chapter 35
35 – Recreation – 3
My plan to hold Seria guilty of injecting Hestia with the wrong thoughts was foiled when the bell signaled the end of lunchtime. This is because other students rushed into the club room. It’s crowded and it’s impossible to talk like this in front of everyone. In the end, I shot Seria with a gaze that meant to see you later.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Nothing.”
She caught my gaze straight on and smiled expectantly. I’m sure I know what my eyes mean, and I do that. Hestia next to me still couldn’t lift her head.
“Hestia, just ignore what you just heard. It’s completely nonsense.”
“That… Are you running?”
“What the hell do you think of men?”
To be honest, I don’t think it’s completely wrong. However, I couldn’t honestly say that to Hestia. Hestia’s expression was dubious at my words.
“What’s wrong with your expression? Can’t you believe it?”
“…… “
Hestia’s silence conveys more than her words. When she has trouble answering, she just shuts her mouth up. That she shut her mouth in the same situation means she honestly doesn’t believe it. It is no wonder that Wilhelm had done such a thing yesterday. Seeing things like that, it would be hard to believe if I had to make an excuse that men are not such creatures.
“At least not me, so just don’t mind.”
“Okay.”
In the end, I compromised moderately, and at least I did what I wasn’t. I feel like I’ve become a boyfriend who claims that all men except me are wolves. Hestia seems to have calmed down a little after hearing my words. Her face, which had been stained red, returned to her usual clean white face.
“Did everyone come first? Did you enjoy your meal?”
Senior Anthony, who had entered with the sound of a bell, approached the two of us. Behind the senior, Seria sticks closely. Hearing my lion’s roar, he thought that he didn’t know what I might do if he came alone, so he got a great human shield. It was a very smart choice. I tried to avoid her senior’s eyes and glared at her, but she ignored me.
The president waved his hand from the corner of the club room.
“Leaders of each group, please come here for a moment!”
It seems that the president, who has confirmed that all the club members have gathered, calls the leaders of each group. Senior Anthony told her to wait for a while as well, and she went to the chairman. Finally, she has a chance to talk to Seria.
“I’m going to talk to Lady Richthofen for a while.”
I approached Seria while the senior was away. If Hestia is involved, a normal conversation won’t continue, so I’m thinking of leaving her alone for a while.
“Tell me a little bit, Lady Richthofen.”
“Um, are you mad?”
“So you don’t think it happened? What did you say to someone else’s fiancé? What? Do you fall asleep?”
She laughed as Seria covered her mouth. Then she spoke with her chest stretched out, very proudly, as if she wasn’t even stretched.
“Shouldn’t you rather thank me?”
“You said thank you?”
I doubted my ears. Seria did not change a single expression on her face despite my shocking response.
“Looking at it, you seem to have a taste for a kind, clean, pure, and something like that kind of girl, right?”
“What do you see that makes you so sure?”
“First of all, he seemed not interested in me at all.”
“Aren’t you overconfident?”
Seria gave herself as the reason without hesitation. She sure is, she is a level of beauty that would be nice to have her self-confidence.
Among the plain girls who don’t put anything on, her makeup skills shined. Her gorgeous waist-length blonde hair and her body, which is naturally revealed through her rectified school uniform, are also outstanding.
But pretty is pretty and it’s not really my taste. She probably didn’t show much interest in her even if she never met Hestia.
It’s all the more so because when I see her, I think of the bullying female senior who regularly took away cultural gift certificates I bought to read her novels in high school. The high school I graduated from was definitely free for hair, but that senior was the only one who dyed his hair that prominently. I don’t know why I was so scared of that older sister, whose neck and face were different colors.
“By the way, you are clearly wary of me approaching Miss Hestia.”
“It is only natural to keep her fiancée from being adversely affected.”
“It’s good that Ms. Hestia is pure, but we can’t stay like this for the rest of our lives, right?”
Seria’s eyes smiled like her crescent moon. I answered harshly.
“It’s none of your business.”
“So I gave a little push on the back.”
Slightly? King Leonidas was not the only one who did not push the back lightly, but just pushed as hard as he could with his feet. I was dumbfounded.
“How is that?”
“I was a bit overdone. Miss Hestia is more ignorant than I thought.”
She looked in the direction of Hestia with a cute look. Hestia was in the middle of a conversation with senior Marcus.
“In that sense, I have a suggestion, would you like to hear it?”
“A suggestion?”
Seria looked around her for a moment. After confirming that Hestia was still talking to Marcus-senpai, she poked her head in my ear. She whispered in my ear
“Miss Hestia is clean and white. Of course, I know that’s what the archduke likes. But as she said before, she doesn’t intend to stay like this forever.”
“What do you mean?”
She gave a sinister smile.
“Did she really intend to hold hands until she graduated from the academy? She’s not going to have to slow down.”
“If Hestia wants that….”
“Do you really think so?”
Seria was expecting my obvious answer, but before she could finish, she asked a sharp question. I was taken aback. To be honest, it’s not like I’m not interested in that at all. I’m a man too, and I want to lose weight a bit more than hold hands with my pretty fiancée. And she didn’t miss that gap in my heart.
“Honestly, even the Archduke wants it. What fun is it if the two of you hold hands while dating and pursue platonic love forever?”
Seria seemed to be excited, so he sneakily counterattacked.
“That’s how Lady Richthofen really is… , Haven’t you ever had any experience with a man?”
“Yes.”
She looks taken aback by my sudden words. Her face blushed for a second, then she crossed her arms and glared at me. Her gaze is terrifying
“I don’t have experience, but I know everything, right?”
“Okay.”
I smiled as unluckily as possible.
“Isn’t it the same as the Archduke’s lack of experience?”
“I have no experience, but I know everything.”
I returned Seria’s words exactly as they were. She shuddered.
“Do you know that this is s*xual harassment?”
“No, I’m sure the young lady herself said… , All right. I apologize. Sorry. Then let’s get back to talking.”
I eventually apologized first. Since I brought up the male experience first, she is not wrong. And this world, too, is more strict on men’s s*xual desire than women’s. I’m the only one who loses a fight over this topic.
Besides, it is true that I am very, very little interested in her story.
“Hmmm. So, what I want to suggest is that I want to flirt with Miss Hestia. So that you two can make progress.”
“Um….”
I let out a low moan at Seria’s words. To be honest, it’s an enticing proposition. She added a detailed explanation.
“From what I’ve seen, if the two of you are like this, you won’t even be able to wear pods until you graduate, right?”
“Not quite that much.”
I denied what she said, but in her heart I thought it was a story with a lot of potential. Hestia still feels ashamed to hold her hand on the street in front of others, and did not take her hand away.
“Even if it’s not that much, it’s true that the progress is very slow anyway, isn’t it?”
“……”
Taking my silence as an affirmation, she continued her words.
“That’s why I’m going to instill that kind of knowledge and motivation into Hestia-san, that’s what I mean. Of course, it’s not like I just did. Adjusting the level, first a handshake, then a hug, then a kiss, like this. “
Cut your hands? Hug? Kiss? I felt my face heat up.
“Huh. As I said before, I don’t know if the Archduke is sly or innocent. You blushed so much with just this story.”
“Noisy. So what do you want?”
Nothing is free in this world. Seria also has something she wants, so she must have made this suggestion. I asked after drying my face several times on my flushed face.
“Well, there is nothing as fun as other people’s love stories, and the biggest reason is that I want to be close with Miss Hestia.”
“Yes? What did you say?”
I asked again, wondering if I hadn’t understood correctly.
“I want to be friends with Miss Hestia.”
“How did you see me? I have no intention of interfering too much with Hestia’s friendship. If she wants it, she can do it.”
To be honest, I don’t really like Hestia being friendly with Seria. Just today, I told Hestia that I didn’t want to be close with her.
However, I have no intention of interfering with Hestia by monitoring each one of her friends and telling her not to be friendly with this person anymore. If she wanted to, I wouldn’t say anything more. I want to be her Hestia’s companion, not the one who oppresses and controls her. And Hestia also said that I shouldn’t be friends with her.
“Of course that is, but anyway, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for Miss Hestia’s personality to be close to someone the person closest to her doesn’t like? So it’s kind of like an alliance proposal. I mean, please don’t hate me. And if the Archduke helps you, we can get to know each other more quickly, right?”
Seria explained her own remarks, perhaps reading the displeasure on my expression. What she said was quite plausible. I also wanted to improve her relationship with her and her Cordelia in order to maintain her friendship with Seol-Ah, so I could understand right away.
“I understand. But in the end, why do you want to be so friendly with Hestia?”
If it’s just what Hestia and her friends want to do, I don’t care and just be friends. It’s not that there’s something sweet between me and Seria, it’s just that I’m unilaterally reluctant to her. However, she dared to use such a complicated method and wanted to get close to her quickly and closely.
“It’s pretty.”
“Yes?”
I had no choice but to ask again stupidly.
“That’s why it’s pretty. Miss Hestia.”
“Of course, it is true that Hestia is beautiful, but….”
“Why? Girls like pretty girls too.”
“Does the young lady like the same woman?”
I asked Seria carefully. Come to think of it, the fact that she has no experience yet is something she can understand if she is gay.
“Are you crazy?!”
Seria looked at me with cold eyes.
“I like men.”
“I’m glad. If you like women, I thought I’d say no.”
Even if she is the same woman, she cannot forgive her if she targets Hestia.
Seria added her quads.
“In fact, being pretty is pretty, but there are other reasons too. My family is also involved in the Gracia family’s business. It would be nice if we could get to know each other a little, since we’ve already met.”
“I don’t think Hestia will confuse public and private.”
“I don’t want to make friends just for that reason, do I?”
She frowned as if she was offended by my words.
“I’m sorry if she was offended.”
I immediately apologized to her. As she said, I would feel bad too if she treated Hestia’s engagement with me as a marriage of convenience simply for exchange between families.
“No. It was a situation that could be misunderstood enough. So, what do you think of my proposal?”
I pondered over her proposal.
Is her proposal harboring ill intentions? No.
Does her suggestion hurt me or Hestia? No.
Will her proposal be mutually beneficial? Yes.
“Thank you very much.”
I took her hand and shook her hand. It is the result of purely thinking of the public interest without any selfishness.
“Your smile is sinister.”
“Never mind.”
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