By the time she came back to herself, Scáthach was already being gently held by the chin, locked in a deep kiss with Shiomi, their bodies pressed close.
"Let's continue this in the room. This is the kitchen. Someone might walk in at any moment." Scáthach placed a palm against Shiomi's chest and lightly pushed him away.
Then she saw the innocent look on his face.
"But Master was the one who kissed me first."
"Oh? Was I?" Scáthach seemed to recall that might indeed be the case, yet her expression remained perfectly composed. "Even so, you could've tried to stop me."
Shiomi let his shoulders slump. "Right. Either way, it's my fault."
At that moment, the cafeteria door was knocked on—more out of courtesy than necessity. Olga Marie stood at the entrance, looking slightly awkward as she stared at the two of them.
"See? I told you so," Scáthach said matter-of-factly, as if this proved her point.
"Uh…" Shiomi had no rebuttal.
"Um… Teacher, Master, you don't need to worry. I was the only one who came by just now," Olga Marie said softly, hands behind her back as she walked over.
"That's on me. Next time I'll try to keep this sort of thing inside the room," Shiomi admitted, somewhat embarrassed.
He'd only just told Olga Marie a few days ago to be mindful of appearances in public. And now he was making out with his Master in the kitchen.
"I-I don't mind at all," Olga Marie said as she slipped around the counter into the kitchen area. "If… if Teacher could offer a little hush fee, that would be nice."
"You…"
Shiomi suddenly felt like Olga Marie had picked up some bad habits.
But then again, she had served as acting Lord from a young age, maneuvering among the Lords of the Clock Tower. She had never truly been some blank, naive girl.
It was just that in front of Shiomi, she habitually lowered her guard.
And now that she had finally grasped the love she once thought forever out of reach, it was only natural that she had developed a few small, personal schemes of her own.
"Is that not allowed?" Olga Marie touched a finger to her lips and pouted faintly.
"I never said that."
Shiomi had no reason to refuse. He pulled her closer and leaned down, kissing her for several seconds before letting go.
When he did, he found her covering her face with both hands, taking deep breaths as though she'd forgotten how to breathe.
"Are you alright?" he asked, a little concerned.
"…I'm fine." Olga Marie shook her head quickly.
It was just that kissing her teacher outside her room for the first time had completely short-circuited her brain. She needed a few deep breaths to recover.
"So, what were you and Master doing here?" she asked once she'd steadied herself.
"Nothing much." Shiomi spread his hands. "I came to wash the pastry basket and was thinking about making a bit more. Then Master ambushed me… and then you showed up."
Olga Marie waved her hands in panic.
"I wasn't trying to ambush you, Teacher!"
"Don't let him drag you into one of his logic traps," Scáthach said with her arms crossed. "Otherwise, sooner or later you'll be completely wrapped around his finger."
"Well, I already—" Olga Marie blurted out instinctively, then realized what she was about to admit and hurriedly covered her mouth, cutting herself off.
Shiomi shot his Master a look, silently pointing out that she was clearly teasing Olga Marie as well.
"Anyway, we just finished a meeting with the new A Team. As for the Indian Lostbelt, we've drafted a preliminary plan based on the intelligence Peperoncino provided. It should be submitted to you soon," Shiomi said, patting her shoulder. "But before the meeting, something interesting happened."
"What was it?" Olga Marie asked, puzzled.
Scáthach also turned her head, curious.
"When they saw the sweets Ritsuka and Mash brought in, they thought you'd made them yourself," Shiomi said with a shrug.
"I can't cook." Olga Marie flushed faintly. "The Animusphere household is different from yours, Teacher. As an heir, aside from basic self-care like dressing and eating, everything else is handled by attendants."
"It's a good thing you never had to Rayshift alone as a Master into a Singularity," Scáthach said, shaking her head. "Modern Magi really have grown soft. They've even forgotten basic survival skills. No wonder Magecraft keeps declining."
Olga Marie couldn't argue with that and could only lower her brows in reluctant agreement.
"You're right, Master."
"Oh, come on. That's hardly just her problem."
The mood lightened as Shiomi turned back to the refrigerator, taking out ingredients to prepare more sweets.
"Sakura and Caren were interested, so I taught them," he said casually. "In my opinion, knowing a bit of cooking isn't a bad thing."
That reminded Scáthach of something.
"I recall you mentioning that the El-Melloi faction's current Lord was once nearly poisoned as a child. Ever since, all her meals are handled by that mercury maid, no matter the occasion?"
"Reines?" Olga Marie nodded. "That sounds right. I remember during the Magic Eye Collection Train and the Grand Roll, her Mercury Maid Mystic Code was always by her side."
Animusphere, on the other hand, had been relatively stable, so Olga Marie had never needed to worry about that sort of thing.
"She's certainly troublesome," Shiomi said with a faint smile, "but she's not the type to kick someone while they're down. If Animusphere can no longer retain the Department of Astromancy, she'd probably be quite willing to help you step away cleanly."
Olga Marie puffed out her cheeks.
"Who knows? When we formed our alliance, she said we should get along well as long as we remained useful to one another."
"So you think you're no longer useful to Reines?" Shiomi asked.
Scáthach nodded repeatedly, deliberately fanning the flames.
"The tutor of Lord El-Melloi sharing a bed with Lord Animusphere. If that Magus Reines saw that, she'd certainly make good use of that connection to squeeze every last drop of advantage out of my beloved disciple, wouldn't she?"
"Hey… don't make it sound so calculating." Shiomi glanced down at the dough in the mold. "Even if Reines chose not to help, I'd still stand by Marie's side and sort out the Clock Tower myself."
"Teacher~" Olga Marie looked at him with starry-eyed admiration.
No matter when, his words always gave her that same sense of reassurance.
"Stop spacing out. This is a rare opportunity. How about learning to cook something yourself?" Shiomi asked with a smile. "Master and I can teach you."
"Yes, I'd love to," Olga Marie answered immediately.
Scáthach shook her head.
"No, no. You teach Marie. As for me, I have absolutely no talent for cooking."
Shiomi was left speechless by his Master's utter frankness.
...
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