CH 105

T/N: This is one of the funniest and most important landmark chapters, in my opinion.

As soon as we arrived at the dining hall, Mikoto picked a fight with Katharina. No, for Mikoto, it might not be the intention of picking a fight. But if you hear it from the sidelines, it just sounds like Mikoto’s picking a fight. And after Katharina heard Mikoto’s opener, she thought it was a provocation and ended up answering the presumed threat, leading to this current situation.

“To begin with, whether your master, Flora, eats lunch or not, it’s not something the maid has a say in,” Mikoto said. “A maid’s only purpose is to make sure everything is in order for her master to live comfortably and without delay.”

“No, that’s not right,” Katharina said. “A maid’s job is to take care of everything from her master’s health to their lifestyle. Skipping lunch isn’t good for your health. Besides, I don’t care that you haven’t said a word to me before, but it’s of questionable common sense to not even inform the other party of a new appointment or schedule change. It’s a maid’s duty to make sure this does not happen.”

Yeah……. well, both are correct. Butlers and maids who are too intrusive are also not good. The family servants should be prepared so that no matter when or how the master acts, it is out of their scope to interfere directly with their master’s behavior.

However, as Katharina said, managing the life and health of the master, and reprimanding them when they do something that deviates from common sense would be part of a maid’s job.

Both are correct. And the two are at odds with each other. That’s why the words don’t reach and they don’t reach a solution. I know that, but I can’t speak. Or rather, I was told not to intervene in a hurry, so I should say that there is no other way to handle it other than being caught between the two.

And these two are a little scary… at times like this, gah! When I say that, I wither. I’m not good at a quarrel between strong-minded girls. I don’t think I’ll be able to intervene and mediate between them.

That’s why I listened to the two arguing for a while, but at this rate, I’ll be late for the afternoon class. For the time being, why don’t we leave this place for now and continue later?

“Bo-Both of you, please calm down. Afternoon classes will start. Anyway, can this be enough for now and we’ll come back to it later?” I said.

“………” the two silently glare at me.

To be honest, I’m scared to death…

“Haa… it can’t be helped,” Mikoto said.

“Right. I can’t let Miss Flora miss class because of me,” Katharina said.

It seems that the two of them will make a truce for the time being. Good, good. If it’s possible, I hope the two of them will stay like this and not fight anymore…

“You… Katharina, wasn’t it?” Mikoto said. “Let’s talk again after school.”

“Yes. Understood, Princess Mikoto,” Katharina said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it after school, including Miss Flora.”

“Huh……?” I asked.

It is useless. It seems that the dispute between the two is not over yet. I don’t think there is such a thing as their anger and quarreling subsiding by the end of class… I shouldn’t have thought so… I can’t expect much from these two…

Somehow this situation has settled down, but in the end, it just postponed the problem, and there’s plenty of time after school. I can’t use the card of resuming it later because we don’t have time right now. A melancholy mood hung over the afternoon class as if I had been sentenced to death.

By the way, Mikoto and I were a little late for class in the afternoon. Mikoto was with me, so I didn’t say anything, but I was a little worried about what I would do if my grades were negatively affected because of my lifestyle.

And finally, after school came and the problem returned. Right now, I’m caught between Katharina and Mikoto in our carriage. How did this happen…? I just don’t know what to do.

“Hey, Flora, no, school is over, so Floto would be fine,” Mikoto said. “Floto… you’re not putting your hands on other pretty girls by any chance, are you?”

“Huh? Um…?” I said.

What do you mean by, ‘putting your hands on other pretty girls”? I haven’t even been kissed yet. I didn’t even make it look like I tripped by accident to grab someone’s breasts!

“That’s right… Miss Flora? Aren’t there still other women out there that I don’t know about?” Katharina said. “Please be honest with me, okay?”

“Umm…” I said.

What is this…….? If I’m not mistaken, Mikoto and Katharina should have been arguing about me skipping lunch without notifying the latter, but why is it like this…?

“Anyway, first things first, honestly confess all the other girls you’re putting your hands on!” Mikoto yelled.

“Okay…!” I yelled, my back straightening.

It was all I could do. Huh? That’s strange… compared to how we used to be… right? Mikoto was supposed to be a cute girl who was spoiled by me, but since we met again after a long time, I feel like Mikoto is the one who’s ordering me around this way or that.

“I want to ask you as well, so please tell me honestly about everyone other than Louisa and Claudia, okay?” Katharina said.

“Huh? Who are Louisa and Claudia?” Mikoto asked. “Geeze, you’re already talking about other women!?”

“Wait! Wait! Calm down for now! Listen to me!” I said.

I managed to suppress the two people who were getting riled up all over again. Why are you acting like I’m a husband who was caught cheating? Or is it something else? Am I like a man who has more than one girlfriend? Whatever it is, why am I getting all the blame? I can’t help but feel the unreasonableness of the world.

“I’ll talk about you all in order first!” I said.

I explained to the two of them in the order that I met them, starting with my encounter with Katharina. I met Katharina, Katharina left me, and I met Luisa after I was in shock from Katharina’s departure… Claudia, Alexandra, and Mikoto, all of them I’ve met and parted with until the reunion now. I give them all a brief history of how it happened.

“I see… so, in other words, there’s a woman named Alexandra that even I didn’t know about yet?” Katharina asked.

“Uuu…” I whimper.

Katharina scares me. I certainly didn’t tell Katharina about Alexandra, and she never met her.

“Huuuh?!! So there are four other women besides me!?” Mikoto yelled.

“Mikoto, calm down! I don’t think you should be feeling betrayed about that!” I said.

Because we all met at different times… it’s not like I was dating each of the girls, and it didn’t go well in the end, so I thought we had to break up, and then I met the next girl. If you were dating them at the same time, people might call you cheating or too casual, but in my case, it didn’t work out with the previous person, or at least after I had enough information to make that decision, it’s that sort of story…

“That may be so…” Mikoto said. “But if there were other girls like that, I would have liked you to at least talked about them.”

I can’t talk about them… I can’t carelessly say that I’m a homosexual (at least physically) who likes other women even though I haven’t dated yet, talking about matters like my past history with other girls.

“Then let’s do this,” Katharina said. “We should set up a place to discuss properly after gathering all five of us.”

“Yes. That sounds good,” Mikoto said.

It’s only at times like this that the two of us get together and share our opinions… but that would be impossible. At least Alexandra is not in a situation where she will come just because we invited her.

“That would be difficult,” I said. “Alexandra can’t be part of that meeting…”

“What are you talking about!?” Mikoto snapped.

“Are you saying that only this Lady Alexandra is special?” Katharina barked.

So scary, both of you! I’ll explain it properly, so I want you two to calm down.

“Alexandra is in a very difficult situation right now,” I said. “I’d like to do something about it but there’s nothing I can do about it right now.”

I took turns telling them about Alexandra. The history and current situation from the assassination of Nikolaus. And then, even though it was uncertain, the information that came out and what was inferred from it… I wanted to ask the two of them to make a judgment without preconceptions and hear their opinions, but I also talked about uncertain information.

If I explain with a subjective opinion, there is a possibility that people will share the same opinion as me than forming their own, but even so, I should tell them as much information as I can.

“…………”

“Huh? What’s the matter, you two?” I asked.

After listening to my explanation, the two remained silent. I thought they would say something more or get angry just like before, but they just kept silent with grim expressions on their faces.

“That’s unforgivable!” Mikoto yelled.

“That’s right… first of all, it seems that we must do something about Lady Alexandra’s situation so that the five of us can compete fairly and equally for Miss Flora,” Katharina said.

Before I knew it……, the two were nodding to each other. I don’t know anything about what they’re talking about, but I wonder if they hit it off well.

“Anyway, let’s get the other two girls together first,” Mikoto said. “Then let’s all discuss how to rescue that girl named Alexandra.”

“Right,” Katharina said. “Then I will contact Louisa and Claudia. When is a convenient day for you, Princess Mikoto?”

Somehow, the two of them proceeded to talk more and more without my say-so. Not even the slightest bit of my opinion is solicited.

“Ah, you can call me just Mikoto. I’ll call you Katharina too. You can summon me anytime. Everything I do is for Floto.”

“Okay then, I’ll contact you again after asking about the availability of the other two,” Katharina said.

The two of them decided everything while completely leaving me behind. I have nothing more to say. I just let everything go with the flow while listening to their conversation.

Four girls are gathered at the Carruthers Residence today. Katharina, Louisa, Claudia, and Mikoto. After each self-introduction, they took their seats.

“Floto… why are there so many pretty girls here?” Louisa asked.

Louisa’s gaze hurts… but the five of them, including Alexandra, are all my friends. Why is she asking why are there so many pretty girls here, because these are all the girls in my life, you know?

“Fu~hhn,” Claudia hummed. “Louisa and Mikoto, huh? This is fine, isn’t it? I don’t mind at all.”

Claudia is the only one with glittering eyes for some reason. Why is that so…….? Well, it’s not like I don’t understand how she feels. Claudia is also a homosexual who likes other girls. There are cute girls here. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but each has a distinct personality and strengths, and each has her charm.

“Louisa and Claudia… you really are without honor, Floto…” Mikoto said, puffing up her cheeks with a “Fuhn…!”

It’s cute but not good to hear. Some people say I’m a flirt, but as I’ve said many times, I met everyone at different times, and I met each after I thought things fell out with the last girl. It’s not like I was a two-timer.

“And now, when you add Lady Alexandra to this group…” Katharina said.

“Huh?! There’s still more?!” Louisa and Claudia both cry out in surprise before they look at me.

Louisa huffs in disbelief, while Claudia is excited like she’s expecting something…

“Yes. Lady Alexandra is in a bit of a bind. It’s one of the other reasons we’ve gathered here today,” Katharina said as if she was the moderator.

She doesn’t need me to interfere, so I thought I’d leave it to Katharina, but she urged me to explain to Louisa and Claudia, as I had done before to Katharina and Mikoto.

It’s troublesome to talk about the same thing again, but it’s better for me to say it myself, so I’ll explain it to the two of them. Meeting and parting with each of my female friends after meeting Katharina. And what is Alexandra’s current situation? Even if I lied, most of the parties involved are here, so if the story is strange, they’ll confront me immediately. So I spoke as accurately as possible.

“I see… it’s like I hurt you and dumped you, huh, Floto?” Louisa said.

“Louisa…” I said.

That’s certainly what happened with Louisa. But that was my fault too… I’ve said this before. When I tell her not to worry about it, Louisa seems to be bothered by it, but it doesn’t make sense for her to repeat it over and over again.

“Well, yeah… I completely dumped Floto, too, didn’t I?” Claudia said.

“Well… that is true…” I said.

I was dumped by Claudia once. That would be an undeniable fact. But that doesn’t mean you have to say something that will gouge your wounds in front of everyone else…

“Anyway, about this Ms. Alexandra? Lady Alexandra?” Louisa said. “I don’t think we can just ignore her situation.”

“That’s right,” Claudia said. “I think we have to do something about Lady Alexandra first.”

“Yes. This is exactly why we’ve gathered us all here,” Katharina said. “First of all, we need to know how Miss Flora got to be in this situation. Then, after that, we’ll rescue Lady Alexandra then we’ll all fight for Miss Flora again. But of course, everyone should have an equal chance first. Until then, let’s work together.”

Hmmm… I wonder if this is something they should be saying while I’m in the room…? Or rather, is it right for me to think that everyone wants to be my lover? It certainly sounds like that, doesn’t it?

At any rate, 4 out of 5 of my handful of female friends my age have come together to help rescue Alexandra.