The blonde man is sitting on the couch in the living room. His very relaxed posture and the half-eaten croquette in his hand don’t show that this man is a man of power, strength, and wealth.

“Ah, Kayrus, you’re finally here!” greets Charleone who has now changed his Archmagus uniform with a red shirt. Trays of food and snacks are arranged on the table in front of him.

“Oh, welcome back Kayrus, how’s your day?” asks Emma who sits in front of Charleone. Like her boss, she too has changed her clothes to her sports jacket. “Here, have some.” She offers him a small plate of fried snacks.

“That wouldn't be necessary, Emma. He already had lunch with Max and his sister, right, Kayrus?” Charleone smirks.

“Wait, who told-”

“I’m back, everyone,” says Max who suddenly enters the house.

Kayrus’ eyes meet Max’s, and the student gives the Magus a suspicious look. But the Magus in question just nods his head and ignores him.

"Here's the document that you want, Archmagus." Max hands over a paper to Charleone.

"Thanks. Sit down Max, I'm going to need you for this discussion."

"I was going to that in the first place." Max then takes a seat beside Stefan, who is busy eating a chicken leg the entire time.

"So, why do you summon me here?"

"Ah, straight to business, this is why I like you, Kayrus."

"You know," Kayrus fold his arms, "you're the second person that told me the same thing today."

"Really? Well, I guess that's a testament to your character then."

"Fine, fine," Kayrus sits down on the couch beside Emma. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Your education of course."

Kayrus frowns.

"You're ordering me here with such urgency just to ask about my education? I thought this was something much more serious."

"Don't forget who bankrolled you to this place, kid." Says Charleone calmly. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead in that jail by now."

"Yeah, but you're the very reason I got thrown into that jail in the first place."

"He's right, you know." Says Max, the one who physically caught Kayrus, nonchalantly.

"You can't deny that, Charleone." Adds Emma, smiling with a teasing smile.

"Fine, let's put that aside," Charleone admits defeat, "it is still very important to me to know how your school progress is. Any trouble on your first day of school, Shadow Rat."

Kayrus feels slighted when he gets called that, but he knows better not to take bait from the Archmagus.

"It's fine, nothing that important to report to. I'm sure Max already told you so."

"He did, but he also told me that you haven't made any decision on the extra classes yet."

That thing again?

"Why is it so important for me to choose any of those classes so early?"

“Irinna told you, didn’t she? Specialization is very important for a Bea Magus. That’s the core strength of Bea Collegiate.” answers Emma.

“And the faster you choose the path that you want, the faster you’re going to master it.” This time it’s Max explaining it. “And that’s why they already asked you in Year 1.”

“So the same thing happened to you?”

Max shrugs. “It’s like a rite of passage for every Bea Magus, Kayrus.”

Hearing that, the former thief can only sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it, I’ll do it. But I don’t know anything about the classes, I don’t have any point of reference at all.”

“How about doing the same class as Max?” interjects Stefan who is now eating a plate of chicken sausages.

“Oh yeah, that would do it. Some of his classes are very versatile.” Emma’s face suddenly brightens up, and the edge of her lips is rising.

But the man in question, Max, only shakes his head. His face looks scared.

“No, no, no! You do not want to take the same classes as me. Those were living hell! You know I shed blood and tears during that time! You want him to suffer the same thing I did?!” Maximillian seems like he’s reliving some very bad memories.

“What happened to him when you’re all still students?”

“Some batshit insane stuff, Kayrus, some batshit insane stuff.” Emma chuckles.

“I think Emma is right,” says Charleone suddenly, grabbing everyone's attention. “I think Max’s path fits well for Kayrus.”

“Charleone, are you mad!? Did you not hear what I just said? You were there when I barely endured through those hard four years.”

Charleone raises his hand to calm down the clearly agitated Maximillian.

“Don’t worry Max, I know about that, don’t worry about it. But Emma is right, the classes you took back then have a lot of versatilities, and it will suit Kayrus perfectly. Besides that, we are still going to reduce some of the extreme ones to ease up his burden.”

“I-I guess you can do that.” Max seems to be still against the idea but is forced to accept it regardless.

Emma meanwhile, is laughing like a kid with this development.

“Irinna is going to have a blast when she hears about this.”

Kayrus then remembers something that happened with him and Irinna after the class. Something that he feels should be shared with the other four.

“I kind of forgot about it, but the Professor actually asked me a few questions about me and Charleone. I think she’s suspicious of who I am.”

The four adults immediately tense up.

“Irinna did? What did she ask?” asks Emma beside Kayrus.

“She’s basically asking who I really was, and how I know the Archmagus. She’s suspicious about my cover since she never knew Charleone saying anything about my ‘family’.”

“I told you that cover is way too weak,” comments Stefan.

“What else did she say?”

“Nothing, I guess? I think she's much more suspicious about who I was to Charleone. Why did I get chosen as an Apprentice, that kind of stuff."

"Not surprising, everyone was talking about Kayrus aboard the ship." Says Max.

"The reaction to his naming was bigger than I guessed." Replies Emma. "Should we do something about it, before someone decides to dig up his past?"

Charleone shakes his head.

"There's nothing that we can do about the public opinion right now. One wrong move and it could backfire." He says. "Kayrus, continue."

"Well, I have nothing else to-oh, right! She also seems pissed when I ask what’s her relationship with you, Charleone.”

The four adults freeze up.

“She-She’s what?” asks Charleone awkwardly.

“Pissed, you know, angry."

“I know that, but what does she actually say?” There’s a hint of panic and fear behind Charleone’s voice now.

“She’s angry that you didn’t tell her anything, even about who she is to me. I don’t know why, but it seems like she’s really angry. She even called you, and I quote, a ‘fucker’ to my face.”

Hearing that, Emma, Maximilian, and Stefan burst into laughter. Even the Gardes is forced to put down the plate in his hand unless it falls down to the floor.

“HAHAHAHA, SHE ACTUALLY SAID THAT??? OH NO, HAHAHAHA!” Emma is holding her stomach, rolling over to the side as she laughs.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now, Charleone. Big trouble…” Max shakes his head, also laughing.

Stefan meanwhile has to get away from the living room as he desperately tries to stop his loud laugh.

"Shut up you three, I’m the one that's in trouble right now.” Charleone sighs heavily. It’s like he’s in despair as he realizes he made a really big mistake. His entire cool facade seems to crumble, fast.

The only one in the room that is out of the loop is Kayrus, who now can only observe cluelessly this sudden change of attitudes in the adults.

"So…can someone explain to me why this is funny to you?" Says Kayrus. "Anyone?"

"Hm? Oh right, you didn't know, did you?" Emma finally manages to calm herself down. "It's simple, Kayrus. You see, our boss here and your Professor, they're actually a pair of lovers."

Kayrus widens. He turns his eyes to Charleone, who can only grimace in embarrassment-caused pain. The Archmagus can't even look the former thief in the eyes.

"They've been a couple since their students here. So as you can see, it's actually a very serious relationship." Explains Max. "Oh, but keep it a secret, for some reason Charleone wants it as a secret."

"But why? That doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, Charleone, why keep it a secret? You know it's better for you, and her, if you just admit that you are dating." Teases Emma.

The blonde man sighs.

"You know why, Emma. The House Augustus has a lot of enemies, both outside and inside. I still need time to mitigate the risk before I move…to the next step." Charleone tries to keep his cool.

"Fine, but you still need to calm her down as soon as possible. She seems really mad, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Charleone lets out another heavy sigh again. "Shit, I really hate this part of a relationship."

"What, being honest to each other?"

"No, being vulnerable…"

Charleone cast down his eyes, fingers fidgeting on the armrest of the couch. He spends a few minutes deep in that sad state before suddenly standing up.

"Right, I need to go now. You're all dismissed." He grabs the dark brown jacket that sits on the couch beside him. "I have to go meet Irinna. The rest of you can proceed with your work. Oh, and Kayrus?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll go talk to Irinna about your classes, consider that thing taken care of. All you need to do now is just pass your classes. If you need help, ask Max and Emma."

"Welcome to pain, Kayrus." Maximillian gives him a faint smirk.

"Emma."

"Right," on Charleone's prompt, the Wind Magus takes out something from her sports jacket's pocket. It's a small leather wallet that she hands to Kayrus.

"What's this?" Asks Kayrus who finds a bundle of cash and coins inside the wallet.

"Consider it your allowance." Answers Charleone. "Use it as you see fit, for your cover or study here. You can waste it for fun either, I don't really care."

"Why would I need an allowance? What am I, a kid?!" Protests Kayrus.

But Charleone doesn't pay heed to Kayrus' refusal and instead starts to walk over to the door.

"I'm heading out now. I'll be back in the evening, at the earliest."

Just as he opens the door, however.

"Oh, and Kayrus," he says to the young man while putting on his sunglasses, "keep up the good work."