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Shia and Serena found each other surprisingly easily. Both of them had quite striking looks, so after asking around for just 5 minutes—

they spotted the two at the Women’s Clothing Store. Wait a second, isn’t that the place we bought clothes from 5 hours ago?

“You two are still here?”

“Oh, Nova!”

“Did you enjoy your date?”

Upon closer inspection, both of them were standing there with bags of clothes in hand.

“How many hours have you been shopping for clothes?”

I couldn’t comprehend it, so I said something, and they responded to me with disgruntled expressions.

“Because Nova was with Stella, it took us a long time to pick out clothes!”

“Yeah, we originally meant to try them on and compare, but we made an exception!”

“Wow…”

If Stella were here, I would have been utterly shaken; it seemed that when it came to shopping, girls were serious.

They naturally offloaded their bags onto me and, with cheeky grins, asked,

“So, how was it?”

“Did you enjoy it so much that you nearly died? Is it really that good?”

Well, to be honest, it really was fun this time; it was the first time in ages that I hung out like this one-on-one.

I sincerely expressed my gratitude to them.

“Yeah, it was really great, and it was thanks to you two. I truly appreciate it.”

“Next time, we won’t be sharing!”

“So, have you two decided to go out together?”

“Uh…?”

I blurted out in a daze from the sudden question. Serena had a look of disbelief on her face.

“What? You didn’t confess, did you?”

“Uh…confess?”

“No way…you didn’t confess after setting everything up like this?”

“Wow…that crosses a line.”

“Hold on, why the sudden talk about confessing?”

Shia and Serena exploded with frustration.

“What on earth have you been doing for all that time!”

“You’ve been making things awkward, so just get on with it!”

“Wait! Listen to me!”

For some reason, I found myself desperately trying to explain myself to them.

After calming them down, I explained my future plans (?),

“I said I’d confess after becoming stronger than Stella, right?”

“What kind of excuse is that? Do you really think that makes any sense?”

“…I know it’s going to be difficult.”

Yeah, it would probably be impossible right now; Stella is the undisputed strongest among the academy’s students.

She might even be stronger than Amelia and the other faculty members, facing off against an archdemon without backing down at all. Maybe I underestimated her.

But I certainly don’t intend to leave all the future battles to her.

No matter how strong she is, the enemies ahead won’t be weak.

Even if this has become a reality that I have cleared hundreds of times, it won’t change anything.

“But I will definitely become stronger; then I’ll confess.”

“…I’m sorry to interrupt your grand plans, but aren’t you just afraid of confessing?”

“…No way.”

“Why on earth do you have to get stronger than her just to confess?”

“Well…that’s true. Why does it have to go in such a roundabout way?”

“…”

To be honest, yes, I’m scared. I’m afraid she might not accept me.

I always say I can tell how Stella feels just by looking at her expression…

but when it comes to the moment of confessing, I can’t find the words. I just laugh it off or push it back.

I had excuses, though. I still don’t know enough about her.

I’ve managed to find out about her being a reincarnate, but—

I have no idea what worries she has or why she suffers.

But…

“Yeah, I might have been running away all along.”

If I had tried to find out, I might have learned something. I could have asked.

But I didn’t. Why? Because I was just scared.

If I forced myself to find out and ended up making her dislike me…

I couldn’t bear the thought of that situation. No way…

“…I understand. Confessing isn’t easy either…”

“I think it’s important to take your time and move at your own pace.”

“…Thanks.”

“Just don’t drag it on too long; make sure you two come together.”

“Right? Watching you two is so frustrating; it’s like a blockage in my throat!”

“…Oh.”

“So where’s Stella?”

“Are you really asking that now…? ”

As I explained what had just happened, they looked surprised and asked,

“The princess is here?”

“Oh my gosh… you got overshadowed by the princess?”

“Hey… overshadowed? What are you even talking about?”

Serena has been sounding a bit thorny every time she spoke.

“It’s true you got overshadowed. Ever since the princess came, Stella’s been getting that odd look…”

“Serena, you do realize that could get you charged with royal defamation, right?”

At that, Serena showed a bit of an aggrieved expression.

“But it’s true! The princess has been persistently asking Stella to work as a court mage…

Because of that, my mentor, the Master of the Silver Tower, has been bugging me nonstop… Ugh! It’s so annoying!”

“Uh… sounds tough.”

Is Stella feeling jealous about getting the attention from the princess?

It seems like the Master of the Silver Tower really has a low opinion of Stella.

“Well, I’m fine now, just living the way I want.”

“So, did Stella say she’s going back early?”

“No, we decided to meet at the entrance.”

“Then we should hurry; we’ve already wasted quite a bit of time.”

Together with the two of them, we headed toward the entrance of the Department Store, where we found Stella asleep all alone on a bench in the corner.

Sleeping defenselessly in a place like this—was it confidence from her strength or just a lack of caution?

With a sigh, just as I was about to say something, the two of them approached the sleeping girl and started poking her cheeks.

“Hehe, she must be really tired.”

“Isn’t she just too cute while sleeping?”

As they kept poking her cheeks, Stella groaned and grimaced.

“I see this every day~ Aren’t you jealous?”

“Tch… Next semester, I’m going to be her roommate.”

“You guys… what on earth are you doing?”

“Hey, Nova, do you want to come touch her too?”

“Her cheeks are so squishy and feel nice.”

“…”

Honestly, they do look soft. Maybe she’s tired from walking all day, as she appeared to be sound asleep.

This might be the only chance I’d ever get to poke her cheeks.

I cautiously brought my index finger to Stella’s cheek.

Just before my finger made contact, a chill shot down my spine from a cold voice.

“What are you doing, Nova?”

“Uh, huh?! Stella, you’re awake?!”

“Yeah, I thought there were mosquitoes bothering me near my face, so what’s with your finger?”

“Uh… so, about that…”

“Ahh!”

“Ah, ah! Stella, I’m sorry! Really sorry, let go!”

“Stop it, you pervert!”

Stella bit down on my finger tightly, refusing to let go for a long time before finally agreeing to negotiate with my drink.

“Ow… your bite strength is stronger than I imagined.”

“Hmph, then who told you to stick your finger in?”

My finger was soaked with saliva. No, no, this is definitely not good.

There are too many people around, and above all, if I did something like that in front of the girls, I would surely earn a year’s worth of disdain.

Wiping my finger with a handkerchief, I threw a question at her.

“Did the conversation with the princess go well?”

“Uh… yeah.”

Did she hear something unfavorable? Stella’s expression had darkened a bit compared to earlier.

“Was something wrong?”

“You look off; are you okay?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s just go back to the dorm now. But Nova, why are you carrying so much stuff?”

At that, Shia and Serena exchanged sly smiles before explaining.

“Hehe, all of this is Stella’s clothes!”

“Isn’t it the boyfriend’s job to carry his girlfriend’s clothes?”

Upon hearing that, Stella gasped and continued.

“B-boyfriend?! No, wait, are you saying all of that is my clothes?!”

“Yep! Although I measured your size before, you won’t know if the clothes fit unless you try them on, right?”

“When we go shopping next time, I’ll definitely go with you!”

“What’s with all this stuff…?”

Still, perhaps grateful for the clothes they’d prepared for her, she showed no signs of resistance unlike the morning when she wanted to avoid going.

“Thank you both.”

“Don’t mention it!”

“But next time, we won’t include you, Nova.”

“Uh? Oh, um…”

“…Why are you leaving me out when I’m the one to complain about it!”

“Well… that seems a bit much.”

Honestly, it looks strange having one guy follow three girls.

Even if I can’t lose any more reputation, this is just a bit too much.

Next time, I’ll make sure to arrange a one-on-one date, so it’s no problem.

 

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