*knock* *knock* *knock*

"Come in.

"

The sound of knocking might not be something that's supposed to be unique, but Miriette easily recognized who was the person outside only by the sound alone.

*click*

The door opened and the gold-haired first prince entered the room rather cautiously…

"Is it really fine for me to waltz in? You aren't using the chance and snuggling up to our Zoemi, are you?

"

Horeo snickered after carefully closing the door behind his back and glancing between Miriette and the sleeping Zoemi.

"Shush! What if you will wake him up and he would hear you?!

"

Miriette put her index finger up to her lips and shook her head urgently – she had a feeling that Zoemi wasn't actually asleep, but since the black-haired boy just laid in his bed without moving even after Burushi left, the dark-haired girl started wondering whether her intuition was correct or not.

In the past, the amount of time Zoemi spent in bed would already recover his entire mana reservoir, but that wasn't the case anymore.

It was.. odd…

And kind of annoying – Miriette really hoped for some quality time spent with her beloved attendant, but now that Horeo showed up, that could only be a pipe dream…

"Oh, you worry too much – I've already been told about Zoemi's increased mana – he isn't waking up because his body isn't used to having to recover such an amount.

"

The first prince laughed at his fiance and waved his hand dismissively.

"…is that so…?

"

Miriette furrowed her brows and glanced over at the peaceful ace of the resting black-haired boy.

"Hmm? What is it – are you regretting that you didn't sneak in and cuddled up while you had the chance?

"

"Yes, I do, actually, you pompous show-off.

"

Horeo giggled – but surprisingly Miriette didn't get bashful or angry and just responded honestly, ending her sentence with a scoff.

"And good job handling that annoying guy – I would have done it myself but I…

"

"…lost your head because your beloved boy got hurt – I get it – don't sweat it, it's because I knew that you would go and take care of Zoemi, I could go and take care of some random pile of trash.

"

Miriette grumbled, lowering her head, but Horeo only laughed it off while waving his hand dismissively.

"Wha..! Stupid! I told you that Zoemi might wake up, what, do you WANT me to get exposed?! And what about your punishment?

"

The dark-haired girl flinched and her face turned bright red as she started scolding the gold-haired prince in a hushed voice.

"Punishment? Don't be silly, I have like thirty witnesses who readily confirm that I was in a duel, and that hag who thinks she's too good to be Zoemi's grandmother attacked me from behind while I wasn't attacking the defeated trash. Anyway. You know, it's high time that you tell him that you like him – what will you do if suddenly gets romantically interested in someone who isn't you – or me – and my whole plan will go to waste?

"

Horeo disregarded his fiancee's advice and continued talking unperturbed.

"…I… but what if he isn't interested in me…? Or worse, he is interested, but if I will make a move on him, he will consider that an abuse of power from my side? You know he hates perverts and indecency! Just admit it that you want me to shoot my shots and then fail miserably so you would have a chance!

"

Miriette hesitated for a second before she scoffed and stomped her foot, glaring at the fist prince with accusation.

"…

"

Horeo raised his brow and stared at the dark-haired girl in silence until her stern expression faltered and she lowered her head.

"Sorry, that was unnecessarily mean…

"

Miriette pouted and looked to the side with an embarrassed expression.

"What I take from this, is that you have a hard time noticing some details… most likely because the two of you are too close.

"

After nodding in acknowledgment, Horeo tilted his head and spoke with just a little bit of annoyance.

"…eh…? What details…?

"

Miriette gasped and leaned in, eager to hear more details.

"Well – first thing first, you are right about him disliking perverts and indecency, but the disdain is meant only for people who are a menace to others, like actively doing creepy things – do you think he never walked in on some other students getting sweet with each other? I myself happened to walk on at least three couples getting buzzy and I didn't even walk around the Academy all that much! So Zoemi must see some indecent acts, but I don't remember him freaking out about a thing.

"

"O-oohh… I see… I guess…

"

Horeo explained and Miriette frowned, deep in thoughts, before she nodded admitting that her fiance had a point there.

"You worry too much that he will not like you because there's something that you might do or because of how you are – which is actually kind of weird considering how usually confident you are in every other aspect – while you kind of miss the real problem about you two being a master and a servant.

"

The gold-haired prince spoke while using the chance to throw the shade at the dark-haired girl given the chance.

"…asshole…

"

Miriette muttered angrily under her breath and looked up, staring daggers at the smirking prince.

"So? What am I missing?

"

She asked boldly, raising her head with a challenge.

"Because all the kinky romance novels you read, you think that the problem lays in the power dynamic – you don't want him to think that you are using the position of power to force him into a relationship that you fear he might not want.

"

Horeo spoke calmly as if he was teaching basic math to young children.

"Yes – I do think that's the case. So? What's your point, or are you just going to make fun of me?

"

Miriette scoffed angrily, not seeing the prince's point.

"You aren't the problem – Zoemi is.

"

"Wha…?!

"

The gold-haired prince revealed, making the dark-haired girl take a step back.

"To be exact, the problem lies with how strong is Zoemi's dedication to his job. You've seen his eyes, right? Each time he calls you 'my lady', they dim a little bit. And if by any chance, he calls you 'master' then his eyes go full-on light's out mode.

"

Horeo explained and Miriette didn't even dare to breathe listening to him with extreme interest.

"I believe that your biggest obstacle lies in being the master – Zoemi will not step over the impenetrabl, in his opinion, line separating a servant from a master – or at least that's how it looks. When it comes to you as a person… well… He really loves your butt.

"

"Wh-what…?! And how would you know?!

"

The gold-haired prince added and laughed at Miriette's embarrassed expression as the dark-haired girl blushed and instinctively reached out towards her bottom when it was mentioned.

"You know how we walk together and Zoemi is always behind us – well, I keep on glancing over at him and noticed him more than a few times that despite doing his hardest to stay proper, he can't help himself from stealing glances at you.

"

Horeo snickered and winked at the blushing girl.