In the end, Nono never found out exactly what secret might have transpired between Shirou and Xia Mi.
But after a whole afternoon of close observation, she did notice something curious: the gloom that had been subtly hanging on Xia Mi's face had completely vanished. It was as if whenever she was around Shirou, all her worries just magically disappeared.
It felt like Shirou was some sort of humanoid vacuum cleaner for bad vibes—any hardship or bad mood that came near him just got sucked up and vanished into nothing.
It was ridiculous!
Nono couldn't understand it—and she wouldn't understand it—because she didn't know the pressure Xia Mi was under with her heavy workload designing Heroic Spirit blueprints, nor that she was secretly borrowing Shirou's creativity under the guise of academic collaboration.
So when Xia Mi politely excused herself in the afternoon, saying she needed to visit the city library for research, Nono had planned to probe her a little.
But Xia Mi's eagerness to leave was overflowing. She didn't even spare a second for rest before bolting out like the wind, leaving Nono with no choice but to let her go.
With that, Nono decided to drop the matter—for now.
She stomped her way down the long wooden corridor of the traditional house… and spotted a white figure slumped by the wall.
Silky white hair swayed gently like willow branches in a summer breeze—what should've been a rare and beautiful sight was completely ruined by the sloppy posture of its owner.
Melusine was currently leaning against the wall. She had probably meant to imitate the poised stance of a noble knight standing guard… but her drooping shoulders made her look more like a curled-up fluffy white pet. Her little head nodded up and down as she dozed off.
Clearly, Melusine had adapted very quickly to the comfort of living in the Emiya household. No battles to fight, no enemies in sight—lazy naps had become a staple of her daily life.
Even though Nono had dragged her to a morning etiquette lesson, Melusine had retaliated by trying to make up for her lost nap time right afterward.
"Melusine, how's your etiquette class memorization going? I'm going to quiz you tonight!" Nono's voice boomed like thunder.
The fluffy-tailed "pet" twitched her ears and snapped awake. "Quiz? What's a quiz?"
Poor Melusine hadn't yet experienced the horror of East Asian test-focused education systems.
Nono's plan was simple: how do you get a dragon-girl to quickly absorb knowledge about human culture and etiquette—without getting distracted?
Answer: crank up the study load!
Though she claimed to have studied at Eton in her childhood, Nono had also received plenty of traditional elite education, complete with mind-numbing rote memorization and tons of noble etiquette classes.
…Sure, she hadn't paid much attention back then and had forgotten most of it, but her memory wasn't bad. She pulled together two sets of material: one from East Asian cramming-style schooling, the other from Western knightly etiquette courses.
The result? A cross-cultural double-punch curriculum designed to turn Melusine from a wild little dragon into a refined noblewoman of society.
"A quiz means I can test you anytime, anywhere on what you've learned," Nono declared sternly, striking the image of a strict teacher in a pencil skirt and holding a ruler—just one chalkboard short of smacking someone in the head.
"For example—this morning, I told you the Eight Virtues of Knighthood. What are they?"
Melusine opened her mouth, brain buffering, then recited, "Humility, honesty, compassion, courage, justice, sacrifice, honor, faith…"
"Not fluent enough! Tonight you get an extra study session! From now on, this will be called 'night study time!' I'll schedule new classes based on your progress and add pop quizzes, midterms, and final exams!"
"Eh!?" Melusine was bombarded by a tsunami of unfamiliar human academic terms. The peaceful life she thought she'd found had turned out to be a brutal education death match!
——
That night—
After dinner, Shirou walked through the main house corridor as usual. Xia Mi, ever the diligent assistant, had taken the initiative to handle the dishes and cleaning.
She had discovered that her years of solo cooking experience still couldn't match Shirou's skills. So she stepped back and took over the house chores, saying it was her way of paying for room and board—and maybe convincing Shirou to increase her research assistant salary.
Shirou had chuckled nervously, silently wondering if she was working too hard. From day to night, she never seemed to take a break. Was it the intense work pace of the house rubbing off on her? Or was she just not sleeping well at night?
If Xia Mi was secretly working even during her supposed rest hours… then she really was the modern-day Artoria.
Inspired by her tireless spirit, Shirou decided he shouldn't slack off either.
Starting tomorrow, he'd add an extra hour to his magic training every day. New goal: improve his Noble Phantasm forging skills before the end of the year!
Unlimited Blade Works, I'm coming for you!
Fueled by newfound resolve, Shirou strode ahead like a man on a mission. Everything felt possible.
…Until reality struck.
Because moments later, he happened to glance into one of the lit rooms and saw something that completely stole his attention.
There, seated with a book in hand, head gently bobbing as she read aloud, was Melusine.
To any outsider, it might've seemed ordinary. But Shirou was stunned. The dedication in her posture reminded him of ancient scholars who tied their hair to beams to avoid dozing off while studying.
Was Melusine… studying?
Dragons studying?! What was this world coming to!?
Unaware that the title of "most hardcore competitor" actually belonged to Miss Xia Mi, Shirou crept closer to Melusine's room.
He knew Nono had been giving her etiquette lessons, but he hadn't realized it had reached this level.
Was everyone in this house secretly grinding like maniacs now?
Should he be joining the grindfest too!?
"…Hmm?"
Melusine noticed his presence. She set her book down and gave him a clear-eyed look, blinking as if to say: Please, say something to get me out of this nightmare.
Ah. So she wasn't doing this willingly. Nono had shoved night classes down her throat after all.
"Nope," Shirou said, shaking his head. "If you slack off tonight, you'll slack off tomorrow too. That's just how it starts."
He knew the early stages of learning were tough, and most students needed a firm push. Melusine was at least honest about wanting out, which made her better than most.
"It's not that…" she muttered, raising her book. "These are notes my Master… I mean, onee-chan… compiled. They're just lists of important points she wants me to memorize. But it's hard. The information doesn't stick."
Shirou took the book. Sure enough, Nono had stripped out the key points from various textbooks and printed them all together.
Classic top-student strategy. Ignore the fluff, focus on the highlights.
But that only worked if you already had context. For someone like Melusine, who lacked basic understanding of human society, this method was just frustrating.
No wonder Nono wanted a crash course approach… but this clearly wasn't working for Melusine.
"Wait here. I'll go get you some better materials."
He recalled that during his history sessions with Xia Mi, they'd found some old literature tucked away.
Moments later, Shirou returned with two books.
"These are Le Morte d'Arthur and Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart. I think they'll help you understand the ideas of virtue and honor better than just lists. Real stories stick more."
Melusine's eyes sparkled as she took the books like holy relics. In that moment, the glow behind Shirou looked like the halo of a saint, guiding her out of darkness.
"I'll study them seriously!"
"You don't have to be that intense… just treat it as extra reading. Still, geez, Nono really didn't think to assign actual stories?"
Melusine eagerly flipped open Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart. The synopsis had her instantly hooked:
A tale of Lancelot, driven by love for Queen Guinevere, who braved disgrace and danger to rescue her from captivity. Riding in a cart meant for criminals, he endured shame and trials, but his devotion touched the queen's heart, leading her to return his love…
'…I must read this thoroughly!' Melusine thought, eyes blazing as she turned the page.
(End of Chapter)
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