Recreation – 2

Everyone froze at her bombshell declaration. No one moved a finger.

“What’s wrong? We’re all adults now, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Seria spoke very confidently. While her words weren’t completely wrong, wasn’t she trying to break through social norms too forcefully all at once?

“What? Are you all experienced?”

She widened her eyes. Everyone was indeed completely still, but that was because they were frozen by her excessively bold statement.

“You don’t look like it.”

Seria ran her sticky gaze over Hestia and me.

“No! I’ve never done such an indecent thing!”

Hestia, feeling her gaze, shouted in shock. Her face turned redder than I’d ever seen it, trembling violently. It looked like she might burst if someone poked her. In fact, I should probably bury in my heart forever the knowledge that shouting about never having done such a thing is itself embarrassing and indecent.

“Is that so? I see.”

Seria smirked while observing Hestia’s reaction. Then she turned her head toward me.

“You two have been engaged for a long time and seem to get along well. Has nothing really happened between you?”

Since Hestia was knocked out, the sparks flew my way this time. Seria casually threw a question at me.

“No. Nothing has happened.”

“Not even a kiss?”

“No, we haven’t.”

We’re a fresh couple who haven’t even kissed yet. What kind of “nothing” is she asking about? I proudly declared that nothing had happened. Seria tilted her head at my answer. I could feel her gaze scanning me up and down.

“Hmm? I know it’s rude, but…”

“If you know it’s rude, please stop.”

“I just can’t contain my curiosity. Are you saving yourself for marriage? I could understand not going all the way, but it’s a bit surprising you haven’t even kissed.”

As she said “going all the way,” she made an obscene hand gesture, forming a circle with the thumb and index finger of one hand and inserting the index finger of her other hand into it. I tried my best to cut off her questions, wondering what she was trying to lead up to, but it was useless. Fortunately, it wasn’t a question about whether I was impotent or something, but it’s still not a question to ask someone you’ve just met. I was dumbfounded to hear such talk from someone I’d just met.

“You’re being extremely rude for a first meeting.”

“But seeing that you’re in the same club, it doesn’t seem like you’re on bad terms. I’m just wondering why nothing has happened between you two.”

Well, that’s because we’ve only been on good terms for less than three months. But there’s no reason to tell Seria the truth about this.

“There are more ways to express love than the methods Lady Richthofen seems to know.”

Instead, I said that with as much contempt as I could muster. My inner Confucian boy burned with hostility toward someone who would ask about premarital chastity and sexual experience at a first meeting.

She blinked her eyes, elaborately decorated with makeup, at my words, then burst out laughing.

“What do you mean by such methods? What are they?”

“You’re not asking because you don’t know, right? The relations between a man and woman…”

I suddenly glanced at Seria’s fingers, noticing her confident attitude. Her fingers were neatly folded. So even the person who asked such questions actually…

“Huh?”

“Ahahahaha! What? What’s wrong? What were you just thinking?”

“Then perhaps…”

“That’s right. I’ve never done it either.”

My pupils trembled at Seria’s words. I could feel cold sweat running down my back. Seeing my pupils shaking freely in all directions, she burst into laughter even harder than before. She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes, and after finally calming down, she wiped them away.

“You don’t look it, but you have a lewd side.”

“Kuhup!”

Hestia laughed beside me. Hestia, you too! I gently pinched the back of her hand as she laughed along.

“You find this funny?”

“I’m sorry. But it’s the first time I’ve seen Mikhail get so completely caught off guard.”

“Nnng…”

Hearing my groan, Hestia turned her head away and chuckled.

“You’re more interesting than I expected. Rumors said you were like a doll who didn’t speak or show expressions.”

“Rumors aren’t very reliable, it seems.”

“Indeed. I never thought the Ice Prince Mikhail would be like this.”

“Ice Prince?”

I doubted my ears, hearing a nickname I’d never heard in my life.

“Oh my, haven’t you heard it before? It’s famous among the female students at the Academy. It was a widely used nickname even before entering the Academy, but it spread even more after enrollment. There were constant testimonies that Duke’s Heir Mikhail never conversed with or smiled at anyone except for a few close acquaintances. Do you dislike it?”

I contemplated whether I should be angry about the unfunny nickname ‘Ice Prince.’ Who in the world would like such a nickname?

“It’s just that my social circle isn’t very wide. Please just don’t use that unfunny nickname in front of me.”

“If that’s what you want.”

Seria gladly accepted my polite and courteous request.

“Ice Prin—oh, excuse me. I can’t tell if Duke’s Heir Mikhail is lewd or pure.”

She grinned at me. I just silently put down a finger without saying anything. Hestia had already put down her finger. I unconsciously looked at the seniors’ fingers.

Marcus had put down his finger, but Antoni’s finger remained rigidly upright. All the group members except for him alternated between looking at his finger and his face. He avoided our gazes.

“Ahem. Is it my turn next?”

The game continued in a somehow solemn atmosphere.

Well, being a third-year, he might have some experience.

After lunch, since there wasn’t much time left, we decided to just go to the club room. Quite a few people seemed to have had the same idea as Hestia and me, as the club room was quite crowded with other students.

In the end, I was the one who received the gift for the person who came in first in the games. The subsequent games were also ones that recreation instructors would pull out at drinking parties or gatherings, so the result was natural. The two seniors merely played the role of facilitators and didn’t try to win the games, while the two first-years besides me couldn’t get their bearings with games they’d never seen before. It would have been stranger if I hadn’t come in first against two seniors who had no intention of winning and two complete beginners.

Hestia, who had been sulking since the games earlier, opened her mouth.

“Isn’t this the first time for Mikhail too?”

“Yes. It’s my first time.”

For Mikhail, these games truly are a first. Of course, Kang Bada had played them to death during his freshman year of university. Hestia stared at me intently, looking like she didn’t believe me.

“Then why are you so good at them?”

“I wonder. Maybe it’s natural talent?”

“Then I must be stupid. I couldn’t even remember one name.”

She became dejected, probably recalling the last game, the attendance book game. Having been completely dominated, she seemed to have no energy left. She was truly terrible at the games. Not only could she not answer, but when it was her turn to attack, she would stammer and miss her timing.

“These games aren’t about intellect; they’re about reflexes.”

“So I’m not stupid, just slow.”

She sighed deeply. Finding her disappointed look both pitiful and cute, I tried my best to comfort her.

“Why are you so upset about this? It’s not even a big deal.”

I showed her the gift I received as a prize. It was a voucher for a decent restaurant near the school. Since it’s valid for the recipient plus one guest, I naturally plan to go with Hestia.

“Who else would I go with? I’m going to take you, of course.”

“The issue isn’t that I didn’t get a prize. It’s that I never won once.”

Hestia seemed genuinely disappointed about losing the games. She seems to be unexpectedly competitive.

While I was busy consoling Hestia, someone approached us.

“What are you two whispering about so secretively again?”

“Ugh.”

“We were just talking about the games we played earlier.”

It was Seria. It seems she was also waiting in the club room. Unlike me, who found Seria uncomfortable, Hestia surprisingly seemed to get along with her, showing no signs of avoidance.

“Duke’s Heir Mikhail was surprisingly skilled at these games, wasn’t he? I was shocked.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“While you and I kept making mistakes, Hestia. That’s amazing.”

“Indeed.”

I responded to her compliments with the shortest answers possible. Seria, seemingly dissatisfied with my unenthusiastic responses, made a snorting sound and clung to Hestia.

“Hestia, is Duke’s Heir Mikhail always this cold?”

“No. He’s not like that with me.”

“The Prince must really like you a lot, huh?”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I wonder where the Hestia who was just digging into the ground, wondering why she was so bad at games, has gone.

The two of them smiled at me suspiciously. Well, well. They’re getting along splendidly. Having become close during the games, they now called each other by name.

I felt betrayed by Hestia. Where had the person who told me not to worry gone? What if Hestia gets influenced by Seria and turns into a blonde tanned gyaru?

Intending to check the two of them, I threw out a question.

“You two seem to have become quite close already. Despite seeming to have completely different personalities.”

The implication being: you two don’t seem compatible, so how did you become friends so quickly? It’s not very manly to probe like this, but given the situation, I can’t help it.

“People with opposite personalities often become friends surprisingly easily.”

“Mikhail, are you perhaps jealous?”

Seria hit my weak spot immediately after hearing my question.

“Jealous? Jealous? Are you asking if I’m jealous of Lady Richthofen?”

“Jealous men look ugly.”

I know that best of all. Having witnessed firsthand how a man’s jealousy dragged Wilhelm down to the pits, I know it’s truly unsightly. But that’s one thing, and my annoyance with Seria is another. I gritted my teeth.

“Are you angry?”

“Nnnot at alll.”

Seria snickered at my reaction, then went to Hestia and whispered something. Hestia’s earlobes turned slightly red as she nodded, listening to her words. This is her embarrassment reaction at level 3. It’s a stage rarely seen in daily life, where her body reacts directly. For reference, at level 1 she glares at me, and at level 2 she casually hits me.

“I seem to have interrupted your time together. Duke’s Heir Mikhail, if I offended you, I apologize. I meant no harm. Please enjoy your rest.”

Seria casually ignored my intense gaze and left. She’s not an easy woman to deal with.

After confirming she was completely gone, I interrogated Hestia, who still seemed dazed. What on earth did she whisper to make Hestia react so strongly?

“Hestia, what did Lady Richthofen say to you earlier?”

“Ah, she didn’t say anything!”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was just a greeting. Just a greeting.”

Hestia evaded my question. However, her face could never lie. Her pupils were dancing as if she absolutely didn’t want to meet my eyes—who does she think she’s fooling?

“Hestia, this morning you mentioned that my feelings show on my face, right?”

“Huh? Yes. I did say that.”

Hestia seemed puzzled by my sudden question.

“Your feelings show on your face even more than mine.”

“No, they don’t.”

“You’ve been stuttering since earlier.”

“No. I. Haven’t.”

In response to my comment about her stuttering, she pronounced each syllable distinctly.

“And you can’t make eye contact.”

“I can make eye contact!”

Yet she continued to avoid my eyes.

“You’re fidgeting with your hands.”

“They’re just itchy.”

“And you keep touching your hair.”

“It’s just a habit.”

She tried to explain away the evidence of deception I was listing. But she was already swimming in a swamp of lies. It was too late to escape.

I firmly held her hands and looked straight into her eyes.

“Hestia, just tell me. I’m worried.”

“Well, um…”

Although Seria had been downgraded from a completely shameless girl to just a shameless girl after the initial finger game, my aversion to her still remained. In this situation where my inner upright citizen and Confucian boy were wary of her, she had left some significant whisper for Hestia and left—I couldn’t just let it be. Could it be blackmail or sexual harassment? She might be bullying her.

“Hestia.”

At my voice, she tried to make excuses but finally seemed to give up and stammered as she spoke. Her eyes were glistening with tears, apparently from embarrassment.

“She said that you seem to like me tremendously… and if I don’t want to lose you, I should… knock you down… She said that’s what men like best…”

“Seria von Richthofeeeen!”

This crazy girl, really!