At the entrance of the ruined Mars Square, Eri, Makoto, Rin, Kasumi, and Aris—the five beautiful girls—break through the smoke and charge towards the Eiffel Tower.
Only a step remains until their target, Kim Deok-Sung.
Not much time left.
A perfect solution.
Kaboom!
The explosion rings out again.
Something feels off.
“What is that?”
Could it really be an attack from the League?
“Is this a big deal?!”
I turn to Olivia.
She shakes her head with a flustered expression.
“It’s n-n-nothing serious! Th-that is just… Yeah! There’s construction going on around here! That’s the sound of the explosion! Th-that’s all it is!”
Olivia stammers, her face turning red.
Her speech may resemble the usual tsundere Olivia, but her nervous sweat reveals she might be hiding something.
“Construction? Not a terror attack?”
“A terror attack in the capital of the Great French Empire, Paris?! No way!! It’s just construction work, I swear!!”
Olivia yells with her eyes shut tight.
Yikes!
[Partner, even I don’t think it’s a terror attack. If it were a real attack, the guards would have already been alerted and come here.]
The Black Prince’s calm voice echoes in my mind.
He makes a valid point.
There are only a few guards around Olivia and me.
“Anyway, it’s too noisy here, let’s go somewhere else. The Arc de Triomphe! Right, let’s go to the Arc de Triomphe!”
Snatch.
Olivia grabs my wrist and hurries me along.
“Wait, why are you in such a hurry?”
“It’s l-l-loud!!!!”
Olivia yells, her earlobes red.
It’s been a while since she’s shown her true tsundere mode.
At times like this, it’s best to keep my mouth shut.
“………”
To be honest, I didn’t really need to stay any longer.
“Alright. Let’s go to the Arc de Triomphe and take another picture! Th-that’s not because I want to take a picture with you or anything, so don’t get the wrong idea! I just wanted to take a picture of the Arc de Triomphe built by my ancestors today!!”
As Olivia rambles with her flushed face and pulls me out of the square, suddenly…
“Where do you think you’re going, just the two of you, Kim Deok-Sung and Bonaparte?”
A familiar voice sounds from behind me.
I turn my head.
There stands Rin, the busty beauty with a navy ponytail fluttering in the wind, crossed arms accentuating her chest, giving Olivia a cold glare.
But why is she here?
“Hey, Rin. What are you doing here…?”
“Right. Princess. I can’t let this one slide. Eri wants to take a photo with the Master at the Eiffel Tower too!”
Before I can finish my sentence, Eri, the orange twin-tailed girl, pops up next to Rin.
She puffs out her cheeks and glares at Olivia.
“Uuuuuuugh…”
Olivia lets out a groan.
“Lady Bonaparte, that’s unfair! It’s against the rules to monopolize our junior!”
With her cheeks puffed out, the purple-haired beauty, Kasumi, chimes in.
“Master, I’m here too! I missed you!”
Makoto speaks up timidly.
“I told you, romantic relationships are… off-limits. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, Lady Bonaparte?”
Lastly, Aris is frowning while fiddling with her student council president armband.
“Tsk.”
Olivia clicks her tongue and kicks a harmless pebble on the ground.
What the heck is going on?
Why are they all here?
Is it possible they’ve been following me?
Seriously, in this crazy light novel world, anyone and everyone seems to be a stalker.
Just then, I notice Rin’s black stockings have a subtle tear.
Torn?
The other girls glance over, their expressions tightening.
‘Did they get into a fight?’
It looks like they tried to hide it, but aside from Aris, others – Makoto, Kasumi, Rin, and Eri – show signs of battle on their bodies and clothes.
Does that mean the loud explosion we heard earlier?
No way?
At that moment.
“What on earth has Bella been doing… ugh…”
Olivia, holding my wrist, groans next to me.
Then it clicked.
“Hey, you guys.”
The instant I say that, all their gazes lock onto me.
“Master, did you call for Eri?”
“D-Did I? Kim Deok-Sung!”
“Master, your sword is right here!”
“Junior! Are you finally noticing me?”
“What’s the matter? Mr. Kim Deok-Sung?”
A miracle happens as my one question gets five responses, giving me a headache.
“Enough! You guys didn’t seriously pull out the ceremonial weapons and fight, did you? That loud explosion and the torn clothing… and Olivia talking about Bella.”
“Hyuk!”
Olivia hiccups at the mention of her own name.
“So, you did fight?”
I ask while looking around.
“W-Well, you see… Eri is a good slave, so I wouldn’t fight without Master’s permission!”
“R-Right! I, I’m your future wife. A good wife wouldn’t unsheathe a sword carelessly!”
Just then, as Rin and Eri fumble through their excuses like they’re reading from a textbook…
Boom!
With a thunderous noise, a stone statue standing across the park crumbles.
“Ugh…”
“Tsk…”
Rin bites her lip while Eri pouts.
Well, they did fight.
I let out a sigh.
Catfights with ceremonial weapons from heroines pop up often in the original, but realistically, it’s unbelievable for superhumans to be fighting over trivial things like that. But since this is a light novel, it’s treated as some kind of comedic scene.
Yet, I never expected that miserable comedic scene would be recreated in real life.
This damned light novel world…
I just can’t bring myself to like it.
“Got it. From now on, don’t cause any ruckus. Olivia, you too, don’t get into unnecessary trouble.”
If they keep fighting like this, I’ll just end up with a headache.
I just want to live quietly.
“Ah, understood… I’ll apologize. Kim Deok-Sung… I might be unfit to be your future wife… Ugh…”
The first to react to my words is Rin.
She places a hand over her heart, biting her lip and looking down.
“Eri… I’ll listen to Master… So please don’t abandon me… Master…”
Next to respond is Eri.
She fiddles with her leash, gazing at me with anxious eyes.
With anxious eyes, she looks at me.
“I’m sorry, my lord…”
Makoto, now speaking politely, fiddles with her skirt and glances down.
“Junior, I’m sorry…”
Hoshino Kasumi, her cheeks puffed out, trails off with a gloomy expression.
“Um… I think I might have gone a bit too far this time. I apologize, Kim Deok-Sung.”
Saionji Aris, her face apologetic, gives a polite bow.
“Um… I also bear part of the responsibility for this ruckus… So, I’ll apologize for that… Ugh…”
Finally, Olivia speaks in a voice that seems to crawl out of her throat.
A sudden gathering of remorse.
‘Wait, with just a bit of a serious look, they’re genuinely apologizing like this, making me feel like the bad guy here.’
The aftertaste is bitter.
Well, it’s just an unnecessarily kind world, isn’t it?
Sigh.
[Partner. You are indeed the bad guy. What a bad man you are.]
The voice of Raul Napoleon Bonaparte echoes in my head.
“So anyway, why are you all here?”
“U-um, that is…”
At my words, Rin stutters.
“Could it be that we’re really here to take photos of the Eiffel Tower, as she said?”
I look at Eri.
She touches her collar with a surprised expression.
“Well, the official reason we came to France is for the cooking club’s overseas study trip… I thought we should document our activities to show the academy, so we came here, Kim Deok-Sung.”
The answer comes not from Eri, but from Rin beside her.
Rin, who stumbles over her words, gradually settles into a calmer tone.
A cooking club overseas study trip, huh.
Yeah, that was their justification for coming here.
While the actual reason may be different, if that’s the nominal reason, it makes sense to leave a record of their activities for submission.
“Y-yes, Shinozaki’s words are correct. Junior, since we need to write a report for the study trip… right? President?”
“What Hoshino said is correct. As the Student Council President of Shuo, I will vouch for her words.”
Kasumi and Aris volley back and forth.
All this chaos over such a trivial reason.
Come on.
Seriously, just stop talking.
I instinctively try to make a stern face but quickly relax it.
I may be a selfish brat with a soda pop temperament, but I’m not oblivious enough to ruin the mood we just managed to lift.
“Okay, so Eri, let’s take a commemorative photo with everyone here! With the Eiffel Tower in the background!”
Eri, having regained her energy, bounces around as usual.
“Is that okay, Your Highness?”
Eri, now by Olivia’s side, asks.
Almost immediately after her question, everyone’s gaze shifts to Olivia.
“Ugh…”
Olivia makes a groaning sound.
As she releases my wrist, puffing up her cheeks, she says, “F-fine… I guess that much is okay. Everyone came all the way to France for me, after all… In that sense… as the royal maid, I’ll grant this special permission just this once… so be grateful! Got it?”
And just like that, Olivia places her hand over her heart in approval, and the girls rush toward me.
“My lord! I’m sitting next to my lord, Eri’s claiming that spot!”
“Hey, who decided that? The spot next to him is for me, the future ideal wife!”
“My lord, I’ll take any spot…”
“Junior is a bad man…”
“That’s inappropriate!”
“Hmph.”
After a brief scuffle, the seating arrangement was decided.
With the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop, on either side of me are Rin and Olivia. Below me is Eri, and behind me is Makoto.
Eri was behind, and Makoto was beside her.
Kasumi-senpai stood next to Rin, while Aris was beside Olivia.
But wait, who’s going to take the picture then?
Are we even setting a timer or something?
Just as those thoughts crossed my mind.
Flash!
A beauty in a suit appeared out of nowhere with a camera in hand.
“Han Seo-Jin?”
It was my aide, Han Seo-Jin.
Why on earth is she here?
“I received a message from Nishizawa. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, you said there weren’t enough people to take the picture.”
“Hehe. Eri called for her! Eri did a good job, right, Master?”
So that’s how it went.
Well, considering that Eri came to France because she contacted Seo-Jin to figure out my whereabouts, it doesn’t seem too strange that she called her over.
If we’re talking about strange, that sudden interruption from over there is way weirder.
“Then I’ll take it.”
With a brief statement, Seo-Jin clicked the camera’s shutter a few times.
Click. Click.
The flash went off as the photos were taken.
“That’s a wrap. Good job, everyone.”
As soon as Seo-Jin declared the shoot finished, the surrounding girls flocked to me.
“Master! Where shall we go next?”
“I know a good restaurant. Kim Deok-Sung, you must be hungry, so how about we head there?”
“Junior.”
“Master…”
“Kim Deok-Sung…”
“You!”
Looks like it’s completely wrong to expect any free time today.
*
The date-that-wasn’t-a-date between Kim Deok-Sung and Olivia wrapped up as a group date due to the intrusion of other students.
The cooking club members managed to secure a solo date between Olivia and Kim Deok-Sung through Han Seo-Jin’s secret intel, but their hearts weren’t at ease.
Rin, Eri, Makoto, and Kasumi.
The four girls who became aware of their feelings for Kim Deok-Sung realized the truth.
The gap between Olivia and them had already grown tremendously.
Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris.
Located on the Champs-Élysées, this top-notch hotel has been awarded the ‘Palace’ grade, a certification for hotels of five-star or higher from the French government.
In this hotel’s meeting room, where the Shuo Academy students and Kim Deok-Sung were staying, Rin, Eri, Makoto, and Kasumi gathered for a gloomy tea party.
On the splendid table, high-end snacks and black tea were served in fine china, but none of the girls touched them.
“What should we do now…”
Rin spoke in a gloomy voice.
At this rate, it was clear that Olivia would emerge as the sole victor.
She wanted to be a side piece.
Even though modern Japan and Korea follow the principle of monogamy.
Even unofficially, without recognition, she wanted to be his mistress.
But if it continued like this, she feared she wouldn’t even be granted that small place.
“I’m worried about Eri too…”
Nishizawa fiddled with an innocent teacup.
She nervously touched the collar around her neck with trembling hands.
“Master…”
“The junior is a bad man who stole the purity of a girl…”
Kasumi lowered her head.
Now, she couldn’t imagine a life without him.
“Junior… I’d even be okay being the junior’s girlfriend…”
Girlfriend.
An affair partner would be fine too.
She just wanted to be by his side.
As Kasumi spoke with a quivering voice, the remaining three girls nodded unconsciously.
They felt the same way.
They hated the idea of being out of the competition.
They wanted to be close to him in any form.
Though they were rivals, their feelings were the same.
But the situation was dire.
Just as the four girls sighed together.
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