Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 158 The Gift-giver

As they were talking, the most important gift-giving session of the Latras family banquet officially began.

As the overall lighting of the banquet venue became slightly dimmer, the soft and bright light was focused on the stage setting at the banquet venue.

Ritas also briefly understood the process of this link. The Latras sisters will appear in order from the highest to the lowest in their current ranking. And not all Latras sisters came to attend this family dinner. The eldest daughter, the fifth daughter, and the eighth daughter were unable to come to Spring City due to some force majeure.

Due to the absence of the eldest daughter, the first person to appear was naturally the instigator of this family banquet, Latras's second daughter, Misley Latras.

And the upcoming appearance of Misley might be the reason why Olihar, who had been questioning before, suddenly shut up and chose to be quiet.

From one side of the stage, before Misley came on stage, a man holding a roll of cloth appeared. He squatted down and gently piled the cloth in his hands on the stage. As the cloth stretched out, a purple road appeared on the stage in an instant.

Then, Misley appeared, stepped on the purple road, and walked to the center of the stage.

In Ritas's first impression, Misli Latras was just a woman who was slightly shorter than her peers.

The reason why Ritas could only comment on Misley's figure and her graceful steps was that Misley, who was dressed in black mourning clothes and wearing gloves, had only the white skin around her mouth exposed, and the rest of her body was basically wrapped up extremely tightly.

As Misley appeared on the stage, the guests watching below broke the brief silence and made some sounds like exclamations.

Only a small part of these exclamations were dedicated to Misri. Most of them were dedicated to the young man who had previously paved the way for Misri like a servant and was now following behind Misri.

"Is that follower a famous person?"

Looking at the young man in a gorgeous dress who had the same brilliant golden hair as Misley, the Bathing Goddess asked in confusion.

"He is the third prince of the Holy Kingdom of Libera, Prince Greylo."

「!?」

Under normal circumstances, the goddess of bathing would definitely exclaim in surprise. Although, if you think about it carefully, due to Ritas's various identities, even the prince in front of him is not necessarily that strange.

"Oh? Adeline's brother?"

The Bathing Goddess, who had adjusted her mood, asked calmly. Ritas did not respond, but just continued to watch.

Facing the surprise of the "people" below, Prince Grelo, who had a handsome face and a squinting smile, first made a gesture to greet everyone. Then he pressed down with both hands, reminding everyone to keep quiet.

At the same time, Misley came to the center of the stage and sat on the red-backed chair set up there.

The chair had a heavy feel, as if it was connected to the stage, and because Misley was petite, she only took up less than half of the space when she sat on the chair.

After Misli sat down, Prince Grelo knelt on one knee in front of the seat, gently pulled Misli's right hand and kissed it. Then, at Misli's nod, he stood behind the seat.

"A prince of his rank, coming to offer a gift, can he only kiss her gloves?"

"."

As expected of the goddess of bathing, her focus is so unique.

However, what the Bathing Goddess said does make some sense. If it is strictly speaking just kissing the gloves, it should be called "kissing the gloves" rather than "kissing the hands".

Just as Ritas began to wonder whether kissing gloves was considered a kiss on the hand, a question that was close to the realm of philosophy, Misley's voice resounded in the quiet banquet hall.

As the host of this "family banquet", Misley folded her hands elegantly on her legs, thanked the guests, thanked the gift-givers, and thanked the Latras sisters who were willing to come. In short, she was giving a very formal opening speech.

Rather than the meaningless words, Ritas was more concerned about Misli's voice.

Her voice is very distinctive. It is slightly deep and has a distinct magnetic quality, but it is very gentle and pleasant overall, and it also has an indescribable charm.

After Misley's opening remarks and a brief introduction, the tribute session really began.

Then, a scene occurred that surprised Ritas as well.

The first gift-giver at this family banquet, and also Misley's gift-giver, was not Prince Greylo.

At the call of Michelle's inexplicably seductive voice, the silver-haired boy walked across the stage from the edge of the stage with stiff, mechanical steps, using both hands and feet.

"Why Miriam?"

Not only Ritas and the Bathing Goddess were surprised, the guests present also began to whisper to each other.

It was not until Miriam came to Misli's seat and took out the gift that everyone was sure that the person who presented the gift to Misli Latras was indeed the young man who made people shout "Who is he?"

Miriam, who was originally holding a palm-sized gift box in one hand, probably felt that it was inappropriate, so after coming in front of Misley, she changed to a posture of lightly holding the gift box with both hands.

Behind Misley, Prince Grelo, who was about thirty years old, looked at Miriam with a layer of frost on his face and a smile that was quite dangerous.

But Miriam, whose vision was almost lost at this time, didn't notice any of this. She just lowered her head and stretched out her arms to send the gift in her hand towards Misley.

Looking at Miriam, whose face was filled with nervousness from hair to toes, Misley covered her mouth with her hand, chuckled, and accepted the gift.

Everyone who attended the Latras family banquet knew that the important part of the gift-giving process was the process, not the gift itself. Therefore, in the past, the Latras sisters rarely opened their gifts on stage.

However, Misley opened the gift directly and took out the cookies baked by Miriam from the small gift box.

"His skills have improved a lot."

Ritas commented as he watched from a distance as Misli twisted the cookie between her fingers and observed it.

"."

As expected of Xiaoli, the focus is so different.

On the stage, Misley observed the biscuits very carefully, then put them into her mouth and chewed them in small bites.

Perhaps, it was very rare to see Misley eating in front of others, which caused Prince Greylo, who was still on the stage for some reason, to have an even colder expression.

"This is not just an ordinary birthday party. How could Miss Misley not find anyone else to celebrate for you? No matter how you look at it, I shouldn't have been here. I should have known."

The moment Miriam stepped into the banquet venue, or rather the moment he received the invitation, he realized that he seemed to have been deceived. He was bathed in countless uneasy gazes and could not help but complain.

Misley chuckled, then suddenly reached out and pulled Miriam's tie, pulling him towards her. Misley didn't use much force, but under this completely unexpected sudden attack, Miriam still stumbled forward a few steps.

"Don't complain. Since you have seen my face, this is the karma you should bear."

Their faces intertwined, and Misley whispered softly in Miriam's ear.

Having said that, Misley pushed Miriam away, and then left the stage with Prince Greylo and Miriam, who had to follow, amid applause from the venue.

"It seems like he's involved in some strange incident again."

"Um"

Some time later, backstage at the mansion stage, Ritas and the Bathing Goddess were talking about Miriam.

Perhaps in the past few months, the Bathing Goddess's perspective had completely shifted from the "brave man" to the "professor". Or perhaps, there was something wrong with Miriam.

In short, now the Bathing Goddess can understand why Ritas had been staring at Miriam before.

They left the "protagonist" alone for more than a month during the summer vacation. The other party seemed to have triggered a bunch of messy "plots" everywhere.

That is to say, Ritas, the class teacher, is outstanding in all aspects. Otherwise, if he were replaced by someone with weaker backup ability, he might not be able to support Miriam, a student who is like a walking eye of the storm.

Of course, although Ritas seems to have a huge headache now, he may not be able to avoid the various problems that may arise in the future after Miriam has laid the groundwork for a holiday.

"Let's not talk about Miriam for now. Why did Misley let him be the presenter?"

"That's because of course."

The Bathing Goddess wanted to blurt out that it was of course because Miriam had a bright future.

But she soon realized that the only people who knew about Miriam's identity as a "hero" and "savior" were her and Ritas.

Although the Bathing Goddess can now communicate with many people. And Ritas generally does not deliberately hide anything, and will take the initiative to reveal some information to necessary people, such as Livis. However, only the matter about Miriam has been kept secret by them tacitly.

So what did Misli see in Miriam?
Cooking skills?

Judging from Miriam's performance in the first semester, he is indeed very good, but not so good that it can be judged that he will shine in just a few years.

Besides, it's not like Misli couldn't find a more outstanding presenter. Bringing Prince Grelo to the stage was a clear demonstration.

If Ritas and the Bathing Goddess hadn't known some inside information and knew that many of Misli's actions were related to the "Star People", they might have thought that the purpose of Misli's sudden "family banquet" was just to let the whole world see "her" Misli.

"However, what's more worthy of attention right now may be Sylvie's matter."

No matter how much she thought about the matter of Misley and Miriam, she could not come up with any clues, so the Bathing Goddess turned the topic to more pressing matters.

As he listened to the Bathing Goddess's words, Ritas lowered his head slightly and fell into deep thought.

He recalled what Olihar, who seemed to have finally been able to speak, said to him after Misley left the stage.

"You should understand now, right? Teacher Elson. Sylvie did not find any donors for this family banquet."

"In itself, Sylvie is already the last one. And Misley is very stingy. If Sylvie does such a blatant act of rebellion at the family banquet she hosts."

"Sylvie was eventually forced to drop out of school because of this reason. Doesn't Mr. Elson care?"

"Drop out of school."

Ritas sighed while muttering softly.

"I looked up the academy's records over the past twenty years, and found that only seventeen students dropped out for various reasons, which means that on average, less than one student dropped out each year."

Ritas spoke as if to himself, and couldn't help frowning.

So, is his class the only one with such a high dropout rate?
First it was Merci, then Engel, and now Sylvie.

It could be due to personal ideas, external forces, or something else.
"Besides, what's the point of dropping out? It's as if dropping out is some doomsday event. Even if Sylvie had to drop out because of family matters, shouldn't they handle it within the family? What's the point of telling me?"

Hearing Ritas complaining, the Bathing Goddess felt that the professor must be really unhappy.

The reason for this displeasure might be that Olihar was using the threat of "dropping out of school" to try to make Ritas do something.

"I'm not defending Olihar, but she seems to have no other options and is desperate. If she really wants to do something for Sylvie, it shouldn't be difficult to prepare a gift for Sylvie that can at least fool her. However, her proposal was rejected by Sylvie. So, with no choice, she can only try to find someone who is close to Sylvie or someone she thinks she can be close to. For example, classmates and teachers, so that Sylvie can't refuse."

The reason for "dropping out" may be because Sylvie's connection with Miriam and Ritas is already above the academy. Therefore, the reason of dropping out is the most powerful under these limited conditions.

"Why would she help Sylvie?"

Ritas thought about it for a moment, then speculated,
"She is in competition with Platina? So, she wants to make Platina embarrassed and damage the family order by making me, the gift-giver, change sides temporarily? Does she really think that with just a few words, she can make others ignore the connections woven through so many things and make the result go as she wants?"

"Well, I think the truth may not be as complicated as I imagined."

The goddess of bathing paused for a moment, and searched around for a long time, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping, she took out her natural tone.

"Xiao Li, you see Olihar is also very young, right? So, according to my observation, the only sisters in the family who are younger than her are probably Misley and Sylvie. But, Misley doesn't look like a 'sister', right? I can only say that even in a strange family like Latras, there must be sisterhood. And there are indeed creatures called 'sister complex' in this world!"

The Bathing Goddess said with a solemn oath.

"Sister control."

Ritas seemed to be really embarrassed by the reasons and words given by the Bathing Goddess. He just breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze towards the stage.

At this time, just as the three Latras girls walked off the stage, the fourth girl, Platina, slowly walked across the stage and sat on the seat in the center of the stage.

Looking at Platina, who was sitting upright with her side shielded by an iron fan, still with a worried and uneasy expression, Ritas picked up the gift box containing the metronome, which he had once handed to the butler Mount, and then returned to his hand again.

"No matter what Olihar's reasons are, or what difficulties Sylvie is facing in the family, I will only do what is planned."

After making a statement that seemed to be to the goddess of bathing and to himself, Professor Ritas Elson, Platina's dedicator, slowly walked to the center of the stage.

(End of this chapter)