Chapter 322: Play dumb

“uhmm…, is she going to be okay? Shouldn’t we help her?”

“Na, they get along fine. Everyone in my harem is like family; those three especially are very close. They’ll just have a chat, because Lily’s been making tasteless jokes lately.”

“Hum, well, if you say so. Okay, let’s get to what I came for…but out of curiosity, those three are your only partners, right?”

“…No.”

Well, I hesitated a bit, but in the end I decided to tell the truth. Mainly because I didn’t know what Aurora’s point was in coming here… although I found it curious that that was the first thing she asked.

“Wait! Is it true what Cordelia said earlier, that you’re dating her mother?”

“…Yes.”

BOOMM!

Again I hesitated to answer, since it wasn’t just my secret. But I guess it doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t get out that Astrid is Cordelia’s mother…or that I’m dating Astrid, even though she’s living with me. Those details haven’t come out.

Also, since Astrid said she wanted to keep up to date on what’s going on and join our meetings we now do it in her office when we finish practice and club activities.

I found it curious that I had just gotten rid of Selene’s pressure to bring Eira into my harem, only to be replaced shortly after by Astrid’s pressure to bring Cordelia in.

I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel that there is something fundamentally wrong with my harem. But since everyone and I are happy, I’m not going to make a big deal out of little details like that.

“Is there anyone else, like Silvia, Cordelia herself, or…. I don’t know, Alice or Elena?”

On the other hand, I don’t know what Aurora’s sudden questions are about.

“No!…Mmm…. I’m trying with Lys, though.”

Some say that omitting the truth is lying, but I think there are some things that are better left unsaid.

Luckily I was able to give a resounding no regarding Silvia. It’s her fault for asking right away.

“Well, that’s obvious! The whole group, maybe except Lys herself, notices it.”

“True, she’s a little hard on the romance thing, but I think Cordelia is another one.”

“Well, I also thought you were going after her and Silvia, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Oh, you’re quick on the uptake. Indeed, Silvia is just my friend. And Cordelia, well, I think it’s fruitless…just between you and me, I think men aren’t to her liking, at least romantically, just like you.”

“Hey, I told you it’s not like that.”

“…Yeah it’s not like that. Fiona-onee-san will be sad. I don’t know how you do it, but when she knows there was no interest, she’ll be sad.”

It’s not like from this side there’s anything conclusive that has given me to understand her tastes, and I’m not supposed to know, but since I know, I usually tease her.

Since she gets along with the onee-sans I usually use it to question her tastes, and since she thinks it’s just speculation on my part, she denies it.

“I didn’t come here to talk about that. I just wanted to confirm who you were dating, so I’d be prepared.”

“Rather, Aura, and by the way, why your sudden interest in my love life?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m getting at. I won’t beat around the bush. Christian Leonheard, I want you and I to formalize a relationship and possible engagement.”

“Oh, of course… not.”

Bang!!

Shit, she almost caught me off guard. I almost said yes.

I mean, I would accept without hesitation if I were Seraphina at this point, but I’m Chris. This was not a simple matter.

Between her and Chris there is just pure and simple friendship. I’m one hundred percent sure that Aurora’s tastes run solely towards women.

I checked, and she’s not even bisexual, so obviously there was something wrong here.

’I probably misheard…’

’Yes, that must be it.’

’Or we upset her so much that she went a little crazy and got confused.’

’Well, that would be a problem… more like, number 2: stay out of it and concentrate.’

’Oh, sorry, I was just paying attention to this side and it looked interesting. Well, things are at a climax here too, but it doesn’t seem dangerous for us.’

’Oh, that’s good. For now, let’s rectify it and see what he actually said.’

“This… Aurora, I think I misheard earlier, could you repeat that?”

After a quick mental chat, and having decided that we misheard, I wanted to rectify.

“Oh, so that’s why you turned me down? Well, you probably didn’t hear it right, but I said I wanted to start a formal relationship with you and…”

“Oh, well, then if I answered right: I refuse.”

It was a no-brainer, this was obviously not a good thing for me, and I was obviously going to refuse.

I couldn’t see it as anything but a ploy by Aurora. Now, what was the goal, is she probing me, a change of focus? I don’t know, but it’s definitely not from the point of view of a girl in love asking out the guy she likes.

She must be up to something. She’s crafty, but I can handle it. Whatever her goal is, I won’t be baffled and I won’t let her off that easy.

“Why do you reject me, is it because I’m not pretty, is that why you don’t want me in your harem?”

“…Uhm…”

I don’t know what she even wants me to answer, but she’s not going to get pity from me. I know she’s beautiful-very beautiful.

’umh, what to do’

’Provoke her. She tends to make her intentions clear when she gets hot.’

’Yes, that’s a good idea.’

My main self continued to help me. ’Aurora is very cunning, so I have to be cautious here. She wouldn’t do silly things for no reason, although sometimes it’s true that she tends to put too much spin on things.

’well, I’ll play dumb and provoke her, see what happens.’

“What’s the matter, say something!”

“Hum, well, I don’t know why you think I would accept at first… not to mention that I only see you as a friend… but as I told you, there is a…. how shall I put it…minimum standard, yes, that’s it. So I politely decline your proposal.”

“Huh? Are you serious?”

“Huh? Why do you look surprised? You are, to put it without any offense and not at all superficially, very simple.”

“….”

I played dumb. I used logic: it should be obvious from my point of view. I don’t know if she expects something like me to acknowledge that she’s beautiful, but if she wants to play a complicated game, I will too. I know that provoking her will make her fall first.

“You have to be a beauty like Lily or as cute as the twins. My tastes are high, so I think you should give up on me. Besides, you’re pretty skimpy in the boob department, but you seem to have potential in the ass, though I’d have to check it out, and only after that would I give it some thought.”

“Y-You pervert, you’re just like all the boys!”

“Hey, and that’s when I was stepping back and giving you a chance, but hey, your loss. It’s not like I’m thrilled to have someone as simple as you in my harem.”

I tried to provoke her even more to see if she was still persistent on this subject.

“Gh! You’re playing dumb, I know you know that! I heard that you and Seraphina have a kind of… unique… relationship, right?”

he seems to come with something on his mind, now I change the subject . Maybe he plans to confuse me, but he got the wrong person.

I can with this easily, Elena praised me by telling me that in playing dumb no one was better than me, it was one of her rare compliments.

“…Uhm, no. I’m just the son of one of her knights, and she sponsors me.”

“Can you stop telling lies, I understand approximately what you guys are up to. I just wanted to confirm that, can’t you answer me that much?”

“Oh, so you heard. Well, I’ll tell you.”

“Huh, no, wait, you don’t need to…!”

“Yeah, well, the truth is that I’m the eleventh prince of a neighboring country running away from the succession fight, and she helped me hide, because of our love since childhood, that’s why we must keep our true relationship a secret.”

“Huh, was that it, I didn’t think there was such a thing?”

“Nah, just kidding. For starters, none of the kingdoms have that many princes, and have you even heard of any successions in the works? What do you do when you go to the academy?”

“Fuck, Chris, stop being smart and talking nonsense, this is an important issue!”

“You’re the one talking nonsense. If you want to know what’s going on between me and Seraphina, she’ll tell you no problem. No, in fact I can tell you.”

If she wants to know, I’m always open to tell her; it’s she herself who makes it complicated on her own, going so far as to actively refuse, like Lily, even though I already told her I could tell her without any conditions.

Maybe she wants that wish I promised her as a reward if she guessed what was really going on, she seems seriously focused on my relationship with Chris, not that it’s a bad way to go, but it’s just the superficial of what my secrets are.

However, it’s fun to see her try, and her original hypotheses that she tells me, but all she has to do is ask me at any time and I’ll tell her, but she doesn’t. I think it’s just her stubbornness and that she took it as a personal challenge.

“No, I don’t think it will do any good even if you say something. I just want to understand how to proceed, based on what kind of relationship you two have. But I already think I get the idea, I’ll ask you again, I want you to be my romantic partner, with the possibility of marriage in the future.”

“No! What the hell, I told you no! Your face is too simple and-”

“And now?”

“…”

Suddenly the situation changed, and I was a little surprised. Aurora transformed and returned to her beautiful base appearance.

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