Chapter 182 - Apologies

"You think between Riveria and Ethan there's something..."

By saying these words, Tiona could only emit a 'Pfft' followed by a laugh that attracted Lili's attention while Riveria, who hadn't yet answered the question, didn't add anything..

"W-Why, shouldn't that be normal to be suspicious? I want to know just how many rivals I have!"

It was frustrating for Lili, since not only all the people around her target the same person she was in love with, but also because the number of rivals seemed to increase in sight, to the point that if she just took her eyes off Ethan, she wouldn't be able to keep a precise count.

But when asked, Tiona shook her head knowing exactly what kind of person Riveria was.

"It's certainly not new that I know Riveria, and I can assure you that in many years she has never had the slightest interest in the opposite s.e.x!"

To Tiona's words, Riveria closed her eyes to contain her anger, not much because of the content of her words, which were actually also true to an extent, but by the fact Tiona seemed to have used a tone as if to make fun of her, which Riveria couldn't tolerate, but she decided to contain her anger, because she was convinced her words would be useful to calm Lili's will to know further, but it seemed that Lili wouldn't give up for so little.

Now looking at Tiona in the eyes, Lili's expression was much more serious than before and, to this reaction, the former responded by looking into her eyes in turn with a smirk on her lips, before Lili pointed her finger to indicate Riveria, adding

"There's no way that's the truth. I experienced these feelings in first person, and the look Riveria had looked exactly like mine, even if her appearance is different, I can tell. So, I would prefer other people to fight honestly against me, what's up as the prize doesn't admit dirty tricks, but above all, don't look down on me!"

Although this time they weren't actually fighting, Tiona gasped imperceptibly before thinking about it for a moment. Although she didn't doubt her theory, the determination and seriousness with which Lili was rejecting her opinion were enough to shake her, but in the end, she shook her hand to make her understand it was simply not possible.

"..As I was saying..there's just no way..you tell her too, Riveria.."

Drawing attention to Riveria, the two turned to look at her, but to their surprise, Riveria was looking down without adding anything.

Fearing she might be offended in some way, Tiona didn't want to suffer one of her punishments, so she immediately decided to stop their conversation while Lili, to Tiona's previous words, finally decided to listen to Riveria's version of the facts.

But while Lili waited and Tiona tried to dissuade her to pursue the matter further, Riveria was thinking about what Lili said before.

'I..in love? I've actually been thinking about it on my own and I've come to the conclusion what's between me and that boy is certainly not ordinary, but can I really say I love Ethan in front of Ais and Lefiya with confidence..?'

But your question, in reality, wasn't made in need of some answer.

"...Can you confidently say I have feelings for that boy only by a single instance? Is that so easy? What he said was very embarrassing, but I don't have to explain what happened anyway."

Saying these words while she raised her head, Riveria's expression seemed to be even sharper than usual, to the point of cutting and making less effective what Lili had said before and, at this unexpected 'attack', the latter was surprised.

Even if her previous reasoning was right, Lili certainly couldn't ascertain that Riveria had feelings for Ethan, and even if she was sure about that, the look on her face right now was clearly telling her she would no longer allow that this conversation would go further, which led Tiona to sigh.

"You know Lili, even if in the unrealistic case that Riveria had feelings for Ethan, what would you have done once you knew the truth?"

It was one of the things Tiona couldn't understand. Certainly she believed that love was very similar to a battle where the prize to be obtained was in this case, Ethan. This way of thinking actually matched very much with Lili's, but unlike the latter's, Tiona didn't care in the slightest about who were the other contenders.

If by chance she became aware of the identity of one of them, then it was additional information, but even if she didn't know any of them, Tiona had eyes only for the finish line, and the fact Lili instead seemed to have eyes both on the finish line and on the others made her feel strange.

"...Nothing in particular! I am just curious to know my opponents, why can't I know, it's not like Ethan would be able to hear this conversation anyway...!"

Her answer, interested Tiona as with a smile, she silently approached Lili before wrapping her arms around her neck, and although Lili's reaction was to ask her to remove her hands from her neck, Tiona ignored her and, carrying her mouth near her ear, whispered

"If that's how you put it, then know you have me as your rival for now.. even though I'm already sure about other girls, and there are already other rivals who might be annoyed to stay in the shadows...!"

'Although I have no confidence in speaking openly with Ais and Lefiya, perhaps I treated Lili too harshly. Besides, her theory isn't even wrong...'

Narrowing her eyes, Riveria knew her pride wouldn't allow her to correct herself or apologize now, so she decided to let Tiona talk with her alone as she herself didn't need to say anything more, but it was exactly when she closed her eyes ready to exit the bath that she heard a voice directed towards her.

"...Riveria?"

Feeling that someone had called her name, Riveria opened her eyes before looking towards Tiona and the latter, having seen a reaction from her own words, added

"I'm sorry if what Lili said offended you, but can you just let it go? I don't think ruining your relationship for a mere conversation is a good idea."

At her words, Lili looked the other way with her arms crossed at her c.h.e.s.t. Although what Riveria had said before was indeed heavy, Lili had understood herself perhaps she had exaggerated to always try to deduce something from the actions...but she also had a kind of pride to maintain, and then as Riveria, she didn't want to apologize for what she did wrong.

"..I'm not offended."

Tiona was surprised at this response, but knowing what she was saying wasn't a lie, she nodded and seeing the atmosphere was a bit strange between the two, Tiona this time managed to understand what was happening but, instead of intervening directly, she decided only to add...

"...I see. But I still need to apologize, I realized my words were a little off before but I didn't want to insult or disrespect you in any way, and the same goes for you, Lili. I shouldn't have taken your d.e.s.i.r.e to be a participant in this battle lightly, being a participant myself."

"N..No, it's actually my fault too, I shouldn't have tried to and I shouldn't have put pressure on Riveria, I'm sorry about that."

Following Tiona, Lili bowed too, which made Riveria close her eyes as she decided to let go of her pride for once, since both seemed to really treasure their friendship...

"I apologize for overreacting to your words, and since Tiona apologized, I'd say the punishment I had in mind for you will be postponed to the next time."

At her words, Tiona gasped and, putting her hands in front of her c.h.e.s.t as a sign of surrender, Tiona knew Riveria would seriously punish her for her behavior.

"..I see...thanks, Captain"

Now that all three had apologized, the atmosphere had finally stabilized and, shortly after, the group came out of the bath, so that they could get dressed and go to help in the kitchen...

---

While the group in the bathroom was getting dressed, Ethan, Hestia and Lefiya were well on their way, leaving the only thing missing setting the table for 6 people, with Maple 7, although the latter preferred to have the plate on the floor...

Knowing this, Ethan decided to take care of it, and while the latter was taking cutlery and plates, Hestia was taking care of finishing what Ethan had left to do...

"For today you don't need to take care of it, I bet you're tired from the training, right?"

In her own words, Lili had to say she wanted to help but, before she could do that, Ethan pat her head a few times as if he predicted she wouldn't agree to his idea and, this made her stop as she decided to do as he said while Riveria went next to Hestia.

Left alone for the second time, Ethan was returning to finish setting the table but, in the process, Tiona decided to approach him for a chat and, although what she did after that could hardly be called helping, She was passing to Ethan the appropriate things to finish setting the table and, he accepted this little help in the while their conversation continued.

And between their little chat and the second group that practically finished cooking soon after, everything was ready for dinner.

This time, however, there was something different. Ais was missing at the table, and therefore the spot next to Ethan was empty. However, it was disputed between Tiona, Lili and Hestia, but instead of wasting time to decide, Tiona proposed to decide with a 'battle', or so she called what was a game of rock paper scissors...

After a few games, the winner was Tiona who, triumphing for his victory, sat down to Ethan's right while Lefiya occupied without hesitation his left and with these small events, the dishes were finally brought to the table...

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on , so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)

(Poll going on in the discord: Who do you prefer? Qienta or Light? | Cat-girl or Renard(Fox) | Are you liking the interactions between Maple and Ethan?)

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(Alternate Titles: "I'm really fortunate to have girls like Aki and Tiona in my novel, they are a blessing in disguise OwO", "I mean, Riveria literally said f*ck off to Lili, are you happy now, Lili haters? :(" ,"Lefiya is still thinking about what comes after dinner Ethan, you better be prepared!!")