“You’d go that far…!?”

Her unexpected action left me surprised, and I couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

Maybe she’s imitating what I did to Maria-san, but even so, for the proud Emera to bow down like this…?

“It wouldn’t be a bad outcome for you either… right? You want to be with the girl you love too… don’t you? If you marry me… I’ll let that happen…”

Emera looks up at me with pleading eyes.

What she’s probably saying is that if I choose her, the relationship would just be formality, and she’d allow me to have a lover.

I thought she was acting on emotion alone, but surprisingly, what she said makes sense.

Given my situation, where I only had Emera or Furei as options, Emera’s proposal might seem attractive at first glance.

But… I don’t really like anyone right now…

Hina and I are blood-related, so we can’t get married anyway…

No, if that’s how she means it… then if I chose Emera, I’d be allowed to live with Hina…?

—Yeah, no. Impossible.

I want Hina to have a normal home and a proper, happy life. And if I ever tried something like a fake marriage with Emera just to bring Hina into the house, Maria-san would notice instantly and explode in fury.

Well, when it comes to the guy Hina chooses, I’m not planning to approve of anyone who isn’t better than me…!

“If you prefer Koori, then do as you wish. That girl doesn’t seem entirely opposed to you either, so I won’t say anything…”

While I was silently thinking things over, Emera somehow got the wrong idea and brought up Shirayuki-san.

“No, she just looks like a little sister to me… and she’s probably just  unsure how to act around me because I suddenly became her master’s fiancé, that’s all.”

Even if I’m not her direct master, being the partner of her master puts me in a position she can’t exactly defy.

And besides, we did fight earlier today. Anyone would have trouble figuring out the right distance to keep with someone like that, so she’s probably just acting a little awkward.

While I was thinking that—

“…Does Mother prefer the dense type or something…?”

―Emera seemed genuinely confused by something.

I couldn’t hear what she muttered under her breath, but she looked like she wanted to say something.

“If you have anything to say, just spit it out.”

She might just be being considerate because she wants to get on my good side, but after everything she’s said to me up until now, having her suddenly be polite around me only makes it feel weirder.

I mean, if she was going to insult me, I would’ve preferred she just said it so I could talk back.

“No, nothing… All I want is for you to stop pursuing Furei.”

She definitely has something on her mind, but Emera isn’t saying it.

From her perspective, all she needs is for me to choose her, so maybe she wants to get it over with quickly.

And the only reason she’s even negotiating with me herself is because she knows full well that, at this rate, she won’t be chosen.

Honestly, it would be strange not to understand.

She laid her hands on my precious Hina, and even after that kept causing trouble for us, while Furei, despite being on the same “side” as Emera, never did anything to us and always stayed quiet.

On top of that, Furei’s reputation at school is overwhelmingly better than Emera’s, so of course I’d choose Furei.

Not to mention… Emera still hasn’t noticed, but even while standing on Emera’s side, Furei was quietly pulling strings behind the scenes to help Hina and me.

“To be honest, I can’t accept those terms.”

“…You’re fine even if you don’t end up with the person you love…?”

I expected her to get emotional when I refused, but maybe she’d already prepared herself for that answer.

Emera looked at me with an unexpectedly calm expression.

“Think about it normally — Maria-san probably saw this coming.”

As I said that, I quietly approached the door.

Then, when I yanked the door open—

“Kyaa!?”

—Shirayuki-san, who had apparently been pressing her ear against the door, nearly collapsed into the room.

Even so, she regained her balance in an instant. As expected of Shirayuki-san.

Emera stared at her in surprise.

“You were eavesdropping on your master’s conversation…!?”

“…It was Maria-sama’s order… Since you would most likely attempt to negotiate, she told me to report everything without leaving anything out…”

Shirayuki-san didn’t try to make excuses and simply explained the situation outright.

Yeah… that makes sense.

There’s no way that devil of a woman wouldn’t anticipate something at this level.

Honestly, the dogeza surprised me, but even I thought it would be strange if Emera didn’t try to negotiate once Maria-san wasn’t around.

“Can we just call this an attempt and let it slide?”

Seeing Emera’s face turn pale again, I gave a wry smile and tried asking Shirayuki-san for leniency.

“If the two of you go straight to bed without causing any more trouble, then I won’t report this. There were… parts of your conversation that would be inconvenient for me as well, if Maria-sama pressed for details…”

With that, Shirayuki-san turned her face away, her cheeks faintly reddening again.

Why is she blushing?

I wondered, but it felt like asking would only get me scolded, so I let it go.

“Well, you should go to bed early since school starts tomorrow.”

It’s unlikely that Emera would sleep with me given the circumstances, but it’s better for her to get some rest anyway.

Incidentally, Myaa-san, who usually sleeps with me, seems to have been captured by Furei and is currently in her room.

Well, as long as Myaa-san isn’t unhappy about it, that’s fine.

“J-Just because we’re sharing a bed… d-don’t touch me, okay…?”

Thinking about Myaa-san, I slipped into bed—and surprisingly, Emera got in without any resistance.

She looked tense, but compared to usual, her words were much gentler. She was probably trying her best not to make me think poorly of her.

Really, she must hate the idea of Furei being with me…

Furei has accepted her engagement, so it’s understandable that Emera feels threatened…

For now, I turned my back to her and closed my eyes. She probably did the same.

After quietly watching the two of us settle in, Shirayuki-san seemed to spread out a futon on the floor for herself.

“Shirayuki-san, are you sure you don’t want to use the bed…? Even with a futon, I feel bad making you sleep on the floor…”

“If you’re trying to use that as an excuse to sleep separately from Emera-sama, I recommend you stop. That would become something I must report.”

“No, that’s not what I meant at all…”

I just thought it was strange for me to take the bed while she slept on a futon.

“Fufu, please don’t worry about me. I brought the finest-quality futon with me, so it’s no hardship at all.”

Shirayuki-san seemed to be joking, and she let out a cheerful little laugh.

She might be a servant, but compared to a normal household, her family must be pretty wealthy too…

“Flirting right in front of me… are you doing this just to spite me…? And on top of that… she gets to sleep on something nicer than what I get…?”

“Emera, stop mumbling.”

“Grr…! Tomorrow I’m absolutely changing this to the finest bed available…! Especially if Furei is going to be sleeping in it…!”

I told her not to be noisy since she’d keep me awake, and she seemed upset.

Ever since the queenly façade cracked off of her, she’s honestly been a lot easier to deal with… to the point where I kind of find it amusing.

Well, that still doesn’t mean I’m going to choose her.

And so, I kept my eyes closed, and before I knew it, I’d lost consciousness.

Then, when morning came and I opened my eyes—

“P-please… fowgive me already… I really can’t… take any more…”

—for some reason, Emera was there with a flushed, dazed, tearful expression, her clothes completely undone, staring blankly into nothing.

“…Huh?”