With Roswyn’s adorable display coming to an end, the second round concluded.
“The top three are… Miss Serena, Miss Ruby, and Miss Roswyn.”
The winners of the second round stood before me, each with different expressions on their faces.
Serena looked uncharacteristically anxious as she glanced at Roswyn, while Ruby also shot occasional glances her way while pretending to be calm.
Roswyn, holding the results sheet with a confused expression, asked Kania.
“Why… why me? I-I just acted silly?”
Hearing that, Kania briefly showed a displeased expression, gritting her teeth.
“It’s strange! I could have sworn I made his heart race like crazy…”
“It’s based on average heart rate. In Ferloche’s case, she spiked the heart rate, but then the Young Master’s heart temporarily stopped, which lowered her ranking.”
Kania, having regained her poker face, responded to Ferloche’s question.
Wait, did I just hear that right?
“The others were also penalized for similar reasons.”
As the heroines around me showed expressions of disappointment, I stared at Kania in disbelief and asked a question.
“So… what’s the next round?”
“Yes, Young Master. The next round is a dress code competition.”
“Is there another round after that?”
“Of course. The following round is a ballroom dance competition.”
It seemed that none of them were planning to let me go anytime soon.
“…So, what’s planned for the very last round?”
“Why are you suddenly asking?”
“I’m just curious. Usually, the last event is the biggest, right?”
“…That’s a secret, Young Master.”
It looked like they had already decided what that final event would be.
Well, in that case, I have my own plans.
“Then, let’s head to the dressing room.”
I stood up and glanced through the slightly open door.
“As I mentioned earlier, this round is the dress code competition.”
More precisely, I looked toward the window where Glare had been standing while we were talking earlier.
“You just need to choose the outfit you like the most… Young Master?”
I trusted the little one was moving according to my request by now.
“Ah, yes. I’m coming.”
It’s time to turn the tables.
“…Only the final competition remains.”
In the hotel lobby, the nine heroines gathered, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
“It’s about time we start, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, it’s time to get things going.”
Serena and Ruby exchanged fiery gazes in the tense silence.
Meanwhile, Roswyn, still dazed and confused, stood beside them.
“Are we already past our prime?”
Clana stared blankly at the top three before asked nervously.
“Ahhh I want to rape him.”
Irina muttered with tired eyes, Kania remained stoically silent in fourth place, and Ferloche smirked while spouting dirty jokes.
“If only I were ten years… no, five years younger…”
Isolet, slumped on the sofa, mumbled while Lulu quietly tied a leash around her own neck, attaching it to the leg of the sofa.
In the gloomy atmosphere, Roswyn trembled as she quietly muttered.
“W-Why am I ranked so high…?”
Although she was third, behind Serena and Ruby, the score differences among the top three were slim enough that the final round could change everything.
“Should I really be in this spot?”
Feeling the ominous stares of the heroines behind her, Roswyn murmured in a mix of happiness and confusion.
“Now, as for the theme of the final competition…”
“…I have a proposal.”
Suddenly, Kania, who had approached unnoticed, began making a suggestion to both Serena and Ruby.
“What is it, Miss Sly Cat?”
“We’ve had plenty of competitions so far, but I feel like we’ve been missing something important.”
Serena, casting a wary glance at Kania, tried to keep her in check with a low voice, but Kania calmly continued without flinching.
“How about we make the final competition about who can satisfy the Young Master the most?”
“…What exactly do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. After all, didn’t we all agree on this?”
Hearing this, the heroines’ expressions grew more serious.
“That was something we agreed to do after all the competitions were over, at a more leisurely pace…”
“Are you scared of losing?”
Serena, who had been trying to dismiss Kania’s suggestion, furrowed her brow at her taunt.
“I hear you’re rather… lackluster.”
“Rumors tend to be exaggerated.”
“Even so, there’s no way you could beat me.”
Serena, now face-to-face with Kania, caressed her swollen belly as she whispered.
“In any case, the first son and daughter are mine.”
As their gazes, one like moonlight and the other pitch black, locked, sparks began to fly.
“Alright, that sounds good. I accept.”
Suddenly, Ruby interrupted their conversation.
“Does everyone agree to make this the final competition’s theme?”
“Well, I’m fine with it…”
“It’s more important than the other competitions, so the winner of the last round will essentially be the true winner.”
When Ruby posed the question to the gathered heroines, all nodded enthusiastically.
Except for Roswyn, who still wore a bewildered expression.
“In that case, we’ll have to delay the final competition for a few weeks.”
After glancing at Roswyn, Ruby answered the heroines’ questions.
“Both Serena and I are about to give birth, aren’t we?”
The heroines nodded in understanding.
“So, we’ll take a short break until the final competition.”
Ruby, giving a sly wink to Serena, tried to calm everyone down, but—
“Where will we keep Frey in the meantime?”
“Obviously, here at the hotel.”
“Of course. If he runs away, we’ll be in big trouble.”
The heroines began exchanging sharp glances as they continued the discussion.
“Speaking of which, even though the final competition is postponed… shouldn’t we spend the night as we agreed?”
“We won’t get another chance for a while…”
The heroines’ eyes gleamed as they stood from their seats one by one.
“By the way, where is Frey right now?”
“Young Master, open the door.”
“Why are we suddenly playing hide and seek, Frey?”
Minutes later, the heroines gathered in front of Frey’s hotel room.
“We can all sense your presence, you know!”
“You’re surrounded!! Come out quietly, and we’ll be… gentle.”
“Ferloche, that’s kind of creepy.”
Gathered outside the room where they sensed Frey’s presence, the heroines knocked on the door, faces slightly flushed.
“Something’s strange.”
But amidst them, Lulu muttered quietly.
“Master’s scent, it seems… faint.”
“Alright! If you don’t come out, we’re coming in!”
However, her voice was drowned out by the excited shouts of the other heroines.
The door was swiftly broken down.
“Ferloche, please… huh?”
But Frey wasn’t there.
Instead, a silver cat, softly glowing with starlight, tilted its head at them from atop the bed.
“This is… Frey’s familiar.”
“Wait, there’s something stuck on its back.”
The heroines stared blankly at the familiar, who began licking its paws.
Soon, they noticed a note stuck to the cat’s back.
As they gazed dumbfounded at the familiar and the scribbled note featuring a mischievous face, a loud crash echoed from downstairs.
“Where is it? The lobby?”
“No! It’s coming from the entrance!!”
Realizing that the crash came from the entrance, the heroines hastily rushed out of the room.
In the blink of an eye, only Serena, who was smiling serenely, and Ruby, who had remained expressionless, were left in the room.
“Seeing how calm you are, I assume this was all part of your plan.”
When Ruby, stroking Frey’s familiar, spoke up, Serena smiled behind her fan.
“Well, I was the one who called the little one, after all.”
“By now, he’s probably already left through the shattered entrance.”
Serena smiled triumphantly as she glanced out the window.
She could see the carriage moving away in the distance.
“Everything is perfect. Just like always, everything is going according to plan…”
Ruby stood up and interrupted.
“Something’s not quite right.”
Serena tilted her head in confusion.
“Where is Roswyn right now?”
“Haven’t you noticed that Roswyn has been missing for a while?”
Serena let out a rare sound of bewilderment as her face fell.
Meanwhile, inside the moving carriage—
Glare snuggled against Frey, rubbing her cheek into his, while across from them, Roswyn sat, looking dumbfounded.
“Wh-what’s happening right now?”
No matter how much Roswyn thought, she couldn’t make sense of the situation, so she asked Frey with a bewildered voice.
“Oh, it’s nothing much.”
Frey responded with a relaxed smile as he continued to stroke Glare’s head and stretch her cheeks.
“I’m just doing what our ancestors used to do.”
“…And what would that be?”
As the sun began to set, the carriage quietly moved away from the hotel.
“Establishing dominance.”
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