“Unforgivable…”

Looking at Shirayuki-san’s face, Emera raised her eyebrows and gritted her teeth.

Well, it’s understandable to be angry since she has been humiliated even more by her servant… but being angry now won’t change anything.

More importantly… even if I manage to resolve things with Hina, what am I supposed to do with this girl afterward…?

We don’t have the money to deal with the Tenjouin family, and if I hand her over as is, Shirayuki-san will suffer a terrible fate, so obviously I can’t hand her over either.

Though I don’t know much about her, maybe it’s best to rely on Maria-san, who has connections in various areas?

Since she’s someone who loves Hina dearly, there’s a high chance she’ll like this girl too. And if she has influence with politicians, perhaps she might have contacts with members of the Tenjouin family as well.

With that conclusion, I opened my mouth with a smile to avoid provoking Emera-san further.

“As promised, regarding Hina—”

“Be quiet.”

“…”

Her uncompromising attitude.

It seems she’s now completely preoccupied with Shirayuki-san rather than Hina or me.

So… what should I do?

If I take this opportunity while everyone is cowering under Emera’s pressure, I could possibly take this girl and run away… but in the end, that wouldn’t resolve Hina’s issue.

Maybe it’s better to consider transferring schools?

I enrolled here because of Maria-san’s orders, so I don’t know if she’ll allow it… but if I explain the situation, she might agree.

After all, this school was chosen because of its high deviation value, but there shouldn’t be any problem with an equivalent high school.

Just as I reached that conclusion—

“…”

—Furei suddenly stood up from Emera’s knees.

“Furei?”

“I’m fine…”

As Emera looked confused by her sister’s unexpected action, Furei walked toward me alone.

Not knowing what she intended, I braced myself, but she let out a “hmm…” and smiled.

It wasn’t a condescending smile looking down on me, but rather one that seemed to say, “You don’t need to be so wary.”

While everyone watched, she slowly approached me and gently placed her right hand against Shirayuki-san’s cheek.

“Foolish girl… Her jaw is all red and swollen… I hope it isn’t cracked…”

It seems she came to check if her favorite was injured.

Honestly, this girl is really kind to obedient girls like herself.

She might be thinking that her earlier act of defiance was directed only at Emera, and had nothing to do with herself.

I was watching Furei’s behavior with that in mind when it happened.

“3”, “3”, “W”, “C”

Furei moved her index finger unnaturally against Shirayuki-san’s cheek, writing those letters.

She wrote it in a way that only I could see, so without saying anything aloud, I looked at her and asked with my eyes what she meant.

Then Furei wrote “C”, “A”, “T”.

When you arrange the letters Furei wrote, it becomes “33WCCAT”.

Honestly, I have no idea what that means.

…No, wait.

“CAT” is what Furei wrote in response to my question. So “33WC” should be considered separately, and if we think of “CAT” as a word, it probably means cat.

But then, what does “33WC” mean? I don’t know the meaning of “33”, but “WC” makes me think of—

Just as my thoughts wandered there, Furei tried to move her fingers again—

“Furei, just take Koori and get away from that man.”

Emera, who rarely took such a domineering attitude toward Furei, said this because she didn’t want her cute younger sister to be too close to men.

“Give it to me…”

As a result, Furei complied obediently… but—

“If I give her to you, won’t you do something terrible to this girl? There’s no way I can hand her over.”

I refused her request.

Even though she defied her, Furei still treated Shirayuki-san gently, so I can probably trust her… but the queen standing behind her is another story entirely.

If Emera orders it, Furei will obey—which means I have to protect Shirayuki-san somehow…

“—He’s protecting the girl who was just trying to beat him… He’s unexpectedly kind…”

“I thought he was just a siscon, but he’s actually kind of a gentleman…?”

“…He might be a little nice, actually…”

As I stared down at Emera, voices from the crowd reached my ears.

So I’m seen as a siscon… well, I’m aware of that myself.

But is it okay to say it out loud?

Just as I was thinking about this—

“…”

“Eek!?”

—Emera shot a terrifying glare at the girls who had been whispering, clearly in a foul mood, and the moment her eyes met theirs, the girls shrank back in fear.

Getting lashed out at like that… poor girls.

“Hmph… that girl has been serving the Tenjouin family generation after generation, she’s from the Shirayuki family. You have no right to interfere.”

After letting out a scoff as if to regain her composure, Emera stood up from her chair and fixed a narrowed, intimidating stare on me for refusing to hand the girl over.

Seeing that she wasn’t trying to take her by force, she must have realized it would be impossible to snatch her from my grasp.

“Whatever you say, I won’t hand her over until she wakes up—until her safety is guaranteed, I can’t hand her over.”

“Are you joking…?”

Emera just kept glaring at me for refusing to obey her.

If she wanted to intimidate me, she could at least come closer like Furei does…

At least, she should understand that I wouldn’t harm a girl.

…No, maybe not.

Because of the incident with Hina, Emera might think she’s the one girl I would lay a hand on, so she’s being cautious around me.

If Emera only tries to intimidate me with words and attitude, the situation will just stall.

And just as it looked like things were about to reach a standstill—

—that was when Furei showed a threatening attitude toward me for the very first time.

“If you don’t hand over Koori… we won’t return your sister either…”

“!?”

At Furei’s words, I instinctively widened my eyes.

Even Furei was angry at me for not handing over her favorite?

No, that was sudden. What triggered this…?

“Fufu…”

As I was confused by Furei’s sudden change, Emera smiled maliciously as if recalling something.

“That’s right… After your little dispute with us, you sent your sister home, but do you think I’ll let her go quietly?”

Emera smiled happily, and I couldn’t believe my ears at her words.

“No way…”

After Furei and Hina bumped into each other, I made sure to personally watch Hina gather her things and head home, even after the bell had already rung.

That was because I thought Emera might abduct Hina using her attendants if she tried to leave.

On top of that, I had told Hina to ignore any contact from Emera and her group no matter what happened… but—

“Such a good girl, isn’t she? The moment I mentioned her dear big brother, she came right back without any resistance.”

“…So you threatened Hina by saying you’d hurt me.”

I was careless.

The house we live in is fifteen minutes on foot from the school, so I thought Emera would be too preoccupied with Furei to safely return home.

I had left her with a smartphone for emergencies… but if I had kept it instead of letting her have it, this wouldn’t have happened.

This cold-hearted woman, who only cares about her sister, I never expected her to use me as leverage…

“Only we know where your sister is… We’ve already taken her outside the school so you won’t be able to find her. But if you hand Koori over… we’ll tell you where she is.”

With my mind completely filled with worry for Hina, Furei—still holding that intimidating stance—presented her negotiation terms.