“So, what did we learn this morning?” Al wanted to use lunchtime to confirm the morning’s events. He’d already heard the reports about them running around the castle screaming and digging a hole in the middle of one of the corridors to fill it with acid; what he wanted to know was how remorseful they were for ignoring the crime that had been committed and outright hindering the investigation.
“...”
Nothing. No apology, no reply, not so much as a peep from any of them.
“By the way,” Luna chimed in, “what exactly happened?”
“...”
Not one of them was willing to speak.
“What’s the problem? Why won’t you say anything!?” Luna put her utensils down and looked over to Al and the Divas. Al couldn’t bring himself to spell out embarrassing information in front of a guest of the state, though, so he let everyone continue eating in silence. Then again, Sharon, Feena, and Kanon were technically guests of the state too.
“Well, if there’s no progress at all, maybe we should just give—Cecilia? What’s wrong?” Al finally had a chance to put a stop to their reckless detective work, but Cecilia’s distraught expression was too enticing to ignore.
“Ah! Nothing, nothing at all! Now, it’s time to make my move!” Declaring her intent, she stood up and masterfully balanced a piece of bacon on her breasts.
“Umm, Cecilia? What the hell are you doing?”
“Bon appétit, Al.” Ignoring his protest, she approached him chest-first.
“Please, Cecilia, restrain yourself in front of guests.” Al played his final card, knowing full well that his chances of success were almost zero.
“Oh my, pardon me,” Cecilia said and sat back down.
“Huh? Huuuuuh!?” The room erupted with cries of bewilderment as everyone looked at Al in pursuit of an explanation.
“Don’t look at me, I have no clue what just happened either.” Al denied his involvement, but the sight of his sister defeatedly munching on a crispy piece of bacon laid atop her own boobs was so surreal it almost made him feel sorry for her.
“Cecilia...” Just as he was about to ask her...
“Alnoa!”
“Ahhh!”
...Brusch jumped into his arms, luckily while he was in between bites.
“Brusch!? What’s with all the fuss?” He tried to push her off while she rubbed her cheek against his.
“Alnoa! I caught the thief! I came for my pats! Headpats!”
When she whispered the crucial news into his ear, he stopped.
“Really? Great work!” After giving Brusch the headpats she deserved, he stood up like nothing ever happened. He’d forgotten about one thing, though: Cecilia was still eating the bacon off her breasts, and he had yet to uncover the reason behind that. Unfortunately, he had other things to attend to, so that mystery was to remain unsolved.
“Sorry, something of utmost importance has come up; I have to leave for a bit. Please enjoy your lunch, Luna, Saaya.” He apologized to his guests, but the other Divas must’ve also sensed that something had happened, as they all stood up, much to Al’s dismay.
What am I thinking? I can’t leave our guests alone during lunch.
“Hmm... It’s a wife’s job to entertain the guests while her husband is out!” Feena said before sitting back down.
“Thanks, Feena. I won’t be out for long.”
She nodded at Al’s request and turned toward the guests. “Worry not,” she told them, “for I, the wife, will be taking care of you!”
Hearing that, Luna stared straight at Al, but he decided to ignore that for now, leaving the room with the three other Divas in tow.
“Were you the one who went rummaging through the treasury?”
When they arrived at the prison in the depths of the castle, a relatively small man was brought before them, bound with rope. Naturally, despite being in the castle’s depths, the prison was nowhere near the Demon King’s seal. The prisoner looked awfully familiar to Al, and that intuition was enhanced by Sharon’s jaw practically hitting the floor.
Oh, right. This is the guy who followed Sharon around like a loyal dog. His name is Kotton, I think.
“Why? Why did you do this!?” Sharon’s woeful voice reverberated through the musty jail. Kotton silently hung his head.
“He needed money to flee the country.”
“I rummaged through the treasury, the late king’s room, and the entrance of the underground chamber to get out of this country.” As if he’d snapped back into reality after hearing Jamka’s assertion, Kotton confirmed the claims, though his confession felt a bit strange.
“No, that’s not right. The Kotton I know would never sink so low!” Sharon interrupted Al’s thoughts before he could come to a conclusion.
“He just admitted to the crimes himself!”
“Still! He didn’t do it!” She vehemently jumped between Al and Kotton.
“What’s gotten into you, Sharon!? This is... Actually, this is exactly like you,” said Kanon.
“Oh my, I think she is much more volatile than usual.”
Is it just me, or are both Kanon and Cecilia much less patient with Sharon lately? Watching Sharon get so desperate over protecting a man didn’t sit well with Al.
“We’ll have him serve some jail time for now. We don’t have capital punishment, but he needs some time to cool—”
“I won’t let you get away with that!”
Cecilia was right. Throwing a tantrum like this is unusual for her.
“Wow, you’re really standing up for this kid. Did you get infected by Cecilia’s love for younger boys?”
“Oh my, I don’t particularly love younger boys. I love my little brother; that’s completely different!”
“Is that really something to be proud of!?”
Their discussion got completely derailed.
“I don’t know why you’re so protective of Kotton, but we’ll deal with our prisoner using our laws.” Al put it rather bluntly, but Sharon still wasn’t convinced.
“Seriously!? Why do you believe every word Luna says but argue with me!?”
“What!? What does Luna have to do with this!? Not to mention that you expect me to listen to you and pardon him just because you think he’s innocent!”
An eye for an eye. Al got too caught up in the chaos of the moment—probably because Sharon was so desperate for another man—and accidentally went a step too far.
“Why’s this guy so important to you?”
Wham!
Sharon’s fist hit Al square in the chest.
“You moron...”
She turned on her heels and didn’t even look back. The light pat on Al’s chest may not have caused physical pain, but it damaged his heart.