“You called me out just to embarrass me, didn’t you?! Huh?!”
“Ow ow ow ow! I’m sorry! Stop twisting my temples! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
Sheffil braced his hands against Dorothy’s forehead, twisting mercilessly as he spun her in place.
Trapped in his grip, Dorothy was helpless, reduced to squeals that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
“I only came here first because I found ‘The World,’ okay? I didn’t mean to ditch you… Ow ow ow ow!”
“Oh? And here I thought you managed to charm another girl in that short amount of time. So this is ‘The World,’ huh?”
Sheffil finally let go of the barely-human-shaped creature in his hands and turned to examine the black-haired girl standing before him.
Dorothy, now free, immediately dove into Lucia’s arms, whining about Sheffil’s crimes against her.
Miss Lu, could you please manage your facial expressions?
Honestly, you’re looking a little too much like a creep right now.
“Oh, I didn’t expect the person Father arranged to greet me would be the three of you. What a coincidence.”
The girl straightened up and bowed slightly. “My name is Tianxia,” she said.
“I’ve long admired the renowned Jadecrest Academy, which is why I arranged to transfer here.”
“Uh-huh… Dorothy, you’re the one who came to pick her up, not me.”
Sheffil yanked Dorothy out of Lucia’s warm embrace and planted her in front of Tianxia.
“This here’s Dorothy. She’s standing in for her teacher to welcome you.”
“Hello, I’m Dorothy. My teacher was a bit busy, so I came on his behalf.”
Instead of standing properly, Dorothy clung to Sheffil like a koala.
Just moments ago she had been glaring at him, but now she wore a bright, charming smile as she extended a hand to Tianxia.
Sheffil could practically see the cold sweat forming on both Lucia’s and Tianxia’s foreheads.
“I see, so this is what people from the Ober Empire are like?”
Tianxia murmured to herself, then returned Dorothy’s smile and shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Dorothy. I’ve heard a lot about you from Uncle Milles. You’re just as beautiful as he described.”
“Oh my, you’re too kind, Miss Tianxia. You’re also far cuter than I imagined.”
Dorothy chuckled and scratched her head.
It was an innocent gesture, but Sheffil, who understood this harem girl on a caretaker-level of depth, knew better.
If he had to put it crudely, he could tell Dorothy had already undressed the girl with her eyes from head to toe.
A beast’s gaze, confirmed.
“Wait a second—Dorothy’s teacher? You mean that Milles? The crystal magus? Miss Tianxia, you know him?”
Lucia, who had been completely out of the loop until now, finally caught up and stared in shock at the girl before her.
Tianxia turned toward Lucia, a visible question mark hovering above her head.
Who are you?
That’s exactly what her expression seemed to say.
Dorothy noticed and curiously chimed in, “Now that you mention it, I’ve never heard that mysterious old geezer from who-knows-where mention any close friends. Miss Tianxia, are you two close?”
“Not really,” Tianxia replied after tapping her chin in thought.
“I didn’t even get a red envelope from him last New Year.”
“A red envelope?”
Dorothy turned to Sheffil, her little eyes filled with confusion.
“Don’t look at me, I’ve got no clue.”
Sheffil let go of her, and Dorothy landed lightly on the ground, clearly used to this sort of treatment.
“Oh, right—this isn’t a custom in the Ober Empire.”
“So you are from the Ober—wait, Miss Tianxia, you really are…”
“Mhm, I’m from Chixia,” Tianxia said with a soft smile, nodding toward Lucia.
“Eh? You’re actually from Chixia? I’ve never seen one in person before…”
“Have you ever seen anyone from our Empire dress like that?”
Sheffil asked, glancing around at the gathering crowd.
Looks like Dorothy’s magic had worn off.
Again.
Thinking quickly, he said, “You should take Miss Tianxia and go. It’s not right to keep her waiting at the station.”
“Oh, good point.”
Dorothy smacked her forehead, just realizing. She gave an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, Miss Tianxia. I’ll take you to see the teacher right away. You must be exhausted from the train ride, and we just left you hanging.”
“It’s alright. Chatting with you has been very entertaining. And to be honest, I slept like a baby in the middle car. I’m full of energy now.”
“That’s the first-class cabin, isn’t it? Another rich girl, huh…”
Lucia muttered like a resentful housewife.
But the two girls deep in conversation paid her no mind.
She’d lost again, in the strangest way possible.
“Alright, Dorothy, you take Miss Tianxia. I won’t intrude—I’m heading out.”
Sheffil offered a casual goodbye and turned to leave.
Lucia hesitated, then realized she had no real reason to follow Dorothy to meet the legendary crystal grand magus, so she quickly caught up.
Dorothy didn’t seem to care.
She gave a small nod and walked off shoulder-to-shoulder with Tianxia.
“You know, if you’d just said, ‘I’m free right now, mind if I tag along for a bit?’ Dorothy would’ve been thrilled to take you along,” Sheffil said, hands in his pockets, strolling leisurely ahead.
The black-haired girl following behind flinched.
Realizing he was talking to her, Lucia turned her head and mumbled quietly:
“It’s not that easy to say something like that… I just don’t want to…”
“I just don’t want to be a burden to her. I don’t want her to think I’m annoying—right?”
Sheffil had heard of a Chixia proverb: ‘The one involved is lost, the onlooker is clear.’
He wasn’t part of Dorothy’s little harem battle royale, but he knew every member involved inside and out.
Thanks to the affection system, he understood these twisted girls better than they understood themselves—why they succeeded, why they failed.
Like Lucia, for instance.
Her biggest problem was that she cared more about what Dorothy thought of her than her own feelings.
Even if she vanished from Dorothy’s world entirely, she still wouldn’t want to leave behind a bad impression or cause her any trouble.
Romance Specialist Sheffil diagnosed: purebred loser.
“How did you…”
Lucia’s face went pale.
She stared at the boy she once thought was her biggest threat.
She’d always felt that Dorothy’s childhood friend could see right through her—but if he could even read her thoughts, then maybe…
“Hey, hey, I was just joking. Why do you look so horrified?” Sheffil laughed at the anxious girl’s expression.
“Eh?”
“What do you mean ‘eh’?
You looked like you really wanted to hang out with Dorothy, so I gave you a little advice.
She may act carefree, but she’s actually afraid of being alone,” he said, stopping at a crossroads.
Lucia stopped too, blinking at him in surprise.
“So if you want to go on a date with her, why not just ask?”
Sheffil flashed a mischievous grin as Lucia’s face turned beet red.
“I wasn’t thinking about dating her!”
“Haha, just kidding. Don’t get mad, Miss Lu,” he said, pointing toward the road on the right. “I’m heading this way. See you around, Miss Housewife~”
With that, Sheffil disappeared around a corner.
“What the hell?! Who just walks into someone like that?!”
“Who are you calling a housewife?!”
Lucia shouted after him, fuming, but it was too late to chase him.
All she could do was stew in place.
Oh well.
At least he didn’t discover her secret.
She could forgive him this once.
Besides, her mood had improved quite a bit…
She laughed at herself, wondering what she was even thinking, and slowly made her way home.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going, punk?! Are you blind or something?!”
Meanwhile, Sheffil stared at the seven muscleheads in front of him—each with a different color dyed into their hair—and felt cold sweat drip down his forehead.