She couldn't understand... why she was acting like this.
Even if she'd been done like that by him, she wouldn't say she hated Hachiman, but she should at least keep her distance. Yet right now she was acting like a total degenerate.
"That's settled then. Charlotte and La Folia's time is almost up. After one more round, Falma and Nina, you can go keep Hachiman company."
Seeing the state of Momo and Nana, Lala, who had always wanted them to experience the happiness she'd found, wasn't surprised at all. In fact, she spoke like a seasoned veteran, whispering in their ears about Hachiman's various "preferences."
It was just love at first sight, she understood.
They were three sisters. Since she loved Hachiman, it was only natural that Momo and Nana loved him too.
Didn't that just prove they were her dearest sisters?
Though Momo and Nana were already wearing empathy collars and could press the sync switch anytime, and Iris and the others often pushed new members to experience the sensation when bringing them in, Nana and Momo were her sisters. Since they'd realized their feelings for Hachiman on their own, she didn't plan to force them to experience her own feelings for him.
After all, just syncing without personally absorbing Hachiman's energy would only make the craving grow stronger with each sync.
"What are they doing?"
"Th-this is too shameless!"
Momo and Nana, unaware that Lala had already shown them mercy for being her sisters, listened to her advice while staring ahead, then suddenly stopped in their tracks and gasped.
"Are princesses in this world... a bit bold?"
Nina, Falma, Alice, and Shafi were likewise staring wide-eyed at Charlotte and La Folia, who had their legs wrapped around Hachiman's waist.
Since the game rules called for rotating every half hour, Nina and Falma, under Raphiel's signal, had already prepared to take over from Charlotte and La Folia.
But then Charlotte and La Folia had reached a sold-out stall with Hachiman, and the two silver-haired princesses suddenly undid their cravats and lay down together on the table.
The move completely stunned Shafi, Falma, and the others who had been following behind.
If they weren't mistaken, Charlotte and La Folia, the two silver-haired princesses, only had traces of Hachiman's aura on them, unlike Lala, who radiated a scent uniquely belonging to him from within. They should still be virgins.
Was their first time really going to be this bold and intense?
Then what were they supposed to do when their turn came? Copy Charlotte and La Folia?
"Charlotte, La Folia... are they really princesses?"
Yuigahama Yui, hanging at the very back in silence, kept turning her head to look at Yukinoshita Yukino, at a loss for words.
Asagami Fujino also quietly turned to glance at Yukinoshita Yukino, who had already undergone the magical girl awakening ceremony.
"Never mind how many minor princesses there are. Even if they're truly on par with an elf princess, so what? There are plenty of girls with high status in the club. Have you ever seen the president actively suck up to anyone?"
Yukinoshita Yukino remained quite calm about it. Her flat response left Yui momentarily speechless.
Come to think of it, that was true. So many demihumans were obedient to President Hachiman.
It wasn't hard to understand if one or two foreign princesses wanted to win him over by being bold and passionate, maybe foreigners were just that open-minded.
Coming from an ordinary family, Yuigahama Yui thought any rich heiress was impressive, let alone a princess.
Yukinoshita Yukino, as a councilman's daughter caught in an awkward middle-ground position, could empathize with these princesses' predicaments.
Because while these foreign princesses appeared noble and high-status, their actual situation was just as awkward as hers, or even worse than the Yukinoshita family, which had seized the initiative and could enter a rapid growth phase at any time.
Not to mention the various service games held at the Service Club late at night, even at Soubu High, in the student council office, she had offered herself to Hachiman alongside Saegusa Mayumi and Shiba Miyuki.
Although Hachiman had remained calm throughout, his childhood friend and student council president Kaede, Elf Princess Iris, and the others had simply sat on the nearby sofa chatting while they waited.
From this, it was clear that playing games like this in public with invisibility magic... Hachiman must have done it often.
She really didn't want to take pride in such things, but thinking about how Charlotte and La Folia had only been able to kneel under the table last time, and how Falma, Nina, and the other princesses from other worlds hadn't even kissed Hachiman, she suddenly realized she was way ahead.
"Please, President Hachiman."
"President, please make us part of your harem."
Their silver hair spilled and intertwined across the tablecloth. Princess Charlotte and Silver Princess La Folia lay side by side on the table, facing up.
They both reached out their fair, well-proportioned arms toward Hachiman at the same time, their deep sapphire eyes fixed intently on him, eagerly awaiting his choice.
With a half-hour rotation, time was never enough.
A few whispered words here, a bit of chatting there, and their time would be just about up.
But what if they offered themselves to President Hachiman together right now?
They were in the middle of the one-day pretend fiancee game, the rules didn't forbid them from offering themselves.
If Falma and Nina wanted to take over now and not fall behind, they'd have to continue serving President Hachiman at the same standard. Otherwise Lala would surely give them low marks.
And if they hesitated too long, they'd just have to watch Charlotte and La Folia maintain their one-day fiancee status.
That's right, just like when they themselves had knelt under the table.
They wanted others to experience what they'd felt back then, forced to watch, unable to truly participate.
"So you're resorting to this method... looks like you're determined to win this game."
Seeing Charlotte and La Folia's undisguised intentions, Hachiman smiled wryly. He didn't leave them awkwardly hanging, gently pinching Charlotte's round cheek before leaning down to nibble on La Folia's pink, tempting lips.
He had to admit, these two had some clever ideas, using such an extreme approach to discourage the others.
He did genuinely like them both, and their personalities were quite similar to Lala's. He didn't need to scheme, and Lala would give them high marks anyway.
"Hmph! Doesn't President want us to win?"
"Don't worry, President. If anyone wants to join us, we won't refuse. There's still room under the table."
Seeing Nina, Falma, and the others indeed hesitate, Charlotte let out a light hum, while La Folia couldn't help but hug Hachiman tighter as he buried his face in her chest. The two exchanged glances, savoring the "on-the-table" treatment they'd envied so much last time.
Charlotte and La Folia, one innocent and carefree, the other sharp and clever.
Both were curious princesses who liked doing things their own way and had extraordinary initiative.
It was only because Hachiman's existence was too important, not someone they could tease or act willfully with, that they'd somewhat restrained their true natures.
Only after President Hachiman truly took them into his harem, making them among his queens, could they naturally show their personalities in front of him like Lala did.
Compared to others, they didn't feel they were lacking in any way.
President Hachiman didn't care about status or power anyway, maybe they could even form a princess clique with Lala and Iris.
———
"Sensei Eri Kashiwagi? Yes, you heard right. It's not even noon and everything's sold out. As always, the busty series is a huge hit, but this is the first time they've sold out this fast. I wish we'd prepared more, it's too late for a reprint now."
"Mm... they are your fans, quite pretty girls too, but they seem to have some special purpose."
"I just saw those girls sweep up a bunch of works from other circles too. They even bought that game from Flower that wasn't selling well."
Behind the stall table, a petite woman with a gentle temperament, twin tails, and a faint, elusive smile on her lips was reporting today's doujinshi sales to her daughter on her phone, while watching Lumilia, who was shopping with Marin Kitagawa not far away.
That face... wasn't that the elf princess's little sister?
Why was she here today?
"Mom? Why'd you suddenly stop talking?"
Just as Sawamura Sayuri was about to answer that she'd spotted a beautiful elf princess, she suddenly froze, staring at the table trembling in front of her.
She blinked her purple eyes and reached out to lightly touch the tablecloth, confirming the table was indeed shaking.
Stall tables usually weren't very stable, but now the merchandise was all cleared, and there was no one around and no wind, so why was it shaking like this?
"Eriri, let me ask you, do you think ghosts come out during the day?", Watching the tablecloth hanging at the edge tremble more and more violently, Sawamura Sayuri paused, then spoke slowly.
"Huh? Ghosts? What are you talking about?"
———
"Why be afraid of ghosts in broad daylight... just come back when you're done selling..."
"I'm going back to sleep... I have a party tonight..."
In a dim, spacious room, a blonde twin-tailed girl curled up in bed, her phone pressed to her cheek, eyes tightly shut, murmuring weakly.
With that, she stopped caring about the phone sliding away, buried her soft face in the pillow, pulled the covers over her head, and went back to sleep.
Though she was a massively popular creator of adult doujinshi, and every work she made was a hit, being a doujin artist required intense passion, and hitting deadlines was perfectly normal.
Compared to the good news of all her works selling out at the convention, she just wanted a good sleep after only a few hours of rest.
She wasn't old enough to sell doujinshi herself anyway, her fujoshi mother handled everything outside of creation, from printing to sales. She didn't need to worry about how sales went and could lazily attend school and have fun until the next deadline loomed.
But while her hobby-turned-job was done, her family obligations weren't. The Sawamura family had a banquet to attend tonight.
Normally, she rarely went to such gatherings, her family wasn't particularly influential, and her presence or absence didn't matter much.
But tonight's gathering wasn't ordinary. Not only would foreign princesses attend, but some groups with deep ties to foreign powers, including the Yotsuba Group, would also send representatives.
Word had it that quite a few of her new schoolmates would be there too, so she had to go with her mother and get acquainted with potential "allies."
Though her mother said there wouldn't be many people, just mothers bringing daughters, there was no doubt that every move at such high-society gatherings affected the factions behind them.
Just thinking about tonight's banquet, full of interest exchanges and having to put on airs as a proper young lady, made Sawamura Eriri's head hurt.
So annoying, and she had to transfer schools too.
She wondered if becoming a magical girl could speed up her drawing.
"Eriri..."
As Sawamura Eriri mumbled her way back to sleep, Sawamura Sayuri on the other end stared at the silent call screen and hung up with a resigned sigh.
Theoretically, the power struggles of these major groups had little to do with the Sawamura family. They were just relatively well-off, without financial worries, but compared to the big conglomerates and multinational corporations, they were far behind.
But because someone so extraordinary had appeared at Chiba's Soubu High, even the Sawamura family, with only one daughter, had been caught up in it, pulled in by some factions as a potential ally.
Sometimes, it wasn't about choosing not to get involved, if you didn't want to be on the table, you ended up on the table anyway.
Not to mention foreign powers, even the local Yukinoshita family in Chiba was forming its own little circle.
Being able to attend the gathering was already fortunate, many families couldn't even get in.
———
But for now, it seemed she had more immediate concerns, the supernatural occurrence in front of her.
Watching the empty table shake more violently, Sawamura Sayuri looked around and noticed no one else seemed to see anything unusual.
Not only did they not notice, no one even walked into the open space in front of her stall.
Every passerby at the convention unconsciously veered around that empty area, their gazes not lingering at all as they moved on to nearby stalls.
No, there was still that group with Elf Princess Lumilia.
Knowing Lumilia's identity, Sawamura Sayuri watched helplessly as Lumilia and Marin Kitagawa returned from another stall, walking side by side, then suddenly vanished just before reaching her, reappearing only after a long moment.
"Princess Lumilia!"
Seeing that Lumilia and Marin Kitagawa seemed ready to continue their shopping spree, but the table in front of her still wasn't stopping its shaking, Sawamura Sayuri couldn't help calling out to her.
"You are?"
Lumilia, still savoring the experience with a flushed face and a hand over her mouth, turned at the voice to look at Sawamura Sayuri. Marin Kitagawa, her knees red, also looked puzzled.
They'd been kneeling earlier with a poor view, so neither had noticed that this human woman behind the stall could actually see them.
"I'm Sawamura Sayuri of the Sawamura family. I've had the honor of seeing you and Princess Iris before. My daughter Eriri will be transferring to Soubu High next week. Might I ask, Princess Lumilia, are you here today with..."
After a brief introduction, Sawamura Sayuri looked between Lumilia and the table in front of her, hesitating.
Initially, she'd thought she was just lucky to spot Elf Princess Lumilia disguised as an ordinary person enjoying the convention with a friend. In that case, she hadn't wanted to intrude by exposing her identity.
But now... she couldn't help forming a bold suspicion.
Hachiman, who was closely connected to the elf princesses, was right beside her stall table.
"Ms. Sawamura, is it?"
Lumilia looked the twin-tailed woman up and down.
She hadn't expected that the stall owner she'd just bought from actually recognized her, especially since she was using magic to disguise her appearance, so Sawamura Sayuri shouldn't have been able to see her elven pointed ears.
Diplomatic matters were usually handled by her sister Iris, with Eiliege acting as her guard, Lumilia had only accompanied them to one or two public events.
She didn't remember who Sawamura Sayuri was exactly, but if the woman could recognize her, she must have genuinely seen her elven form before.
"Hm? This wristband... are you a club member too?"
As Lumilia studied her, she suddenly noticed a bit of pink peeking out from under Sawamura Sayuri's sleeve and nodded in understanding.
She herself had a perception filter similar to a magical girl's layered over her disguise magic. Ordinary people couldn't see her strange comings and goings through the magical barrier, but anyone wearing that distinct empathy wristband identifying them as one of their own wouldn't be affected.
"This was given to me by Kiyosei from the Yukinoshita family as a Service Club member perk. She said she hoped the Sawamura and Yukinoshita families would form an alliance, but I didn't agree. I can't take it off either."
Noticing Lumilia's gaze and understanding why she was the only one who'd noticed the anomaly, Sawamura Sayuri pulled up her sleeve slightly to show the pink wristband on her pale wrist, explaining as she did.
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