“…How unclean.”
The moment I stepped into the cafeteria after bathing with the ogre girls, I was met with Aqual’s icy glare and cutting tone. I’d been bracing for it, but that didn’t make it any less awkward.
“That’s a weird thing to say,” Bela shot back before I could even open my mouth.
I blinked up at her, surprised she’d jumped in so fast to defend me.
“We got him nice ’n’ clean in the bath! Ain’t nothin’ unclean about him,” she said with a smug look.
Well… Technically, she wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t what Aqual meant, and we all knew it.
“Though even if we take your words as you intend ’em, it’s still a weird thing to say,” Bela went on. “Our relationship with the boss has been formally recognized by Her Majesty. It’s our duty as his partners to comfort him after a hard day of work. That’s what partners do.”
“And I’ve been wondering about this for a while,” Bela continued, “but why do you have it out for Kousuke so much? He’s done nothing wrong. He just accepted your family’s affections for him. Lady Serafeeta and your sisters were the ones who made the first moves. Sure, Kousuke’s broad-minded enough to accept them, but he’s not sly enough to go seducing women for status or power.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I interjected.
She was right that I wasn’t the type of person who proactively went after women, but… Even if I was passive about it in most cases, I still had physical and romantic relationships with tons of women, so it felt generous to describe me as anything but a perv. Still, if I was being honest, most of the women around me seemed to coordinate with one another in pursuit of me. Romantically and sexually, so that had to count for something.
“Now, now,” Grande said from under a pile of cushions. “Do not scold her too harshly. This is simply her way of asking for attention.”
Up until now she’d just watched us talk, but now she was participating. Aqual, however, froze mid-retort.
“I am not—”
“Are you not?” Grande lifted her head slightly, eyes gleaming. “When I was a child, I would hit my father with my tail and even bit him while we played. From my perspective, it appears you are doing the same with Kousuke.”
The entire room went silent, making things extremely awkward. This was bad.
Real bad.
“All right, enough of that!” I blurted out. “Drop the subject! Let’s eat!”
“R-right. We really put our all into this meal!” Gerda exclaimed.
I had raised my voice to try to lift the dour mood, and Gerda backed me up.
Excellent. That’s the way!
“…I do not have an appetite. Excuse me.” Aqual said quietly before rising and walking out of the cafeteria. Riviera followed the princess a moment later, but not before shooting Gerda a brief, unreadable glance.
“Um… Well, shall we eat?”
“Sure. Yeah.”
That must have been Riviera’s way of telling Gerda to stay here and take care of us. Both of them made dinner for us—they were essentially our hosts for tonight—so it wouldn’t make sense for both to leave.
“Ah… Um, I’ll help,” Bela said, her voice softer now.
“Sorry. I got a little fired up.”
“I don’t think you got anything to apologize for,” Bela said firmly. “If she hates you that much, she can just leave the castle. She gets to live her cushy, privileged little life because you feed her and give her a place to stay. Holding a grudge against the guy who saved her whole family? That’s messed up.”
“I think you’re being a little harsh,” I told her.
“Nah, you’re just too soft. But whatever, that’s what makes you such a good guy.”
“I see…”
Her words were kind, and I was happy she was complimenting me, but it didn’t alleviate my headache. I really wanted to find a way to make peace with Aqual, especially considering she was Sylphy’s big sister.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t even taste dinner that night. I’d spent the whole meal silently trying to come up with a solution.