“Good day, Byleth.”
“Good day to you. Byleth-sama.”
“Ah, good morning, you two. ……Wait! I apologize, Aria-sama. For being so overly familiar!”
Leaving Sia’s side as usual, the ones greeting him upon entering the classroom were these two.
Having replied with the same temperature as he did with Elena, Byleth ended up speaking in a rude manner.
“Ufufu, not at all. You may be at ease, I do not mind.”
“It helps if you say that……. Also, I am glad to see you looking well. Truly.”
“I have heard from Ele-chan. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“──And with a super serious face, too.”
“Wa- It’s too early to tease…… Elena.”
“It’s the truth, so it can’t be helped.”
Being exposed in front of the person herself was quite an embarrassing story.
Seeing Byleth weaken enough that it was audible in his voice, the one to throw him a lifeline was Aria, who owed him many debts of gratitude.
“I am sure she is just teasing inadvertently out of the happiness of seeing you, Byleth-sama. Especially since we have just returned from a holiday.”
“Wha!?”
“Hoh? Ho-ho. I see, I see.”
“……Y-You better fix that annoying face quickly or I’ll smack you.”
“You don’t have to say such violent things—”
Elena crossed her arms and applied pressure to match her sharp attitude, but the opponent was her lover, Byleth.
His expression remained one of being not at all displeased.
“You use too many unnecessary words. It’s a natural thing for lovers, yet you react too excessively.”
“No, well, it’s because I don’t hear those ‘natural words’ from you very often, Elena.”
“You say that like it’s not mutual. I mean, if you’re my lover, understand it through my attitude. If you don’t understand, make an effort to understand.”
“Uwah……”
“W-What is that reaction. It’s a reasonable demand, isn’t it?”
The two began bickering as soon as they saw each other.
Protecting the line where neither gets hurt, and the line where it doesn’t become unpleasant.
“……”
Perhaps because that fact was conveyed just by watching them.
While it was heartwarming, Aria once again felt envious.
She was told directly by Elena that she was [jealous], but witnessing a scene like this made the lines reverse.
Fully aware that she was changing the subject, she voiced that specific topic.
“I was relieved to see that you haven’t changed in front of us, Byleth-sama.”
“Ah, that is certainly as you say.”
“……H-Hmm?”
The bickering from moments ago ended with this single stone cast.
Byleth, tilting his head at the two who seemed to have communicated silently, was thrown a straight ball.
“To speak without hiding anything: Was there some problem with your date with Sia? That’s what we mean.”
“U-Um……. Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?”
“Your behavior has been strange since last week, after the date, hasn’t it? Like when Sia’s name is brought up, or when you were with Sia this morning. Even Aria-sama noticed your distant behavior.”
“I happened to see the two of you from the classroom window.”
“……”
He had intended to shoulder this matter alone and solve it alone.
Byleth initially tried to play dumb, but—upon receiving this pursuit, he revised his thinking.
It was the moment he realized that if he confessed honestly, he couldn’t gloss over it.
“Umm, I thought I was consciously hiding it though…… was it that obvious?”
“Someone who doesn’t have a connection with you wouldn’t know, but since even Aria-sama, seeing it for the first time, noticed, it must be quite significant in reality.”
“T-True……”
Given that Aria possessed only the information that he was [going on a date] and hadn’t attended school once last week, if she noticed something was off, then it was exactly as Elena said.
“I do not think asking about such things is highly recommended, but since you worried about me, I wanted to be of even a little help……”
“So she says? Byleth.”
“Haha, thank you so much for that……”
Being told words filled with emotion.
Wrapped in embarrassment and happiness, Byleth thanked them and moved his mouth while making eye contact with the two.
“However, um, the date itself was a success, or rather, I spent such a fun time with Sia that I forgot about the time.”
“Eh, is that so? Then there shouldn’t be any reason to become distant toward Sia, right?”
“That is true, but how do I put it…… like, a gap that I couldn’t imagine from the usual Sia? It’s like I was struck by that……”
The early morning hours──.
Being kissed multiple times in his sleep. He couldn’t really touch upon what happened then, and truthfully, it was still continuing now.
The reason he became particularly distant this morning was because of that. He couldn’t say that honestly, so he told them as much as he could.
“Ah! Just so there’s no misunderstanding, that gap didn’t appear unpleasant to me. Rather, it was something that made me happy, but……”
“So it means you were overwhelmed by Sia-chan’s unexpected side.”
“That is exactly it……. You could say I can’t quite sort out my thoughts.”
“Hah. Pull yourself together. Accepting those sides of her firmly is also your job.”
“Well, I have no words to return to that.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
Aria directed a smile that seemed to envelop him with softened eyes, and Elena looked at him with gentle eyes; Byleth agreed with a grimace.
“Well, if it’s at a level where you’re bottling it up that much, I think it would be wise to say what needs to be said and make time to sort it out. Sia herself might be unable to suppress her feelings because of the date incident.”
“Given her position, I imagine she suppresses various feelings on a daily basis, so it is a natural thing.”
“If I tell her…… do you think she’ll be hurt, or blame herself?”
This was what Byleth was most concerned about.
He just didn’t want to see a sad face.
“If she was rejected for physical contact, she would be hurt, but that’s not it, right? Then surely it will be fine.”
“If it is Sia-chan, surely she will understand your feelings.”
“I-Is that so……. That might be true.”
Because of the nature of the content, he had thought to solve it alone, but he realized that was a mistake.
As always, he should have relied on those he could rely on sooner.
“……Alright. I’ll try telling her properly today.”
Something he had given a muddy answer to the two about.
Not [to sort out his head], but [to maintain his reason].
“When you tell that girl, explain it with honest feelings, okay? No matter how embarrassing it is, it’s tens of times better than being misunderstood.”
“……It’s going to be a lame explanation, though. Really.”
“Oh? You can rest easy on that point. Since the number of people who came to greet you with your status was that, we can say it’s already sufficient.”
“Gh, Elenaaa?”
It was a fact he couldn’t refute, but there are things that shouldn’t be said.
Just as he directed a strong gaze while moving his eyebrows.
Elena was there, placing her index finger against her lips and blinking her eyes largely, turning her face toward Aria.
“W-What is that silencing gesture, or rather—”
He thought she would return a light remark with a triumphant fufun face, but Elena showed unexpected behavior.
As Byleth was unintentionally bewildered, Aria spoke, letting her genuine side show in her eyes.
“Actually, since Ele-chan was boasting about her lover earlier, she gestures that if I were to expose her, it would spoil everything.”
“I-I gestured for you not to say it, Aria-sama……! Besides, I wasn’t boasting, I just mentioned his good points, didn’t I!?”
“Ufufu, was that so?”
Elena closed the distance in an instant like a wild beast and began to resist, but Aria, who parried it easily, looked indescribably capable of enjoying herself.
Also, it was the perfect timing to retaliate for being teased with [Since the number of people who came to greet you with your status was that].
“Could it be, Elena, that you think of me more than I think~?”
Just as he tried saying it with a grin, secretly referencing Aria’s natural tone.
“Byleth, you absolutely must remain in the classroom after school today. If you run, I won’t let you off for free.”
“Ah……”
He saw Elena crossing her arms, emitting a heavy pressure as if a shadow had been cast over the upper half of her face.
“Oh my, oh my……. This is something where getting a lecture cannot be helped.”
“A-Aria-sama!?”
Aria, who should have been in his league until a moment ago, was on the other side before he noticed.
“Well then, looking forward to after school, Byleth. Hope you’re not dead before then.”
“T-That’s not a joke……”
“Then tremble and wait until after school.”
“That’s also not a joke……”
Elena completely dominated Byleth with her forceful aura.
It was likely because they had built an unmistakably equal relationship.
“……”
──In reality, if there were a difference in status, that would not be a normal conversation.
As Aria’s own family proved, it is not rare for a relationship between husband and wife to be one of obedience.
Because Aria lived in a stiff, suffocating environment, she had unconsciously come to desire a relationship where she could interact as her true self, unaffected by status and unbound by formality.
“…………”
What embodied Aria’s ideal was undoubtedly due to the existence of Byleth, who possessed a tolerant heart and cherished each and every one of his lovers.
“H-Hey, Elena. I’ll apologize for earlier!”
“I’ll listen to you after school. After school, okay?”
Aria realized that the longer she stayed between the two of them, the more she was wrapped in warm feelings, but simultaneously, her envy piled up.
Aria found herself inevitably directing this feeling of jealousy toward Elena, who had caught such a wonderful member of the opposite sex.
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