After leaving the meeting room of the space station, Erik walked through the station's beautiful corridors until he arrived at a lovely private chamber. He entered the chamber accompanied by Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina, all of them wearing an elegant and serious, almost aristocratic expression. This caused amazement among all passersby.
Just as the doors to the private room closed, a barrier extended, completely covering the room. At the same time, Sigrún leaped onto Erik in excitement, letting any hint of elegance or seriousness fly out the window without the slightest concern.
Absolutely delighted, Sigrún began to give Erik a rapid succession of kisses on his cheek, then hugged him tightly while exclaiming with excitement and spinning in small hops, as if she were a teenage girl.
"You're the best, Erik!!! Did you see the faces of those old bastards? Did you see how they were dying of envy for not having such a brilliant disciple? I was able to show off all I wanted thanks to you, hahahaha, you're the best disciple in the world!!!"
Hearing the happiness in his master's voice, Erik smiled warmly and returned the hug, causing Sigrún to stop hopping. Instead, the beautiful master buried her face in her beloved disciple's chest, allowing her heart to melt in his warm and loving embrace.
Initially, Erik had been a bit worried that he hadn't done enough for his masters to boast the way they wanted. After all, he didn't get too many chances to perform aside from his dramatic entrance at the start and his brazen theft of the staff. But it seemed his worries were unwarranted, and everything turned out just fine.
Meanwhile, Eleonora observed Sigrún's behavior with a gentle smile on her face, genuinely happy to see just how excited she was. But upon seeing the hug that her beloved disciple and sworn sister were sharing, she quickly drew near and hugged him affectionately from behind, then kissed his cheek and spoke in a soft, delighted voice.
"Erik, you really outdid yourself. You made me feel truly proud."
"I'm glad you liked my performance."
Erik commented warmly, at which moment Eleonora rested her head on his back, initiating a comfortable silence in which they conveyed their emotions through the warmth of their embrace. Sigrún and Eleonora's hearts filled with a gentle, soothing sensation, leaving only gratitude in their minds for the day they met their beloved disciple who brought them so much happiness.
After a moment, Erik turned to look at his reliable maid, Seraphina, who, despite having a serious and highly professional expression, inevitably appeared a bit lonely—a sight that brought a playful smile to Erik's lips. His beautiful maid was very dependable, but she was also stubborn to a fault, so she sometimes needed a little push.
Seeing her beloved young master free one of his arms from Sigrún's embrace and extend it toward her with a pleasant smile, Seraphina couldn't help showing a startled and conflicted expression, lowering her head right after. Indeed, she very much wanted to join the hug, but at the same time, it was not the kind of behavior befitting a perfect maid, which filled her mind with endless doubts about what she should do.
Noting Seraphina's conflicted look, Erik grinned in amusement and cast the most powerful spell he knew to convince his stubborn personal maid. A ghostly hand materialized from thin air behind Seraphina, delivering a resounding, but soundless, smack on her backside. This caused her to jerk her head up in surprise to look at her young master, who wore an imperious, dominant expression, sending Seraphina an ultimatum with his gaze.
Seraphina's face quickly turned an attractive shade of pink as she began casting shy yet pleased glances at her beloved young master, who understood her better than anyone else. Shortly after, she approached him with short, hesitant steps, almost fearful of what she was about to do.
Upon arriving at Erik's side, Sigrún grinned mischievously and made room for Seraphina, who then hugged her young master, burying her face in his chest and refusing to look at anyone—almost like a frightened turtle retreating into its shell for protection—causing the pair of masters to smile in amusement.
"Seraphina, the perfect maid, is intruding on her Young Lady's affectionate moment with her young master. How disrespectful, fufufu." Eleonora said with a laugh, giving a teasing look to Seraphina, who used Erik as a shield, unwilling to raise her head.
"Yeah, Sera, the perfect maid, has broken character. What a tragedy, hehehe." Sigrún immediately joined in, making fun of Seraphina with a broad grin.
"Don't make fun of Seraphina. She didn't want this; I forced her." Erik spoke calmly, attempting to keep his masters from teasing his poor maid, but Sigrún showed no mercy and added mockingly.
"Don't defend this shameless maid, Erik. Look at her, wedging herself between her mistress and her young master—what nerve, hehe."
"Yes, Erik, let us speak our mind about this 'perfect shadow', fufufu." Eleonora commented playfully, causing Erik to simply shake his head and tighten his embrace on Seraphina, who trembled slightly against his chest each time Eleonora or Sigrún taunted her. At that point, Sigrún cheerfully remarked.
"What's more, as punishment, we should take away her chance to serve Erik for a week. What do you think, Eli?"
"I think that…"
Eleonora tried to speak in a teasing tone, but her words got stuck in her throat, and in the blink of an eye, the mocking look on Sigrún's face morphed into outright panic. All because of a simple, frigid glare that Seraphina shot them from beneath Erik's embrace, where he couldn't see it.
"…we've already teased Seraphina enough. It'd be better to do something more productive and start planning our trip, don't you think?" Eleonora quickly continued, making an effort to sound steady, while Sigrún nodded repeatedly and spoke in a slightly shaky voice.
"Y-yeah, you're right. Let's stop fooling around and plan our trip."
Erik, for his part, was somewhat taken aback by the abrupt shift in his masters' attitudes, as they suddenly ushered him toward a beautiful table to discuss the trip. Turning his head, he cast Seraphina a mildly suspicious look, but she merely smiled amiably at him, as if nothing had happened, then set a plate of cookies on the table.
"All right then, how about we keep watching the tournament for one more week and then set out?" Sigrún proposed, sipping the tea Seraphina served her with a smile, while Erik—after wolfing down the sweet bribe offered by his lovely maid, who now stood beside him wearing a sweet smile—asked.
"Aren't we going to wait for Liliana?"
"It's not necessary; she'll take quite a while to come out. In reality, none of the masters here stick around until their disciples come out. Chances are, they wait for about a month and then leave, returning only when their disciples are about to come out, or at the very end of the tournament." Eleonora explained in a calm tone, at the same time beginning to arrange Erik's hair with a soft smile on her face.
"I see… then I'm glad I got out quickly…"
Erik muttered to himself, pulling out his notebook with the intention of writing something in it. However, at that moment, the hands of Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina landed atop his notebook, preventing him from writing. He looked up to find his masters and his maid gazing at him with small smiles on their faces. Feeling somewhat confused, he asked.
"What's wrong?"
"You're about to write down that you should remember to come out quickly or find something to do while we come back for you, right?" Sigrún asked, looking Erik in the eye. He just nodded as he responded.
"Of course. I need to write it down so I won't forget next time, or else I'll be super bored waiting for you all to return."
"You don't have to write anything; that's not going to happen to you." Eleonora spoke softly, removing her hand from the notebook, followed by Seraphina and Sigrún. Once Sigrún removed her hand, she placed the notebook at the center of the table, out of Erik's reach.
"This time, it was just by chance that you got out quickly. If there's a next time, I need to be prepared for things not to go so smoothly…"
Erik commented, still somewhat puzzled, staring longingly at his notebook in the middle of the table, almost as if he were watching the love of his life being forcibly taken away. At that moment, Sigrún extended a hand to gently caress his face, then spoke with a tender smile.
"We've already told you, Erik, there's no need to write that down because it's not going to happen. What we explained is the general circumstance for a disciple—and that doesn't apply to you."
Sigrún's words left Erik somewhat confused for a moment, but he quickly glanced at the three women. They all offered him meaningful smiles, prompting him to connect the dots, nod with a look of realization, and respond with a pleasant smile.
"Ohhh, I get it. Thank you, Sigrún, Eleonora, Seraphina."
Erik smiled happily as he addressed the three by name, causing Eleonora and Sigrún to blush slightly. Even so, they nodded with smiles on their faces. Eleonora quickly got ahold of herself, though, and asked with a loving smile.
"Fufu, so where would you like to go for vacation, Erik?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't really know anywhere, though I'd love to see interesting sights in space."
Erik responded casually after taking a bite of a cookie, at which point Sigrún retrieved a crystal tablet from her storage ring. A holographic display of a star map appeared, which she began manipulating as she spoke in a thoughtful tone.
"Mmm, in that case, we can look for cosmic events nearby, since we do have to come back eventually."
"We should also find a tourist or cultural spot to visit, preferably somewhere not too crowded." Eleonora suggested with a grin, pulling out her own crystal tablet that likewise displayed a star map, prompting everyone to nod in agreement.
"Yes, let's look for a place in the galaxy that isn't too well-known, so we can relax."
Sigrún remarked with a knowing smile, at which point Seraphina placed her own crystal tablet on the table. It projected a series of images as she spoke in a professional tone.
"I believe the Auroria system meets all of these requirements, so it might be a good option."
Seraphina's words caught everyone's attention, at which point Sigrún made a gesture with her hand, causing the hologram emitted by the crystal tablet to enlarge significantly and display more photos and information. At the same time, Eleonora commented in a thoughtful tone.
"You're right; it's perfect. It's fairly close, it's backward enough that nobody will recognize us, but it has quite an interesting style."
"Its main planet has a moon…" Erik noted under his breath while gazing at the moon in one of the pictures, making Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina look at each other with mischievous smiles. Then they all spoke at once.
"""That's the one!"""
"So, that's the one."
Hearing the excitement from his masters and maid, Erik looked up, slightly amused, then nodded and commented with a cheerful smile. All of them nodded in agreement, while Sigrún waved her hand to make the hologram on Seraphina's crystal tablet disappear. She then enlarged the one on her own tablet before speaking.
"Since it's decided, let's choose the interesting spots in space we're going to visit. I heard a white dwarf is about to form not far from here; we could go see it..."
***
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