Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

Lately, Liscia and the others had been acting weird. Liscia, Aisha, Juna, and Roroa... All of them had been acting a bit off.

If you were to ask me to put into words what exactly was off about it, Id have had a hard time answering; but for some reason they turned pink whenever we met, turning and immediately walking off in the opposite direction as if they were embarrassed. It wasnt like they were deliberately ignoring me, but it was a bit depressing to have them avoid me like that.

...Did I do something to offend them? I thought about that, but nothing came to mind.

Lately, wed had nothing but peaceful days, and I didnt think Id done anything that would make them feel uneasy. I worried I might have done something unintentionally, so I decided to broach the issue with the four of them directly. When I did...

I-Its not your fault, Souma. Dont worry, Liscia assured me.

Um... You could say I am embarrassed to look you in the eye, sire, or something like that, Aisha said.

Im sorry, Juna told me. Its absolutely an issue on our side. You dont need to worry about it at all.

Well, lets just say its a secret between us gals, and leave it at that, kay? Roroa added.

...Those were the responses I got. Honestly, it didnt make any sense.

Oh, right. And speaking of weird, there were other things about what they were doing and saying that was a little off.

The first happened in the morning, when I was sitting across from Roroa on a sofa in the governmental affairs office and we were having a budget meeting. When we finished talking about state industries, the conversation moved on to my personal businesses that Roroas company would be sponsoring. It was mainly about production on the tokusatsu program.

So, about Overman Silvan, do you think you could raise the budget a little more? I asked. We cant use the same monsters every time, and if we are going to reuse them, we need a little more variety...

...Uh-huh...

Hm? Was she just nodding along? That was when I noticed that Roroa was staring at me, her mind clearly somewhere else.

Roroa?

Huh?! Oh, yeah, Im listenin, Im listenin.

...She was apparently not listening. What had her staring off into space like that?

Is something on your mind? I asked. If theres anything I can do to help, I will.

Nah, thats not it, but... Sure. Lets see if ya can play along. Roroa moved over next to me, close enough that our shoulders were touching.

Hm... Does she want me to dote on her? I started to think.

Then Roroa looked me straight in the eye and said, Hey... Big Brother Souma?

Whuh?!

When she called me that with upturned eyes, my head shot back in surprise. Wh-What was this, out of nowhere?!

Seriously, whats going on, Roroa?! I cried.

I was worried shed come down with a fever or something, so I tried putting a hand on her forehead, but she didnt seem especially feverish or anything.

Roroa started kicking her legs and swinging her arms around in frustration. Aww... Thats not the reaction I was expectin. You were sayin it made you happy the way I treat Big Sister Cia like a sister. So, I figured, you like lil sisters, dont ya?

Little sisters? I asked, baffled. What are you even talking about?

And what did she mean, Id said that? I had no recollection of saying that... Huh, no, wait, maybe I did. What was this weird feeling?

Hmph! I dont care anymore! Roroa pouted and looked the other way.

I didnt really get how, but I seemed to have upset her.

The next weird thing that happened was in the afternoon. It was around two oclock, after Id had a slightly late lunch.

I had been working since morning, so I was taking a short break at the kotatsu table in my room. Aisha, who would normally have stood by the door to guard me, came in to sit across from me at the kotatsu.

When I looked at Aishas face... I had no words. Aisha, for some reason, was wearing a pair of cat ears.

...What the meow was going on here?

Aisha had turned into a cat-eared dark elf, something that made absolutely no sense to me.

While I was still unable to find the words for this bizarre turn of events, Aisha made fists with her two hands and held them up like a beckoning cat. M-Meow...

Shes meowing?!

She had totally just let out a meow. No, seriously, what on Earth was going on here?

Apparently unable to bear the silence, Aisha covered her face with her hands. Oh... This really is embarrassing.

You say that after doing it on your own?! What were you trying to accomplish?! I shouted.

What, you ask? I wanted you to adore me, Your Majesty, Aisha said. Like you would a pet.

Like a pet?! Not a person?!

I wanted to borrow the princesss choker to wear in place of a collar, but she refused because it was an important gift from you, sire. Removing a slave collar would have been hard, so...

Youre trying to turn me into some kind of sexual deviant?!

Im not into making women wear collars! I exclaimed silently. ...Yeah, I dont think I am, at least.

While I was worrying about myself, Aisha tearfully said, Ohh... I had heard you thought of me like a pet, so I was hoping to at least have you fawn over me like one.

Evening.

Having done paperwork in the morning and afternoon, I invited Liscia who had been helping me to finally come take a break with me, and we were enjoying afternoon tea.

Every day was a battle with my heavy responsibilities as king, so just being able to relax with Liscia and have aimless conversations like this was fun.

During our conversation, something weird came up, just like with my earlier encounters with Roroa and Aisha today. After we finished talking about everything that came to mind, Liscia nodded as if she was satisfied about something.

I see... Those two are putting it to use right away, huh.

Putting what to use? I asked.

Then came that night.

When the broadcast ended for the nightly song program, Juna and I had our post-show meeting and then headed to the Ishizuka Cafeteria in the castle.

This place was open until late at night, so when we missed meals because of meetings, the two of us often came here to eat and get drinks together. We had our own private room here, so we could drink without worrying about the prying eyes of my retainers.

Of course, when it was earlier in the day, we sometimes came in a group with all my other fiances, but on those occasions, there was no drinking. Roroa would want to drink if the rest of us did, after all. Though technically a 16-year-old with adult supervision (or an 18-year-old on their own) could drink in this world, no good came from starting to drink at an early age. That was why wed decided, at a family meeting about the future, to not let Roroa drink, and to not drink in front of her. That being the case, about the only time I drank was on nights when work ran late like this.

Well then, cheers, I said.

Cheers, sire, Juna agreed.

In our private room, Juna and I toasted with wooden mugs filled with wine. When I poured wine into my body that was exhausted mentally and physically from work, I was finally able to get the sense that my days work was over. I know, I was thinking like a salaryman, but the work I was doing really was intensely difficult, so you could hardly blame me.

Your singing voice was as lovely as it always is, Juna, I said.

Hee hee! Im honored by the compliment, sire.

While drinking our wine and snacking on a salad of spaghetti, vegetable, and fried octopus dressed with mayonnaise, we talked about our days. I was having such a good time.

However, when I mentioned how Roroa, Aisha, and Liscia had acted today, Juna narrowed her eyes slightly. It didnt break her smile, but I felt like I saw a moment of panic there. While I looked at her, wondering what was up, Juna suddenly got up.

Let me come sit beside you, she said, and came over next to me.

This was just like with Roroa. Was Juna going to start calling me Big Brother now, too?

Juna knocked back her wine and chugged it all down, then leaned in and rested her head on my shoulder.

Huh? What was going on here?

Um... are you drunk? I ventured.

Yes. A little, she said. Im sorry, but could you let me stay like this a while?

Of course.

Thank you.

For a while, we both stayed silent. With neither of us saying a thing to the other, we just snuggled and drank. Even though that was all we were doing, it was strangely dizzying. With her face so close to mine, the smell of Junas hair tickled my nostrils, and I felt like I was getting intoxicated by something other than the alcohol.

Then, without looking at me, Juna said, Am I... doing a good job of letting you indulge me?

Huh?

I know Im bad at letting others indulge me, she said. I want to respond to the expectations placed on me the best that I can, and it makes me happy when that pleases everyone. But I want to have you indulge me, too, sire. Because I admire you, I want to accept it when you indulge me.

Maybe she really was drunk, because Juna looked a little out of it. Juna was so capable at everything she did, but when it came to this sort of stuff, maybe she was a little clumsy.

Please, let me indulge you, I said. Ill do my best to make it easy for you to let me.

Then I patted her head, and Juna gave me a satisfied smile.

And so, the day came to an end. There was a lot that happened, but on the whole it was a good day.

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