Recreation – 3

My plan to hold Seria accountable for implanting wrong ideas in Hestia’s mind was thwarted by the bell signaling the end of lunch. This was because other students came rushing into the club room. It’s not only crowded, but I can’t discuss such matters in front of everyone. In the end, I shot Seria a look that meant “we’ll talk later.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

She received my gaze head-on and smiled mischievously. She clearly understood what my look meant and was just pretending not to. Hestia beside me still couldn’t raise her head.

“Hestia, just ignore what you just heard. It’s complete nonsense.”

“Is… that so?”

“What kind of idea do you have about men?”

To be honest, I don’t think it’s completely wrong. But I can’t honestly tell Hestia that. Hestia’s expression showed she was half-convinced.

“Why that expression? Don’t you believe me?”

“…”

Hestia’s silence conveys more than words. She just closes her mouth when she finds it difficult to answer. Staying silent in this situation means she honestly doesn’t believe me. And for good reason—just yesterday, Wilhelm committed such an act. Having seen that, it would be hard to believe my defense that men aren’t that kind of creature.

“At least I’m not like that, so just don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

In the end, I compromised by saying at least I’m not like that. I suddenly feel like I’ve become a boyfriend who claims all men except me are wolves. Hestia seemed to calm down a bit after hearing my words. Her face, which had been flushed red, returned to its usual clean, white complexion.

“Everyone’s already here? Did you enjoy your meal?”

Antoni, who had entered with the bell, approached us two. Seria was sticking close behind him. Having heard my roar, she seemed to have gotten herself a good human shield, fearing what I might do if she came alone. A very wise choice. I glared at her, avoiding the senior’s eyes, but she ignored me.

From a corner of the club room, the president waved his hand.

“Could the leaders of each group come over here for a moment?”

Having confirmed that all club members had gathered, the president seemed to be calling together the leaders of each group. Antoni told us to wait a moment before going to the president. Finally, an opportunity to talk with Seria arose.

“I’ll go talk with Lady Richthofen for a moment.”

I approached Seria, taking advantage of the senior’s absence. Thinking that normal conversation wouldn’t be possible with Hestia present, I planned to talk with her alone, leaving Hestia behind for a moment.

“Let’s have a little chat, Lady Richthofen.”

“Hmm, are you angry?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t be? What did you say to someone else’s fiancée? What? Knock him down?”

Seria laughed while covering her mouth. Then, showing no signs of being intimidated, she stood up straight and said very confidently:

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me instead?”

“Thank you?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Despite my dumbfounded reaction, Seria continued speaking calmly without changing her expression.

“From what I observe, you seem to prefer the virtuous maiden type—kind, clean, pure, that sort of style, right?”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“Well, for one thing, you don’t seem to have any interest in me.”

“Aren’t you being overly confident?”

Seria cited herself as the reason without a moment’s hesitation. Indeed, Seria is beautiful enough to be confident.

Among the modest female students who don’t apply makeup, her makeup skills shine. Her glamorous blonde hair reaching down to her waist and her figure naturally revealed through her tailored uniform are also outstanding.

But being pretty is one thing, and it’s not really my taste. Even if I hadn’t met Hestia, I probably wouldn’t have shown much interest in her.

When I look at her, I’m reminded of the delinquent female senior from high school who regularly tore open my cultural gift certificates that I had bought to read novels. While my high school definitely allowed freedom in hairstyles, that senior was the only one with such eye-catching dyed hair. I don’t know why that noona with her neck and face being different colors seemed so scary back then.

“Besides that, you’re clearly guarding against me approaching Hestia.”

“It’s natural to protect one’s fiancée from bad influences.”

“It’s good that Hestia is pure, but she can’t stay this way forever, can she?”

Seria’s eyes smiled like a crescent moon. I answered tersely.

“That’s not for you to concern yourself with.”

“That’s why I gave her a little push.”

Little? That wasn’t a little push on the back but a forceful kick with all your might, like King Leonidas himself. I was incredulous.

“How is that ‘a little’?”

“I admit I went a bit overboard. Hestia turned out to be more innocent than I expected.”

She looked in Hestia’s direction with an adoring gaze. Hestia was in the middle of a conversation with Marcus.

“In that sense, I have a proposal. Would you like to hear it?”

“A proposal?”

Seria looked around for a moment. After confirming that Hestia was still conversing with Marcus, she leaned her head toward my ear. She whispered into my ear.

“Hestia is clean and white. I know that’s the Duke’s Heir’s preference. But as I mentioned earlier, you don’t plan to keep things this way forever, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

She smiled wickedly.

“Surely you don’t plan to just hold hands until you graduate from the Academy? You need to make progress.”

“That’s for Hestia to decide if she wants…”

“Do you really think that way?”

Seria seemed to have anticipated my predictable answer and threw a sharp question before I could even finish. I flinched. To be honest, it’s not like I have no interest in that direction at all. I’m a man too, and it’s only natural to want to do more than just hold hands with a pretty fiancée. And she didn’t miss this crack in my heart.

“Honestly, you want it too. What’s the fun in dating if you just hold hands and pursue platonic love forever?”

Feeling that Seria was getting unnecessarily worked up, I countered slightly.

“And yet, Lady Richthofen herself has never had any… experience with men.”

“Ugh.”

She seemed flustered by my sudden remark. After briefly blushing, she crossed her arms and glared at me. Her gaze was fierce.

“I may not have experience, but I know everything there is to know.”

“I understand.”

I smirked as obnoxiously as possible.

“The same goes for the Duke’s Heir, doesn’t it? You have no experience either.”

“I may not have experience, but I know everything there is to know as well.”

I returned her words exactly as she had said them. She trembled with frustration.

“You know this counts as sexual harassment, right?”

“But you explicitly stated it yourse— Alright. I apologize. I’m sorry. Let’s get back to the conversation.”

I ended up apologizing first. Since I was the one who first brought up the topic of male experience, her words weren’t wrong. And in this world too, male sexual desire is judged more strictly than female. I’d only lose by arguing about this topic.

Besides, it’s true that I am a little, really just a little, interested in what she has to say.

“Ahem. So what I want to propose is to instill some ideas in Hestia. To help you two make progress.”

“Hmm…”

I let out a low groan at Seria’s words. To be honest, it’s an appealing proposal. She added a detailed explanation.

“From what I can see, at this rate, you two won’t even be able to intertwine fingers until graduation, right?”

“It’s not that bad.”

I denied her words, but inwardly I thought it was quite possible. Hestia still got embarrassed and pulled her hand away when I held it on the street where others could see.

“Even if it’s not that bad, the fact remains that your progress is very slow, isn’t it?”

“…”

Taking my silence as agreement, she continued.

“So what I mean is, I’ll instill that knowledge and desire in Hestia. Not like just now, of course. Adjusting the level appropriately—first interlacing fingers, then embracing, then kissing, and so on.”

Interlaced fingers? Embracing? Kissing? I felt my face growing hot.

“Hmm. As I said earlier, I can’t tell if the Duke’s Heir is lewd or pure. Blushing so much just from this kind of talk.”

“Be quiet. So what do you want?”

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Seria must have something she wants to propose this. After rubbing my flushed face with my dry hands a few times, I asked.

“Well, there’s nothing as fun as other people’s love stories, and the biggest reason is that I want to be close friends with Hestia.”

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

I asked again, thinking I might have misunderstood.

“I said I want to be friends with Hestia.”

“How do you see me? I don’t intend to interfere excessively in Hestia’s friendships. If she wants it, then by all means, go ahead.”

Honestly, I’m not thrilled about Hestia becoming close with Seria. Even today, I showed my displeasure at the idea of Hestia becoming friends with her.

But I have no intention of monitoring each and every one of Hestia’s friends and interfering by saying she shouldn’t be friends with this person anymore. If she wants to, I was planning not to say anything more. I want to be Hestia’s partner, not someone who oppresses and controls her. And Hestia is not the kind of woman who lacks principles to the extent that she would stop being friends with someone just because I told her not to.

“Of course that’s true, but wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for someone of Hestia’s character to be close to someone her closest companion dislikes? So this is a kind of alliance proposal. In the sense of asking you not to dislike me. And if the Duke’s Heir helps a bit, we can become close more quickly, right?”

Seria explained her statement, perhaps having read the displeasure in my expression. Her words were quite plausible. I could understand it right away since I too had tried to improve the relationship between Seol-ah and Cordelia in order to maintain my friendship with Seol-ah.

“I understand. But ultimately, why are you so eager to become close with Hestia?”

If she simply wants to be friends with Hestia, she can just be friends without me worrying about it. There’s no debt or grudge between Seria and me; it’s just that I unilaterally find her objectionable. Yet she wants to become close to Hestia quickly and deeply, going so far as to use such complicated methods.

“Because she’s pretty.”

“Pardon?”

I could only stupidly ask again.

“I mean, Hestia is pretty.”

“While it’s true that Hestia is beautiful…”

“Why? Women like pretty women too.”

“Is it possible that you’re attracted to other women, Lady Richthofen?”

I cautiously asked Seria. Come to think of it, her lack of experience would also make sense if she were a homosexual.

“Are you crazy?!”

Seria looked at me with cold eyes.

“I like men.”

“That’s a relief. If you were interested in women, I was planning to refuse.”

Even if she were a woman, I couldn’t forgive her if she was targeting Hestia.

Seria added a footnote.

“And actually, besides her being pretty, there’s another reason. My family’s business is involved with the Gracia family. Since we’ve met anyway, wouldn’t it be good to get closer?”

“I don’t think Hestia would confuse personal and business matters.”

“I don’t want to make friends solely for such reasons either!”

She frowned, seemingly upset by my words.

“I apologize if I offended you.”

I immediately apologized to her. If she had treated my engagement to Hestia as a mere political marriage for exchange between families, I would have been upset too.

“It’s okay. It was a situation where misunderstanding was possible. So, what do you think of my proposal?”

I carefully considered her proposal.

Does her proposal contain impure intentions? No.

Does her proposal harm either me or Hestia? No.

Will her proposal benefit both of us? Yes.

“I look forward to working with you.”

I grasped her hand and shook it. This is the result of thinking purely about mutual benefit, without any selfish motives.

“Your smile looks lewd.”

“Don’t mind it.”