Lord Ascart eventually returned to the student council room. Maria was not above admitting she stared at the door expectantly, but there were no stragglers coming in after him.

"Is it just you, Lord Ascart?" Maria finally said as Nicol settled down at one of the desks.

He nodded. "I do not think anyone else will be in attendance," he said with bland understatement.

Maria sighed, unable to help herself, and heard an echo. She and the president exchanged a look and a quick, tired smile, before returning to their work.

"I'm glad you're back Nicol," Sirius said. "It'll be just like last year, with only the two of us on the council."

"Overworked, in pain and desperately seeking some way to put you out of your misery?" Maria said.

Sirius sighed. "Why did those days have to come back?"

Lord Ascart said nothing, apparently intent on the work before him, but Maria did not doubt he heard every word and simply chose not to respond. She had to wonder how Lady Claes had ensnared him into her webs. He seemed too level-headed for it to simply be base lust, as it was with the Third Prince and Lady Hunt. But then again, the strangest lusts could overcome a person. She'd once found a copy of 'How To Pick Up Fair Maidens' among Master Gehrman's books, after all.

Idly, she wondered whatever had happened to her old comb. She never did find it when she moved to the research hall…

Maria eventually had to leave for class. She put away her work, and offered to use her Light Magic on them before she stepped out. Sirius accepted readily, and managed not to make any embarrassing sounds once the deed was done and she had used her hand to bring him relief. Lord Ascart was more hesitant, but eventually accepted her offer, flexing her hand experimentally afterwards.

"A most wonderful remedy," he said, his face as inscrutable as ever. "A pity it didn't work on Katarina."

"Yes, it is most regrettable," Maria agreed. "Else we would have more hands to deal with the council's work. Good day, my lords." She bowed and exited the room.

…

Nicol Ascart stared after the second most inscrutable person he has ever met, trying to parse if that was sincere or sarcastic.

"She probably actually means it," Sirius said, his face still mildly euphoric at the relief his hand was feeling. To be completely honest, Nicol could share the sentiment. "As someone who also knows what it's like to do the work of the entire council with only two people, you should understand her view. While we're on the subject, how is Lady Katarina? She must be improving if you've decided to come back."

At those words, Nicol's face goes smoother than usual. "Her condition is unchanged, although the experimental procedure the doctor authorized looks to be effective at maintaining her health."

"So she's not going to wake up any time soon?" Sirius said. "Why are you here, then?"

Nicol turned back to work. "There is work to be done," he said quietly.

Sirius gave him a penetrating stare, but better men and women have tried that on Nicol. "If I brought all the student council's paperwork to Lady Katarina's room, do you think the others would get back to work?"

Nicol wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended by that proposition. "I… don't think that will be taken well. "

Sirius sighed. "Well, I had to ask."

…

Over the following week, other members of the student council slowly trickled in. Lord Claes was morose and distracted, and Maria had to return his papers more than once due to incorrect and illegible entries. Prince Alan was moody and short-tempered, using his pen to attack the papers like they had mortally offended him and intended to punish them, and their children, and their children's children, for evermore. The Third Prince came as an icy storm, eyes burning with fire that wished to be unleashed yet had none on which he may spend his fury. His work was still perfect as ever, of course. And finally, near the week's end, Lady Hunt came, her step petulant and her tongue sharp, as often as not interrupting her work to pace distractingly back and forth, casting glances upon the spot where Lady Claes would usually sit.

With each appearance, the student council president looked more and more relieved, and on the first day when all five where in the room together, Maria could hear him praising the sun under his breath. Maria agreed, though she didn't say so as openly. As a peasant, it was not her place to cast judgement on her betters.

Still, Maria enjoyed the sounds of productive work being done and, more importantly, not all by her and one other person. Perhaps she'd finally have a chance to go back to training in the morning. She'd be feeling a little pent up lately, but with everyone back and time in her hands again she's have a chance to go back out into the woods and just let loose all her stress…

She looked forward to it.

Lady Ascart remained absent.

…

A Katarina Dream Sequence

"How's your playthrough of Fortune Lover going?"

"Eh, I decided to switch targets for a while and go for the playboy heir. It's kinda weird though, I keep finding his lore in different sets of women's underwear. Why would they be in their underwear? He's boy!"

"You're just a precious cinnamon roll, aren't you Tae-chan?"

"Huh? Cinnamon roll? I thought I was a monkey girl?"

"Such a precious cinnamon roll…"

"EH?! Make sense Acchan! I'm having a really hard time getting through these four routes. Can you help me?"

"Actually, there are eight routes in Fortune Lover."

"NANI!"

"Yup, eight routes, with twenty different endings in all. Although everyone agrees the UFO where it turns out Maria is an amnesiac alien from outer space ending is non-canonical."

"Let me guess, there's no flag markers that tell you what ending you're on, are there."

"Nope!"

"Miyazaki-sensei, you sadist! But wait, I only know about the four capture targets, who are there others?"

"Well, there's Valette-chan–"

"Still a hard pass, that swamp sucks!"

"Then there's Sienna-chan, but you need either the pre-purchase bonus code to get her, or the season pass DLC."

"Damn it, why does there need to be so many microtransactions! Who else?"

"Ah, she doesn't get patched in until The Old Lovers DLC comes out next month, but rumor is she's a mature older woman who's a high-spec meido character with a tragic past!"

"Eh?! So many attributes AND another yuri route too?"

"Maria-chan's heart is wide enough to accept anyone! It's what makes her the protagonist!"

"Actually, she's kind of distant and lonely a lot of the time… Hmm? Why did I say that?"

"…m-maybe your blood sugar is a little low?"

"Maybe… wait Acchan, that's just seven capture targets! Who's the last one?!"

"(Whew)Ah, you see, they're the super secret capture target. Have you been collecting the Creepy Novel pages like I told you?"

"Those pages are a pain in the ass! Seriously, why are we looking for the pages of a vampires versus werewolves novel? Fortune Lover doesn't even have any of those!"

"It wouldn't be a secret character if their questline didn't need a lot of item collecting, right?"

On the edge of her consciousness, she thought she heard … someone… calling. She looked around.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard… Never mind. So, no spoilers, but how exactly do I get started on this secret character besides the pages…"

"Well, first you need to light the bonfires in the royal crypt, the secret room behind the lost duke's study, the island prison and the gulch…"