The next morning, Tom slept in for once.
The events of the previous night had simply been too much.
First, he'd obtained a fragment of divine authority. Then he'd uncovered the ultimate secret of the Study Space and successfully upgraded it into a Divine Realm. On top of that, he'd gained a teacher whose level far exceeded anything his summoning rank should have allowed.
And finally, he'd shamelessly borrowed the power of the Study Space to forcibly suppress Mystryl.
Granted, once he'd released her, she had beaten him until his face looked like a pig's head.
But the sheer satisfaction of bullying a god had still been through the roof.
Of course, Tom would absolutely never admit that he'd been beaten to a pulp.
Besides, nobody had seen their final fight.
And if nobody saw it, then as far as Tom was concerned, it never happened.
The reason he hadn't fought back was simply because he wanted to let Mystryl vent her anger.
He didn't know Mystryl's personality very well, but he knew women.
Not a single one of them was particularly good at letting things go.
If he'd fought back last night and then slipped away, there was a good chance she'd remember it for the rest of her life.
So making a tiny sacrifice to his dignity and letting her blow off some steam wasn't such a bad deal.
...
..
Fleur Delacour woke up much earlier than Tom.
After waking, she didn't do anything else. She simply lay on the bed, quietly watching Tom sleep.
Even just looking at him made a smile creep onto the girl's face.
It was one of Fleur's trademark habits.
After watching him for a while, Fleur suddenly realized something.
Tom had somehow become even prettier overnight.
Yes. Prettier.
Calling a boy "pretty" might sound strange, but the closer someone came to physical perfection, the more male and female appearances tended to converge. The differences were largely created by sex hormones and personal bearing.
A beautiful girl might still have a touch of youthful boyishness, while a handsome boy could possess some distinctly feminine features.
Perhaps once Tom was fully grown, he'd develop a more masculine, rugged appearance.
But he was only fifteen right now.
At this age, "good-looking" and "pretty" were simply the most fitting descriptions.
"..."
Fleur stared for a long time but couldn't figure out exactly what had changed.
In the end, she could only reach one conclusion.
It wasn't that any particular feature had become more attractive. It was that Tom himself had somehow become more attractive as a whole.
Just as Fleur was becoming increasingly captivated and was about to reach out and do something, Tom suddenly opened his eyes.
Their clear eyes met.
After a brief moment of sleepiness, Tom quickly woke up completely, amusement already appearing in his eyes. "How long have you been secretly watching me?"
"Only a few minutes."
The moment she saw that he'd woken up, Fleur finally couldn't hold herself back any longer and leaned down to kiss him.
After enjoying the morning sunshine and spending some time together, Fleur lazily rested in Tom's arms.
"Yep. It wasn't my imagination after all. You got even more handsome overnight. What did you go off and unlock this time? How did you suddenly change so much?"
Tom gently patted her back.
"I figured out a few things about magic. Put me in a pretty good mood."
Although Tom had gained a tremendous amount from the previous night, his actual strength hadn't increased by all that much.
Aside from the authority contained within the Elemental Throne fragment, the rest of his gains came from the manifestation of the laws after the Divine Realm had taken shape.
Those laws had helped him understand many problems that had been troubling him for a long time.
At the end of the day, his system was still the study system.
He'd kept it running this entire time, but there were very few ways for it to directly increase his strength.
Take the authority of the Divine Realm, for example.
Inside the Study Space, Tom was now essentially no different from a god.
In fact, because the Divine Realm itself was of such high quality, he was considerably stronger than an ordinary god.
If he used the system's absolute authority, even Mystryl could be suppressed with a single thought.
But once he returned to reality, all those enhancements would disappear.
Still, the benefits were already more than enough.
The laws manifested by the Divine Realm covered virtually everything. It was like Tom had permanently entered an open-book exam.
No matter what problem he encountered, he could find the answer somewhere within his own world.
Naturally, Fleur knew none of this. All she knew was that Tom was in a particularly good mood.
So the girl took advantage of the opportunity and made a request. "Can we stay in Paris for a few more days? You'll have plenty of time to spend with Astoria and the others during the summer."
Tom rubbed the top of her head. "Sorry, but I promised Professor Dumbledore that I'd safely escort the Ilvermorny students back to America. So I can only stay with you for one more day at most. I'll have to leave tomorrow."
"But I promise I'll come back to Paris to see you once July starts."
Fleur wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer, but hearing that Tom would return to Paris in July was enough to make her relent.
She quickly became excited again. "Then let's go shopping today! We can see what everyone outside is saying while we're at it."
...
..
Whenever going out was involved, a woman's sense of time seemed to undergo a complete malfunction.
Just as Fleur kept saying, "I'll be ready in a minute" and "Almost done," Tom ended up sitting around the living room playing with Gabrielle for a full two hours before she finally finished getting ready.
But when Fleur finally appeared in front of him, Tom's eyes immediately lit up.
Those two hours of waiting had definitely been worth it.
Today, Fleur had changed into a vintage French dress in a soft cream color. Beautiful embroidery decorated the edges, giving the whole outfit an air of exquisite elegance.
The neckline was a small, modest high collar trimmed with delicate lace, while a row of tiny pearl buttons ran down the front.
The waist was fitted closely, emphasizing her slender figure, and she wore a light-gray cropped jacket over the dress.
On her head sat a Eugénie hat, the slanted style that had been fashionable during the Second French Empire and was famously favored by Eugénie de Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III.
Sunlight fell across her long silver hair, making the strands sway gently with every movement.
The skirt wasn't particularly short, but the cut was so well tailored that it made her legs look long and straight.
Everything came together perfectly.
Fleur looked like an elegant young noblewoman who had stepped straight out of a royal court.
From the moment she walked out, Fleur had been carefully watching Tom's reaction.
When she realized that he was thoroughly pleased with the effort she'd put into her appearance, she couldn't help but smile.
After all, a woman dresses for the one she wants to impress.
Spending two whole hours getting herself ready was all for this very moment.
Fleur straightened her back, walked lightly over to Tom, slipped her arm through his, and smiled sweetly. "Shall we?"
"Sis, I'm coming too!"
Gabrielle came running over with little rapid footsteps and wrapped both arms around Fleur's leg.
Well... her older sister promptly kicked her away without the slightest mercy.
"Gabrielle, you've already had way too much fun at Hogwarts. Your teacher told me you've got a ton of homework you haven't done. So, as punishment, you're not allowed to leave the house for the entire week. Stay home and catch up on all the schoolwork you've fallen behind on. Once you've finished, I'll take you out to play."
With that, Fleur grabbed Tom's hand and headed outside.
As if she'd let her little sister ruin the date she'd been waiting so long for.
Not even the cutest little sister in the world was allowed to be a third wheel.
Tom looked back at the little girl, whose mouth had already turned into a pout, and gave her an apologetic, helpless look.
Then, with a thought, the two of them apparated and arrived in the 8th Arrondissement.
.
.
.