Chapter 23 - What is your answer?

I woke up in my bed as usual, but today I didn’t want to leave it. I sat there, staring out the window with a blank mind. The reality of my situation was simply too hard to accept. I also regretted not preserving the knowledge of the game from five years ago. I felt quite depressed.

Around 30 minutes later, a knocking sound came from the door. I turned my head and stared at it. The person outside knocked again, but, like before, I didn’t answer.

*Kachink*

“Lumina-sama, are you awake?”

The person who entered while asking the question was Emilia. Her red twin tails swayed as she walked toward me. Three silhouettes followed behind her. One had blonde hair fashioned into vertical rolls. Another had short, bobbed pink hair. The last one wore a beret over her long silver hair. They were Liza, Mary, and Victoria. Liza was the smallest of the three, and Victoria was the tallest. However, if you lined them up according to breast size, their positions were reversed.

The four of them wore the black blazer uniform for general students. However, Emilia was the only one lacking a clover design on her left chest, signifying that she wasn’t a noble but a commoner.

“If you were awake, why didn’t you answer when I knocked?”

“I want to stay in bed today.”

“Why?”

“…”

I covered myself with the blanket and went back to bed.

“Haa~ Is this because of last night?”

My body quivered slightly when I heard her.

“Now I really want to know what that person means to you, Lumina-sama.”

“… D-don’t tell me… is he the one Lumina-sama likes!?”

“““Ehhhhhh!?”””

“No!!! How did you arrive at that conclusion, Vertical Rolls!”

(As punishment, that'll be your new name.)

The room fell silent after I screamed. It wasn’t because of what I called Vertical Rolls but because of my reaction. Realizing my mistake, I quickly hid myself under the bed’s covers again.

“Go away! I don’t want to go out today!”

“Stop being spoiled and get changed. All your servants will be worried if you don’t at least show up.”

“I don’t care. All of you only forced me to become your master anyway!”

Emilia sighed and fell silent.

“Ummm…”

“This is the real Lumina-sama. Although she acts cool and collected outside, inside she’s just a normal girl.”

I felt a pang when I heard Emilia call me a normal girl. I had thought I had accepted being one, given that I’d been living as such for 12 years. Realizing that I still had some pride as a man left in me brought both joy and despair.

“Previously, there were only three of us who knew the real Lumina-sama, but the other two suddenly disappeared. So up until now, I’ve been the only one she could be this open with. Are you disappointed?”

“““No!”””

“Instead, I’m glad that I now know.”

“Nn!”

“What Liza said is true.”

Peeking out from under the covers, I saw Vertical Rolls standing in front of Emilia with a hand on her chest.

“Why?”

“I want to know everything about her. I’ve been admiring her for five years already, but the things I knew didn’t differ from what others knew.”

“Nn.”

“We only knew that she’s a person who’s really dignified… and scary.”

Emilia went near Vertical Rolls and whispered something in her ear. Vertical Rolls’ face turned red, and I could see smoke coming out of her ears.

“Ehh? N-No, not like that! I wanted to become more than just a servant.”

“More than just a servant? Does that mean...”

“I meant that I wanted to become her friend!”

The depression I had felt moments ago suddenly dissipated. It was as if it was a lie. What replaced it were feelings of joy and happiness.

“Did you hear that, Lumina-sama? She said she wanted to become your friend.”

“….”

“What’s your answer?”

I felt my cheeks loosen as I stared at Emilia and the three of them. Because of the joy I felt, tears spilled from my eyes. After five years, I had finally made new friends. This meant I wasn’t a loner anymore. This was a moment I had always wanted, so I wasn’t embarrassed about crying here.

“Let’s be friends.”

“Eh? Ahhh… Nnn… Let’s be friends.”

Vertical Rolls hung her head and mumbled something under her breath.

“Can I be your friend too, Lumina-sama?”

“Me too.”

“Yes!”

Unlike Vertical Rolls, Pink Hair-san entwined her fingers with Beret-san’s and jumped up and down. Beret-san made a wry smile as she observed Pink Hair-san.

“Ummm… Emilia.”

Her mouth went near my ear, and she pointed at Vertical Rolls, whispering, “She’s called Liza, the one with pink hair is Mary, and the one with silver hair is Victoria.”

“Thanks.”

“Honestly. It’s only been a day, and you’ve already forgotten their names?”

Emilia placed her hand on her brow and sighed heavily.

“I can’t help it. No one other than you has ever talked to me before! So it isn’t my fault that I’m bad with names.”

“Haaa, well, you wouldn’t be Lumina-sama if you weren’t like that. So, will you still stay in bed, or will you go out and spend time with your new friends?”

“… I’ll go.”

Emilia beamed and helped me out of bed. When I stood up, I suddenly felt her hands on my shoulders, and before I knew it, she had removed my nightgown.

“… Eh? W-w-w-what are you doing!?”

“I’m helping you get dressed, Lumina-sama.”

“It’s fine! I can dress myself!”

“Ara? I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“This might be the last time I’ll ever be able to help you get dressed, Lumina-sama. Besides, it’s a servant’s duty to help their Master get dressed.”

Emilia then knelt in front of me and removed my panties before I could resist. Mary and Victoria then brought a fresh set of clothes from my closet while Liza covered her eyes. But if you looked closely, the fingers that should have covered her eyes were spread apart. It really made me wonder why she was covering her face in the first place.

I stopped resisting Emilia and resigned myself to her mercy.

“Now all that’s left is styling the hair.”

“There’s still more?”

“Of course! We need to make you as beautiful as possible.”

“Why don’t we leave it as is? It’s not like there’s a problem with my hairstyle, right?”

“Just leaving it as is isn’t a problem, but I’d feel dissatisfied.”

“Why?”

I quickly freed myself from Emilia and stood in front of her.

“Just a little bit of styling and all the boys would be all over you.”

“I don’t care about that! Come on, let’s go.”

““““ Yes.””””

The five of us quickly left my room and headed to the canteen. Once we arrived, three men with red hair, blue hair, and blond hair stood in front of the door. They were wearing black blazers, and on their left chests was the symbol of a clover.

“““Good morning, Lumina-sama.”””

“Good morning.”

They bowed simultaneously. Since others were present, I quickly put on my façade and walked through them without giving them a glance.

Emilia quickly walked toward the door leading to the kitchen, while the seven of us sat at a nearby table. Looking closely at them, the three men seemed quite nervous as they sat rigidly in front of me.

Moving my gaze, I saw that Vertical Rolls and the others were quite pale. I then placed my elbow on the table.

With a bored look, I said, “Mary and Victoria, you’ll be teaching the students the trick I taught you last night.”

Vertical Rolls meekly raised her hand and asked, “Ummm, what about me, Lumina-sama?”

“You’ll be serving me tea.”

“Eh?”

“I’ll have you take responsibility.”

When I said the word ‘Responsibility,’ the three men sitting in front of me whispered among themselves. When they were done, they simultaneously gazed at Vertical Rolls with sympathetic eyes.

“I’ll bury your bones, Liza.”

“We’ll never forget you.”

“Can I have a memento?”

“Stop scaring me! Seriously, nothing’s gonna happen to me, okay?”

The three men avoided Vertical Rolls’ eyes. She then faced my direction with a look as if she was about to cry. A wicked thought surfaced in my mind when I saw her expression.

Narrowing my eyes and making a vicious smile, I said, “Who knows.”

“Ehh!?”

Vertical Rolls started crying and sat down in her chair with a look of despair. Meanwhile, Mary and Victoria continued discussing among themselves.

A few moments later, Emilia arrived with six servants in tow and served us our breakfast.