"Are you alright, Professor...?"

When Lina asked worriedly, I shook my head with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a dream. Don't worry about it, everyone."

Having just seen the invitation to the Tatanoko Village event, of course I'd have a dream like this.

After the scalp massage, my hair looked pretty decent.

"Oh my goodness!"

Lina clasped her hands together and made a fuss when she saw me.

"You should have cut it like this ages ago! It looks soooooo good! Don't you think, Anna?"

"Ah, yes..."

Anna glanced at me briefly before hurriedly lowering her gaze and mumbling.

This isn't wartime anymore, and with a salon right next door, I should come more often.

The salon owner was beside herself with joy at my comment.

"Professor, I'll personally take care of you from now on. You must come back, okay?"

"Yes, yes. Thank you."

When we went outside, students who had come to the shopping district during their free time after classes shouted and rushed toward us.

"It's the Head Professor!"

"Professor Dian!"

The students' enthusiasm was so overwhelming that Anna and Lina disappeared into the crowd.

"Your hair looks amazing!" "You're so handsome!"

"When will you give me private lessons?!"

"Secret Prince!!"

Young people at their prime are certainly noisy.

And "Secret Prince"? I can't believe some still believe in that ridiculous rumor.

I responded casually while heading toward the faculty area when something caught my eye.

It was Kirrin, hiding at the corner of the shopping district, secretly watching me.

If I had to guess, she probably came to ask me to have dinner with her today but missed her chance when the students swarmed around me.

When I waved at her, Kirrin instantly vanished.

# # # # #

"Hmm, what could it be..."

After being somewhat forcibly separated from Dian.

Professor Lina walked alone, lost in thought.

"Hmmmm, what was that..."

"What are you wondering about, Professor...?"

Anna, who was walking beside her, asked gloomily, and Lina stopped and turned to face her.

"You heard the Head Professor talking in his sleep just now, didn't you?"

"Well... I couldn't hear clearly... He suddenly shouted so..."

"I clearly heard 'Linus' and 'Horn-freak.' Hmmmm... what could it mean..."

"Is that really such a big issue...? I don't see why..."

As Lina continued pondering, Anna hesitantly spoke up.

"It was just sleep-talking... Everyone knows Lord Linus... and since the Professor is a war veteran... maybe he was dreaming about fighting alongside Lord Linus..."

"Could that be it... Hmmmmmm..."

But Lina couldn't dismiss it as easily as Anna did.

She had always believed that whatever Dian had done in the past wasn't particularly important.

However, the sudden outburst from Professor Dian while he was asleep during the scalp massage was too vivid.

"Where are you two coming from? Oh? Anna, you cut your hair?"

Just then, Professor Pelemia greeted them from across the way, and Lina rushed over to ask her.

"Professor! You used psychological warfare on the Head Professor before, didn't you?"

"What? Um... no...?"

Pelemia adjusted her glasses and avoided eye contact.

"You did! Isn't that why you ended up kneeling and throwing up?"

"That was just... because I drank too much alcohol..."

"What? Professor! You don't think I failed to notice you using psychological warfare, do you?"

Speechless, Pelemia hastily straightened her cloak and stepped back.

"Fine. I did attempt psychological warfare. But I failed. What about it?"

"That's not it. The Head Professor was talking strangely in his sleep at the salon earlier."

After explaining what happened at the salon, Pelemia shook her head as if she had no idea.

"I don't know either. It's just sleep-talking. Why are you reading so much into it?"

"Is that so... But if you had heard it yourself, Professor Pelemia, I'm sure you would have been suspicious too."

"Suspicious of what... Well, you all take care."

"Goodbye."

Pelemia quickly walked away from Lina and Anna, heading toward the dormitory.

When she had seen Dian reunite with the war veterans at Ivronik Castle, Pelemia had decided never to reveal his identity to anyone.

Revealing the truth against Dian's wishes would be nothing short of an insult to a hero who had made noble sacrifices.

So she consistently feigned ignorance to Lina's questions...

But Professor Lina, despite her seemingly pleasant exterior, possessed remarkably sharp intuition and keen judgment.

She had noticed that Pelemia had used psychological warfare on Dian at the bar that day, and with just one sleep-talking incident, she had instantly approached the boundary of truth.

But Pelemia couldn't step forward to defend Dian either.

Still, she wasn't worried.

Professor Dian was one of the heroes who saved the continent alongside Lord Linus.

He wasn't someone Professor Lina could challenge out of mere curiosity.

# # # # #

"Is this what you really look like?"

Olicia looked at me in my suit with a satisfied expression.

"How nice it would be if you dressed like this all the time."

I'm currently wearing a suit that Olicia bought from a ready-made clothing store in town, along with shiny shoes.

Today is the day of the Tatanoko Village Reconstruction Ceremony.

"Ohhh, yes, yes. As the Head Professor of Combat at the Imperial Special Mission Academy, this is how you should look."

Olicia patted my shoulders repeatedly with a pleased smile.

"Well, I'll be going now."

I walked from the faculty area toward the main gate. Linus had arranged to send a carriage there.

"Hello, Anna."

"Huh...? Who are you...?"

Anna, who was carrying an armful of something toward the stable, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"It's me."

"H-Head Professor...?"

"What are you doing this weekend? Going to see the kids?"

"Oh, yes... But your clothes today... um..."

Anna stammered something incoherent before hurriedly fleeing in the opposite direction.

As I continued toward the main gate, I saw a crowd of students gathered ahead.

Students going out for weekend leave.

"Huh?! It's Professor Dian!!"

As I tried to turn aside, someone spotted me and screamed.

"Where, where?!"

At that sound, students began flocking toward me like a herd of sheep.

"Professor Dian!! You look so handsome!"

"Where are you going?!"

"Hmm. Going to marry a dragon."

Though it wasn't particularly funny, the students burst into laughter.

But there was one student who looked absolutely horrified.

"W-what are you saying... Marrying a dragon...!?"

It was the pink-haired White Dragon, Hindrasta.

Does she ever actually study instead of just going out all the time?

"If it's a dragon... there's only me..."

Hindrasta was trembling and muttering crazy things to herself.

"No, no... I will never mate with someone like you!!!!!!"

The students turned to look at Hindrasta, startled by her almost dragon-roar-like scream.

"You beat me up before, and now you're thinking of raping me?! No! Just kill me instead! Kill me!!"

"Sophie, what's wrong with you...?!"

The lower-ranked students who practically worshipped Hindrasta looked concerned as she burst into tears and started running.

"Waaaaaah! Save me!!"

"Where are you going?! Aren't you going out?!"

The lower-ranked students chased after Hindrasta as she fled toward the dormitory.

Sigh, that crazy dragon. Tsk tsk.

"You look handsome."

As I watched Hindrasta rapidly disappearing, Knightley pushed through the students and appeared.

"Are you going out too?"

"Yes. But where are you going?"

"I told you. Going to marry a dragon."

"Ha. I see. If you're going to town, shall we go together? We're heading the same way."

"I'll go by myself."

"I've called a carriage too. Come on, let's go together."

Knightley pointed with her chin at a carriage standing at the main gate.

Wait a minute, that carriage...

"The rest of you come in a different carriage."

Knightley turned to her followers with an icy gaze as she opened the carriage door.

"This carriage is for the Head Professor and me."

"Umm, okay..."

As her followers backed away, Knightley snorted and climbed into the carriage first.

But she froze halfway into her seat.

"Huh...?"

"Seems you've mistaken the carriage."

"Uh..."

Knightley's eyes widened to the point of almost popping out when she saw Linus sitting across from her seat.

Oh dear, this was Linus's carriage.

"Uh, um... so..."

Surprisingly, Knightley, who was usually cynical, scratched her head stupidly.

"So... Lord Linus...?"

"Move aside, girl. This isn't your carriage."

When I urged her from behind, Knightley awkwardly backed down the steps.

"You seem quite popular at the academy, Dian."

Linus chuckled softly as I got into the carriage and closed the door.

"A student casually trying to share a carriage with the Head Professor."

"She's exceptionally ill-mannered. That's Knightley Toulouse I mentioned before."

"Ah, yes. The daughter of Duke Toulouse. Her boldness will make her a great figure someday."

"That remains to be seen. But I do acknowledge she has exceptional ability. An ordinary student would have given up halfway through what I've assigned her."

"Blood will tell. By the way."

Linus looked me up and down.

"You're dressed very nicely."

"Olicia made a fuss about it. Said it was a matter of courtesy."

"She did well. The villagers will appreciate it too."

I wonder about that. I'm not so sure.

But I hope Knightley will be alright.

Of course she will.

Who would believe her if she went around saying, "Lord Linus came to the academy gate in a carriage and took Professor Dian away"?

# # # # #

"Knightley. Knightley!"

"Yes...?"

Knightley blinked as if waking from a dream at Professor Lina's call.

"What are you doing standing here in a daze?"

Lina had discovered Knightley standing foolishly by the roadside while on her way to town for an errand.

After staring at Professor Lina for a moment, Knightley finally managed to speak.

"Professor... I saw Lord Linus..."

"Huh?"

"I saw Lord Linus... just now..."

"What are you talking about? Lord Linus?"

"He was in that carriage..."

Knightley pointed at a carriage disappearing down the road.

"Professor Dian got in and left with him..."

"The Head Professor...?"

In that moment, Lina recalled the sleep-talking incident from yesterday at the salon.

"P-Professor? Where are you going? Hey! That's the carriage I called!?"

"Please follow that carriage!"

Lina jumped into a carriage that had just stopped at the main gate and ordered it to follow the departing vehicle.