulp: "Well, I'll accept your explanation. I hope that when I encounter difficulties in the future, you won't make up all sorts of excuses to avoid it."

"What kind of image do you have of me? I don't think I've left you with any bad impressions in the past two years, have I?"

"Hmph~~~"

Seemingly in a good mood, Lydia hummed twice before changing the subject: "By the way, how's your priesthood advancement going? I remember you seemed to be stuck when I came back last time?"

"There is already a solution for that."

It wasn't Natsukawa Torato who answered Lydia, but Weber.

"The biggest problem with Tiger's magic is its uncertainty, but we've recently figured out a certain pattern that allows us to summon fairies of a specific type. The next step is to explore the more detailed conditions."

"Rather than figuring it out by trial and error, it was Weber who noticed it," Xia Chuanhu laughed. "My initial plan was to find a fixed combination through a large number of tests, but you directly noticed the pattern, saving me a lot of effort."

Has he already overcome a weakness in just one month?

Lydia was somewhat surprised.

Normally, when magic research encounters problems, it is possible to stagnate for months or even years. If magicians have partners, it is better, but if a magician who works alone gets stuck in a bottleneck, it is possible that he will never be able to make any further progress until he dies.

"In that case, wouldn't you be able to be promoted to priesthood very soon? Becoming a priesthood at the age of twenty-one, you're another child prodigy."

“Still not as good as Professor Kenneth.” Natsukawa Tiger shrugged. “Alright, let’s not talk about me anymore. Let’s have dinner. Which hotel did you book this time? I’ll take you home after we eat.”

This has been a routine between the two of them.

Basically, whenever Lydia returns, the two of them will have dinner together, and Natsukawa Tiger will only return to his apartment after dropping her off at her hotel.

"Today? I'm not staying at a hotel today."

"Huh? Not staying in a hotel? Where are you staying then?"

Lydia tapped on the table.

"I'll stay here. I've already had my luggage sent; it should arrive tomorrow. For today... Lillian, may I borrow yours?"

"No problem at all, but my clothes might be a little big for you..."

As she said this, whether intentionally or not, Mary slightly puffed out her chest.

Unfortunately—

"You're not that much older, are you?"

Natsukawa Tora's rather oblivious remark made Meryl's face freeze. She turned around and reached out to grab his ear in a very friendly manner: "Natsukawa, what did you just say?"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch... There's nothing there, nothing at all!"

"Ah That's good."

Smiling, she withdrew her hand and patted Natsukawa Tora's head. Then, she looked at Lydel and asked, "But Lydel, you just said you were going to send your luggage over... Are you planning to stay here for a long time?"

"Yes, I plan to stay here as a guest. Of course, I will pay the rent and everything else."

"Your Highness is going to move into our student dormitory... May I ask why?"

Lydia thought about it for a moment.

"The most direct reason is that I don't want to go back. After seeing the environment here, I felt that the Archerlot family home was really gloomy. In addition, I haven't been back for a long time, and I don't feel any sense of belonging to any place. You are all my acquaintances here, and it's close to the plant department, so I simply decided to stay here."

(Well, there's also part of the reason on my own.)

Lydia glanced at Natsukawa Tora and sighed softly.

"Of course, even though I say I live here, I'll only come back to sleep and eat. I won't bring the monarch's work here."

"Hmm... As the landlord, I have no objection, and I'm quite familiar with Lydia, but what do you guys think?"

Meili asked Natsukawa and the other two.

A monarch is to live in the student dormitory, and he is a botanical monarch who is a famous idol of the Clock Tower.

If this gets out, it will probably cause another storm of rumors at the Clock Tower.

"I don't mind, and Grey probably won't mind either, right?"

"Yes, welcome to stay here, Miss Lydia."

"Since you all agree, it seems there's no point in me disagreeing."

In short, it passed unanimously.

A slight smile curved her lips as Lydia gazed at Natsukawa Toramaru: "Then, please take care of me from now on, Toramaru."

Why are you telling me this?

"Hehe~~~ You guess."

3. Cut the flag before it's set.

The next day, early in the morning.

As usual, after being woken up by Grey, I went to the restaurant on the first floor.

"Good morning......"

Still somewhat tired, Xia Chuanhu greeted the two cooks in the kitchen.

Good morning, brother.

"You seem a bit listless this morning. Did you have a nightmare?" Meryl approached Natsukawa Torato with a smile. "In that case, how about I protect your dreams from now on? I can let you spend every night in pink, beautiful dreams."

"Washing the sheets that way would be a hassle, and besides, with all this talk about pink, if you interfere, I'll probably just have a terrible nightmare."

He pulled out a chair and sat down, then sighed softly, "I just dreamt about that place again, the Thousand-Year City."

"Ah, that dream again."

A city with a thousand-year history.

Mei Li had heard Xia Chuanhu mention that he had been having this dream recently. Since it was related to dreams, Xia Chuanhu immediately thought that Mei Li was the one who could answer his questions.

Unfortunately, even when asked why Natsukawa Tora had such a dream, Merry could only give a general explanation.

"The reason you're having dreams is probably because you've been using summoning magic a lot lately. Frequently opening fairy gates and letting fairies possess you has caused you to gradually develop some of the Star Touch's traits."

"This trait won't affect you much. In fact, it will disappear if you don't use summoning magic for a period of time. But because of this trait, you've been able to make connections with other similar beings, and Princess Shirohime is one of them."

It's similar to the situation with radio.

Placing a stack of freshly baked bread, bacon, and eggs in front of Natsukawa Torata, Meryl asked, "But this is quite unexpected. Princess Shirahime was supposed to be asleep the whole time, yet she woke up at this hour... Is she preparing to resume the executions?"

"Execution... the Serpent of Akasha, huh?"

"That's right. The culprit who caused Princess Bai Ji to go berserk by drinking blood eight hundred years ago, resulting in the annihilation of the Thousand-Year City, it's about time, isn't it?"

At this point, Meryl looked at Natsukawa Torato: "So, will that king, who always gets involved in troublesome matters for various reasons, also get involved this time?"

What do you want to do?

"I don't want to do anything, I just want to see His Majesty the King's heroic fighting spirit after so long. I'll be recording the whole thing with a camera."

"That's perfect, I'll drag you into this and beat you up too."

"Hey~~~~ How could you do this? How could you bring yourself to hurt someone?"

Splat!

He punched Mary squarely on the head and casually remarked, "I'm more than willing to."

"Brother, please stop bullying Sister Meryl."

Carrying a plate of breakfast as well, Grey walked over and subtly pulled Mary away from Natsukawa Tiger as she spoke.

Her eyes flickered a few times, then Mary suddenly hugged Grey tightly: "Oh dear, my little Grey has grown up so much! She knows how to protect her older sister now. Xia Chuan, you must listen to your sister and not bully such a weak girl~~~"

"How could you say something like that..."

“Brother.” Grey tugged at Natsukawa Tora’s sleeve. “Speaking of which, Miss Lydia hasn’t gotten up yet. Did she oversleep? I’ll go check on her.”

"No, I'll go. I've just finished eating and was about to go back to my room."

Today is Saturday, no classes. Natsukawa Tiger usually spends his weekends in his room unless he has a day off for work.

Watching Natsukawa Tora leave the kitchen, Meryl suddenly moved closer to Grey: "Grey, tell your sister, what do you think of Lydel?"

"Eh? To Miss Lydia?"

Grey thought about it for a moment.

"She seems like someone who exudes a strong sense of being a 'young lady'."

"So, do you think she's a good match for Xia Chuan?"

"Suitable?" Grey tilted her head. "Suitable means what?"