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Ludger was having a terrible day. No, a terrible week! The first omen of trouble was the lab he used to make his meds getting temporarily shut down for repairs after someone accidentally blew it up by adding one too many popping poppies into their concoction.
The second was realising he was running low on his meds. He had been too busy to make a new batch, what with all these incidents happening one after another and stretching him out between dealing with them, his duties as a professor, as the owner, and as a fake first order.
Safe to say, he was exhausted, low on mana from the most recent scrimish, and low on pills.
He didn't want to use a different lab, because all the other available ones had people from the nobles' faction who would salivate at the idea of exposing one of his weaknesses.
U.N Owen were busy dealing with the aftermath of the never ending incidents, and Bellaluna was currently on a trip to gather some rare herbs that only grew once a year under specific conditions.
Safe to say, he had no way of getting his medicine, unless he wanted the nobles to discover his illness and eat him alive...
So, like any reasobable person with a chronic illness and no way to manage it, he did the very sensible thing of pretending everything was fine.
It wouldn't be long until the lab reopened, he can hold on. So long as he avoided anything that could force him to use higher level magic, he'll be fine.
Hopefully he doesn't get dragged into any fights until the lab is reopened...
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He jinxed it. He fucking jinxed it. He really should learn to control his thoughts from now on, these things happen way too often...
As expected, he unfortunately found himself fighting off a cryptid that somehow wabdered into ceoren to protwct the kids. It wasnt particularly strong, but god was he exhausted, he barely just had enough mana to get rid of the cryptid without passing out. That would've been embarrassing.
He popped the last pill he had into his mouth, chewed it feeling the bitterness coating his tongue first, before the cool feeling of mana spread into his body.
He just has to wait a few more days. Just a few more days and he can make more medicine. Is it too much for him to have just a few days of peacefulness?
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The answer to that question is apparently, yes. He was being way too spoiled to think he could ask for a peaceful few days without casting any magic, because just the next day, he had to teach a practical lesson, and qho the hell teaches practicals without a demonstration?
Safe to say, by the end of that class he was on his last legs.
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Sugar and caffeine helped supplement his currently rock bottom energy levels, so he found himself frequenting one of the quieter cafés on campus.
Although he wasn't aware of it, the students found out about his apparent sweet tooth, and the school forums were quite active for a few days, with some students cooing that it was unexpected but adorable, and others scoffing that it was the obvious immaturity to be expected from a fallen noble.
Safe to say that second group of students was eaten very quickly by Ludger's students and Sedina, who have been gradually learning how to be great keyboard warriors due to the amount of incidents that made people talk ill of their teacher. And they had grown quite protective after noticing the professor looking more and more tired every day.
Flora in particular found it ridiculous. Sweets are now exclusive to fallen nobles? Since when? Do the court ladies who have tea parties with the sweetest delicacies know of this new "decision"? Ridiculous.
Though her interest was a little caught that it was professor Ludger with the sweet tooth, not someone else like, say, professor Celina with the bubbly personality, or professor Brino with the smily, warm impression he gave off.
She made a note of it in her mind, in case a situation came up for her to justify giving the man a gift. He's had a very... important role in her life. So when the time came to repay him even a little, she wanted to do it properly.
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Ceoren was going to the capital. Fuck.
He had to go as well. Double fuck.
He didn't have anything against the location, it was quite the beautiful city and he could appreciate that.
However! If it's the capital, then that demon of a princess will be there, and he can't hide the fact that he'll be there from her because her beloved little sister was his student!
Is he forever doomed to being overworked? Can the bad guys not take one day of rest?
Who is he kidding, even if the entire continent fell asleep, something would happen to force him awake.
Thus, as he dreaded expected, crown princess Eileen called for him discreetly, and he slipped away from the other professors after excusing himself.
They can handle the students for a few hours without him, they were all competent professors, and the students weren't that troublesome...
Right..?
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"You look like shit." The usually elegant princess greated him crassly.
"Why, thank you, your highness looks as radiant as ever." He rolld his eyes, sitting down cross legged across from her. He was allowed to be this rude, at least, if she was planning on putting him to work when he's already so tired.
She raised an eyebrow, her eyes twinkling in amusement. It wasn't very often she got to talk freely with someone, and it wasn't very often that he talked back to her with this much attitude.
"Why did you call for me, your Highness?" He asked, reaching for his teacup.
She observed him for a moment, trying to figure out the reason behind his unusualy bratty attitude. Was he hiding a major injury? It doesn't seem like it, he was walking just fine when he came into the room.
Is he sick? Maybe. The way his hands trembled slightly when he reached for his teacup, the bags under his eyes, and his paler than usual skin all pointed to one thing in specific.
"You, why are you so low on mana?" She frowned, setting aside the job she had been meaning to assign him.
His eyes sharpened slightly, and his gaze flicked away from hers and to the closed door sir Fascius was guarding from outside the greenhouse like room.
It wasnt obvious, but for her to notice this sly bastard getting anxious means his health is already much worse than it appears to be.
"I ran out of medicine." He mumbled eventually. She had seen him take the pills before but hadn't known exactly what they were for. Mana supplements?
"And what's stopping you from getting more, exactly?" She raised an eyebrow. Mana supplements were rare, yes, but they weren't that difficult to find in the market if you knew where to look, and if anyone knew how to look for anything, it was this troublesome man and his people.
"It would cause too much trouble if I'm found out in Ceoren." He answered simply, avoiding her disappointed look and sipping his sweet tea.
"So you decided to quit? Just like that? I pity the poor soul burdened to be your doctor..." she sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"..it shouldn't be long before I can make a new batch, I just need to hold out for a few more days..." he mumbled, gaze fixed on the teacup in his hands. If he weren't such a competent guy she would've thought him a spoiled young master making a fuss about taking his medicine...
"You can't be serious..." she got up from her chair and walked up to stand directly next to him, he tensed up when she raised her hands, but almost immediately settled down when her cold hands touched his warm skin.
She frowned, tilting his head up to take a closer look at him, he was pale, with a barely noticeable flush to his cheeks, his lips were cracked, and his eyes were a little hazy with deep bags under them.
In short, he looked like death warmed over.
"..your highness..?" He mumbled, confused, but didn't pull away.
She brushed his bangs aside and pressed her lips to his forehead to check his temperature. Ah, as expected, he had a fever.
When she pulled away and looked down at him, he looked stunned, then confused, then embarrassed, "your highness...?"
"You," she started off with the tone of wrathful future empress, he jumped a little and that made her fury subside momentarily.
"Do you care about your life at all?" She pinched his cheeks, the fury in her eyes keeping him stunned and quiet.
"You have the self preservation instincts of a damned rock! No, no, that's unfair to rocks. Who don'tgo around chasingafter trouble when they're sick!" As she scolded him, her hands gently cupped his cheeks and started to slowly pass mana to him.
The effect was instantaneous, he shivered, his previously low mana catching up to him and making the dizziness more obvious, his hands clenched into fists on top of the table, groundinghim to keep him from toppling over.
He let her do what she was doing, gladly soaking up the mana she released. The fever was still there, and he was still exhausted, but at least he wasn't halfway dead or at risk of triggering a mana storm with every small spell.
"...thanks" he mumbled when she let go, blinking a few times to get his vision settled.
"You're ridiculous, I hope you know that." She scoffed. So even Jack the ripper gets sick, huh.
He frowned up at her but didn't argue back.
"So, what did you ask me here for, your highness?" He asked instead. He was still very low on mana, but for now he could at least do less taxing jobs like spywork and infiltration.
"No." She said firmly pinching his cheeks meanly. "You're going back to Ceoren and staying still until you take your medicine, I'm not interested in letting you die stupidly."
"Ow- ow- okay okay..!" He raised his hands in surrender. He honestly had no idea why the princess was acting like this, but if it gets him out of this dreadful room without a mission difficult enough to drain him for the next few weeks, he'll consider it a win.
"Good." She huffed and nodded. "If I catch word of you fighting anything while your mana is still like this, I'm making you prime minister." The way he flinched and paled at the threat soothed her anger quite well.
"Yes, your highness..." he nodded cautiously when she let go of his cheeks and made her way back to her seat.
'Works every time.' She couldn't stop the smirk making its way onto her face, so she hid it behind her teacup.
The joy she got from bullying this man into doing what she wants was quite relaxing. Was that a bit too sadistic? Maybe, but who cares. At least she makes sure he keeps himself alive.
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Meanwhile, Erendir was having a meltdown. She had meant to go see her sister, since she was in the capital, and Lynne had convinced her it was important for sisters to spend time together.
What she had walked in on was a horror no one should experience!
Professor Ludger, sitting there in her sister's greenhouse, looking unusualy soft, and her sister, the future empress of Exilion, leaning over him and kissing his forehead!
Her sister! Kissing! Professor's! Forehead!!!!
She didn't stay to watch, obviously, both her sister and the professor were monsters when it came to magic and detecting people around them, so she quietly slipped away, before booking it back to the meeting spot to find Lynne.
When the professor rejoined them, looking more alive than he had been the last few days, and oh how much she didn't want to think of what that implied, she couldn't bring herself to look at him at all.
She had trouble sleeping for a while after that, nightmares of professor Ludger becoming Empress Consort haunting her nights.