༺ Competition ༻
“Hmm…”
Isolet was sitting in front of me and sipping her tea.
“”……..””
Right beside me, Lulu and Irina shot cold glances to Isolet, clearly displeased.
“Um… Sister.”
“Why?”
“How long do you plan on staying here?”
Upon being subtly questioned, Isolet raised her eyebrows.
She then turned to me, a puzzled expression on her face, as if she did not understand what I meant.
“The aroma of the tea is really nice.”
“When are you leaving?”
“What’s the name of this tea?”
“……”
This situation has been going on for a while.
Ever since the investigation team left, for some reason, she began to closely follow me around and has been staying in my house for hours.
“Um, Fr… Frey, I’d like to take a look at your room.”
“Okay? Well, it’s fine, I guess. Then…”
– Bang!
“…Huh?”
She had subtly averted her gaze and asked to see my room. As soon as I granted permission, she entered and closed the door behind her.
“…What are you doing?”
“Ah… Ah! No, I mean… You have a comfortable bed. For someone as delicate as you, nothing’s as important as a comfortable bed, so I just tested it.”
“…..?”
She remained inside for quite some time, making me wonder about what was happening. Eventually, I used my emergency key to unlock the door and found her lying on my bed, tucked under the blanket, curled up.
“Why is the closet drawer… No, forget it.”
“I, I didn’t do it. The investigation team… They were the ones who did it.”
There were clear signs that the closet drawer in my room had been opened.
“So this is the famous Starlight Mansion’s… basement.”
“So, how long do you plan to stay here?”
“…Uh.”
“Hey?”
Next, she said she wanted to see the basement. We went down together, and for a few l minutes, she gazed at me in silence with a dark look before finally making a move.
“……..”
“Do you like it that much? Want one?”
“No, no… I don’t particularly need it…”
She stared, mouth agape, at the pictures in the hallway – one of a young me smiling, another of me sweating during sword training, and another in my academy uniform.
“Come to think of it, you said it back then.”
“Huh?”
“I love Sister! I’ll marry her when I grow up!”
“……..”
Isolet murmured with a distant look on her face in the training yard of the mansion.
Anyway, after entertaining her, as she roamed around the place without a care about the time, she was now leisurely drinking tea in front of me.
It did stir up some awkward feelings, but…
‘Well, she did help me today.’
It was undeniable that she helped me today.
In the first place, Isolet was a remarkably skilled knight. She had been offered the role of Deputy Commander in the Imperial Family’s Knight Order, and she had even been offered the position of Commander by the Church.
Furthermore, with many Knight Orders recently reshuffled due to the emergence of the Demon King, most of the knights in the investigation team were either her juniors or subordinates.
Additionally, she was the only daughter of a prestigious Marquis family, and not too long ago, she was even nominated as the Commanding Officer of the Hero’s Party.
Given all this, the Deputy Commanders leading this investigation team had little chance to match her in terms of strength or authority.
So, after their failed attempt to scare me, they had no choice but to sulkily endure her reprimands for a while.
Naturally, this wouldn’t be the end of it.
Many dark magic tools and records of corruption had already been submitted. While Isolet intended to leverage today’s ‘incident’ for negotiation, it remained uncertain whether it would work.
“Phew.”
For me, it didn’t really matter either way. If Isolet succeeded in her negotiations, it would provide me with some respite to prepare for the next potential attack. And even if the negotiations failed, I wouldn’t lose any points, so there shouldn’t have been a problem…
…But was there really none?
– Thump…!
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, a sharp pain hit my heart.
“Frey?”
“Master!”
When I held onto my chest and turned pale, Lulu and Irina rushed over in shock.
“Ah…”
At the same time, Isolet, who had been sipping her tea in front of me, froze in place.
‘…This is annoying.’
Lately, it felt like I had been experiencing these heart pains far more frequently.
Given that painkillers weren’t helping, was it a psychological issue?
“Ma, Master…”
While I was lost in thought, Lulu approached me with a terrified look on her face.
“Lick.”
Suddenly, she lightly licked my lips with her tongue.
“Lick, lick.”
With an anxious expression and a firm grip on my arm, she meticulously licked every nook of my lips before tremblingly whispering into my ear.
“Do, don’t worry…”
“Huh?”
“I’ll find a way somehow…”
She continued her conversation for a while before hanging up and looking at me somberly.
“It seems like I have to leave now.”
Then, Isolet rose from her seat, looking regretful.
“…In a week, come to my house. We can continue our training and pick up our unfinished conversation then.”
Even though I took great pains to explain to her once again that my time wasn’t limited, for some reason, she didn’t seem convinced.
“Well then, I’ll be going…”
“Wait, Sister.”
Watching her head toward the entrance with a gloomy expression, I finally vocalized the question that had been bothering me for a while.
“…What’s that thing you’ve been holding onto since earlier?”
“…..!”
At that, she stopped in her tracks, looking startled.
“This, this thing…?”
Then, she carefully took something out.
“You, you didn’t give this to me?”
“……”
What Isolet revealed were my photo albums, the same ones she had been staring blankly at earlier.
“I… see…?”
“Yes, yes. There’s no issue with that.”
Nevertheless, her belly was still noticeably bulging.
She was someone who had undergone intense training her whole life and had never once had her belly protruding like that.
“By the way, why did you open my closet earlier…”
“I, I must go now.”
As I tilted my head and took a step closer to her, she hurriedly rushed off to the entrance.
– Slam.
Just like that, she swiftly left the mansion.
“…Phew.”
I felt a sense of relief as Isolet vanished from the premises, but simultaneously, a peculiar sense of longing washed over me.
“…What?”
Feeling conflicted, I sat down on the sofa. Then, Irina, looking puzzled, stood up with furrowed brows.
“Clana… already arrived? Why? How?”
“…..?”
She seemed to be talking without a communication crystal. Could it be… she was using telepathy right now?
“…Hmm.”
While I blankly stared at her, who casually performed a groundbreaking magical feat, she began to nibble on her lip.
“Frey, I believe I need to leave for a while.”
“Uh, okay…”
“If you feel like you’re in danger, send me a message immediately. Or tear this scroll. I’ll come to help you right away.”
With that, she handed me an armful of scrolls.
“You broke our promise… Clana!”
She shouted angrily as she left the mansion.
“What on earth…”
Feeling an inexplicable chill, I blankly watched her retreating figure.
“…That’s right, Serena was supposed to come.”
Today, I was expecting Serena to come over with the results of the task I had entrusted to her.
“Master…”
“Yeah?”
Lulu, who had been quietly sitting next to me, glanced around briefly and then gently wrapped her arms around mine, causing me to tilt my head in curiosity.
“Now, it’s just the two of us left, right?”
Lulu had been staring at me intently.
“I have something to tell you, Master.”
She said in a soft voice…
“Please listen.”
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that very moment…
“Hehehe~ Heh~”
“…Sigh.”
Wondering what had made her so happy, Serena entered the Starlight Mansion with a giddy smile accompanied by Miho, who wore a thoroughly dissatisfied expression.
“I’ll see Frey~♪ We’ll have a date~♪ Hehe…”
“Human, are you a genius? Or are you a lunatic?”
“Hehehe, hehe…”
Despite Miho’s question, Serena kept laughing as she crossed the mansion’s yard.
“…?”
Soon after, she tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s that?”
She spotted some unknown movement in the bushes near the mansion’s window, prompting her sharp gaze to become focused.
“…Hmm?”
Serena’s usually innocent-looking eyes sharpened.
“Bl, blood… he’s bleeding… Ugh, ugh…”
Aishi, who had come to check on Frey’s condition that day under the pretense of wanting to hang out, had witnessed Frey’s bleeding and was now sobbing alone.
“Frey has limited time… It must be a fake illness. Yes, yes.”
Meanwhile, Roswyn, with an anxious expression, kept glancing around while hiding in the mansion’s bushes.
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