Juliet waived goodbye to the younger male students as Renardville's school year ended. It followed all the same rules and school year length as the other French schools did. When it had just been the girls, Juliet had put nearly all the focus on special education in order to help them adjust and learn to the best of her abilities, and with the idea being that they would be able to avoid the issues that her own father's neglect of her brother lead to her brother's death. Now, as the girls had grown up and were now Animalians, and a couple of the male students had also become Animalians, the school had some of the regular class instruction that went along with the special education classes. Though, with the younger male students, they were now free to return home to their families and enjoy their summer break. Charles seemed a bit saddened by having to go "home," and said that he liked being Juliet's "knight." Of course, that then meant that she had to assign him to protect his parents as a good "knight" would do, to which Charles accepted the assignment.
"You certainly have a way of winning students over to you," came a male voice from behind her and to her right.
Juliet looked over to the male Golden Island Fox that had been studying France's teaching requirements for the past few years. Juan Teroz was an American of Hispanic origin, though Juliet also knew that there were so many countries south of the US that had connections to Spain and/or Portugal that "Hispanic" could be a broad term, but after getting hurt in mountain climbing accident, he'd also busted up his leg to a point where his career in the US was killed as a result of an addiction to painkillers that followed. He hadn't had any incidents with children, which France had ultimately accepted as part of the offer for him to learn France's requirements and earn the certification to teach special education and some of the general education courses in France, and that was good. The big thing was mostly that he'd had to learn French, and while Juan did carry a strong Hispanic accent, he had made tremendous progress over the past three years and wasn't arrogant enough to think he could speak French better than its native speakers. His progress in earning the certification was also good, and she was sure that it wouldn't be too long before he could join her in her work and the private school that Juliet ran would continue to move along positively.
"Some of it has been that I've kept the class sizes small and personable," Juliet commented, "to show them that I would be there as a sort of surrogate mother and friend while they're living away from their families. And with the girls... they've liked that very much, which likely contributed to their idea that we would hook up once you came here..."
"The whole silver and gold thing," Juan chuckled, "but that does show support for you that they have. They want you to be happy. And with things going well with that government official..." He paused as he forgot the name of the man that was often monitoring the affairs at the school on behalf of the French government.
"Raoul," Juliet reminded him, "and which you'd better remember, given that you have been dating his daughter."
"Desiree has been helping me with my French," Juan answered, "I believe I have, "please sir, I am just a humble man with no tricks to play... and I really love your daughter, and I ask your permission to marry her..." How well that will work, I don't know."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Juliet commented, "Raoul is very focused and dedicated to his work... and he can be firm when he needs to be, but I've not found him unreasonable."
And things that involved Raoul Renée were going fairly well. Though, from what Juliet had found, things outside the academy and France's small Animalian colony on its grounds were going fairly well, but also kept Raoul in a tight spot. The EU elections had not gone particularly well for many of the Center and Left leaning parties, while autocratic Right-wing parties had done fairly well. The French President had since called for snap elections for France's legislature to try and stem that rise and which in turn created issues where Raoul might lose his appointment. He was a member of the President's party, but a lot of the polling indicated that even if Le Pen's extremists lost, the new governing party wouldn't be from the French President's party and thus might change WHO was the official contact for Juliet's school. For the moment, all Juliet could do was monitor things and give Raoul words of encouragement, and that she would be there for him if Paris did not appoint him back to his post.
"Hopefully things don't go as crazy here as they likely will in America," Juan commented, "as I have noticed you smile when he is mentioned... which I suppose is what the girls you've taught have wanted to see."
Juliet chuckled and nodded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Of course, as the summer started and then progressed, not all those who attended Juliet's school went "home" for the summer. Some of the girls had actually moved in to more permanent wings of the chateau. For Olympe, this had come for one very real reason, Blancheur. While the pristine white Anglo-Arabian Stallion Animalian had not been Olympe's first choice, as to a small degree, a part of her was interested in the other Percheron Stallions that travelled with their Medieval reenactment show. Olympe had also noted that even before Blancheur was uplifted, Violet was close to him, and she didn't want to mess with anything. Thinking back over the ideas she and the others had had to make Juliet happy that had blown up in their faces, Olympe also got the sense that she had made the right decision not to push things with regard to Blancheur.
However, as Blancheur was uplifted and Violet found herself too small to really "enjoy" Blancheur on a reliable basis, showing the size differences between Horse and Racoon Animalians, and the fact that most of the other Percheron Stallions all kept on the move with their group of reenactors, Olympe found herself largely alone with just Blancheur as another Horse Animalian to be with. Much of it came as Olympe found herself more and more interested in the day to day running and working with the vineyard that surrounded Juliet's chateau. She enjoyed the lessons Juliet taught, and she would see Juliet as a sort of surrogate mother forever but helping the hands and helping Violet manage the work to keep the vineyard running, which as a source for most of Renardville's money, had the most attention to her. It let Olympe work with Violet on some of the business side of things and managing where the most work would be needed and let her work with Blancheur in tending to the vines, making sure there were no weeds, and nothing else was going on.
Of course, for the moment, the biggest thing that proved troublesome was the heat. The Champagne region of France was not especially dry, and there were a fair number of rivers that made irrigation relatively easy. But things had been warmer than normal and Olympe could feel it as sweat ran down her nose between her nostrils, which she periodically flared just to avoid breathing that sweat in.
"We could really use some more rain," Olympe said slowly as she carefully ran a hand along some of the vines. The leaves crackled a little bit and were something that would normally be expected when they were going into their winter dormancy period. The fact that they were doing this in mid-summer was not a good sign.
"They don't look dead," Blancheur pointed out.
"They don't... but they do look dryer than they should be," Olympe answered, "and Violet says that these vines need to keep a fairly steady supply of water... Not enough to flood the ground, but enough to keep the vines and the fruits from drying out. This is to be a vineyard to make wine, and particularly the specific brand of champagne that Madam Renard-Argente's family has always grown. Not to make natural raisins."
"Some of those ones that Violet has found in the markets actually taste good," Blancheur commented, "not as good as apples, but still good."
Olympe only nodded, "Come on, we'll need to inform some of the other workers in the area to let them know we'll be turning the sprinklers on in this area. We wouldn't want to soak them."
Blancheur nodded and dutifully followed after Olympe. It was true that they weren't of the same breed of horse, him being an Anglo-Arabian and she being a Percheron, but he found her kind and optimistic. He liked the fact that she saw Violet and Juliet as friends and more than just as adults that she knew growing up. Some of that budding friendship between Olympe and Violet also made him happy in that he also saw Violet as a good friend. He also had to admit that he liked Olympe's well-toned musculature. Though, he'd also learned that many Humans had certain standards with these things, and he didn't want to come off as improper to Olympe or in front of others in public. Particularly as he often felt his heart flutter when she looked to him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Charles liked being an Animalian and he liked the friendly nature that Madame Juliet Renard-Argente had. She could be firm and potentially strict, but she was at the same time kind, understanding, and friendly. In some ways, she reminded him of his biological parents, who he could better understand now as an Animalian. He tried through much of the summer to get them to move to Juliet's chateau with the others and even had the urge for them to become Eurasian Cave Lion Animalians like him. It fit in with his enjoyment of the medieval knights out to rescue princesses from dragons and to protect the weak. His parents were pleased with all that he had learned and the coordination he had gained as an Animalian, but said they were too old to convert. Charles didn't understand that, but ultimately accepted it.
And while he was a bit sad when the school year ended, the summer ultimately promised one good thing and something his father sent him letters about while the school year was going on. And that was the Olympics. While it would mean a large number of tourists coming to the area around Paris, and some potentially spilling out into the other areas, which would tax a country that had already had some nervousness over politics in the parliamentary elections. Thankfully, the authoritarian Right lost them, and France would at least avoid complete chaos for the remainder of the President’s term and the Olympics might be a break from the rest of that. The thing that Charles was hyped out about was the rugby and soccer matches, things his father had saved up money to buy tickets for when the Olympics came to Paris. The fact that the men’s rugby team won gold was even more exciting, and it was topped off by being able to visit Madame Renard-Argente after the matches they had tickets for. Miles' presence was a bit of a surprise, but Charles had learned enough about Animalia Ambassadoria in general to guess that it made sense.
"So, you had fun with the Olympics?" Miles asked politely, trying to gage certain things.
Renardville was close enough to drive between in and Paris and make good time, as France's road network was pretty good, but they were still far enough away that the Olympians really didn't come that far south and east from Paris. About as far as they went, so far as Miles noted, was Versailles, where the equestrian events were held.
"Yes... it was fun... there was some rain on the first day or two, but the football matches were fun," Charles answered with a smile.
"Football?" Miles tilted his head with some puzzlement.
"We don't play American Football here," Juliet told him, "what you call "soccer" is what we call football, where one only uses your feet. Thus FOOTball."
"I would think the men's rugby team winning gold would have the bigger headlines," Raoul commented from his seat, and ran one hand over Juliet's and feeling a finger softly go over the engagement ring he'd given her.
"It was," Charles' father smiled, "and Charles gave his best roar when they won."
"Allez Bleu!" Charles cheered.
"Go Blue," Miles commented, "I've heard some mentions of that when watching some of the games here on television... in between some of the Animalia Ambassadoria coverage... but some of the "blue" references are a bit lost on me. I mean... is there a professional team that uses the term "blue" for its mascot? Like the St. Louis Blues do in hockey in the US?"
"Most of it is the uniform color," Charles' father gave a smile while patting Charles' back, "the national team in football wears a predominantly blue uniform. And since they bring a country with our history of chaos and squabbling together... it is a unifier."
"Allez Bleu!" Charles cheered again.
"Feels about the same for America," Miles commented, "though... most of our attention will be on gymnastics and the men's and women's basketball teams."
"Your gymnasts are good," Charles nodded, "though I think the French team will challenge the Americans in basketball... though, that isn't my top sport."
"Mine has been the equestrian events," Violet commented the seat opposite Juliet and Raoul, "a shame that Olympe and Blancheur wouldn't be able to participate."
"Percherons are a draft horse," Olympe answered, "athletic enough to be the "war horse" in Medieval times, but because of the size needed to carry a heavily armored knight, they were moved over more to pulling heavy wagons and more when the Medieval period ended and were never part of the equestrian sports."
"And as Animalians, we can mimic many of the Human forms of dancing and thus wouldn't really fit in very well with the sport..." Blancheur added, "and I wouldn't want the stallions messing with Olympe."
"It would seem that Charles might not be Renardville's only knight," Olympe smiled to Blancheur.
Some of this earned some chuckling from Charles' father, who then noted the ring on Juliet's finger.
"And it would seem that the lady of the manor has found her own love... congratulations," Charles' father said to Juliet.
"Yes," Juliet then took Raoul's hand in her own and gave it a small squeeze, "it came after the snap elections... but... Raoul did make it romantic, and we will have to make it work... moving things here, accommodating his conversion, and likely getting him to accept Juan as a possible son in law."
"I would want my Desiree to be treated well by any possible suitor," Raoul answered, "regardless of his progress as a professional."