“Ahhhh!!”

“Onee-chan……!”

Emera’s scream, along with Furei calling out her name, echoed throughout the large bath.

A moment later, a loud splash rang out, followed by a heavy thud.

“…W-what…?”

Emera had braced herself to fall into the scalding hot water, but she slowly opened the eyes she had squeezed shut.

“W-Why…?”

What… what was she asking about?

Was she asking why she hadn’t fallen into the scalding water, or was it because I was carrying her in a princess hold right now?

I avoid looking at Emera, so I cannot tell what expression she has on her face.

“Excellent as always, Eito-kun. That was a great reaction.”

While Emera was still confused, Maria-san stood off to the side, clapping in my direction.

She was smiling—but, as always, her eyes weren’t.

“So, should I take that action as a sign of defiance against me?”

The next moment, a chilling killing intent was directed at Emera and me.

My instincts scream “Run away now!!” at full volume within my head.

It was Maria-san who taught me martial arts and how to fight.

Despite looking every bit like a highly competent career woman, her strength was so overwhelming it felt impossible to believe she was even the same species as us.

In fact, I have never even come close to winning against her in an unarmed fight, nor do I think I ever will—there’s an overwhelming difference in ability between us.

Frankly, going up against her would be nothing but reckless. And having moved on reflexively, I couldn’t help but resent the me from just a few seconds ago.

“I don’t intend to oppose you, Maria-san. But this is just—”

“I asked whether that was an act of defiance. Didn’t I?”

Even as I try to gloss over it, Maria-san immediately sees through me and demands a YES or NO answer.

Anyone can see that I saved Emera against Maria-san’s will, so it can only be defiance…

“Defiance…you may consider it that way…”

I could lie here, but that would be the most foolish thing to do.

Even if I tried to lie, it would be pointless. And knowing her, she’d probably use it as an excuse to punish me even more harshly than if I just told the truth.

If she’s already seen through everything anyway, being honest is the better option.

“So… why did you help that girl?”

Instead of immediately attacking me, Maria-san asks about my intentions.

Even so, she still hadn’t withdrawn her killing intent, and I couldn’t let my guard down for even a second.

If I were to carelessly relax, I would have my bones broken or crushed in an instant.

I shouldn’t treat her as an ordinary human.

The way she moves is so absurd that it makes me wonder if her body is built differently altogether…

“Getting scalded by hot water isn’t a laughing matter, and it will cause burns…”

“It’ll be fine. She’s my daughter, after all. Besides, Eito-kun has already proven with his own body that soaking in this hot water isn’t a problem, hasn’t he?”

Indeed, that’s entirely possible.

After all, Emera inherited the blood of this demon of a woman who could dip her hand into boiling water with a calm expression. It wouldn’t be surprising if she had some resistance to heat as well.

But the fact that Emera looked shocked when she saw me enduring the hot water meant that she at least never tried it herself, and there’s no guarantee that she’ll be alright.

Sure, her personality resembles Maria-san’s in some ways, but I have no idea how much of that monstrous toughness she inherited.

At the very least, I don’t feel even one-tenth of the threat from Emera that I feel from Maria-san.

Therefore, it was safer to treat her as an ordinary person, and I can endure it only because I have been subjected to harsh training since I was a child, enough to make someone wonder if my body had been modified or something. But a normal person probably couldn’t withstand it.

And if she were to fall in completely, it could very well be life-threatening.

“If something were to happen, it would be a huge problem, wouldn’t it? She’s your important heir, after all, Maria-san.”

Since I don’t know what will happen if I stay in the hot water, I try to get out of the bath while holding Emera.

During that time, of course, I never took my eyes off Maria-san for a moment.

“An important heir…is that so?”

Maria-san looks at Emera with cold eyes as if she were looking at trash.

Even without looking at her, I could tell from Emera’s stiffening body that Maria-san was giving her a look that said, ‘I don’t want a child like this as my heir.’

“Onee-chan…!”

After stepping out of the hot bath, Furei hurried over to us with quick little steps.

I slowly lowered Emera and faced Maria-san while shielding Emera with my back.

“Since you dared to defy me, you’re prepared to part ways with Hina-chan, aren’t you?”

Maria-san fixed her gaze on me as if delivering a judgment straight from hell.

She had warned me, so she won’t listen to excuses.

And the action I took in response was… to drop to my knees in a full dogeza.

“…What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Perhaps she didn’t expect me to prostrate myself here, because Maria-san questioned me from above as she looked down at me.

I could also feel Furei and Emera behind me gasp.

“No matter where Hina is taken, I will surely find her.”

“So, you’re fine with being separated from her. Then, what are you prostrating yourself for?”

“Please… stop pushing them any further. I believe they’ve already paid more than enough for what they did to Hina. Anything beyond this, especially forcing them into something humiliating, or worse, something that could put their lives at risk, is something neither Hina nor I would ever want. And if Hina were to find out that something like this happened because of her… she would be devastated.”

With this woman, she might very well cut everything down with a cold, “Then just don’t tell her.”

But Hina is not stupid.

If something happened today that left Emera and Furei unable to come to school, or even hospitalized, Hina would hear about it—and she’d immediately know I was involved.

She already knew I’d gone to meet with Emera and Furei, so that outcome would be obvious.

Conversely, if Hina were separated from me and no longer allowed to attend her current school, she would still figure out that the reason had something to do with the Tenjouin conglomerate. She would definitely try to find out why, and she would end up learning about the incident with Emera and Furei.

And that girl… she would convince herself it was all her fault, and she would absolutely drive herself into a corner over it.

That’s why I pleaded with her to stop.

What kind of judgment would she hand down…? While bracing myself in my dogeza, thinking that—

“Fu… fufu… ahahahaha…!”

—for some reason, Maria-san suddenly burst into laughter.

And right beside her—before I knew it, Shirayuki-san’s mother, who had disappeared from the bath at some point and quietly returned, was standing there with a resigned smile on her face.