"…alright, that's enough of this…

"

"Miriette…?!

"

Even though nothing outrageous was happening, the dark-haired girls seem to have run out of patience and stepped away from her fiance and beelined it towards her attendant while ignoring the first prince's shocked call.

"Zoemi, there you are!

"

"My lady, I'm sorry for missing the lecture.

"

Miriette raised her hand and waved at her attendant, smiling benevolently seeing the black-haired boy's calm reaction.

If Zoemi wasn't panicking, he surely wasn't playing around with other women behind her back…

…was he…?!

"Lady Espine, hello.

"

"…!

"

…the dark-haired girl couldn't help but get suspicious after witnessing the reaction of the two girls standing by Zoemi's side…

The pinkish-platinum-haired Ehmi greeted her and was gradually shimming her way behind Zoemi to get out of Miriette's line of sight after the nervous greeting, just as the blond-haired Burushiitto bowed down and almost jumped behind the boy's back, making them both end up using the black-haired attendant as the cover.

"You must be doing something important to not show up – you always tend to diligently take notes…

"

|…for me…|

The dark-haired girl raised her brow, implying that she wants to know the reason for her attendant's action – all while glancing threateningly between both Ehmi and Burushi.

"It is actually – my lady, I know that you were deeply worried that one of our classmates, miss Burushi here, was experiencing some difficult time, so I took the liberty and decided to help her solve it.

"

Miriette glare was so cold that even Zoemi started feeling uncomfortable – he knew that his lady's character wasn't good, to begin with so he chose to switch to half-truths in order to prevent her from flying off the handle in the middle of the hallway.

"…is that so…?

"

"!!!

"

Miriette straighten her back and her expression softened while she glanced at the cautious blond girl, making the heroine flinch in shock from the rather unexpected – in her opinion – sight.

…but then the dark-haired girl looked over at the pinkish-platinum-haired girl and straight-up frowned.

"So? Does that mean you have the culprit pinned down right now? It's the young lady Victureo, I see.

"

"You see – what?!

"

Ehmiflinched and Zoemi felt her grabbing onto his vest as the young-looking girl leaned from behind him with a furious expression…

…and for some reason, the pinkish glow of her hair turned a little more intense, almost reddish shade.

"No, no – my lady – Ehmi is a kindhearted person, you don't have to worry about her – we came to ask her for help, actually.

"

The black-haired attendant took a step towards his master and grabbed her hand.

"Things between us and her brother might not be actually as bad as we thought – I only ask you to not let things that happened to me to sour the relationship that hasn't even properly started yet, my lady.

"

Zoemi lowered his head and looked at Miriette with a captivating smile

"!!!

"

Miriette's negative feelings evaporated the moment Zoemi grabbed her hand and everything was getting only better for her from that point…

She was gazing into Zoemi's obsidian eyes and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

|He said 'us and her brother'. Us…! He's counting the two of us as one…! And didn't he say something about a relationship? What relationship…? Ours?! Did he mean OUR relationship?! Does he want to make things official right now?! His face is so close…! Kiss…! I want to go for a kiss!|

Miriette stopped caring completely about where she was – which was the middle of the Aspakeony Academy's hallway right after the first lecture – and she leaned towards Zoemi, climbing onto her tiptoes and…!

"Bouncing around at the thought of helping out a classmate, aren't you, my love?

"

"!!!

"

Horeo instantly understood what Miriette was about to do and was forced to sept into action – he couldn't let the dark-haired girl cause a massive scandal right when they had tens of eyes glued to them, so he approached the girl, casually grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards himself – thankfully Zoemi wasn't trying to stop him, or things would have gotten really awkward…

"Hello, miss Victureo, it's nice to see you again.

"

In order to give Miriette a bit of time to cool down, Horeo nodded towards Ehmi.

"Good morning, my prince.

"

The pinkish-platinum-haired girl leaned over from Zoemi's back, nodded at the first prince, and then immediately hid right back.

"…

"

"…

"

Then the situation became a bit awkward. Miriette was staring daggers at Horeo, Horeo was smiling as if completely nothing happened, Ehmi was holding on to Zoemi's vest as if she was a lost child, and Buru**to was cowering in the back, seriously considering leaving the scene…

It fell on Zoemi to break the atmosphere.

"My prince, you see…

"

"…

"

The black-haired attendant bowed towards the first prince and his master so he didn't see the cold stares that both the first prince and his master send Ehmi who became visible after the Zoemi's movement.

One could expect that suddenly getting exposed to the angry Miriette would make the small girl shudder – considering that she literally hid behind Zoemi's back a moment earlier…

…but the expectation was betrayed…

Ehmi's hair and eyes lost the pinkish glow and became pure-platinum color, her expression turned calm and composed.

"…you, no…!

"

Miriette took a loud breath and pulled on Horeo's arm, reaching out towards the young-looking girl, but Ehmi raised her hand, sticking out her index finger, and traced a counterclockwise circle in the air in front of her…

…the odd pain struck the black-haired boy and he felt as if he was pulled out of his body – his point of view split in two and beside the academy's hallway, he also saw the dimly lit treasury, and the crystal box with the severed human arm locked away inside…

The moment later the pain stopped and the boy's mind returned to his body…

"Zoemi, there you are!

"

"?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

"

Miriette raised her hand and waved at her attendant, who flinched and stepped back, looking away in panicked confusion.

"Zoemi, I will be waiting with miss Burushi by the Dormitory's entrance – join us then and we will have that talk.

"

"!!!

"

The platinum-haired Ehmi grabbed shocked Burushi's arm and waved her other hand at the black-haired attendant while leaving.

"Wh-what…? Wait, what?!

"

Zoemi turned around to face her and shook his head while trying to comprehend what was going on.

"We will be waiting, see you.

"

"Yes, my lady!

"

Ehmi glanced back at him and the overwhelming presence that surrounded her was enough to make the attendant instantly kneel and bow down his head in respect.

"Zoemi?! What just happened?! Why were you with those two?!

"

Miriette flinched and stopped when Zoemi suddenly turned his back on her and got down on one knee, shook her head and grabbed onto the boy's arm, and started pulling him up, demanding answers in a sulking voice.

"…well, I…

"

"…whoa…!

"

Zoemi raised his head and looked at her, trying to wrap his head around what just happened.

He also stood up because it looked like Miriette would end up straining her back while trying to move him with her meager strength – which resulted in the dark-haired girl suddenly losing her balance…!

"MIRIETTE!

"

That made Zoemi call out in shock and step forward, grabbing the girl and pulling her close – which resulted in, well, a rather intimate looking hug….