After Natalia left, leaving only a fragrant scent behind, Olivia and Christina jumped into the dining room in her stead.
“Good job.”
“Ah, no, Natalia beat me fair and square.”
While Christina congratulated her, Amy just made a sour face.
Amy had called Natalia according to something they had planned three days earlier, to verify what Natalia thought about same-sex relationships.
The negotiations had been something Amy planned on her own. She thought that starting the conversation with something simple and casual like romance would lower her guard and give Amy the upper hand. In the end Natalia still beat her though.
But she had managed to help her friend, and accomplished that part of her mission. Still, Amy could not fully rejoice since her personal objective had failed.
“So, what happened to her?”
Amy turned to look at Olivia, who looked pale like the world was about to end.
“She’s still in shock after hearing everything Natalia said.”
Olivia had a very straightforward personality and was never good using her head, so Amy could understand why she felt that way. It was impossible for Olivia to appear smart.
In other words, she did not match Natalia’s type. Not to mention that it was almost like Natalia was describing Olivia’s late mother.
“Ahh, come on, cheer up a little. It’s not like she rejected you.”
“Exactly. And even if you don’t match everything she likes, I’m sure she’ll eventually correspond to your feelings if you remain constant.”
“You…think so?”
Olivia’s eyes regained a bit of life.
“Yeah, and you meet pretty much everything else she likes.”
“She mentioned straight black hair and height, right?”
“Yes, and look, Olivia’s hair is long, black, and straight. She’s also pretty tall for her age, and she’ll just keep growing.”
“That reminds me, I heard if you work out a lot you also grow taller.”
“And she never gives up easily, so she’s reliable and trustworthy.”
“You…you’re right, I can do this!”
Olivia finally lifted her face and slapped herself awake.
“I’ll never give up and continue showing Natalia my feelings! And then Natalia will eventually like me!”
More than my mother. She kept that last part to herself, but she was still determined to fulfill her love.
“Yeah, you can do it! Show her the pure love only muscle heads are capable of.”
“Umm, I’ll also do my best to help however I can.”
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Amy and Christina showered Olivia with support.
“Though uhh, exactly what should we do?”
“You tried being really assertive at first, right?”
“Did you?”
Olivia mentioned how the first time she met Natalia she tried mimicking the way demi-humans propose, forcefully getting in a bath with her, and kissing her when saying goodbye, but nothing had any effect.
Christina grimaced hearing all that, but she tried to calmly analyze it.
“U-umm, you really did crazier things than I expected. But that aside, let’s try to figure out why it didn’t work.”
“You think so?”
“Anyway, I feel like the biggest issue is that Natalia still sees you as simply her mistress’ daughter.”
“Hmmm, yeah, that sounds about right.”
Natalia’s words when snapping back at Mathias had been burned into Olivia’s mind.
“You’re right, she’s also so polite with everyone. I think she’s always mindful of her own role, maybe a bit too much.”
“But she’s never cold either, I really love how kind she’s to everyone.”
“Ah, okay sure, let’s not get into that right now though.”
Olivia grinned and blushed as she pressed her cheeks, and Amy stopped her.
“I think the fact that Natalia is a magic automaton also plays a role. I heard magic automatons are basically an extension of golems, so their masters’ orders are absolute for them.”
“I see. That might be a fundamental trait of magic automatons then1.”
Christina had been learning magic since before she entered the Magic Academy, and while she was no expert, she knew a thing or two about magic automatons. Still, that only applied to newly created magic automatons that had not developed sentience yet, but the girls had no way of knowing that.
“Doesn’t that make things really hard then? A magic automaton’s behavior is like a living being’s instincts.”
“Hmm, maybe? But I feel like it shouldn’t be that big of a problem in the long run.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because love between vastly different races or social ranks has existed for a long time.”
“I see.”
Amy nodded, hearing Christina’s reasoning.
“I know this sounds a bit grandiose coming from a noble like myself, but doesn’t the wall of race or ranking make this even more charming?”
For nobles, marriage was just a duty and tool to strengthen one’s family, so love outside their social circle was seen as taboo. But that also made it even more romanticized.
Also, the Seperion Kingdom emphasized less difference between races, so seeing nobles of mixed races like Mathias was more common than in other countries. But many still valued keeping family lines pure, and there was a strong push to keep within social classes.