Fall in love in a weekwe get by

I caught Sabella's questioning glance. She seemed willing to step in and explain, but only if I couldn't block the blow on my own. Still, the point of this adventure is not for Dougal to politely ignore me for the rest of the day. We need to find common ground – why not start now?

But still, ugh to be so impolite!

“Return visit, Doctor Norwood,” I said in my most businesslike tone. – Guinea pig report on the effects of mixture number two thousand two hundred and forty-three without pepper. Interested?

– Wonderful! – Elsa admired. – I see, Dougal, even during working hours you manage to replenish the number of your guinea pigs. Unique talent.

– Innate. True, some rabbits manage to exhibit unauthorized activity and choose strange places for reports,” Norwood responded, looking at me thoughtfully.

“Unauthorized activity is called “initiative,” I enlightened. – They say it is very much appreciated. In certain circles.

– In certain cases, no doubt. I would like to know who defines them. Well, serving science requires sacrifice. Where's the lemon pudding, Mom?

He seemed to stop paying attention to me. I joked with Elsa and Chester, gave Sabella pieces of her favorite pudding and pretended that I wasn’t there. But I felt quick, searching glances. ?not from him and, it seems, from Elsa too. Sabella frowned and tried to draw me into the conversation, but Dougal took over the initiative, and I only managed to insert a meaningless “yes, of course” once.

How disgusting it is to feel like a guest who, without meaning to, spoils the holiday! It's painful and very disappointing.

Only Chester did not notice the thickening tension. He ate pies enthusiastically and just as enthusiastically talked about his sweet purple girl, who had finally come to life after Dougal’s “barbaric” treatment.

– This is a new word in science! Until now, it was considered an immutable truth that purple grass dies on magically poor soils and is extremely poorly absorbed by artificial replenishment of magic. But it's not that simple! – He waved the teaspoon, like a pointer, almost hitting Elsa on the forehead, and she, slightly grinning, moved away from him – moving closer to Dougal. It’s strange – why does it seem to me that this was played out especially for me? And Chester continued, not noticing anything: “I must say, Miss Blair gave me the idea.” I don't know how long she and Dougal wandered the swamps, but you, Miss Blair, constantly fed magic into your swamp equipment, am I right? – I nodded, and the teaspoon triumphantly rose to the heavens, that is, to the roof of the gazebo. – Here! Alien magic, not aimed directly at the purple girl, but as if enveloping her, creating a background from which you can take as much as you need! Two-stage feed, do you understand?!

“We understand, we understand,” Dougal grumbled. – You found the perfect nanny for your poor babies. And “Miss Blair” has been extremely suggestive lately. The most varied.

For some reason, I clearly heard irony in his “Miss Blair.” And, it seems, not only me. Even Chester, carried away by his ideas and discoveries, suddenly became distracted and gave me a very strange look.

– Indeed! – Sabella suddenly exclaimed. – How could I forget! Charlotte brought me some wonderful phlox. And I wanted to show her mine. But now… Dougal, maybe…

“Oh, I’ll be happy to show Miss Blair your garden, Sabella,” Chester responded brightly. “Besides, if I don’t take a walk now, the rest of this magnificent chocolate cake won’t fit into me.”

I'm afraid that my facial expression has become somewhat… goofy, as they would say in my world. Here such expressions are not accepted, and sometimes you don’t know what to adequately replace them with. That's what it is, huh?! Chester liked the idea of a “nanny” and decided that it was worth luring me away from the Academy to his greenhouses? Or is it he who so selflessly saves Dougal from my company? How can I politely refuse him now? Because his company, of course, is pleasant, and, perhaps, should be much more pleasant than Norwood’s sarcastic company, but…

But only if it's friendly. ? If I'm being honest with myself, Dougal's poisonous irony appeals to me more. And he himself… Sometimes… At certain moments… Yesterday, for example.

I remembered our “sea battle” tournament, which miraculously brightened up Herr Wolger’s “tidal pebbles”. But for some reason, almost immediately the memory switched to something else. The exciting feeling of Norwood standing behind me is very close. An instant feeling of flight when he suddenly picked me up in his arms. A dream – or not? – "Good night".

if only we had more time… not the remaining measly two and a half days, but… I don’t know, a month, two, three? Maybe something would really work out? I would like to. In fact, I wanted to, and the curse had nothing to do with it.

The situation was saved, oddly enough, by Norwood himself. He stood up faster than Chester could let go of the spoon.