How Lune-sensei conducted her class was no different than any other teacher. Starting off with a quick recap of what they learnt the previous lesson for no longer than 5 minutes, she went on to discuss what would be the new subtopic regarding magic cultivation. The class, in response, listened intently while jotting down some notes from time to time.
It might seem weird that the first thing they would do to celebrate the arrival of Kaze, Noel and Luniel into their class was by continuing lesson as usual. In fact, this was the way Lune-sensei herself deemed to be appropriate. Since the main reason for visiting was to explore and learn about how things were done in Aravel, it only made sense to have a normal class routine for them to compare themselves. Plus, the syllabus of what they were learning was no different than what Kaze and Noel would at their level with only a slight difference in teaching material, depth, and style.
Kaze had a spot towards the middle row of the class with Yumi and Kaguya. One of the items provided in the prize for winning the treasure hunt included a notebook and writing equipment for taking down notes and stuff. It was surprising enough that none of the students in the room had a textbook for the lesson, but even Lune-sensei herself did not seem to have any material to refer to when teaching. This shocked Kaze, who was used to having a textbook by his side during class where all the learning material was listed on for student reference.
"Um… Kaguya," Kaze quietly called out to Kaguya. "Sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you have textbooks?"
"Huh? Oh, we do, but no one brings them to school," Kaguya replied with a small smile. "It depends on the teacher on how they would be teaching though. For Lune-sensei, who relies on her own wealth of knowledge compared to what the books regurgitate, us students have also learnt to refer to what that had been taught in class before reading the textbooks for additional information."
"Eh… that is surprising," Kaze slowly nodded. "Alright, thanks for the info."
Turning back to the front, Kaze found that Noel had already adopted to the different style of learning and was writing away on her notes whereas his was still fresh and clean. Not wanting to miss out anything, he joined the group of students and took down whatever that was said and written by Lune-sensei.
Unlike the chalk-and-blackboard style of writing used in class, Lune-sensei seemed to prefer having magic writings appear effortlessly in front of the board. It reminded Kaze of how words constantly changed on the pamphlets they had. Since it was much easier to have words appear without wasting time, it was indeed something the dragonkins preferred: convenience. Lune-sensei was even capable of projecting images and moving projectiles to help her students imagine and understand certain parts of her lecture, something that was also new to Kaze.
When Lune-sensei conjured a huge magic circle for one of her explanations, some of the students leaked 'ooh's and 'ahh's of admiration for the scale that Lune-sensei was able to enhance the magic circle. There was nothing too fancy or complex about the way the magic circle was made. The part that made everyone impressed was how Lune-sensei was able to maintain the flow of magic used to stabilize the magic circle. It was hard to maintain a circle this big while retaining its initial strength and value.
One could determine the level a circle was at by simply inspecting its design. Lune-sensei had purposely created a magic circle with the fundamental principles they have learnt for simple understanding, allowing them to examine and learn from her. How she maintained a circle of this level in relation to its output force was masterful, such that even some of the higher-levelled mages would have a hard time balancing the magic circle for an extended period of time. As the Head of Faculty, Lune-sensei easily succeeded in maintaining the magic circle while giving her lecture.
A soft chime rang across the school grounds after some time, signalling the end of a period. This meant they would be going into their next class of the day with a different lecturer. Before that, there was a 10-minute break in between classes to allow students some time to rest, ask questions or use the toilet. Lune-sensei was ever popular, with students immediately rushing up to clarify some questions that they had during the lesson.
"So how was it?" Kaguya asked Kaze. "Your first lesson."
"It was unpredictable," Kaze admitted with a huge smile on his face. "The method of teaching was so fresh and new. I can see why everyone gets so engrossed and concentrated with Lune-sensei's delivery method."
"Of course! Lune-sensei has a way with words," Yumi easily agreed. "I find her classes on the more interesting side, especially when it is heavily emphasized in our curriculum."
"What do we have next?" Kaze stretched his back while asking so. "I can't wait to experience the rest of the classes."
Before Kaguya or Yumi could say a word, one of the dragonkins sitting in front of them turned around and looked at Kaze.
"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt, but you got called over by Lune-sensei," the dragonkin smiled wryly and pointed to the front of the class, where he could see Lune-sensei heading out the door first. "She has something to talk about with the new students."
"O-Oh, I'll be back," Kaze told Kaguya and Yumi. "Thanks for informing me."
Kaze, together with Luniel and Noel, headed out of the classroom where Lune-sensei was waiting. Once the three gathered, Lune-sensei brought them somewhere further away from the classroom since she wanted to speak with them in private.
They headed over to what looked to be an open study area without any students now, since classes were on. Lune-sensei sat at one of the tables, followed by Kaze, Luniel and Noel.
"Once again, it's a pleasure to be in the presence of Luniel-hime," Lune-sensei politely addressed Luniel as a princess before moving on to Kaze and Noel. "It is also a pleasure to have two very important guests with me in the classroom. How was lesson earlier?"
"I can see why Lunaria-nee would praise you, Lune-sensei. For someone like me who hates studying, I could absorb the materials taught easily," Luniel answered with a huge grin.
"I feel the same with Luniel, Lune-sensei," Noel answered next. "What other lessons do we have with you?"
"Good to know. I will be teaching your class for most of the lessons since everything under Magic Research and Cultivation is my prowess," Lune-sensei winked at Noel. "This includes practical classes, of course, so expect us to meet more often."
"Of course! Out of curiosity, are you teaching the other classes that my friends are attending?" Noel continued.
"I'm afraid not. Each class has its own homeroom teacher since we are a small academy and the only one, so there are a lot of teachers working here," Lune-sensei shook her head with an apologetic smile.
"Oh… that means Lunaria won't be able to get taught by you," Kaze muttered, before realizing he hadn't given Lune-sensei feedback yet. "S-Sorry. I also thought that your lessons were rather informative, and it surprised me that textbooks have become secondary here."
"Thank you. Speaking about Lunaria, I haven't seen that child for some time now," Lune-sensei sighed, remembering the past. "It was awfully kind of you to bring her up. Did she tell you about me?"
"Yes. Lunaria and I are… rather close, so she does tell me stuff from time to time," Kaze strung his words carefully to not reveal his relationship with Lunaria accidentally.
"Close, huh? That girl must trust you an awful lot to divulge about her past to you enough to mention me," the same grin returned to Lune-sensei's face as she spoke. "Also, excuse me if I sound a little rude. I don't like to speak so formally about my students, princess or not."
"I think Lunaria will be happy that you still remember her," Kaze smiled wryly at Lune-sensei's casual comments. "And yes, she does consider me a close friend."
"Hehe, I don't have to know how close you are with Lunaria to know that if that girl trusts you, you and your friends must all be very decent people," Lune-sensei nodded. "Sorry, my experience of the past tells me that when treating humans, you are either going to get a good apple or a rotten one."
"Lunaria was of the same opinion. It has affected her such that she is very selective about who she chooses to befriend," Kaze sweatdropped, thinking back when he first met Lunaria. "I was one of the lucky few."
"Hehe… as much as I would like to talk a little more with you three, you have to return to class first," Lune-sensei stood up. "It's almost time for the next period. If you like, you could come to the staffroom and find me during lunch break."
"Could I bring Lunaria with me? We promised to meet up."
"Of course. Please don't bring all your friends over, I don't want my office to get trashed."
While Lune-sensei was simply joking about not bringing everyone over, Kaze didn't want to bother her unnecessarily. As such, he decided to sacrifice time with his friends over lunch and made an appointment with her. Of course, he brought along Lunaria, who was more than willing to meet her teacher again.
At the staffroom, they went to Lune-sensei's private office to have their quick talk before rejoining their friends for lunch. After all, they had an hour to burn so they needn't be too worried.
"Lune-sensei, we are here."
"Come on in. I can already sense a very familiar magic signature standing with you."
Kaze opened the door to her office and allowed Lunaria to enter first. With a deep breath, Lunaria took the first step inside and came face to face with Lune-sensei. Slumped in her chair, Lune-sensei turned around to see Lunaria for herself. Instantly, Lunaria's eyes widened as she immediately hugged the teacher she hadn't met for so long, feeling overwhelmed with emotions now that they were in private.
Lune-sensei responded with a light hug back, a smile unravelling like a child receiving presents on Christmas. It was all the more heart-warming knowing the bond the two shared, especially when Lunaria went through such a dark time with minimal support. Lune-sensei was equivalent to a pillar of hope back when Lunaria attended school by herself.
"How are you feeling?" Lune-sensei asked Lunaria gently while patting her head. "I heard what happened while you were in Tristania. I'm sorry you had to go through such a tough situation yourself."
"N-No, I'm good," Lunaria shook her head, wiping away the tears that had leaked unintentionally. "I was afraid, and still am recovering right now. If not for my friends, who tried their hardest to help me, to be able to visit me…"
Kaze stood aside while this happened, feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside from watching their interaction. Lunaria rarely showed as much emotion to other people as she was right now, meaning that Lune-sensei was someone important in her life too. For Lunaria, who was once deemed a genius without many dragonkin friends during her schooling period, led a rather lonely life by herself. It was ironic that a princess was the one with least sense and hated by society during a harsh time. Then again, it happened before so imagining it wasn't too hard.
Eventually, Lunaria and Kaze sat down in front of Lune-sensei with chairs provided. Lunaria seemed to have calmed down from her touching reunion, something she had put off for so long out of her depressed state. It made visiting Lune-sensei something that she had forgotten to do, even when she had mostly recovered after a few years or so.
"As you probably know, I will be teaching Kaze here for the next few days," Lune-sensei told Lunaria and gestured to Kaze. "We only spoke a bit, but I can already tell that you trust him a lot."
"I certainly do," Lunaria nodded with an honest expression on her face. "Kaze helped me a lot in Tristania."
"Because of that, Lunaria also provided me with a lot of support," Kaze made a weak smile. "Financially, that is."
"I don't see a problem with that. Lunaria should know how to spend her wealth and funds properly by now. If she chose to do so and spend it on you, then I can't judge her for making such a choice," Lune-sensei grinned, coaxing Kaze that he should accept her goodwill. "More importantly, I heard from Kaze you wanted to meet with me?"
"Yes. It's been so long, Lune-sensei. I want to repay my debt to you for taking care of me during that period in my life," Lunaria nodded. "I-If that's not too harsh for you…"
"You know me, Lunaria. I don't like to accept gifts or rewards if I did something out of my own heart," Lune-sensei sighed at this. "Unless it's a royal decree, I would kindly reject."
"As expected," Lunaria made a crooked smile and stopped pushing. "Well, I didn't expect Lune-sensei to accept my request too. This shows me you deserve the title of Head of Faculty, Lune-sensei."
"My, your praise sounds a little dangerous, Lunaria-hime," Lune-sensei accepted Lunaria's critical acclaims easily.
"No, I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart. You never changed for so long, and that's a good thing. I don't want the Lune-sensei I know to become a different person," Lunaria giggled. "Please take it as a praise and nothing more."
"Enough about me. My job simply involves teaching students and researching before I got promoted to this level. What about you, Lunaria?" Lune-sensei leaned forward with her chin resting on her hand. "How was Czech?"
"Aside from everything that happened, it has been great," Lunaria responded with a surprising answer. "Considering that the centipede attack and the devil attack were both things out of our control, I believe that Tristania actually had a lot to offer. Plus, Sir Ethan was a nice guy."
"Ah, the King? You managed to meet him personally?" Lune-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Was it through personal connections like that Yuuji prince?"
"That depends how you want to see it. Kaze?" Lunaria glanced at her boyfriend, who was actually the key to them getting invited to the palace in the first place.
"Based on what I know, Lunaria met Sir Ethan once through formalities as a way of greeting when she first entered the nation," Kaze recounted the number of times they met Ethan out loud. "And then when the centipede thing happened, our group was invited over to the palace where I was made to spar with Sir Ethan. The third time would be when we were invited to Aravel and had to gather for departure there."
"A total of three times, twice through formal notice," Lune-sensei concluded after listening to him. "That's pretty impressive already, meeting with the King of another nation 3 times in less than a year."
"Not counting that we are literally living in the palace of Aravel and meeting Reginsleif-sama and Laevia-sama on a daily basis," Kaze muttered, causing Lunaria to nudge him lightly.
"Come on now, you make meeting my parents sound like a horrible deal. Aren't they welcoming?" Lunaria teased him. "Even Yuuji and the others are impressed that they don't act like rulers at all."
"Are you sure you want to treat your girlfriend this way? You are talking about her parents after all," Lune-sensei casually added.
"The problem is not that I am living with them, but is more because they treat Lunaria and I-"
Before Kaze could answer that, he paused himself as he realized the trick question. Both him and Lunaria's face gradually turned red out of shame, eventually stammering and looking around frantically. They didn't even try to deny what Lune-sensei asked because of the sharp gaze in her eyes and the especially cheeky grin her smile from before had evolved.
"Sorry, I had to try something that would trip your act," Lune-sensei laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'm not offended or surprised."
"A-A-Are you… not?" Lunaria asked softly, unable to meet her teacher's eyes. "Uuuuu…. I'm sorry we had to hide it…"
"Don't apologise. Even I understand the scale that this news could bring if it was made public unintentionally," Lune-sensei patted Lunaria's head. "I only managed to guess it based on your mannerism and the way you treated each other. Who knew that Lunaria-hime, Rejector of a Thousand Men, would end up with a human hunk?"
"F-First of all! I don't know how you created that nickname!" Lunaria blushed to the point the tip of her ears turned red from Lune-sensei's direct assault. "Second of all! A-Are you admitting that K-Kaze is hot?!"
"Calm down, Lunaria. I was simply teasing you," Lune-sensei grabbed the side of her ribs from laughing too hard at her reaction. "And yes, I will admit that Kaze is rather good-looking."
"Uhh, is that supposed to be sarcasm? I would say I am fairly average looking…" Kaze sweatdropped, his heart aching from suddenly being the target of the conversation.
"Maybe you humans think that way, but for Lunaria and I, we both can agree you are attractive," Lune-sensei explained herself calmly, trying not to incur another fit of rage from Lunaria. "For human standards, at least."
"… I would also like to know why Lune-sensei gave Lunaria that very suspicious nickname…"
"Y-You don't have to know!"
"Oho, you really want to know?"
"… Yes please…"
"Kaze?!!"
"The story is not as interesting as you would imagine it to be. As the firstborn princess of the nation, it is natural to assume that she would receive a lot of marriage requests from people all over the world. This is especially so when Lunaria hadn't had a fiancé yet and was the cream of the crop. In terms of beauty and status, she was unrivalled. It was also why she had so many requests to take her hand in marriage, yet she rejected them all without mercy."
"Ah… that honestly is not too hard to imagine. Lunaria did say dragonkins value honesty more than anything. If there was a way that Lunaria could detect any malicious intent coming from the marriage requests, then it is not surprising she would reject them. But how is this so well-known? I assume it is known by many because Lune-sensei is aware of it. Aren't matters like this kept confidential?"
"That's the thing. While it should have been private, somewhere along the line the whole fiasco just becomes an open secret. Nobles and kings from other nations fussed over the fact Lunaria was such a hard piece of jewellery. I am not joking when I say that Lunaria is a literal diamond, not to diminish the rest of the dragonkin girls in our nation."
"… I would admit that Lunaria is indeed a diamond."
"K-Kaze?"
When Kaze praised her, Lunaria glanced at him shyly with adoration in his eyes. It didn't help that her tail was starting to slither to his side from how much it was wagging behind her right now. Lune-sensei also took note of the aggressive wagging Lunaria was starting to display, causing her to smirk at Kaze. When a dragonkin had her tail wagging so intensely while her partner spoke of her, that meant she truly loved him. Plus, Lune-sensei knew that they were definitely not faking their relationship, with it being built on pure trust.
"Kaze, what did you do to make our princess fall for you so hard?" Lune-sensei asked with a chuckle, causing Kaze to blush harder. "Don't worry, I already casted a wind barrier around us so we can talk without restrictions."
"I-Is that so?" Kaze gulped, wondering if it was okay to believe her. "Uhh… I fell for her just as hard as she did to me, and it was really all about the process and what we went through together."
"And… Lune-sensei, before I say anything, can we please get your guarantee that nothing will be leaked or told to anyone?" Lunaria asked with a sigh. "Our relationship has already been approved by father and mother, but they have no plans to make it public yet."
"Don't worry, I understand," Lune-sensei nodded and placed a finger on her lips. "Students complaining about stress and keeping secrets all the time to me. I will honour my word."
"… Actually, all five of us are planning to marry Kaze," Lunaria admitted in a tiny voice, causing Lune-sensei to widen her eyes at what was said. "So far, only Lunatea, Lucentia and I have officially confessed and want to date Kaze."
"T-To clarify, I was also a little sceptical when this happened because the confessions came within a span of a few days," Kaze added his part, seeing that Lune-sensei was trustworthy. "And then Lunaea and Luniel expressed their willingness to get along with me, which led to them now determining whether they would develop feelings for me."
"I see," Lune-sensei nodded after hearing this and sighed out loud. "God, I certainly didn't expect a secret on this level when you said that there would be a secret. I can see why the Emperor would choose not to reveal something like that yet. If the crowd gets hold of this… I can't imagine what would happen."
"Lune-sensei, is our relationship a mistake?" Lunaria whimpered softly. "I hate how the world acts like it will reject us just because we are people of two different species."
"… That is a rather deep question you are asking me, Lunaria," Lune-sensei placed a hand on Lunaria's trembling shoulder. "If you ask me, I don't see a problem with it. Your relationship was never a mistake, especially because you two are pure and honest about it. Why should you let other people determine who you should end up with just because you are different? As far as I'm concerned, if the Emperor and Empress have both given your relationship a green light, then anyone against it is essentially going against the rulers of the nation themselves."
With Lune-sensei's quick and simple reasoning, Kaze and Lunaria felt like their choice of loving each other had never been wrong. It made them reaffirm their love yet again, Lunaria now holding onto his hand openly without fear that Lune-sensei could see them acting this way.
"Oh my, look at the time. You two should return to the cafeteria to have your lunch," Lune-sensei stated after checking the time. "Sorry for keeping you two here for so long. Even though I have a lot more things to ask you, like why Reginsleif-sama and Laevia-sama would permit such an absurd dating manner in the first place, but that will have to wait for now."
"It was great talking to you again, Lune-sensei. Thank you for promising to keep our secret," Lunaria bowed deeply at her.
"Likewise, Lunaria," Lune-sensei gave Lunaria a light nod. "I will be looking forward to the reveal of your relationship, Kaze. We will see each other for class later."
"Yes, Lune-sensei," Kaze gulped, wondering if that was supposed to be a threat or a simple reminder.
Once the two left the room, Lune-sensei tilted her head at her desk. It was cluttered with work and documents, making her workspace look much smaller than what was provided. With a sigh, she got up from her chair and began tidying some of the bigger stacks that were deemed a nuisance while preparing for class later.
"All five of our princesses are after one guy?" Lune-sensei murmured to herself. "That just sounds crazy."
Sighing out loud, Lune-sensei dispelled the wind barrier erected around her room. She decided to put aside her thoughts and focus on her work.