After that, everything became a mess.

After confirming the identities of the assailants, we discovered that they were indeed pirates. Zeldo agreed to cooperate with the investigation. He said a base might be nearby.

So, the atmosphere was such that we had to retreat quickly from that dangerous place. When we said our farewells, Zeldo’s shoulders were slumped.

“I’m so sorry… You came all the way here only to be put in such a perilous situation… I really am a pathetic man.”

“What a shame. Forgive me for not being able to help you eliminate the pirates in the end.”

When I bowed, Prince Zafield tapped me on the shoulder.

“No, it’ll be strange for a young lady to directly help with pirate extermination… Regardless, Lord Isaac, please don’t worry about this. It’s my fault for taking my eyes off Lelouche and her companions while they were enjoying themselves. As soon as I return to the mansion, I’ll report back to the castle and ask for reinforcements.”

“Thank you.”

We exchanged such an unsatisfactory farewell.

We were rocked in the carriage on the way home again.

As soon as we entered the carriage, Lumiere started snoring. I did force her to get up early this morning. She must’ve been exhausted from being on edge all the time. Her coral-colored hair looked even more vivid in the twilight that streamed in. Her sleeping face was quite comical, though.

I lightly pinched her cute nose, and she made a silly ‘fugo…’ noise.

After pulling that prank on her, I smiled at Prince Zafield who was staring at me with a bored expression on his face.

“Please report today’s events to Prince Sazanjill.”

“…About how you had an affair with Lord Isaac?”

Ah, Prince Zafield was like that, wasn’t he? To focus on that instead of the pirate incident. Maybe he was quick-witted, or maybe he knew my thoughts really well.

So, I was sure that there was no need to tell him anything.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

“I thought you were going to pitch her to Lord Isaac as a bride-to-be?”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t… Either way, I was on the right track, wasn’t I?”

Then, I praised Prince Zafield, but his expression didn’t brighten at all.

“Just who is the sneaky one…”

I pretended not to hear what he said.

As I was gazing outside, I saw a crescent-shaped beach.

Is that the aforementioned beach?

If that was the place, I definitely wanted to visit it at least once. And if I could, I’d like to walk there barefoot. I bet it’d feel really nice.

As I was thinking about that, Lumiere leaned against my shoulder.

I continued to gaze at the distant, gorgeous coastline.

…And then, that night.

God was leaning forward more than usual.

“Someone is into playing around with guys~”

“Oh? Are you displeased?”

I put my hand over my mouth and smiled as usual. God was staring at me. Unusually, he didn’t look flustered or embarrassed.

“…Was it on purpose? To make the two princes dislike you?”

“Fufu, I thought being a ‘devil’ was one of the hobbies of a villainess, but… It was quite difficult.”

Because of that, I ended up putting Lumiere in danger. I needed to make up for that mistake soon…

However, the exam retake was coming up this weekend.

Tonight, I’d been reading through various reference books and notes while talking with god, but… as expected, I still couldn’t solve the problem I had been struggling with since yesterday.

This is troublesome… I hate leaving things unsolved… Also, I felt like it was going to come out. Somehow.

Even though I was focusing on my studies, god still glared at me.

“You’re really going that far?”

“…There’s also the bet from last night. I don’t want to lick god’s feet if possible.”

“But you rescued the Thieving Cat yourself, didn’t you? If you really wanted to woo the knight, you should’ve cried for help—”

Suddenly, I clapped my hands together to cut off this boring conversation.

“Anyway, god, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“I have a really bad feeling about this, but the rumor about the beach is true. It was just the folly of youth—”

“Can you hold me in your arms, god?”

“…what?”

God’s golden eyes widened. I put down my pen and raised my finger.

“Today, Sir Zeldo held me in his arms, didn’t he? Sir Zeldo and god are about the same height. But somehow, god doesn’t seem capable of doing the same.”

“what?”

Hehe.

God’s shapely eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. That was how it should be.

“Well, god, you may be tall and skinny, but you don’t seem to have much muscle? So, I think you’re just lanky and scrawny, and not very strong—”

“—How rude! I can hold you, alright! I’m as big as you!”

“Really?”

I stood up and spread my arms near god.

If you can, then go ahead and do it.

I looked down at him provocatively, and god stood up. He put his hands on my knees and back.

“Also, no supernatural powers.”

“As if I’d do something sneaky like that.”

With a “heave-ho!” my feet left the ground.

Oh, he can hold me properly. His arms and legs don’t seem to be shaking.

“How is it, Your Highness?” he asked, without any awkwardness in his face.

But still… as for the ride, it was less stable than Zeldo’s.

So, even though it looked a little exaggerated, I tried to wrap my arms around god’s neck.

“Ahh, I’m scared~~~♡”

“You seem to be having a lot of fun.”

He can tell I’m acting despite my skillful performance?

I pressed my body even closer to him and pouted.

“And here I was hoping to make god all riled up in my own way.”

“Why would you?!”

“Because you weren’t amused by me toying with Sir Zeldo, were you?”

God didn’t reply.

I looked up at him, and he purposefully averted his gaze from me.

Hehe, how cute.

So, I leaned even closer to god’s chest.

“How is it? Is your heart beating so fast that it hurts?”

“Well, I suppose it does. It hurts seeing you try so hard to act cheerful.”

“…God is really boring.”

I jumped off him and returned to my seat.

…What’s with him? Saying that was just unnecessary.

If you’re going to show kindness to some random couple, then you don’t have to be mean and stir up my anxiety…

Sulking, I picked up my pen again. God sat in his chair, resting his chin on his hand.

“This is my complete victory. Go and ask the first prince to teach you how to solve the problem tomorrow.”

“Don’t be so selfish.”

“I’m a god, therefore I’m selfish.”

…Come on, no god spoke in such a cutesy way.

Also, don’t look at me with such gentle eyes. It’s distracting.

---

***T/N: God can be mature too?!

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