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Olivia isn’t home so I’m doing some cleaning in her room. After some time of sweeping I notice there’s something under her bed. When I check, I find various books left there.

I decide to take them out so I can clean under her bed as well. Why would Olivia keep books in a place like that though?

Her bookshelf is still really empty, and the books will deteriorate faster down there. It still seems weird, but I’m really curious so I start leafing through a book.

It was a romance novel about a noble and a maid. That’s still a budding genre in this world, but almost a cliche in my past life. The description of their first night together is really detailed… and just at first glance I can easily see the author’s desires.

“…This is pretty much s̲m̲u̲t̲.”

No, it’s fine. Olivia is already coming of age, and a fifteen year old is already considered an adult in this country. There’s also no restrictions on depictions of sex like rating boards. (Though that obviously doesn’t mean that they flaunt it everywhere either.)

That Olivia has a book or two like that is completely normal and I shouldn’t blame her for it. But now I feel embarrassed and a bit ashamed that I found her stash, it’s a really strange feeling.

I guess this is how moms feel when they find things from their teenage sons. I have the option of just leaving them tidily on her desk, but I’ve seen parental relationships get wrecked over that. I’d also hate it if that was done to me.

I’ll have to return them where I found them once I’m done cleaning.

Still, in this world authors are usually nobles who do it as a hobby, or researchers publishing their findings, so I’m shocked there’s novels like that. I guess Amy or Christina had a hand in procuring these books for her.

But bringing up topics like that to her is hard for me, and if it goes badly it’ll be really awkward since we live in the same room. I guess that’s why she never mentioned it too.

“Well, at least I’m glad she has friends she can talk to about things like that.”

Young Lady, you have wonderful friends. I try to view it as positively as I can and resume cleaning. It almost feels like her collection is all about nobles and servants having secret relationships, but that’s probably just my imagination.

But even if that’s the case it has nothing to do with me. Yeah… there’s no way.

“I hope they don’t pile up too much, but I’m sure she can take care of that.”

Still… What’s this bad feeling I’m getting?

–––Olivia’s Perspective

Right now I’m behind the Academy’s main building, a place almost no one visits. Amy and Chris are here with me.

“Alright, so I’ve gathered all of you here because a serious situation has arisen.”

Amy’s voice is really serious, but I’m not sure I understand what she means. Chris also looks confused, tilting her head a little.

“Oh please, have you forgotten Natalia’s tastes already?”

Natalia’s tastes were…

“Beautiful black hair, tall, and someone intelligent and reliable, right?”

Chris replies before I can remember everything. Oh yeah. I also have black hair like my mother and I’m taller than Natalia. I’m not really smart or reliable, but I’m still studying and training to become Natalia’s ideal.

“Ryuka also has beautiful black hair, right? And from what I’ve seen she seems really mature and intelligent too.”
“Wha-?!”

Amy’s right, Ryuka is close to Natalia’s ideal too!

“Natalia also seems interested in Reibana’s culture, and Ryuka seems to have a good impression of her.”
“Ahhh!!”
“And Natalia even proposed to marry her, though it was a joke.”
“Uwaaaahhh!!”

My head hurts hearing all those dots be connected.

“Natalia might end up liking Ryuka then.”

This just when Natalia finally wakes up! And I thought I could be friends with Ryuka! I never thought I would find a rival like that!

“Oh well, maybe all of this could’ve been avoided if you confessed sooner…”

Amy rests her chin on her hands as she looks around while saying that.

Confessed… right, a confession!

“I would’ve confessed to her the night she woke up if you hadn’t come Amy!”

I had ran into Amy in the kitchen while I was gathering warm water to clean Natalia that night, so I told her Natalia was awake, and she said she would come visit sometime later. But then she interrupted me just when I was about to confess to Natalia!

“I told you I would visit you! I had to discuss the next books with Natalia as soon as possible!”
“But you just had to come at the worst possible time! All you think about is money all the time!”
“What?! I wouldn’t be your friend if I only thought about money!”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, I went too far too.”

We both cool down and apologize to each other. It’s true that Amy really likes to talk about money, but I know she cares about other things too. She’s helped me a few times already even if it resulted in a loss for her. I know she was really worried about Natalia too.

“So uhh… I guess this means she should try to confess to Natalia soon, right?”

Chris finally joins the conversation, though she still sounds a bit intimidated.

“Yes, that would be good. I really thought the play was to use skinship to slowly change her perception of Olivia, but we’re running out of time.”
“But I have to be really careful with the situation I do that in, right? What should I do?”

A confession was always done in a very special situation in all the books they lent me. There was some variety, but it was almost always a really romantic location.

“That’s true. It’d be nice if we could create a situation like that, but there are no scheduled events for second year students where Natalia could come.”
“Right, so Olivia will need to find a way to create the perfect situation herself.”

I had planned on confessing to her after I won the festival’s tournament, but this year’s festival was still pretty far. I don’t have any guarantee that Natalia won’t fall in love with Ryuka until then. Or no, it can be anyone else, there’s always the possibility that she starts liking someone else.

“Then I should just do it when we’re together in the dorm, right?”
“If you’re confident you can find the correct time to confess there, sure.”
“…I don’t.”
“In that case why don’t you try interrupting her while she’s working on something?”
“Ahh, I remember a scene like that in one of the novels you gave me.”
“Yes. Why don’t you give that a try?”
“I don’t know how to feel about cornering her out of the blue and ordering her to become my bed companion tho-”
“N-not that book!”
“Chris…”
“It’s not what you think!”

I feel like many of the books Chris gives me are like that. She’s a noble though, so maybe that’s just what nobles like to do?

“Okay so umm… why don’t we work backwards from your desired outcome?”

Like we’re running away from… what?

“I see. If she wants to get into a specific situation, we can use that as a starting point and move things in a way to reach it.”
“A starting point? Are we moving terrain?”
“Just forget all that. Let’s try explaining it with easier words.”
“Can you imagine a scene with you and Natalia? Maybe if we figure out a way to make it happen you’ll be able to confess more easily too.”
“Is there anything you’d like to do with Natalia once you’re lovers?”
“Of course there is.”

I’m always thinking of what I’d do with the person I love. I think anyone who’s in love does that.

“Like I want her to pat my head when I do well in a test.”
“That’s unexpectedly innocent.”
“I also want to push her against a wall and turn her chin up to kiss her.”
“And now that’s more intense.”
“And then when she gets flustered I’ll whisper into her ear and order her to be my bed companion for the night.”
“That’s what happened in the book from earlier!”
“And when we’re done we’ll cuddle on the bed.”
“She’s thinking that far ahead?!”
“And then when Natalia’s belly starts growing I’ll caress her and say things like I hope our child grows up strong and healthy¹.”
“That’s all sorts of messed up²!”

I guess that’s not possible then. But I really like Natalia, and I’m sure that where there’s a will there’s a way.

“Argh if you’re already imagining all that then just force her down and have your way with her.”
“That’s it!”

Amy says that with a sarcastic gaze, but I feel like I just got a revelation. She’s right. Having a strategy is important, but worrying about all that isn’t my style.

“I uhh… don’t know about that…”

I’m done cleaning, so now I’m in the dorm’s kitchen. I’m here to try finding a way to defuse the stew (handle with care) that Olivia made the other day. I’ve kept it in my magic storage all this time, frozen with magic so it doesn’t go rotten, but I have to get rid of it eventually.

Throwing it away feels too harsh since she put so much effort into making it for me though, so I’m trying to figure out what to do with it while Olivia isn’t home.

“That was the plan at least, I have no clue what to do now.”

First I take out the frozen stew (health hazard). It’s so cold that there’s frost forming on it, but that doesn’t change how dangerous it is.

“Natalia?”

Someone calls my name so I turn around, it’s Ryuka.

“Oh I’m sorry, were you busy with something?”

Her politeness reminds me of Christina, but while Christina is pretty timid and reserved, Ryuka seems more elegant and educated.

“Umm, errr… how do I put this…³”
“What’s that?”

1. Silva: Natalia can’t have baby, she’s not even human, and women x women can’t make baby too.
2. Robinxen: I wonder what kind of extra features she actually has as a high class automaton… Reminds me of that new PGR girl…
3. Robinxen: If someone said this to me I’d be imagining both extremes of possible outcomes.