Two weeks, that was the period that Kai could use to meet the principal. Kai was confident in meeting him but convincing him to both stop William's antics and provide some leeway for Superbia was difficult. Luckily, he managed to strike a deal with the chairman.
It was a risk of sorts. If the chairman was just greedy and didn't care if there were ill rumors about him floating around, then Kai would have to strike a deal with the principal. Asking one person for a favor was alright but asking the same person for two favors at once is difficult.
Now, Kai only had two goals left in this school, the Soul Thief and Anne.
Once Kai's mind reached to thinking about Anne, he remembered the matter with Erina and Amelia. Erina seemed insanely upset, she must've had her doubts for a while but Amelia didn't seem to be too affected, perhaps she didn't mind if he didn't love her, just that he didn't abandon her.
Should I manipulate their memories? It has a risk but...
Once Kai thought of that, he immediately hit himself in the face causing Anne who was walking alongside him to look at him with confusion.
"There was a fly."
"...And you used a fist to crush it?"
Kai ignored Anne's retort and continued walking.
I'm the worst. No matter how much I don't want them to find out, I can't manipulate their memories. I guess there's no evading it.
Kai caught sight of the class for Arcane but sensed that neither Erina nor Amelia are inside. He sighed and decided to tell them the truth soon. Perhaps his relationship with them would become rocky until then but he wasn't ready.
I'm so pathetic, I have the resolve to face Gods, Devils, and even a hero from the past but I can't even face my own women...
Still trapped in self-derision, Kai arrived at the doors to his class for the morning.
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As expected, neither Erina or Amelia went to talk to Kai. Although they still saw each other, there was a noticeable distance. Even Yoko went to ask him about it but in the end, stopped inquiring once none of the three were giving an answer.
Whether it be on or off campus, Erina and Amelia stayed away from Kai. During the nights in the room, they would both sleep in a different bed while Kai was left alone.
"But Amelia didn't seem all that upset at first..."
Kai grumbled on the way to his class. It had been more than a week since they enrolled in the school and he didn't forget to give Anne a red rose after each day was over. Still, although Kai was upset, he still put on an act in front of Anne but whenever he wasn't doing so, he'd mostly just stare into space.
Even now, during class, he had barely listened to the lessons but because of his reputation of being able to answer any and all questions, he wasn't called to answer. Nobody other than Yoko and the others noticed anything out of the norm in Kai.
Nobody except Anne who was with him for most of the day, that is.
Looking at Kai's behavior, Anne furrowed her brows. She intently studied his blank stare at the board to see if he was listening and even conducted several tests to check his attention but he had failed them all.
What's going on with him?
She didn't believe that Kai would fail even if he didn't listen but what was up with the staring? He even proclaimed that he was courting her yet she was ignored completely. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Kenji."
Anne finally snapped Kai out of his daze. He quickly turned his look into a tired one.
"What is it, Anne...?"
Kai spoke, acting half-asleep.
"...Were you asleep? With your eyes open...?"
That felt even more unbelievable than him failing.
"Yeah, it's something I acquired from my grandmother."
Kai spoke while going back to look at the board.
"Your grandmother is quite the strange one, isn't she?"
She is the Goddess of Frost after all.
"Yeah, must be where I inherited my weirdness from."
I'm sorry, grandma. Please don't kill me.
Half-convinced by Kai, Anne ignored his conduct and began listening to the lesson properly but just as her attention was turned to the teacher, Kai spoke to her in a teasing tone.
"Were you worried about me? Could it be that you've fallen for me already?"
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Anne's eyes opened wide. Turning her head, she glared at Kai with a red face.
"D-don't say stupid things."
After berating Kai, she no longer paid any attention to him. The red on her face covered all the way to her ears already. Once Kai saw her reaction, even he felt dumbfounded.
Did she really fall for me after just a week?
He estimated that he needed to make full use of the two weeks but only about half that time had passed. Still, he couldn't make a move on her early. If he did, then he would be forced to date her for the remaining time and then break up after.
I can't give Erina and Amelia any more dissatisfaction than I already have.
Kai changed the plans in his head and afterward, he began to think about solving the problem with the two.
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Alteria Kingdom, Capital
"Big sis..."
Aya called out to Natsumi.
"What's wrong? You need help with the drawing?"
Natsumi went over to Aya but she only shook her head with a sad face.
"I miss papa and mama..."
After hearing her wish, Natsumi immediately hugged her.
"Don't be sad! I miss your papa too! But don't worry, they'll be back soon!"
Aya began sniffling and looked up to Natsumi.
"Big sis misses papa too?"
"Yes, you're not the only one who feels lonely... I can be your mama until they come back! That way I can be Kai's... hehehe..."
Natsumi only muttered the last part of her sentence while giggling.
"Thieving cat?"
Still, Aya, as a beastkin, had ears sharper than a human's.
"...Uh, um... Aya, where did you hear that from?"
"Mama told me that whenever a girl tries to get close to papa, they're thieving cats, homewreckers, and... slu-"
"You don't have to finish it!"
Natsumi immediately cut Aya off.
What was Amelia doing?! She was expressing her dissatisfactions at the women around Kai to Aya?!
Kai and the others had been gone for more than a month, nearing two months. Kai gave Aya to Natsumi to take care of temporarily. Although she wanted to take care of Emi too, Yoko wouldn't allow it and told her that the maid at home was enough.
"Has she really not forgiven him yet...? It's not like he did it because he wanted to... I heard that he even lost his eyes and limbs trying to resist the demon."
No, that's unreasonable. Even though he didn't want to, he was still the one who killed her friends and family after all. Though Yoko never spoke about her parents and it seemed that although she was sad about it, she wasn't overly attached to them. Her attachment to Akane and Kai's parents, on the other hand, were on another level.
"If Amelia was the reason Kai could come out of suicidal thoughts, then Emi is the one for Yoko."
Natsumi muttered.
One sibling hurt her greatly while the other comforted her. She must've felt insanely conflicted.
"Big sis, are you mad?"
Aya had tears in her eyes after thinking of that.
"No! I could never get mad at Aya. Just don't call anyone a s-slut, alright?"
I have to tell Kai about Amelia teaching Aya such an indecent language...
Making a mental note, Natsumi watched over Aya while returning back to her desk. At around the same time Kai and the others left, she became stuck with paperwork because her eldest brother and sister had both gone missing. It appeared that it wasn't a kidnapping because they had left a note stating that they were going to take a break.
Kazuki was the crown prince and he had many things to do. And so, all of their responsibilities were pushed onto Natsumi. If that was it, then it was enough for her to handle but the sudden news of the Auparith Kingdom being wiped off the face of the map multiplied the amount of paperwork she had to deal with.
People who were out of the capital and its surrounding cities at the time, the remote villages asking for refuge and various immigrants from the country tried to flock into their place as well. Central didn't have enough resources to pass around to refugees because they were still undergoing repairs.
Because of that, those allied to Central were given a portion of the refugees. In a week or so's time, refugees from the Auparith Kingdom will arrive at Alteria and Natsumi had to handle the paperwork and preparations for them. Normally, this would be tasked to her ever-capable big sister, Sachiko who could do almost anything but now, they were all left to her.
Knock knock knock
Three knocks could be heard through the door just before a voice spoke.
"Umm... Your Highness, more paperwork just arrived."
It looked like even the knight giving her the paperwork was ashamed as he had his head lowered.
"Jeez, big sister! Where are you?!"
Natsumi yelled out, startling Aya and the knight.
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"Kushun!"
Sachiko covered the lower half of her face.
"Is someone talking about me? Could it be my beloved Natsumi?!"
Iori quickly cut her off.
"If she's going to talk about anyone, it will be me, her prided big brother!"
Sachiko snorted in disdain.
"Prided big brother, you say? Who the hell cares for their brothers nowadays? It's obvious that she misses her sister!"
With Anne's ears, it was difficult to not hear their conversation.
"...Kenji, aren't those two engaged?"
Although it technically wasn't illegal to get engaged to your siblings, it was still looked down upon unless there were some circumstances such as preserving the purity of the bloodline but those cases were rare in humans, it was more common among beastkin.
They were at the cafeteria and the two siblings were eating near them by coincidence. She had heard that the two were engaged and it was even explicitly announced by Sachiko herself.
"That was just a ruse to fool everyone so they'd stop hitting on her. In truth, they're siblings here on vacation."
Because Kai had been sticking next to her practically the whole week, she had long since been used to having him eat beside her. In fact, they were the only ones on the table.
"I see, then are you here on vacation too?"
Kai avoided her question and simply smiled in return. It was just a harmless smile but Anne quickly turned her face away.
"..."
Even Kai fell speechless at that. Has she fallen so badly that with just a smile, he caused her to be flustered? Why was she acting like a teenage girl in love? Well, she still technically is a teenager in love though.
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Day XX, Month 05, Year XX
Today, we held the interclass competition. It was a good chance to see how strong Satou Kenji really was. In the end, I still couldn't comprehend it but one thing is for sure, he is way stronger than I've initially predicted, perhaps even stronger than myself.
Not much progress has been made regarding the disease. The other transfer students are all going low-profile making my knowledge of them a lot less than Satou Kenji's.
Satou Kenji also called me to a classroom right after the competition, I went with the thought that he intended to silence me but in the end, he just gave me a red rose.
That is all for today's log.
-Anastasia Willow Mathers
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Day XX, Month 05, Year XX
Kenji had the gall to tease me again! I was simply asking if he had already eaten but to think he twisted my words into one that favored himself!
Today, he still gave me a rose without fail.
-Anastasia Willow Mathers
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Day XX, Month 05, Year XX
I wasn't worried about him at all! It's just that he held this blank look on his face nearly the entire time but... to sleep like that is quite strange isn't it? I hope he's really alright...
-Anastasia Willow Mathers