Chapter 470: 470. The Starlight Household is Going To Be A Love-Nest If I’m There

The walk from the Silver Rest Inn to the Grand Academy’s entrance took about twenty minutes through Aethelgard’s morning streets, which were busy enough to be lively but not so congested that progress required effort.

Elizabeth walked at the pace she used for professional movement: purposeful, covering ground, not chatty. Rex matched it without difficulty.

’If her desire level is at sixty after all I did to her... it seems like this girl has a lot of willpower to not break so easily.’ Rex thought. ’But... I’ve already anticipated this because a calm woman always acts like she’s strong enough to keep up.’

’Both her and Mireya... I’ll make sure this two bitches are going to be mine in a second.’ Rex clenched his fists.

They were four minutes from the Academy gate when Lily appeared.

She came from the direction of the Starlight household, which meant she’d been watching for them, or had coincidentally timed her morning exit perfectly, or some combination of both that Rex didn’t particularly need to categorize. She was walking quickly, and her expression had the open, uncomplicated warmth she kept for moments where she was certain of her reception.

"Rex, Elizabeth, good morning~!" she said to both of them, displaying the specific quality of someone who has just realized they are addressing both individuals and is processing the implications of that without commenting on it.

"Yo, Lily, morning," Rex said. "Cheerful as ever, huh?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Mm-hmm!" Lily nodded, and then she looked at Elizabeth.

"Professor Von Starlight," Lily said with the courtesy she used for Elizabeth in formal contexts, which she maintained consistently even when the context wasn’t particularly formal.

"Lily," Elizabeth said, with the fond precision of someone who has known a person since childhood and has a specific texture to how she says her name. "You don’t need to call me like that if we’re still outside the academy..."

She looked Lily over once, briefly, the way someone does when they haven’t seen a person in several days and want to confirm the person is intact. Whatever she registered seemed to satisfy her, because her expression didn’t change, and she resumed walking.

Lily fell into step beside Rex with the naturalness of someone who had done this enough times that it required no decision. "Since yesterday I haven’t asked much about the expedition..."

"How was the journey back?" she asked, which she directed at both of them and was clearly hoping Rex would answer first.

"Hm... probably long," Rex said. "The road north of Drevash is in poor shape after the rain."

"We also noticed that the road was in poor shape on the way out," Elizabeth said. "The first carriage lost a wheel at the second ford."

"Did Alexander fix it?" Lily asked.

Elizabeth noticed something was off when she said "Alexander" right away. ’Why is she...’

"Alexander argued with the driver about the best method for fixing it," Elizabeth said, trying to keep her composure. "Rex was the one that fixed it."

Lily glanced at Rex with an expression that communicated she found this completely believable and also a little bit funny. Rex didn’t react to it.

"Were there any complications?" Lily asked, using that word carefully, a fact they both recognized.

"There were some," Elizabeth said, with the specific neutrality of someone who has decided how much of a subject they are willing to discuss in a public street. "Nothing that wasn’t resolved."

"Good," Lily said, and she said it sincerely, which meant she had already extracted whatever she needed from the answer.

Diana emerged from the same direction, about thirty seconds behind Lily. Her greeting carried a different tone: it was calmer and more direct, a morning acknowledgment from someone who had already formed an opinion about the arrangement and felt no need to visibly process it.

"Good morning, Rex, Miss Elizabeth," Diana said while walking closer to Rex.

She kissed Rex’s cheek as she approached, a gesture that was neither dramatic nor performed—just a natural greeting from someone for whom this was customary. Elizabeth observed this interaction with a keen interest in someone cataloging details to reflect on later.

"No fair, Diana! Stealing a kiss just like that when I’m having a conversation with them!" Lily pouted.

"Kiss him on the other side then; it’s still free." Diana giggled.

Lily had apparently decided, on approximately the same timeline, that matching Diana was reasonable, and she went up on her toes and kissed the other cheek with the enthusiasm of someone who enjoyed the symmetry of the situation.

Rex accepted both kisses with the calmness of someone who had learned to expect such gestures and chose not to treat them as significant moments.

Elizabeth saw all of that, and then she remembered that she also kissed Rex a lot while they were having sex, and it made her start to shake her head slowly. ’No...! I mustn’t...!’

’Stop remembering it, but... they are so obvious about it by kissing him on the cheek like it’s a normal thing to do!’

Elizabeth said, "I was not aware that the Von Starlight family had collectively decided that the rules about appropriate professional conduct applied to everyone except them."

"We’re off Academy grounds," Diana said, without particular defensiveness. "The rules apply at the Academy gate."

"The gate is four minutes away."

"Then we have four minutes," Diana said, demonstrating the logical reasoning of someone who knew exactly how far they could push their time.

Lily said, "Elizabeth, are you all right? You seem like you’re being very professional with us."

"I am always professional," Elizabeth said.

"You’re being professional to us specifically," Lily said. "There’s a difference."

Elizabeth regarded her with the same expression she reserved for Lily when Lily made an observation that was accurate yet inconvenient.

"I’m fine," she said. "I had a long three days, the same as everyone."

"You came back looking like you’d had four," Diana said, not unkindly. "Mother looks like that after extended fieldwork sometimes, and there’s a particular expression."

"I don’t have an expression," Elizabeth said. "This is just me... being me."

"Well, you have one right now," Lily said helpfully.

Elizabeth shot Lily the look she reserved for students who pointed out inconvenient truths. Lily accepted it with the patient good humor of someone accustomed to such reactions, having long since stopped finding them discouraging.

"You also came back with Rex," Diana said after a beat.

"He probably is the one that cleared all the problems." She said it lightly, like it was a simple observation, which it was not.

"Rex is a member of the expedition team," Elizabeth said. "We came back with the whole team."

"Apollo came back separately," Lily said. "So did Talyra and Aisella. The others too."

"Carriages have limited capacity," Elizabeth said, in the tone of someone offering a reasonable logistical explanation that she was aware did not fully answer the question.

Diana glanced at her aunt for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Rex, and finally looked off in the distance. Whatever conclusions she had drawn from observing those two remained unspoken, a talent she had honed over the years.

"You’re not staying home today...?" Diana asked, her tone indicating it was more of a statement than a question. "And you’re walking with Rex to the academy?"

Elizabeth panicked. "I—I had some discussion with Rex at his inn... that’s all!"

"Hmmmmmm..." Both Lily and Diana mumbled while looking at each other while trying so hard not to laugh.

"Ehem!" Elizabeth paused just long enough to be noticeable.

"I’m going to be at the Starlight household for a while," she said. "There’s review work to do, and it’s easier to do it close to the Academy."

"Glad to hear that you’re finally coming back home, Elizabeth~!" Lily chuckled. "Now we need another one to stay so that the household can be crowded like it’s used to."

Diana glanced at Rex, who was staring off into the distance. She then shifted her gaze back to Elizabeth.

"The guest room is ready," Diana said. "It’s always ready."

"I know," Elizabeth said. "Thank you."

Lily was now looking at Rex, displaying the specific expression she used when she was assessing a situation rather than reacting to it; this was an expression Rex had learned to appreciate because it indicated she was processing rather than merely performing.

Her gaze shifted between Rex and Elizabeth before returning to Rex, her eyes conveying a silent message: I have a question I’m not going to voice here.

Rex briefly met her gaze and offered no response, a fact she noted for later consideration.

"The review work," Lily said, to Elizabeth, with the measured tone of someone returning to a subject from a slightly different angle. "Is it the kind that needs a lot of dedicated space or the kind that benefits from having people around to talk through?"

"Both, depending on the day," Elizabeth said.

"Because the study room at home is excellent," Lily continued. "Mother used it for her Valdric correspondence for two years, and it has great morning light."

"I’m aware of the study room," Elizabeth said. "I grew up in that house."

"I know... I’m just saying it’s still good." Lily paused. "And Rex can come too."

"I-It’s fine..." Elizabeth nodded.