Seeing that the small group had finally fled from the area, Shirone"s face returned back to normal, offering a kind smile to the boy on the ground. "You are safe now. Though the one you need to offer your thanks to is my ojou-sama. It was she who ordered me to come to your aid," gently said Shirone, returning the doll the three bullies dropped on the ground when they fled back in the arms of its rightful owner.Julian was surprised to hear that someone actually sent their maid to come to his rescue. Due to how most people tended to keep their distance from him, labeling him weird and frowning upon his interest in dolls. "If you follow me, I can take you over there so you can express your thanks, and do not worry. Our ojou-sama is very kind and understanding," explained Shirone as the boy timidly began to follow after her.
In just a few seconds, Maria saw Shirone making her way back over, spotting the quivering little lamb behind her. "Ah, he"s like a precious little cinnamon roll that needs to be protected," inwardly squealed Maria when she saw Julian poke his head out from behind Shirone when he felt her gaze on him.
"Would you like to take a seat with us?" Maria kindly asked the adorable little lamb, who seemed taken aback by the sincerity of her words and actions, sensing zero hostility from the emerald-eyed cinnamon brown haired girl.
"If you sit with us, I"ll offer you a piece of my steak!" offered Mai with a large friendly grin on her face. Julian was always used to others showing him hostility that the kindness the two girls gave him left him baffled. Yet also... he felt a nice warm feeling sprout in his heart.
"Ano... T-Thank-you f-for s-saving me." Julian felt himself blush as he stuttered over his words, expecting the two girls to regret their decision of asking him to come over. Only to once again be taken off guard when instead he received nothing but friendly smiles from the two girls.
"Maa, I can"t really say that I did much. I mean Shirone was the one who did all the work. The main thing that is important now is that you are safe and are happy to join us. Oh, I"m Maria by the way. Maria Rosendrey, and this is my friend Mai," Maria introduced both herself and Mai to the boy.
"I"m J-Julian Chevalier!" blurted out Julian, clutching the blonde lolita doll to his chest.
"Well Julian, it"s nice to meet you, and if you don"t mind, we would be happy to have you join our little group. By the way, want some macaroons and cake?" Once again Julian felt that warm feeling that had sprouted in his heart and began to spread, bobbing his head up and down adorably as he took a seat that was close by Maria. Taking out his own lunchbox, the three children began enjoying their lunch together.
From afar, a certain redhead was taking a stroll and also trying to evade his fangirls, when he caught sight of a familiar face. "Maria?" When Richard said her name, a smile began to form on his face, unable to explain this feeling of happiness he always had when he was around her.
"Oh? Who is this Maria that you speak of?" Upon hearing that sly-fox like voice, Richard was no longer smiling and instead turned his eyes to the person standing beside him. Standing there was a boy around the same age as Richard and even though he was quite young, he held a very beautiful appearance with black hair worn in a small low ponytail, a piercing in his left ear, and dark eyes, that if Maria saw him she would without a doubt dub him as a j.a.panese Prince.
"Akihito, did you follow after me?"
"Of course! After all, best friends always stick together~!"Akihito swung his arm around Richard"s shoulder before taking a look towards the direction he was staring at earlier, only to spot three first-graders and two neko maids.
"So which one is Marichan?" inquired Akihito who Richard could tell was definitely up to no good and was happy when the school bell rung signaling that lunch was now over.
"No one who you should ever meet. Now let"s go, our next cla.s.s is about to begin." Dragging Akihiko by the back of his collar, Richard sent one last glance at Maria and sighed at his lost opportunity of speaking with her.
"Well there is always tomorrow."
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"In this world, other than Astral, there exists other nations such as: Sakura Kingdom, Cloud Empire, Azure Kingdom, Fairy Kingdom, and Sun Empire. Oh and there exists one more nation, Grēks, though for a thousand years they have isolated themselves from outside affairs." Maria was in History cla.s.s listening to Ms. Nunnally"s lecture.
"A thousand years ago, there was an event called, The Great Disaster. A grave threat that almost destroyed the world if not for these six nations banning together and sending out their best magicians and warriors. The battle was fierce, thousands of lives were lost on that day, each nation suffered significant losses. Especially our very own, Astral"s first SS-rank magician and founder of Diamond Academy." Ms. Nunnally showed a grieving expression; whenever one talks about times of war and loss of lives, expressing grief was unavoidable.
The rest of Maria"s day was spent with Ms. Nunnally giving a lecture on the rest of the remaining subjects, and before she knew it, her first day finally came to an end. Having her onii-sama come and pick her up as she said her goodbyes to both Mai and Julian, before heading back to the Rosendrey manor. After returning home, Maria had changed clothes and decided to a.s.sist Lance with making some sweets while explaining her day. Right now the two were in the middle of making Matcha Chocolate-Chip Madeleines.
"Oh, I also made a new friend today! His name is Julian Chevalier!"
"Congratulations, ojou-sama~!" Lance offered his congratulations, piping the matcha cookie mixture into a silver madeleine mold pan.
"I"m happy that my dear Maria made a new friend!" Maria"s mother also sat in the kitchen, snacking on some biscuits, about to take another bite only to pause as she repeated the boy"s last name.
"Chevalier? Ah, then he"s from the Chevalier household. The son to Marquess Bernard and Marchioness Catherine Chevalier. Such a cute couple~! Maa, does my dear Maria want to know a secret concerning Marchioness Catherine?" There was a crafty glint in the Countess"s eyes, shooting a sly smile towards her cute daughter.
"Marchioness Catherine... is part of the fairy race; in fact, she is the Fairy King"s younger sister." Maria was not expecting this time-bomb to be dropped on her, almost dropping the bowl of icing in her hand. "Part of the fairy race?! Then doesn"t that mean Julian is also part of the fairy race as well?!"
"Yep! Oh, didn"t you discover your magic type today?"
Upon hearing this question, Maria was brought back to the question of why didn"t she possess the same type of magic as the original Maria. "Yeah, I learned that I have Celestial Magic." Maria handed over the matcha icing mixture, unaware of how both Lance and her mother"s eyes grew large at this news.
"Celestial Magic?" Maria saw her mother"s face marred with a worried expression. "In the past Celestial Magic was a rare and prized magic, but times have changed since then. Maria, as you get older, please promise me that you"ll be careful whenever you use your magic." Seeing such a serious expression on her mother"s usual cheerful and overly emotional face, Maria nodded her head. Confused about why her mother would make such an expression.
"Is there something wrong with having Celestial Magic?"