“…………”

“N-No, you’re wrong, okay…!? While Eito-kun was distracted by Furei and Hina, I absolutely didn’t sneak anything out of the changing room and swap it with different clothes for laundry or anything…!”

When I stared at her suspiciously, Emera denied it frantically.

She was being oddly specific, but isn’t this exactly what people mean by talking yourself into a corner?

“Putting that aside, isn’t it strange that you’re wearing my clothes…?”

“Th-That’s, um… y-yes…! When I got out of the bath, there was nothing for me to wear, so I had no choice…!”

I deliberately ignored the part that was practically a confession, but when pressed, Emera’s gaze wandered around in distress, and then her expression suddenly brightened, as if she’d just come up with a brilliant idea.

It was such a laughably bad excuse that I almost wanted to ask why she thought it would work, but the sheer absurdity of it made it funny instead.

I mean, that would mean she got the clothes from the changing room, but the only school shirt in there that could’ve been mine was the one I wore yesterday, right…?

Honestly… this girl… how should I even put it… yeah, she really needs to be punished.

—And then, a thought occurred to me.

If she enjoys being treated coldly, then what would happen if I did the opposite and spoiled her instead?

“…………”

“—!? W-Why did you suddenly start patting my head!?”

When I tried patting her head the same way I did with Hina and Furei, I could tell that Emera’s entire body stiffened in an instant.

She was probably tense, but more than that, it looked like she was wary of me.

Hmm… so maybe it’s not that she dislikes being spoiled, or rather, she’s just bad at dealing with it?

Compared to leaving her alone, this might be more of a punishment.

Thinking that, I slowly opened my mouth.

“No, I just felt like patting you, that’s all.”

“I-I see… ehehe…”

“―!”

If this counted as punishment, then I supposed this was fine.

While I was treating it as punishment with such flimsy reasoning, Emera’s utterly relaxed, adorable smile caught me completely off guard.

Caught completely off guard, my heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t help but think she was cute.

Setting her personality aside, she was beautiful, which made sense given that she took after Maria-san.

In fact, she was so beautiful that she was treated like a goddess at school.

Maybe I’d underestimated the effect of an innocent smile from someone with that level of beauty.

Well, the contrast with how she usually is probably played a part too…

“Eito-kun…?”

Emera looked up at my frozen face with a worried expression.

She was probably doing it unconsciously, but it was still pretty calculating.

Seriously… whatever happened to that queenly persona of hers…?

“It’s nothing. More importantly, you haven’t slept for two days straight, right? Are you feeling okay?”

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I changed the subject to shift the mood.

I could worry about the clothes later.

At this rate, she’d probably do it again anyway.

“Ah… yes, you’re right. I’m pretty exhausted, so I was thinking of taking the day off from school today. Furei and Hina probably won’t be going either.”

She really treats skipping school like it’s nothing.

That was my first thought, but part of the reason was me, and the other reason was Myaa-san, so it was hard to scold her.

I mean, what happened with Furei and Shirayuki-san was also my fault… yeah, that makes it really hard to say anything…

Well, in Shirayuki-san’s case, it might be more of Furei’s fault than mine, but still…

“Won’t Maria-san get mad?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Whenever Furei really didn’t want to go to school, she would stay home, and no one ever said anything about it.”

Well, in her case, she doesn’t seem all that interested in school to begin with…

The two of them are ranked first and second anyway, so there was probably nothing for her to complain about.

If I were the one to take a day off, though, I had a feeling she’d show up at my house with a smile on her face…

“Ah, um… Eito-kun, would you be taking the day off as well…? I mean… maybe the three of us, with Furei, could take a nap together…”

For some reason, Emera suddenly began rubbing her thighs together restlessly, looking up at me with an expectant gaze.

What she was hoping for was obvious, but really, this girl had to be a hardcore masochist.

It seemed she was hoping for the two of us, me and Furei, to gang up on her.

For now, I decided to take my hand off Emera’s head.

She looked disappointed for a moment, but I ignored it, then pretended I hadn’t heard what she’d just said and changed the topic.

“What about your followers? I’ve already called them over to your place…”

“Ignoring me… that’s good too…”

When I ignored her, Emera shuddered happily, her body trembling with delight.

At this point, it was hard not to think she was already too far gone.

Whoever turned her into this probably ought to take responsibility, right?

That thought did cross my mind, but if that were the case, I’d be the one who’d have to take responsibility, so I decided to blame Furei instead.

Considering what she’d done to Shirayuki-san and Furei’s usual behavior, she was probably the real culprit anyway…

“As for the girls, once they’ve been invited, they’ll come to the mansion even if we aren’t there. Eito-kun will be returning home from school to change, right? When that happens, we’ll go with you and head to the mansion together.”

It seemed that being ignored helped her reset herself, because Emera answered surprisingly smoothly.

Her thoughts also seemed clearer. Even if there were parts of her that were completely broken, it didn’t seem like that applied to everything.

I was planning to leave the punishment for her followers to Shirayuki-san anyway, and if that was the case, I had no complaints.

It would also be easier to clear up Hina’s misunderstanding if I could talk to her one-on-one.

With that in mind, I was lost in thought when a faint sound of a door opening reached my ears.

Without turning my head, I shifted my gaze and saw that the door to Hina’s room was cracked open just a little.

She seemed to be watching us, careful not to let us notice her.

Despite what she said, she was probably still worried about what we were doing.

If I called out to her, she’d shut herself in again, but if I left her alone, she’d come out on her own soon enough.

Still, talking in the hallway would just put her on guard, so maybe we should head to the living room instead—just as I was about to move.

The sound of another door opening reached me.

A bad feeling crept up on me, and when I turned my eyes toward the door of my own room—

“Y-You’ve got some nerve, doing this to me, don’t you…?”

Standing there was Shirayuki-san, her legs trembling as she glared at me with a bright red face, dressed in what was probably my school shirt she’d pulled out of a drawer.

…Why does everyone keep wearing my shirt…?