“Uuugh…”

Creak!

Sounds that shouldn't be coming from a child's body echoed several times before Regalia, stretching her stiff body, rose from her seat.

As the president of a large corporation, she shouldn’t leave her desk, but this was a different story. After finishing all the accumulated work and setting up a system to handle things, she could finally take a break.

"I guess I can finally relax a little."

"Congratulations, Miss."

"Thank you, Kitty."

Regalia brushed off her subordinate's flattery and sat down on the sofa in the corner of her office, flipping through TV channels. She stopped at a children's animation channel.

Didn't the scientist recently say there was no shame in watching shows like this at her age? She decided to humbly accept that advice.

While enjoying the TV show, Kitty approached her from behind and whispered into her ear.

"Miss, since you've finished all your work, you can now attend school."

"...School?"

"Yes. Your attendance record is cutting it close."

Regalia is an elementary school student. And, of course, elementary school is compulsory. No matter how much she was the ruler of City E and the head of a major corporation, she couldn't skip it forever.

Up until now, she'd been able to avoid school, citing the expansion of Eblis Corporation and the growing workload as reasons... but she couldn't do that indefinitely.

"I guess... I have to go?"

"Yes. Even if you dislike it, you must go."

"Ugh... I can't stand being around kids."

But you're a kid too, Kitty stifled the words that almost slipped from her mouth and handed over the school notice that had arrived.

Receiving the notice, Regalia let out a soft sigh. A parent-teacher observation day. Why did it have to coincide with her return?

"Ugh... Can't I just finish this and go afterward?"

"No, Miss."

"But..."

There was a big problem. Regalia was an orphan. She had no parents, nor any adults who could fill that role at times like this.

Well, if I leave it to the scientist, something will work out…

And so, this was the reason she had delegated the role of "father" to Eight…

 

I immediately convened a meeting of the executives. After all, I couldn't handle such an important matter alone.

As expected, when the gathered executives heard the news about Regalia's parent-teacher observation day, they got excited.

"Parent-teacher observation day?"

"Yes, at the school the boss attends."

"Then why am I here?"

Galm, who had never attended school and certainly couldn’t play the role of a parent, grumbled. To be fair, there was no real need to call him—except that if he wasn’t invited and ended up feeling left out, he'd whine about being excluded.

Of course, I couldn’t say that aloud. If that beast heard it, he'd surely start swearing and fly into a rage. So, I casually diverted the conversation.

"Since this concerns the boss, it's only natural that all the executives should come together. Now then—let's decide who will play the role of the boss's mother."

At those words, Birana flinched. She shook the table so violently that it nearly moved, her eyes trembling as she muttered.

"I... I can be Miss's mother? I'll be Miss's mom... Miss will call me 'Mommy'...?"

"...Birana?"

"I-I’ll do it!"

The other executives, realizing how annoying the task would be, quickly agreed to let Birana take on the role, nodding in approval.

Just as it seemed Birana was about to be appointed as the mother, Arima quietly spoke up.

"But who's going to be the father♠?"

"I'll handle that."

Boom! The loud noise echoed again, this time from two sources.

Looking over at Birana, I realized that the source of this new noise wasn’t her—it was two other people.

Aile and Levi-tan, looking at each other, began smiling.

They turned toward Birana and started trying to persuade her.

"Bi, Birana sis...? Now that I think about it, maybe it’s too much of a burden for you to take on alone..."

"No! I'll do it! Birana-chan, please step aside!"

"...Why are you two acting like this all of a sudden? I’m not giving up the 'Mommy' role."

"Bi-Birana sis, you're already of a certain age… What if you end up being mistaken for a single mother and can’t get married...?"

"I’ll let you have the 'Mommy' role, so please let me be the wife!"

"Aile...? What are you even talking about all of a sudden...? And Levi-tan, the mother and wife roles can’t be separated. What kind of dysfunctional family would that be?"

A fierce competition with no concessions. Watching this, I glanced at Arima, slightly frowning. Arima met my gaze and smiled slyly, sticking his tongue out. I realized that he had orchestrated this whole situation on purpose, and my frown deepened. So much for the so-called wise mage—he's just a clown who enjoys a spectacle.

"Stop, stop! Everyone, quiet down."

Clapping to gather attention, I made a fair suggestion to the three fighting over the mother role.

"Let’s settle this with a draw. Fair and square."

"Ugh... I was supposed to do it…"

"If the scientist says so, then..."

"Let’s go with what Eighty says!"

Once the three reached an agreement, I brought out a tablet and opened a roulette app. I wrote down the three names and was about to spin when Aile suddenly shouted.

"W-wait a minute!"

"What now?"

"If it's just three of us, there's a 99.999…9% chance for one of us to be chosen, right? But what about the remaining 0.000…1%? What if that doesn’t go to any of us?"

"0.000...1 is essentially 0, Aile. Don’t you study properly?"

"Still! But it’s a program! What if it allocates the remaining probability to someone else?!"

Despite my scientific and mathematical explanations that it was impossible, she kept insisting, so I had no choice but to include Arima and Galm in the draw.

"Heh, playing the mom role, huh. This should be fun."

"Indeed♣ If Galm or I end up being chosen, that'll be interesting, too."

With the two of them now participating, the roulette with five names began to spin. The initial three competitors stared intently at the monitor, hoping for their own names to be picked.

"A."

"A."

"A."

"Bwahahahaha!"

The three sighed as they saw the result, while Galm burst into laughter.

The three glared at him with murderous intent.

And that person, who had previously thought it would be amusing if their name was chosen, scratched his cheeks awkwardly as he saw his name displayed on the screen.

"Well, it really did end up being me♠."

And so, the role of the mother went to Arima.

 

Like all kids her age, Regalia whined about not wanting to go to school—but her attendants didn’t listen to her. They simply dressed her up to ensure she could attend school properly.

Once she was dressed in her elementary school uniform, with a puffed-up backpack and an adorable hat to complete the look, the charismatic ruler of Eblis vanished, leaving behind a cute little girl.

A picture-perfect elementary schooler. Kitty, upon seeing her, covered her face with her hands and let out a groan.

"Miss... you’re adorable."

"Ugh—this outfit is so uncomfortable."

"There's nothing we can do about that. We’ve packed all the protective features—anti-bullet, anti-explosion, anti-magic—so, please bear with it for a little longer."

With that, Kitty led Regalia to school. Since Regalia was disguised as an ordinary girl from a normal family at school, the driver dropped her off a short distance away and watched from afar to keep an eye on her.

As she walked the school path alone, she heard a small but rapidly approaching sound of footsteps behind her. Just from the sound, she could tell who it was.

"Ria! You're finally coming to school!?"

"Long time no see, Mare."

"Are you all better? The teacher said you couldn't come because you were sick!"

Facing Mare, a pure-hearted child her age, Regalia smiled and explained that she had recovered.

Children nearby gasped in awe as they caught sight of her smile. Even among elementary school students, Regalia's beauty was extraordinary, and she had already awakened feelings of love in several of the students at her school.

Of course, none of them dared approach her or confess. Even though they didn’t know she was the head of Eblis Corporation, the aura she exuded as a ruler was unmistakable.

After greeting her classmates and taking her seat, Regalia noticed the teacher entering the classroom. At that moment, her expression stiffened.

Seeing the teacher's face reminded her of what day it was.

"Ahem—everyone, do you know what today is?"

"“It’s the day when our parents come!”"

"That’s right! Now, if your parents can't make it, don’t give them a hard time when you get home, okay?"

The teacher said it, but in reality, there weren’t any students whose parents wouldn't show up. This was an elementary school in City E, where most parents worked for companies related to Eblis Corporation, and the company had granted paid leave to all parents with school-aged children.

Eblis had given parents time off to come see their kids, so if they didn’t show up, they could face disciplinary action.

That’s why Regalia had specifically called on Eight. She couldn’t stand out by being different from the others.

…He’ll come looking normal, right?

However, Regalia began to feel anxious. Even though she had asked, she wasn’t sure if the scientist would show up in a normal outfit.

"Now, we don’t know exactly when your parents will arrive, but during class, don’t talk to them, okay?"

The school bell rang, and class began. One by one, the parents entered quietly without disturbing the lesson. Soon, the back of the classroom and the hallway were filled with parents.

But then, murmurs started to spread in the hallway.

—Wow, does someone like that really exist...? —Whose parents are those...? —Whoa…

The adults’ exclamations stirred the children's curiosity, and some turned their heads to see what had caught their attention—leading them to understand the source of the astonishment.

Entering the classroom were people who made it immediately clear whose parents they were. Regalia's seatmate nudged her and whispered.

"Ria, your parents are so pretty…!"

"Hm?"

Pretty? That didn’t sound like the scientist.

Curious, Regalia turned around, only to find herself looking at a beautiful blond man and woman, who met her gaze and smiled.

…Who?

No matter how she looked, they weren’t the scientist. But they resembled her so much that anyone would believe they were her parents...