“Darling, I'm planning to go out with the kids. Do you want to join us?”
Adela leaned against the doorframe with her hands behind her back, a gentle smile playing on her lips as she waited for Orion's response from behind his desk.
Orion sighed first, then replied helplessly, “Is Ain going too?”
Adela immediately looked displeased.
“That boy seems to have some business today and has already gone elsewhere.”
“But regardless, why do you have to be so difficult with him?”
“Didn't you see how Erylin protected him yesterday? She cares about Ain a lot.”
“Orion, what has gotten into you lately? I understand you care about our daughter's feelings, but what exactly about Ain makes you so dissatisfied?”
Adela recalled what he had said to her on the terrace yesterday.
“Only thinking of enjoying the best of both worlds while ignoring their feelings—such love is far too selfish.”
She was currently very satisfied with this little boyfriend her daughter had found.
Adela walked up behind Orion, placing her hands on his shoulders. “You know, I spoke with that boy last night.”
“I saw into his heart...”
“Sincerity, responsibility, accountability... He is completely different from those boys who only care about their own selfish desires.”
Hearing Adela say this only gave Orion a bigger headache.
“Adela, I know, I know...”
“I've watched Erylin grow up since she was a baby. How could I not know she cares about that boy?”
“Sigh, take a look at this first.”
“What is this...?”
“Ain's profile and academic records. I pulled some strings to get them.”
On the document, Ain's name occupied a prominent spot, and right below his name was his rank as a mage.
“No way...”
“A Tier 1 Mage?!”
Adela gasped in surprise, blinking in disbelief.
While Tier 4 was already the peak of what an ordinary person could achieve, rising from Tier 1 to Tier 2 was something even those with the poorest talent could manage.
“Does that boy have some kind of physical illness? How could this be...”
“Regardless, Adela, Erylin was already a Tier 3 a year ago. A disparity in strength will only drive them further apart. You must know this, right?”
“Besides, as a boy, how can he keep hiding behind Erylin's back?”
“Even if Erylin's magical talent is indeed superior to most, Ain shouldn't be...”
Orion shook his head helplessly, then handed her another piece of paper.
“And this, his academic evaluation.”
As Orion explained, his finger traced across the paper, pointing out several key terms one by one.
“Look here. He has had zero attendance in his classes for the past three weeks?”
“Heh, I really can't imagine how Erylin could fall for a boy like this.”
“You said he has a sense of responsibility? Honestly, Adela, I highly doubt if he deceived you. Does someone who doesn't even follow classroom discipline really have any understanding of responsibility?”
Orion, whose noble background instilled in him an almost harsh obsession with discipline, would have kicked Ain out of his house by now if Erylin didn't care about him so much.
“No...”
Adela took the paper and looked at the rows of evaluation data, the unease in her heart growing once more.
She had thought her daughter's judgment was sound, but she hadn't expected such glaring oversights in these areas.
“And finally, look here.”
Orion pointed to the very bottom of the evaluation form.
“Adela, no matter what that boy did, this is an expulsion notice! Even if it was rescinded, think about it—just how severe of an offense must he have committed for the academy to push him to this point?”
Orion suppressed the irritation in his heart. He truly could not bear the thought of his daughter being ruined by someone like this.
Lack of strength, lack of diligence—this was Orion's current assessment of Ain.
Seeing Adela's reluctance to accept the facts, Orion frowned and replied with great dissatisfaction, “You are always like this, Adela. You trust your intuition too much. To put it bluntly, you are far too easily deceived by a person's outward appearance.”
“If what you said earlier is true, I find it hard to imagine just how hypocritical that boy must be to have deceived your magic.”
This was what gave Orion the biggest headache.
Ain could have flaws, and he could be weak.
But he couldn't be a hypocrite who only toyed with other people's feelings while packaging himself with a perfect persona, could he?
But soon, Orion shook his head again.
Calling a young boy overly hypocritical was a bit too arbitrary.
He had seen too many misunderstandings and hidden troubles in his life.
“Perhaps I went too far. I'm sorry, Adela. There must be some misunderstandings here. I shouldn't analyze a boy using noble standards...”
“But I think he might not be as good as you believe him to be.”
“I know what you wanted to say at first. You always say that ‘everyone has their own unique shining points.’”
Orion sighed; he knew his wife all too well.
“Were you going to say that his achievements in other fields are extraordinary? For example, in potionology?”
“As you know, I am a potionology scholar myself. The complexity of this field is far more difficult than magic.”
Adela naturally understood his point.
If he wasn't diligent enough in his magic studies, it was even less likely for him to achieve anything in something as tedious and dry as potionology.
“Then what do you plan to do? Tell all of this to Erylin?”
Orion shook his head calmly.
“I don't know how much Ain has told her, but right now, I only want to make one thing clear.”
A cold gleam flashed in Orion's eyes.
“Whether his value is truly enough.”
Adela looked at him with some surprise, seemingly having guessed what Orion had in mind.
“You're not planning to...”
“If he can stand back up after rounds of my pressure, I wouldn't mind personally grooming the boy.”
“But if he doesn't even have that kind of perseverance...”
“Then how can he protect Erylin in the future?”
Orion let out a breath.
Would it be too beneath him, a grand Tier 5 Mage, to bully a Tier 1 boy?
Well, whatever. It was all for his daughter.
Ain, don't blame me for this.
If you want to stay by Erylin's side, show me some useful worth.
Extremely light footsteps sounded outside. A maid stopped in front of the door, raising her hand to knock twice gently.
“Master, Madam.”
“This is a letter from the academy, along with a package that was delivered.”
“A letter from the academy?”
Orion frowned.
“Is it addressed to Erylin?”
“I didn't check, Master.”
“Very well, I understand. Give it to me.”
After receiving the letter and the box, Orion dismissed the maid.
He placed the box on the desk first, then opened the letter to check the sender's name on the front.
“From Professor Grimm of Golden Branch Academy's Hermetica...?”
Orion looked at Adela beside him with a strange expression.
“Did Erylin... take potionology as a minor this term?”
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