Valentine’s Day at Juliet's chateau was a typical day for the school, and the Silver Fox Animalian was more than content to go about the standard work that related to running the school and handling the education of its students. Though, this year, some things were vastly different from the past. Prior to the present school year, Juliet had largely taught a small group of female students and had been helping to tutor Juan regarding the rules that France's teachers had to follow. Things there were continuing to progress fairly well, as the girls that Juliet had looked over with their conversions into Animalians had gained the full ability to learn at the same rate as normal and healthy Human students, which suited Juliet just fine. She saw that as a means for them to succeed in the long term, and to a degree, at times she thought they might return to their homes and families.
But they'd seemed interested in staying at the chateau and continuing their education there. The class size was small enough that Juliet could continue to handle that, and privately, she did respect the seeming loyalty that she'd seen to her. It was a surprise, in a way, but a pleasant one, though with Juan's progress, that was opening the expansion of the "school" and having some male students join the school. To Juliet, it was something to honor her brother, who she felt had been let down by an imperfect system that didn't treat people with mental handicaps well and essentially ate him up without him ever being able to make a choice. Though some things had become more difficult with that, largely as her female students in their desire to see Juliet happy had tried to set Juliet up with Juan, despite the fact that their relationship could only be professional as teacher and student, and as different species of Fox Animalians, they wouldn't be able to breed under Animalia's edicts.
Their misunderstanding, however well intentioned, had hurt some of the trust that families had given her, and the number of male students she could have taken on was much lower than might have been. And even among those parents that did enroll their sons at Juliet's school, conversion into Animalians was strictly forbidden by them under the suspicion that Juliet would be sponsoring conversions strictly for breeding purposes. A couple of parents did allow for those conversions to happen, and that came with some suggestions for possible types of Animalians to become. That was all something that Juliet had felt brought Raoul Renée to check on the progress of those that had converted.
"Only two of the male students converted, Monsieur Renee," Juliet spoke to him, "largely as their parents seemed to accept more of the girls' apologies at the Halloween masquerade ball."
"I can imagine that loving parents would retain concerns over the care of their children," Raoul said slowly, holding his hands behind him as he followed Juliet into her main office, with the afternoon son setting in the west through the windows, "though, that is not why I have come. I would like to hear some of the story... but that is not why I have come."
That made Juliet blink for a moment and turn to look at him. His line had made her remember back to the masquerade ball from the past Halloween. The party had been there to show the parents of the male students that the girls she had taught, and herself, were not mindlessly lost to the high libido that Animalians were known for and that their sons were not in danger of being raped or anything like that. Showing that they hadn't been forced to be Animalians and interacting with the girls was to do a lot and show that Juliet could be trusted as a teacher, and Juliet ultimately found that in that regard, the ball and party had worked.
The party, however, had provided some other surprises, and namely that the man who had been her main liaison and contact to the French government's education ministry had a personal level of respect and attraction to her that had been more than just a liaison. In some ways it came toward love that shocked and surprised Juliet, partially because she didn't think that Raoul Renee had that interest. The additional revelation that his daughter, Desiree, knew of this crush and was willing to push it forward for her father. She thought Desiree was curious about Juan herself, but Juliet didn't know for sure. The most that Juliet could really work through was more to focus on was the potential relationship that had been growing between herself and Raoul.
"That is not why you've come?" Juliet asked.
Raoul carefully brought his hands from behind his back, and Juliet noticed that he held a modest box wrapped in pink paper. She had the sense that this was a Valentine’s Day present, which was likely part of some romantic gift that he was trying to make or deliver. This made Juliet's heart beat a little bit harder. For while Raoul wasn't necessarily her stated preference for someone to love, he had been a respectful man and quite helpful with regard to her school ever since Macron was first elected. Finding that he liked her in a "romantic" way was a surprise and finding that he really wasn't interested in her noble heritage or drawing her into politics proved to her that his interest was genuine.
"Today is Saint Valentine's Day," Raoul answered, "and for the moment, I do have some free time... I was thinking a nice dinner would go a long way, and let you have a little time off."
He then offered the wrapped box, and Juliet hesitantly took it, largely as she had devoted so much of her life to her own causes that dating was still something new. There had been men that had tried to court her over the years, but they were either from other noble families seeking land and wealth that they could just sit on in a republican government or others that Juliet generally found to be greedy. Raoul wasn't like that and thus was taking her into new territory. As she opened the box, she found a small silver colored metal pin that looked like a fox walking with its tail out behind it.
"It's not much... and I'll admit its steal, not silver," Raoul admitted, "but it looked nice and thought that it would look nice as a pin or as a decoration somewhere."
"It looks fine, Monsieur Renee," Juliet answered, "it is more the thought than anything else... and where were you planning on going for this dinner?"
"I was thinking one of the main restaurants in Mardeuil," Raoul offered, "granted it's probably there for tourists, but it did look nice."
"Just about all restaurants are there for "tourists," and you know that," Juliet shook her head, "but... it would be nice. If you would wait out in the living room... I will go and get changed. I will tell you on the conversions on the ride there."
"Of course," Raoul nodded.
Juliet led him out again and left him in that atrium area near the front door while then journeying deeper into the chateau. Raoul expected this to take a little time for Juliet to get changed and inform one of the students or key staff members that she would be going out for the evening, which was all fairly standard. He assumed that both of them would have their phones should anything come up later, though he didn't really expect any problems at the moment. He waited patiently, though there were sometimes where he thought he might have heard some ecstatic squeals echo through the chateau, but he assumed that was just some result of the building settling or things like that. Eventually, Juliet did return and wearing a light blue dress that looked nice on her with the pin actually sitting on the dress's shoulder.
"You look good," Raoul said.
"Thank you," Juliet answered with a small smile, "shall we go?"
"Yes," Raoul responded and walked over and offered her his arm and they began to make their way out, "and you were saying something about the progress you'd been making."
"Well... a lot of that goes back to January and before the Lunar New Year," Juliet commented on and began to explain the tale...
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"But why can't they all convert?" Gigi asked to Juliet as she and Olympe were escorting the two male students that had been allowed to be converted, "wouldn't they want to?"
"I want to," the one male student that Olympe was escorting, "be strong. Be knight."
Juliet listened to the discussion and gave a small sigh. Her girls had behaved themselves well around the male students, particularly as since their conversions, a lot of the special education needs they had were no longer there. In this, Fifi, Gigi, Olympe, Josephine, Eloise, Mia, and Marie no longer needed the special education programs that Juliet had intended for her private school to run on. They could essentially return home to their own families and enroll in their local public schools where the only thing that would be needed was the structural infrastructure for them as Animalians. But they had wished to stay at the chateau, and that would require some work to make sure that they could get through at least their high school education and set out from there. If they wished to apply to a university, Juliet was happy to work something out.
In the meantime, the male students had many of the same conditions and issues that the girls had had, and from Juliet's point of view were in a position where the public schools could let them fall through the cracks or into positions where they wouldn't do well. It wasn't necessarily intended, but Juliet had remembered seeing that happen with her brother and the ultimately simplistic decision from her own parents to push him into the army, that would keep him safe and in a controlled environment, only to then have him killed in a hazing incident. Juliet had every intention of making sure her new male charges would be able to learn and make their own decisions, regardless of whether or not they became Animalians and regardless of whether or not they decided to remain at the chateau.
But the girls' efforts to create the implication that Juliet was involved with Juan created some backlash and how many of the people that Juliet did business with had trouble with. It created the image that Juliet wasn't controlling herself well enough, and initially created the threat that her whole school would fall as a result of it. Juliet had to pull a prank to get them to admit it and then publish an apology and explanation that they had fabricated things about Juliet and Juan being together. That had eased some things and some parents were willing to enroll their sons at Juliet's school, and things had gone well so far. However, the drop in trust remained and only two sets of parents were willing to approve of their children converting to become Animalians, even if it would mean they could return home if they wanted to.
Only these two had permission to convert and had even come up to the chateau to help with the paperwork. One wanted to become a Spanish Fighting Bull, though from what appeared to be a roundabout way of logic. The boy had grown up a bit on medieval stories of knights battling "evil doers" to rescue princesses. Juliet would have figured that like Olympe, he would want to become a Percheron, the horse that was believed to be the breed for the Medieval War Horse. Or to become some other breed of riding horse, like Blancheur, given on how movies often depicted knights riding horses closer in size to what modern "cowboys" in America rode. But the young man had looked through one of the guides that the Horizon doctors had on hand, and their list of species and even breeds for them. He came across "Spanish Fighting Bull" among them and figured that because "fighting" was in the name, it had to be a strong and knightly animal... even though the breed's name was more from blood sport than anything "noble."
"Unlike you and the girls, Gigi, the male students are legally minors and would need parental permission to convert," Juliet answered, "these two were the only two to have permission."
"I'm sorry... madame Juliet," Olympe began, "we didn't mean to hurt your plans..."
"I had not planned on uplifting these students," Juliet answered her, "merely to teach... and that issue has been handled. Giving them a chance to become Animalians... that is merely a possibility that has come after their arrival. Though, once they are legal adults... parental permission would not be needed. Until then... these two are the only two that can convert."
"So... I not be knight?" the boy Olympe, who's first name was Charles, asked.
"You can," Juliet said to him, "your mother and father gave the okay for ONE dose to become a Spanish Fighting Bull Animalian. And your friend, Renaud, has the right to get one dose to become a European Cave Lion. And then we can all go to see Eloise compete in the Year of the Rabbit competition, regardless of those that are Human or Animalian."
"Eloise will be happy to have us all cheer for her," Gigi commented.
They came into the clinic area of the chateau and were greeted by the staff from Horizon who were there. Charles and Renaud were led off to adjoining rooms and clothes that were in that area. That left Juliet with Gigi and Olympe waiting in the lobby. Remembering their own conversions, they knew it wouldn't take long, and Juliet also felt some relief in that the specific choices would require the use of shots for the conversion, particularly Renaud. The European Cave Lion was a distant relative of the modern African and Asian Lion and could be even bigger than them by a fair margin. Males were thought to lack the distinctive mane that modern Lions did, or if they had one, it was much smaller and less noticeable.
That was then proven when Renaud came out. He wore a larger pair of jeans and a shirt that covered him, but even as a single dosed Animalian under the age of eighteen, he'd become comparable in size to the male Lion Animalians in Lyre/Animalia and Maelewano and gave some hint that in future as Renaud grew up, he would probably be bigger than the Tiger Animalians and might even be comparable with the Liger Animalians. His fur was a largely tannish brown and was a bit thicker and longer than the Lion Animalians, but there was some longer fur around his neck. It wasn't a full mane, but it was longer than the rest of his fur.
"Thank you, Madame Renard Argenté," Renaud spoke politely, "all of this... it feels amazing, and strong. And... it's like I understand things better and faster now."
"That's great," Gigi wagged her tail, "and we'll all still be friends, right?"
"I hope so," Renaud answered.
Juliet smiled and nodded, though her head soon turned at the clicking of heavy hooves stepping across the floor. She could see Charles coming out from the conversion room he was given. He wore slacks and a button-down shirt, though he was also wrestling with the buttons that seemed to be straining to cover a far more muscular chest than was expected, even as a single dosed Animalian.
"I am ready to serve as your knight, Madam Renard Argente," Charles spoke, "to learn all I can and protect the chateau and its grounds from all threats."
"Josephine may love him," Olympe whispered to Gigi.
Gigi looked to Charles' new form. Tall, muscular, with solid black far and two decent sized and forward-facing horns growing through his hair made Charles into an impressive young Bull Animalian, and Gigi nodded in agreement to Olympe's statement. Josephine would have some interest in him, and so far, as they had figured out, Animalia's edicts on breeding did not apply to breeds within a specific species or subspecies within that species.
"The grounds are safe, Charles," Juliet spoke, "and there is still much to learn. If wish to join the police... the closest thing our area will have to the knights of old, that will have its own education for it. And that will come after what I can teach."
"I would still be happy to learn," Charles answered.
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"And from there things went about as well as they could," Juliet answered, "We made the trip to watch Eloise in the Year of the Rabbit competition and felt very sorry for the one that had the wardrobe malfunction in the race, though Eloise didn't know that Rabbit Animalian's name. She got to say hi to the Jackrabbit Animalian who does the Animalia Ambassadoria news program... and all things considered, she did fairly well."
"I would imagine that winning was going to be rather tough, given that on the female side, the physical parts of the competition had a family of marital arts masters," Raoul commented.
"Yes, but Eloise did her best," Juliet nodded, "and that is worthy of praise in and of itself. Human male students were happy to meet other Animalians, and even American Animalians. And the girls were happy to meet friends made during our first visit to Animalia. And no one's grades slipped."
"That's the best part," Raoul nodded.