However, upon opening the door, the office was dark and completely empty.

Demian, who hesitated as he was about to step in, naturally turned his gaze to Arasila’s neatly cleared desk.

“…Ah.”

She had truly left his space flawlessly. The desk was still there, but the pen and glasses she always kept on it were gone.

Even without being told separately, Demian roughly grasped and understood the situation.

In fact, returning to their own spaces like before they partnered was quite natural in a way. This would have happened anyway once the business was finished, even if it had succeeded.

Demian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Perhaps it was because the business he was certain would succeed ended up concluding in an unfavorable direction. He felt needlessly empty and bitter.

‘We seemed to work quite well together…’

‘Somehow, I feel oddly regretful.’

Not knowing they were having similar thoughts, the two of them couldn’t fall asleep until late into the night in their respective rooms.

Within the magic tower, Arasila’s laboratory boasted one of the most impressive track records.

They always produced excellent results, whether in research fields or external missions.

Many people viewed unfavorably the dominance of a laboratory led primarily by a female mage and staffed by commoner-born mages.

Due to the nature of the magic tower operating on a strict merit-based system, there was intense competition between laboratories, and theirs was particularly targeted for its outstanding achievements.

In this situation, the controversy over the magic airship project dealt a tremendous blow to Arasila’s laboratory.

With the virtual failure to commercialize magic airships, even the value of the floating stones they had previously researched was at risk of declining.

Of course, since nothing had been definitively proven yet, no one dared to bring this up in front of Arasila.

They were likely afraid of getting burned by her fiery rhetoric if they carelessly picked a fight.

Instead, people began to emerge who poked at Sally and Rudy. Unlike Arasila, the two juniors weren’t particularly intimidating, making them good targets for attack.

Having gone down to the magic tower cafeteria for lunch hour only to return after a huge verbal fight, Sally shouted in anger:

“Billy, that bastard! I’m so pissed off I could die!”

Trying to calm the highly agitated Sally, Rudy grabbed the laboratory door handle.

He thought it fortunate that Arasila had gone out on an errand. It would have been quite awkward if she had gone to the cafeteria with them or was now inside the lab.

But luckily, Arasila said she would return after lunch time, so the two entered, talking loudly without worry.

“You should just ignore it. You know he’s always had an inferiority complex towards us.”

“Still, how can he speak so recklessly when he doesn’t know anything! Anyway, he’s a real bastard!”

“Who’s such a bastard?”

Hearing a voice that shouldn’t have come from inside, Sally and Rudy froze in place.

Rolling their eyes to look at Arasila’s seat, they saw her sitting with her legs crossed.

“Se-senior. Didn’t you say you’d be back late because you had work…?”

“Yes, I did. But the work finished earlier than expected, so I came back early. Is that not allowed?”

The two juniors shook their heads while still looking wary. If they had known Arasila was there, they would have been more careful with their words.

Arasila gestured for the two awkwardly standing people to come closer.

“So, who’s the bastard? Billy?”

“Ah… Well, that…”

“The name sounds familiar. Is he a mage from another laboratory?”

“…Yes. He’s our classmate working in Senior Travis’s laboratory.”

Sally, who had nervously approached with Rudy, hesitantly answered.

Arasila, who had little interest in other laboratories, just nodded vaguely. The name seemed familiar at least because he was from Travis’s laboratory.

“So, what exactly did Billy do to make you so angry?”

“…”

“Tell me. I’ll go teach a lesson to anyone who messes with my juniors.”

Rudy and Sally were fundamentally calm and composed by nature. There must have been a reason for them to be so angry and cursing like this.

The juniors, who had been hesitating and unable to speak easily, finally opened their mouths after Arasila urged them again.

“Billy… called our Bluebird a failed bird. When he doesn’t even know much about it.”

“Isn’t it too much that they have no sense of camaraderie when they’re also in trouble over the food storage box they invented recently? Especially since this is our first failure.”

“So we couldn’t hold back and had a big fight in front of others. We’re sorry, senior.”

“We apologize. We’ve brought shame to your face, senior.”

The two bowed their heads and apologized. The incident they caused would essentially become Arasila’s mistake, a problem she would have to clean up.

Arasila, who had silently listened to the two, interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them. Then, with an incredibly serious face, she asked:

“Did you win or lose?”

“…Pardon?”

“You said you fought. I’m asking if you won or lost.”

“Um… We won.”

Recalling Billy who had fled with a red face after arguing with Sally, Rudy answered.

At those words, Arasila’s face brightened.

“Then it’s fine. If you won, you haven’t brought shame to my face.”

“But because of us, you might hear unpleasant things…”

“It’s okay. I don’t hear pleasant things anyway.”

Throwing out a somewhat ambiguous statement of comfort, Arasila patted her juniors’ shoulders.

Inwardly, she was planning to visit Travis and thoroughly warn him not to mess with her juniors again.

“And we haven’t failed yet. It’s too early to rationalize by saying it’s our first failure, Rudy.”

The business was merely suspended, not shut down. Arasila clearly pointed this out.

Rudy blinked his eyes and then bowed his head again, saying he had misspoken.

“But what are you going to do from now on, senior? Are we just going to keep waiting until public opinion calms down?”

“After public opinion settles, how should we promote to win people’s hearts back?”

Arasila couldn’t give a proper response to her juniors’ worried questions. Honestly, she hadn’t decided what to do yet.

As the head of the laboratory, she was just not showing weakness, but her concerns about the future were also quite deep.

‘If we really fail for the first time…’

The laboratory’s pride would crumble, Arasila’s reputation would crumble, Demian’s money would crumble.

Imagining a bleak future full of collapse, Arasila pressed her forehead with her interlaced hands.

She remained motionless for a while until Sally tapped her shoulder.

“Um, senior. A guest has arrived.”

“…A guest?”

Arasila, who had been lost in thought and hadn’t heard anyone knocking on the laboratory door, belatedly raised her head.

Sally stepped back with a somewhat tense look.

Then, seeing a man appear by the doorway, Arasila tilted her head.

“Demian? What brings you here?”

“I came because I have something to say. And I didn’t come alone…”

“Ta-da. I’m here too.”

Cutting off Demian’s words, Lucas suddenly appeared from behind, grinning and waving his hand.

Arasila’s eyes widened at the appearance of the truly unexpected guest.

She first guided the two to the sofa. Sally and Rudy hurriedly brought refreshments.

Sitting next to Demian in front of Lucas, she elbowed her husband, meaning to explain what on earth was going on.

Then Demian said:

“His Highness the First Prince came to me saying he wanted to help with the magic airship business. After hearing what he had to say, it seemed like quite a good proposal, so I came to meet my wife together.”

Seeing that he of cautious nature couldn’t wait until after work and rushed over, it was presumed to be a good proposal even without hearing it.

Still, to maintain a calm and objective attitude, Arasila first took a sip of tea before opening her mouth.

“What kind of proposal did His Highness give?”

“I’ll explain that myself directly.”

Lucas raised his hand to stop Demian and smiled brightly.

“Does Madam Vandermir perhaps know that I recently concluded a peace treaty with the Kingdom of Sillin?”

To briefly summarize Lucas’s words that began with a light question:

The Setron Empire and the Kingdom of Sillin agreed to exchange precious treasures to commemorate the signing of the treaty, and they want to use magic airships for transportation.

He said he was chosen again as the imperial representative to visit the Kingdom of Sillin as part of the delegation, so he had enough influence to include magic airships.

‘No wonder Demian came to find me right away.’

Lucas’s proposal was not just quite good, but a golden opportunity that could completely turn around the current situation.

Arasila glanced at Lucas, who was leisurely sipping his tea after finishing his story.

It was clearly a good proposal for her and Demian, but she couldn’t understand what benefit he had in readily offering help.

In a way, it was an important official duty that would perfectly conclude the achievements he had built, so he might want to avoid any controversial elements as much as possible.

“Would it be alright for you to use our magic airship? Of course, there would be no safety issues, but I’m concerned about any potential harm to Your Highness.”

“Haha, Madam Vandermir’s heart is as beautiful as her face. But don’t worry. I also received help from Lord Vandermir, so I’m repaying that.”

Lucas put down his teacup and said magnanimously. The corners of his mouth soon rose mischievously.

“Yes, as for me… I’m in the process of settling the debt from one night I spent with Lord Vandermir.”

At those words, Arasila reflexively looked at Demian.

She was very curious about just how passionate and intense a night they must have spent for the prince to call it a debt and act like this.

She quietly placed her hand on Demian’s arm and said:

“Demian, I have no prejudice.”

“…What are you suddenly saying?”

“It doesn’t matter who you dated before marriage. You can be honest.”

Arasila said sincerely.

She didn’t care who or how many people Demian had really been with before marriage. She just wanted Demian to be honest and comfortable.

Realizing that this time it wasn’t a joke and she was making a strange misunderstanding, Demian’s face contorted.

“It’s not like that.”

“What’s not? Just be honest…”

Afraid that Arasila might say something strange again, Demian raised his hand to stop her words and hastily explained:

“I once saved His Highness the Prince’s life. The night he keeps mentioning refers to that night.”

Arasila turned her head towards Lucas to confirm if this was true.

Then Lucas, who had been giggling, shook his head.

“You have no sense of romance, Lord. If you cut it off so bluntly like that, doesn’t it make our relationship seem too businesslike?”

“Your Highness.”

“Alright, alright. Madam, Lord’s words are correct. On a night when I happened to be in mortal danger, he saved me and watched over me until morning.”

Detecting danger in Demian’s lowered voice, Lucas finally put aside his playfulness and told the truth.

He had a life debt to Demian, which was why he readily stepped forward to help after hearing the rumors.

“As a person, shouldn’t one return as much as they’ve received? Especially to maintain a friendship with someone as upright and brusque as Lord Vandermir.”

Lucas winked at Demian and then did the same to Arasila while saying: