Chapter 49: ~Chapter 15~ Part 3

I checked the time on my phone and had to take a second look to be certain. It was only a couple of minutes before noon. Just where did my morning go?

That was a rhetorical question, by the way. I knew full well how it went by: one half reading my assistant's increasingly elaborate reports after she came back from discussing the supernatural parts of this world with the class rep, while the other half was spent with connecting all of those tidbits as I was trying to keep my jaw from hitting the floor.

As it turned, out the magical background of this world was way, way more extensive than I would've ever dreamed of. There was a mountain of new terminology to learn, politics, factions, et cetera... Even after spending the entire morning studying them, I only scratched the surface of the data Judy provided, which itself was only a fraction of the basics. This of course meant that I paid exactly zero attention to the lessons, but in my defense, I would consider that learning about the amazing and dangerous real nature of this world should take priority over the symbolism in 20th-century poetry.

Anyways, I was fairly confident that at this point I knew enough so that I wouldn't make a fool out of myself if I tried to bring up the subject, but as they say, a little knowledge can sometimes be more dangerous than ignorance. As such, I decided to keep at what I was unwittingly doing for a while and speak very vaguely so that instead of flaunting what I knew, I would get the others to talk about things I didn't.

However, as overwhelming as all the new information was, I could feel my brain being bogged down and unable to think properly. I couldn't help but groan in silence. No matter how hard I tried to suppress it, that strange mixture of guilt and anxiety kept bubbling up between the gaps and kept reminding me of my upcoming discussion with the princess. I was once again reminded why I didn't want to get involved in any romantic shenanigans. Even getting myself disentangled from one made me unable to function properly. Stupid hormones. Anyways, I checked the time again and then immediately winced in surprise when Joshua unexpectedly whispered to me, "Are you that hungry?"

"What?"

"You've been checking your phone for the time a lot. Are you looking forward to the lunch that much?" Just as he said so, the long chime finally sounded and he broke into a childish grin. "Speak of the devil. Speaking of which, do you want any recommendations? They just put a new caviar dish on the menu; you should definitely give it a try."

I awarded my friend a look so flat its edge could divide atoms.

"Three things. One: No. Two: How is caviar a good recommendation if you think someone is hungry? Three: No."

Josh clicked his tongue and shrugged.

"You are no fun."

"Nor am I made of money."

"But you are! Almost! Nearly! At least thirty percent!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and stood up. Josh followed my example almost immediately and flashed me another kiddy grin.

"All right, then maybe not caviar. There is still a lot of other stuff there we haven't tried yet. Are you coming?"

I shook my head as I pointed upwards.

"Sorry, not today. I have plans on the roof."

"With Judy?"

I shook my head again and nodded towards the blond girl. She was still lying sprawled out on her desk, but she might have heard that we were talking because she looked up at the exact same moment. She froze when our eyes met, but to her credit, she didn't engage in any of her usual over-the-top antics.

"Really?" Joshua wondered aloud in a tone that was more than a little skeptical. "It's rare for you two to hang out like that, isn't it?"

"Not really," I answered nonchalantly as I put away my books and got my wallet.

"Would you mind if I tagged along?"

"Actually..." the princess spoke up before I could while she stood up and began rubbing her face. She had an imprint of her sleeve on her forehead, but I decided it was not the time to bring that up. Once she was upright she turned to Josh apologetically and said; "Sorry, but Leo and I... We have something to discuss."

"Just the two of you?" My friend eyed both of us suspiciously, but I couldn't really care less, as I was too taken aback by the sudden change in the princess's behavior. She was, for the lack of better words, regal. I have seen her relapse into a more formal attitude in the past, but I couldn't recall her being this formal since the day she transferred. It was a little bit uncanny, to be honest.

"Yes," she stated on no uncertain terms.

"Um... Okay?" Josh looked at me, apparently just as weirded out by her behavior as I was. I made some covert shooing motions, and after a little more nudging he left the scene with a huff. I watched him go before I returned my attention to the princess.

"Sooooo... Should I go and grab something from the cafeteria?"

"Not necessary." She stopped me and once she was sure I wasn't going anywhere she dove into her bag and retrieved a familiar-looking tiered lunch-box. "I brought enough for both of us."

"Is that so?" I flashed her a reserved smile and added, "Very thoughtful of you."

To my utter bafflement, she returned my smile, without any cutesy noises or flailing. For a moment I wanted to yell ‘Who are you, and what have you done to the princess!?', but I managed to subdue the urge and instead led her out of the classroom.

I don't know how it worked. Maybe it was the regal aura surrounding her, but the placeholder hordes rushing to besiege the cafeteria parted around us like the Red Sea, and we managed to reach the roof in a little under a minute. That was pretty much a personal record. Not only that, when I opened the access door, I found the roof practically empty. I already noticed that placeholders tended to conveniently vacate the area whenever I was about to have a special discussion with someone, but right now I could've really preferred at least a few idlers in the background, if only for my peace of mind.

We wordlessly headed over to our usual seats on the benches in the far corner of the roof and sat down without much fanfare. By this point I had already steeled my nerves and came up with the exact words I wanted to tell her, so I got ready to speak up the moment my butt touched the seat... yet somehow the princess was still faster than me.

"Leo," she slowly turned towards me with a serious expression and I involuntarily gulped. There was a silent pressure in her eyes, and I couldn't help but recall the battle from the day before. Right, I kind of forgot about it, but she was an actual dragon-hybrid-something-or-the-other that could turn me into a bloodstain on the floor with a single swipe. That was definitely not good for my peace of mind.

"Yes?" I responded with a smile I hoped wasn't too strained.

"Leo, please tell me something."

There was a slight tremble in her voice, which made me finally tear my gaze away from her eyes. It was only then that I noticed that she was actually red as a lobster. That actually made me feel a little better for some reason, so I responded without thinking.

"Sure."

"Are you in a relationship with Judy?"

The question was a bit of a curveball, so I involuntarily frowned.

"Why do you ask this now?"

"J-Just answer me!" She demanded while her voice rose an octave. Now that I calmed down a bit, it became obvious she was trying her hardest to appear calm and dignified. For the most part it worked, but thankfully she was still clumsy enough to let some of her nervousness slip, and thank god for that, or I might've become a nervous wreck before the end of our talk.

I took a deep breath and was about to tell her the truth, but then I paused. Couldn't I use this to ‘let her down gently'? If I told her I was dating Judy, she would probably stop being confused about me and could focus all her efforts on Joshua. That sounded nice on paper, and I was almost tempted to use it, but then what? Wouldn't that mean that I would be forced to pretend to be going out with Judy, at least for the time being? That wasn't something I could impose on her without her consent (even if I was certain she would agree without a moment of hesitation). These kinds of pretending plots never resolved any conflict anyway. As such, after a long moment of hesitation, I shook my head.

"No, we are not in a romantic relationship at the moment."

"Good," she nodded and I could see her clench her fists. She caught the gesture, and hastily relaxed her hands while clearing her throat. "I mean, it is good that we could ascertain this. It is important that w... w... Awawawawa! What are you doing!"

"Nothing, please continue," I told her so as I poked her cheek again.

"S-Stop doing that! Why are you poking me?!"

"Because you are acting weird."

"I am not acting weird!" she screamed at me and slapped my hand away before she hung her head. "You ruined it! I was preparing myself for this moment all morning and you ruined it!"

For a second I didn't know what to do. I tried to crack a joke to get her attention, but then a soft sob escaped the princess' throat and it made me freeze. Oh crap. I made her cry...

"Um... I'm sorry. I didn't think you... I mean, I just wanted you to relax a little. You weren't acting like yourself." I put my hand on her shoulder and lightly patted it. She didn't throw me off, so I continued; "The princess I know would turn red at the mere mention of dating and would have made cute little noises if I poked her." Since she still didn't react, I let out a defeated sigh and pleaded, "Please don't cry. I'm sorry for teasing you when you were trying your hardest. What do you want me to do to cheer you up?"

At last, she glanced up at me.

"Are you going to hear me out?"

"Sure."

She looked me in the eye for a couple of seconds before she straightened herself and rubbed her eyes. It wasn't perfect, but it seemed she managed to regain at least a sliver of the dignity she was projecting before.

"You are not allowed to make fun of me or tease me until we are finished here."

"Understood."

She gave me a nod and then she fell silent. I waited for her, but she didn't say a word even after several seconds. I was just about to reach the end of my rope when she suddenly inhaled.

"I assume you know why I had a fight with Neige yesterday." I wanted to tell her I had a good idea, but before I could say anything, she continued with the same breath. "She said that I was being indecisive and that I was roping you along. I... was angry at the time, but last night I reflected on what she said, and I think she was right. So... after thinking about it a lot, I decided to come clear."

"Really?"

She nodded sharply.

"Yes." There was a meaningful pause after this point, during which she flushed so hard even the tip of her ears were turning red, then she forcefully exhaled and quickly said, "Leo, I think I like you."

Shameful as it sounds, I totally froze up for a moment. I never in a million years expected that she would outright confess to me like that, and I had no idea how to answer, so I proceeded to do what I always did when I was feeling awkward and changed the subject post-haste.

"Wait a minute! Weren't you in love with Josh?"

She averted her eyes for a moment, but then forced herself to look at me again before she answered.

"I do like him, but... I don't think I like him the same way I like you."

"But why do you even like me? That makes no sense."

"I don't know either."

"We have only known each other for a month, right? How can you just casually pick me over Josh?"

"I am not doing this ‘casually'!" she burst out before reining in her temper again. "I mean... I only really knew Josh for a month too."

"But you knew each other as kids!"

"For a week."

"But you promised to marry him!"

"And he still doesn't remember me, let alone the promise."

"But... but... He is Josh!"

"I don't know what that means but... when I look at him, I just don't feel the same way as when I look at you. I don't know how else to explain this."

"That's messed up," I whispered in a groan.

"S-Shut up! I can't help it, okay?!"

I hastily raised my hands in surrender when faced with her rapidly disintegrating regal façade and vigorously shook my head.

"I didn't mean it that way. It's just that... You had a connection with Josh before. I just don't see how you would pick me in a competition between the two of us."

"I told you, it's not how that works! I just... I asked a friend with a little more experience, and she told me I shouldn't divide my attention, or I might end up empty-handed. She told me not to force myself and just follow my heart... and I just did."

There was a short beat, then I muttered; "... That sounded really corny, but kinda sweet."

"Shut up!" she exploded again and punched me in the shoulder. It hurt a little, but I couldn't help but laugh. "You promised you wouldn't tease me until we finished! You are incorrigible!"

"I got it, I got it!" I repeated between chuckles. "I'm sorry, but seeing you saying stuff like that so bashfully just tickles my teasing instincts."

After my non-apology, she finally calmed down a little. She inhaled and exhaled a couple of times before she looked me in the eyes with a stern expression.

"I already told you how I feel, but what... about you?"

"Well, I do like you," I answered absent-mindedly, "Though I don't know if—"

"Yes!" she suddenly exclaimed while flexing her fists again.

"As I was saying," I raised my voice to get her attention, "I am not sure it is the kind of ‘like' you are looking for."

"I don't mind," she stated, to my utter bafflement.

"You don't?"

She suddenly flashed a determined smile at me that somehow managed to be both dazzling and childishly cute at the same time, and then declared; "That means I have a chance! This is a war I am definitely going to win!"

"What? War? What? I'm sorry but I am getting a little confused about your analogies here..."

"Never mind that! We have already built up a familiarity over last month, with a little more time I can totally..."

While the princess slowly descended into excited mumbles I threw my head back and let out a tired groan. I was caught up in the conversation, but didn't this become the exact opposite of my original plan? I wanted to gently reject her so that she would focus on Josh alone, and instead somehow she decided to focus on me alone. Just why? Did Josh lose his harem protagonist aura or something?

Realistically speaking, this was my last chance to cut her off before things would get even more complicated. If I didn't, then Judy would probably kill me... yet not what push came to shove, I was still reluctant. I mean, I didn't want to hurt her, but if I didn't reject her, that would hurt Judy, and I didn't want to do that either.

...

Damn. Was this how being an indecisive harem protagonist in a love triangle felt like? Just what kind of henious crime did I commit in my previous life to end up with an experience like this?

Anyhow, I shook my head and took a deep breath. I had to make a choice now, or I would...

"Wait a minute..." I blurted the words out before I could catch them, and Elly immediately perked up. Well, crap. I needed something to hold her attention for the moment while I ruminated on this new idea that popped into my head, so I quickly grasped for the first topic that came to mind. "So... How exactly did you even developed a crush on me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked with her head cocked to the side, so I quickly elaborated.

"Weren't you always on about how much you hate me and how I smell bad? How did that turn into ‘I like you'?"

The curious expression on the princess's face was quickly replaced by an awkward frown and she soon began fidgeting with her fingers.

"I-I didn't really mean that. I never really hated you, you know? I just don't like being teased! And, um...  you actually don't smell bad. It's just a little weird, but I... I don't dislike it."

"... Did I just awaken a fetish in you?"

The princess' eyes opened wide for a moment before she raised a hand a punched me in the shoulder again. This time she didn't hold back and I could feel my bones creak in response.

"Ow! Hey!"

"You are such a jerk! Why do you have to keep ruining the moment!?"

"Sorry, sorry." I apologized for what felt like the hundredth time that day while rubbing my shoulder. "I am just bad with these kinds of topics. I can't take the pressure, so I tease you to release it."

"I see." To my surprise, the princess actually accepted my hastily cobbled together excuse with a serious expression. "S-So you are bad with... um... this. I see... But it is still no excuse!"

"Yeah, I got it."

What followed after this point was a solid minute of much-appreciated silence, which finally let me get my bearings and think things through. No matter how I looked at it, my idea would never fly under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances by any means, now were they? We had dragons and demons and mages and possibly psykers running around and battles and a weird-ass world with placeholders and technology all over the map and, most importantly, we had a harem battle setting. That last part could not be stressed enough.

In other words, so long as I played my cards right, I might be able to engineer a scenario where I wouldn't have to trample on anyone's feelings. I just needed to lay some groundwork. No scratch that. A metric ton of groundwork. However, it could work. In theory, at least. I really wished I could ask Judy for advice, but considering this concerned her as well, I figured I would have to wing it myself. No biggie. What is the worst thing that could happen? I mean, aside from lethally embarrassing myself and completely destroying my social life?

"So, Leo?" Elly suddenly spoke up in a soft voice that nevertheless made me shudder in surprise.

"Yes?" I answered reflexively.

"You might not like me the way I like you right now, but I will do my best to change that in the future. Please take care of me."

"Um... Okay?" I responded as my brain finally caught up with the conversation. "That sounded a bit too formal, didn't it?"

Her face turned sour for a moment and she shook her head.

"You are still horrible at reading the mood."

"Guilty as charged," I answered with forced cheerfulness and a toothy grin before I reached for the box between the two of us and took off the lid. I've been saving it for a moment like this. Few things worked as well for cutting difficult conversations short as good food. "Now that we are done with that, we should get started on the food. I'm curious about what you made this time."

"All right, let's—" She didn't finish her sentence, and instead she suddenly narrowed her eyes into a suspicious squint. "Wait, how did you know that I made it?"

I couldn't really tell her I Far Saw her making it in the morning, so I decided to play it coy and only smile at her knowingly.

"Oh please, princess! I've seen your cooking before."

I removed the top tray containing the utensils and small bottles of condiments that came with the tiered box and took a look at the second layer. It contained fries, fried strips of chicken breast, and there were also a few triangular sandwiches in the side compartment. It was a very safe and simple menu, and it also looked eerily familiar.

"Ah! This is just like your first lunchbox I ate!"

"You mean the first one you stole," she pointed out.

I decided to ignore the barbs in her words and shrugged. "I still ate it, so my statement stands." While I said so I picked up a piece of fry and popped it into my mouth. It was still warm, a testament to the quality of the insulation. Or it was magic. One or the other.

The princess was giving me an intent look that, to my surprise, I found weirdly familiar. I swallowed and told her, on no uncertain terms, "It's good."

"O-Of course it is!" she exclaimed with hints of that fake irritation she sometimes projected whenever she was embarrassed, but not so much that she would resort to the cutesy noises. Was it weird that I was at the point where I could recognize the degrees of her embarrassment? Anyways, she seemed pleased enough. She was like Judy in that regard; apparently girls really liked when someone complimented their cooking. But then again, so did I, though people rarely found my fried bacon or instant noodles praiseworthy.

I took another bite, this time from the surprisingly spicy chicken, and remembered the scene I saw in the morning. I let curiosity take the better of me and asked, "Did you get some help with this one?"

"W-What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I cannot cook something like this?"

"No, I meant the flavoring is different. It's cayenne pepper, isn't it?"

She seemed to be torn for a moment, but she soon confessed. "Yes. It was Melinda's idea."

"Melinda..." I mused while chewing on another piece of fried chicken. "The tall maid with the long braids, right?"

"Yes, it's—" She stopped again and her previously apprehensive gaze suddenly went downright damning. "How do you know her name?"

"I've met her, remember? She was there when I took you home the first time."

"I'm quite sure I didn't tell you her name."

"I'm quite sure you did," I retorted while picking another french fry from the box. "Otherwise how would I know?" I popped it into my mouth and started chewing, but she still looked at me suspiciously, so once I swallowed I decided to change the subject. "By any chance, was she the friend you talked about? The one you asked for advice?"

"Yes. I trust her. She's been my chambermaid ever since I was nine years old."

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"Chambermaid, huh?" I swallowed another fry before continuing. "Is she draconic too?" The princess twitched and looked around in a hurry, prompting me to roll my eyes. "Oh come on. There is no one else here, we can talk about it."

She kept checking the perimeter for a little longer before she finally turned back to me with a sour expression. She was apparently not keen on this discussion but she still told me, "She is a distant relative from one of the European branch families."

"A branch family? Really?" Now that she mentioned it, they did look similar. More importantly though, it meant that they shared blood, which in turn meant... "So she is a draconian, huh?"

Elly nodded while I picked up another chicken breast and began munching on it, partially to use the chewing as an excuse to think, but mostly because I was hungry and it was delicious. But back to the topic: Draconians. I tried to recall as much as I could about them, which wasn't much considering the vast majority of my knowledge was extremely recent and came from Judy's reports.

According to those, they were considered to be one of the ‘Three Old-blooded Clans', which sounded both ominous and like a really clumsy literal translation of something, but I decided not to dwell on it. They were apparently descendants of actual dragons, or at least of whatever constituted as ‘dragons' around these parts. They must've still been reptilian fire-breathers though; I could glean that much from the princess's appearance on the day before. Speaking of which, I finished chewing and decided to probe for extra information.

"So, can she transform too?"

"I don't think so. Her blood is too thin to awaken it."

"Which means yours isn't?"

"Of course it isn't!" she retorted angrily and puffed out her chest. "I am the proud scion of the Dracis family! Ours is the strongest draconic bloodline still in existence!"

"Of course you are," I nodded sagely while making mental notes. So, that meant there were multiple bloodlines. Not only that, but there was some sort of hierarchy based on how ‘thick' their blood was, as shown by a branch family member serving as a maid. In the meantime, the princess's face began to twist in displeasure. She must have taken my previous words the wrong way, as she puffed her cheeks and turned her face to the side in an image that I was tempted to take a snapshot of and upload as an example of ‘tsundere' on my favorite site.

"I know that my Draconic form might not be very impressive yet, and I don't have wings, and I can't breathe true dragon fire, and my tail is too short and thick but..." Her voice slowly trailed into a mumble the longer she went on, only to flare up at the end. "But I am still the scion of House Dracis! Give me a few years, and you will see!"

I raised my hand apologetically and shook my head.

"No, no. I wasn't being sarcastic. Not to mention, I think your transformation looked impressive."

She suddenly twitched and began awkwardly fidgeting at my side.

"You... really think so?"

"Yes. Though... your tail did look a little stubby."

To my sincerest bafflement, the princess let out an ear-piercing squeak that startled me to the point I nearly dropped the fry in my hand.

"I-I-Idiot! Pervert!"

"What?"

"H-H-How can you say things like that so casually?!"

"Well... It's just a tail. And it is kind of short."

She let out another muffled scream and hid her steadily reddening face behind her forearms.

"Idiot! Jerk! Pervert!"

"There, there..." I patted her on the shoulder to calm her down, but instead she just began flailing at me.

"How can you say that to a girl!? I'm really self-conscious about that!"

"Whoa, calm down! I didn't mean it in a bad way!" By this point, I recognized the innuendo in our exchange, which meant I just walked into a ridiculously awkward conversation by accident. Marvelous. I took a deep breath and tried to salvage the situation the best I could. "It's still a very nice tail. And I'm sure it will grow."

At long last the princess finally stopped flailing and began sulking instead.

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Well, then you are still going to have a very nice tail. Long tails are overrated anyways. Short ones are cute."

"I-I don't want to be cute!"

"I'm sorry to say, but that boat has already sailed." Her eyes opened wide and she hid her face behind her palms with a series of her customary ‘hauhau' noises, but I ignored them and continued with, "Why don't you focus on your better aspects in the meantime?"

She peeked through her fingers and tentatively asked, "Such as?"

"Erm..." I wracked my brain for a moment, trying to come up with something that hopefully wouldn't make the situation any worse. "I... like your horns?"

"You do?"

"Yes. They are very regal."

"You really think so? Aren't they a little on the small side?"

"No. If they were any bigger, they would throw your profile off-balance. They look really great as they are right now."

"I see..." She finally calmed down and she even started smiling, at which point I sneakily exhaled a relieved breath. I had no idea what I was talking about by the end, but it apparently worked. Anyways, it was time to change the topic once again before she would want to discuss the precise curvature of her horns or something.

"Say," I started, startling her out of her smile. "You mentioned you cannot spit dragon fire." She cautiously nodded, so I continued, "If so, then what was that beam that you fired yesterday?"

She looked away as if recalling an embarrassing memory (for her it might have been, for me it was just scary as hell) and once more began to clumsily fidget with her hands.

"It... wasn't real Dragonfire." She must have mistaken my curious expression for something else, as she became flustered and began sputtering. "I-I mean, I wouldn't use Dragonfire on a friend! True Dragonfire eats through wards and enchantments like tissue paper, it could easily kill someone! I'm not that reckless!" She paused and in a mumble added, "Not that I can use it anyway..."

"I got it, I was just curious," I told her with a reassuring smile and knocked on the side of the lunchbox. "Aren't you going to eat? At this rate, I'll finish it all up by myself."

As if only waiting for my prompting, she reached out for the utensils and picked up a fry with a fork. She dipped it in the sauce held in the small compartment in the corner and took it to her lips, but instead of biting down on it, she gave me a puzzled look.

"Is there a problem?"

"Hm? No, why would there be a problem?"

"You were staring."

I chuckled and pointed at her fork.

"Ah, nothing. It's just that I suddenly got reminded that you really are a princess."

She looked at her utensil and her cheeks immediately reddened.

"W-What do you mean! This is how you are supposed to eat properly!"

"Yes, yes," I replied with a smile while taking another fry with my fingers and popping it into my mouth. She gave me an indignant huff and ate her own piece with extra dignity. I couldn't help but smile at the display, but then I noticed the pout on her lips. "Is there something else?"

She glanced at me while playing with a piece of fry in the box. At last, she grimaced and uttered, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"What? Princess?"

"Yes! We just got a little closer, so..." As if she just realized the meaning of her words, her face once again flushed red (at this point I was really tempted to only mention when she wasn't beet red) and added, "Um... Why don't you address me less... formally?"

"I don't think I was ever being formal with you."

"But you keep calling me that! You never call me by name!"

"Because that's your pet name," I told her matter-of-factly while dipping a piece of meat in the spicy sauce.

"A pet name?"

"Yep. You know, the thing people give to people they like."

"I know what a pet name is!" She huffed indignantly, but at the same time, she also gave me a sheepish look. "So you call me that because... you like me?"

I only nodded, since I was afraid that if I spoke I might've accidentally revealed that I only started calling her that because her reactions to the word were hilarious. Because of that, the princess's lips widened into a dopey smile and she even honest to goodness giggled.

"In that case it's okay. I'll allow you to call me that."

It wasn't like I needed her approval, but I flashed her an appreciative smile anyway. There was something else that the whole ‘princess business' reminded me of, and this was as good a time as any to bring it up.

"Say... I know this might sound a bit abrupt, but is your family okay with what you are doing?" She raised a single puzzled eyebrow, so I hastily continued. "I mean the whole ‘coming to school to be with your childhood crush' thing."

To my sincerest surprise, her face turned solemn and even a little hesitant. She apparently didn't appreciate the sudden return to the topic of relationships.

"It's complicated."

"You don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm... It's not that. I'm not sure I should."

"Oh, so it's a secret? Or something embarrassing?"

"No, it's..." She paused, visibly wavering, but at last, she gave me a firm nod. "Very well. I think I owe you this much." I wanted to ask ‘You do?', but I bit my tongue and waited for her to continue. "Have you heard of the prophecy?"

It took inhuman willpower on my part to keep myself from giving myself a concussion via high-velocity face-palming. I mean, sure. Of course there would be a bloody prophecy! Because why wouldn't there be one!? Bah!

My outrage didn't show on my face though (or at the very least I hoped it didn't) and I decided to keep fishing for details.

"That depends on which prophecy you are talking about."

The princess gave me a priceless look of surprise that nevertheless sent shivers down my spine.

"There's more than one?"

Dammit, I overexerted myself! A brief yet subjectively endless moment of manic later I managed to regain my composure and flashed a knowing smile. "Of course there are. So, which one is yours?"

Albeit a little dubious, the princess proceeded to explain herself. "You know how the old dragons are gone, right?" I nodded even though I naturally had no idea, but revealing that right now would've been really counter-intuitive. "According to the prophecy, a human in our generation would help us resurrect the old bloodlines."

"And that is Josh."

"... Probably."

"Probably?" I echoed her. "So you are not sure."

"He could be," she said in a disheartened tone. "I mean, he should be the one. There aren't many candidates."

"And you convinced your family to let you get close to him to make sure?" I completed her sentence.

"That... is oversimplifying things a lot, but yes."

I couldn't help but rub my face in irritation after hearing all that.

"Just for the record: if she is so monumentally important, wouldn't it make more sense to cling to him instead of trying to pursue little old me?"

"I told you, that's not how it works!" she protested a little half-heartedly, only to then pause and hastily add, "And just because I like you more than Josh it doesn't mean that I cannot be with him. As a friend. Not ‘with' him in that sense, but, like, around him. As a friend."

"All right, all right. I got it the first time," I told her with both palms raised.

We remained silent for a while, and I couldn't help but notice that Elly was giving me a conflicted look, so I prompted her with a curious ‘Hm?' She was hesitant at first, but she gathered up her courage and asked, "Do you think he is the one?"

I was tempted to answer with a loud ‘How the hell should I know?', but I restrained myself. She was very forthcoming with me, so it was only fair I shared some of my insights with her.

"Most likely." She was obviously taken aback by my answer and her eyes urged me to continue, so I obliged. "You probably already noticed this, but Josh is in the focus here. We have you and Snowy and the class rep and Angie all buzzing around him like flies. I think that's telling enough."

"I'm not buzzing around him," she protested in a deeply offended voice. "And what does Angie have to do with this. She is just..." Her words trailed off into silence and she gave me a startled look. "You don't say...?"

"I'm not implying anything," I interrupted before she would drag me deeper into a discussion I knew nothing about. "I'm just stating the facts."

"And what about you? You are, um, ‘buzzing' around him too."

I stared at her through critically narrowed eyelids for a few seconds before I let out a groan of exasperation.

"First off, I do not swing that way. Second of all, I have my own business unrelated to him. Finally, he is my friend first and foremost and any supernatural whatchamacallit comes second."

"Oh. I understand.  I think."

I grunted in approval and popped the last fry into my mouth. The lunch break was almost over, so I stretched my arms, much to Elly's confusion.

"Well, this discussion went in an entirely different direction than I originally planned, but it wasn't that bad. We should do this more often."

"Y-Yes!" She repeatedly nodded, and then hastily re-packed the empty lunchbox. Thinking about it, she barely ate. I felt a little guilty about hogging all the food, so I made a mental note for repaying her. Maybe I should invite her for a crêpe or something. Girls like crêpes.

"I would also like to learn a bit more about your family. Could you introduce me one of these days?" I told her off-handedly as I stood up. I could hear a clatter behind me and I saw her grasping the box as it nearly fell out of her hand.

"W-W-What do you mean by that?" While it was obvious she was trying to act calm, her voice still came out as a high-pitched squeak. "Why would you want to meet with my family so soon? Did you change your mind? But isn't that too sudden? I mean, I would be happy to, but wouldn't it be..." I shook my head with an amused smirk and turned around to help her with the box.

"Calm down, princess. It's simple: if your little fight yesterday had proven anything, it was that I wasn't taking things seriously enough. I think it's about time I step up my game and try to get to know the big boys in the playground."

"Big boys? Playground?"

"It's... Ugh, it's a euphemism. It means I want to learn about the more important people involved with the masquerade."

"Masquerade?"

I sighed and dropped my shoulders in resignation as the bell sounded.

"I will explain what I mean to you next time, okay?"

She gave me a curt nod and we both left the roof.

On the way back to the classroom the princess needed a restroom break, and since I didn't want to loiter around the girls' toilet all by myself, we decided I should go ahead. Because of that, I returned to the classroom all alone, with only the empty lunchbox in my hands.

I put it onto the princess's desk, and by the time I turned around, Judy was already there looking me in the face.

"I presume she didn't take it well."

It took me a moment to remember our morning conversation and I promptly shook my head.

"Actually, things... Well, they didn't go as planned."

Judy's already stoic expression froze over with disapproval in an instant.

"In what way?"

"Well, let me put it this way: the love triangle kind of got resolved, just not in the way I expected."

"So she confessed."

"Yes."

"And you didn't turn her down."

"Well, to be honest, I didn't." My dear assistant was giving me a look that told me she was about to carve my spleen out with a grapefruit spoon, so I hastily raised my hands and told her, "So she confessed, and then things were awkward, and then I got this new idea, after which we talked about some supernatural odds and ends, and so I kind of forgot about the whole thing."

"How can you forget about something so important?"

"Sorry. You know how I am when I get caught up in collecting data."

I flashed my most innocent smile at Judy, and after a fairly long stalemate she let out a long, very deadpan, and somewhat disappointed sigh.

"Chief, you messed up."

"Yeah, guilty as charged," I confessed right away. In fact, I might've done so too readily, as she kept eyeing for a while, forcing me to redouble my efforts to look innocent.

At the end of the day she let out another noise, something halfway between a sigh and a huff, and she promptly raised her hand to her face in a clumsy facsimile of a facepalm and told me, "Please excuse me. Now I have to rethink my whole strategy."

"Erm... Okay. You do that."

"See you later."

Saying so she turned on her heel and walked away from my desk, finally allowing me to slump over and let the tension drain out of my shoulders.

While everyone around me seemed to be swimming in a hormone-rush-induced fixation on romance, no doubt due to Joshua's harem protagonist aura, I always thought of myself to be above it all. However, in retrospect, I've been getting into almost as many weird and stereotypical romance developments as him. I even had a love triangle on my hands, which was in dire need of resolving... but not yet. I needed to lay some foundations, come up with some convincing arguments, and then when I felt confident, I had to drop the bombshell on the girls when the time was ripe. All things considered, I would probably take a while, but it was worth a try, if nothing else.

I was still thinking when Josh returned to the classroom and sat down next to me. At first he wore a provocative smirk, no doubt planning to start some kind of silly shenanigans regarding my lunch with the princess, but after observing me for a while he leaned over with concern written all over him.

"Hey, pal? Are you all right?"

"It's nothing." I waved a dismissive hand at him and slumped even deeper into my chair. "I'm just thinking about stuff."

"Stuff?" he repeated after me a tad dubiously.

"Yeah. You know? Like our future, or dragons, or secret societies, or our country's legal stance on poligamy? Those kinds of stuff."

"... You are weird."

I gave my friend a flat glance, and simply answered, "I know."

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