Chapter 3 : The Easily Flustered Miss Lucia

Sheffil had never been particularly interested in romances between girls.

Sometimes, he thought that if he were like the other members of Dorothy’s fan club—those who got a thrill out of watching girls cuddle up to each other—his life might’ve been a lot easier.

At the very least, he might’ve had more fun reading through the 1,500 yuri novels and comics in the countryside library, which he’d dutifully combed through for Dorothy’s sake.

But, in truth, there was something entertaining in all of it.

Sheffil loved—absolutely adored—the moments when a girl, who had done everything she could to climb her way up the romantic hierarchy, ended up with nothing but a forced smile and a bitter, “Well, I guess it’s fine this way.”

Even though he always voted for that kind of character in popularity polls, and even bought all her merchandise, Sheffil couldn’t deny the rush of satisfaction he felt whenever she cried, unable to triumph over the main heroine.

It was a kind of harvest season in his heart.

The term “lady,” he learned after enrolling at Jadecrest Academy, was one he picked up from other fans of yuri.

Among them, the messy entanglements between three or more girls were called “twists,” and the unlucky girl who always lost was respectfully given some variation of the title “Lady So-and-so.”

The label changed depending on the era or fandom, which left Sheffil rather impressed by the creative energy of city-dwellers.

And the girl standing in front of him—Lucia Vivian—was, in his eyes, one of those unfortunate ladies.

In the chaotic war for Dorothy’s affection, she hadn’t completely lost yet, but she was definitely on her last breath.

Sheffil affectionately called her “Lady Lucia.”

Thanks to his high standing within Dorothy’s fan club, that nickname had even become the group’s official term for her.

“‘Lady Lucia’? Sheffil, that’s so rude,” Dorothy said, lightly elbowing him as she landed softly beside them.

With a beaming smile, she turned to Lucia.

“What a coincidence, running into you here! Are you out shopping?”

Lucia had been ready to argue with Sheffil, but once she saw Dorothy walking over, she couldn’t be bothered.

She raised the bag in her hand and replied, “My mom sent me out to pick up a few things. I was just heading home when I saw you.”

“What about you two? What brings you here?” She glanced around. “Isn’t Jianle with you today?”

In her mind, Dorothy was almost always flanked by Sheffil and Jianle.

Every time Lucia tried to ask Dorothy out—just to hang out—those two were there, making it hard for her to say anything.

“Oh, Jianle had something to do today. We’re heading to the train station to pick someone up. Sheffil and I agreed to meet here first,” Dorothy explained without a second thought. Sheffil really wished she’d be a little more guarded in social situations.

“Now that I think about it, Lucia, doesn’t your house happen to be near the station?”

Sheffil suddenly chimed in after a long silence, stepping up behind Dorothy.

Lucia looked genuinely startled.

“Wait… How do you know where I live? I’m pretty sure I never told you.”

“You forgot,” Sheffil said casually.

“You mentioned it during your self-introduction in class last year.”

Dorothy’s glare hit him like a needle, but Sheffil ignored it.

Don’t be mad, dummy.

I’m doing this to help you increase your favorability score with her.

“Wow, memorizing a girl’s home address that clearly? If someone’s house gets robbed, I’m reporting you first.”

“Heh. Not everyone forgets things five minutes after hearing them, like you. It’s not that hard to remember a single address.”

Of course, in truth, Sheffil hadn’t remembered anything.

He only knew it thanks to his favorability tracking system—basically, a glorified yuri harem database for Dorothy.

Unlike the cool systems in normal light novels or manga, this one had no missions, no rewards, and barely any features aside from names and fluctuating favorability scores.

He had to manually input all the data himself based on conversations or information he picked up elsewhere.

Sometimes, the system would even glitch out—showing 12-year-old girls who were six feet tall with four ex-girlfriends.

Even the pigs he raised back home were smarter than this thing.

“Anyway, aren’t we supposed to be going? Lady—uh, Lucia, want to come with us?”

“Huh? I thought you two had plans…”

“It’s on the way. Right, Dorothy?”

Without waiting for her answer, Sheffil reached out and pressed down the brim of Dorothy’s hat.

“Blergh! Don’t mess with me. Hmph. Come on, Lucia, let’s go.”

Dorothy kicked him lightly in the shin, then looped her arm through Lucia’s and marched forward.

Lucia, caught off guard, stumbled along with a dazed expression.

Sheffil chuckled and followed a few steps behind them. His hands weren’t idle, though—he pulled up the system interface and opened Lucia’s profile.

> Lucia

Favorability: 76/100

(Status: Admiration)

Not bad progress.

Though Sheffil still supported Jianle as Dorothy’s main girl, he knew that if Dorothy wanted to build a full harem, he couldn’t play favorites.

His role was to help generate favorability events without tipping things into a full-on yuri battlefield.

Still, once in a while, he couldn’t help stirring up a little drama for fun—watching Dorothy scramble or seeing the “ladies” fall apart was too entertaining to resist.

Of course, Dorothy had no idea about any of this.

But Sheffil genuinely wanted to help her build a beautiful harem of girls, so he felt no guilt at all.

In fact, he was having a blast.

“Eh? Dorothy, are you planning to take on an apprentice?”

“Shhh! Not so loud—it’s just a maybe, okay? A preliminary maybe,” Dorothy whispered, quickly pressing her finger against the lips of the young girl in front of her.

Lucia’s face flushed a soft pink.

Seeing that, Dorothy let her hand fall and glanced behind at Sheffil, who looked like he was spacing out.

In a hushed voice, she added, “I only said that to spare her feelings. I’m the grand Word Witch—my standards are very high.”

She puffed out her chest proudly as she folded her arms.

“Yeah, yeah, Witch-sama. But I’m not losing to you this year.”

“Hmph! I welcome the challenge~ Ah! Lucia, I want this!”

“You’ll see. Hey, eating honey cake every day will make you fat. Here.”

“You’re the best, Lucia. Not like Sheffil—he chases me around for eating snacks.”

Dorothy grinned and happily bit into the cake Lucia had handed her.

The best, huh?

It was probably just something she said casually between friends.

But even so, those words made Lucia’s heart flutter.

“Wipe your drool, Lady Lucia.”

Sheffil’s teasing voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“You two look like you’re already planning how many kids you want.”

“Kids? What kids?”

“Wasn’t talking to you. Eat your cake.”

He pressed Dorothy’s hat back down, covering her eyes once again.

“So, what’s going on?”

Unable to fight him off, Dorothy gave up and continued munching her honey cake, eyes hidden under the brim.

“Yeah, what’s going on, indeed.”

Sheffil smirked as he looked at the now silent Lucia, whose face was burning red.

Thanks to him, her flustered expression had gone completely unnoticed by Dorothy.

But if Lucia’s favorability kept going up this easily, she’d be the first one to expose her feelings in this messy harem war.

Sheffil thought so, at least—and only let go of Dorothy’s hat after Lucia’s face had finally stopped glowing.