Chapter Text
The nib scratched against the parchment, ink blooming in looping script.
“I, Ludger Cherish, accept all legal, moral, academic, filial, and logistical responsibility for the well-being of the students under my holiday supervision.”
"Chancellor, what does 'filial' mean in this context?"
"Oh," she said, not batting an eye, "standard phrasing."
He stared at her suspiciously for a heartbeat.
Then—
"Have you seen the compensation clause?"
Ludger flipped the pages forward, eyes quickly skimming over how much money he would get.
Elisa smiled.
And Ludger signed without reading any further.
He would later reflect that this was the exact moment he committed the kind of greed he’d been warned about as a child.
· · ─────── · ✧ · ─────── · ·
There were five of them.
Standing in a loose line outside of his office, bundled in winter coats in varying degrees of warmth. Luggage crowded the floor. Luggage, as if the academy didn't have dorm rooms that could rival five-star hotels. Ludger scanned the students' faces, double-checking with the list in his hand.
"Flora Lumos."
Flora straightened instantly. "Yes, Professor."
"Erendir von Exilion," he continued.
Erendir inclined her head with practiced grace. "Present."
"Renei."
Renei bowed nervously.
"Here, Professor," she said quietly.
"Aidan."
"Present, Professor Ludger!" said Aidan, voice too loud at 8 in the morning, or any hour of the day, for that matter.
Ludger took a breath.
"…Sedena Roshen."
Sedena stepped forward, standing straight at attention. "I have prepared an itinerary and emergency contact list, along with an allergy chart, sir."
Ludger closed his eyes.
He opened them again and tried to ask calmly in his driest voice.
"Why are you here."
Flora blinked. "Because we were assigned to you?"
"No," he said, pointing at her, "you're nobility. You have an estate, even one near South Fatima where it never gets cold during the winters. Why are you here?"
"…You know where I live?" Her eyes sparkled.
His eye twitched, not dignifying that with a response because of course he knew where she lived. He knew where everyone lived, including the janitor in the North Wing who only came to work when he felt like it.
He turned.
"You," to Erendir, "are a princess."
Erendir nodded. "Yes."
"You have a home."
"Yes," she agreed. "Several."
Ludger pinched the bridge of his nose.
"And you," he said, turning to Aidan—
"I have no home, professor!"
"—are a problem."
"Oh! Why yes, sir!" He saluted. Saluted. Sedena looked almost pleased at the show of respect.
"I-is it alright if I'm here, Professor?" It was Renei, her voice shy and soft. If anything, she was the only one technically qualified to even be there.
So Ludger says, "Of course," he said gently.
Because guilt.
Because she was the only one who was actually, legally, orphaned.
And not at all because of whatever Flora was definitely misreading as favoritism right now.
He looked back at the line of students, looking at him expectantly. He looked at their luggage. The number suggesting they were preparing for an expedition to a foreign continent, not a short holiday on campus grounds.
He glanced at Sedena, which was a mistake.
"Dormitory staff were given time off to spend the holidays with their loved ones, sir."
Of course they were.
Of course he signed the contract.
Of course this was the price of a generous holiday stipend.
'So this is what eternal damnation feels like,' he thought.
"…Fine," he said, in the tone of someone remembering they sold their soul for soup.
The students were still beaming when he summoned Aeter Nocturnus, his shadow beast. It slunk forward, its inky body growing bigger until it unfurled into a crow-like beast—graceful and terrifying like its master.
With a flick of Ludger's hand, the shadow beast expanded its body, enveloping Flora's monogrammed trunks, Erendir's crested cases, Aidan's duct-taped duffel—all of it gone, to the amazed gasps of the group.
Turning his heel, he said, "Follow me," and walked away.
"Wait—where are we going?" Flora asked, cautious.
"My house," he said with all the enthusiasm of someone announcing a funeral.
Everyone stared at him and froze.
"WE'RE STAYING AT YOUR HOUSE?!" Flora, Aidan, and gods forbid—Sedena—all chorused, scandalized, and delighted.
He did not dignify that with a response.
Aidan whispered, “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
"No," Ludger muttered to himself, "this is how horror movies start,"
But internally, he was already calculating how much damage could legally be deducted from the Chancellor's promised bonus.