Three Extremely Ordinary Girls

It had been quite some time since these three girls arrived in this world. Thinking that, the end of the first semester of their first year now left a strange sense of emptiness. It felt as though they had gone through so much, yet no proper character events or major story events had even begun. The only character event so far was the princess's, and even the large-scale event involving the Skill Thief had nothing to do with next week's re-examination, so it was effectively over. Yes, nothing had truly progressed yet.

"Two bad endings already."

Romance Academy was a game where you essentially never had to see a bad ending. No matter how much you played the field with the heroines—or rather, the male characters in this otome game—no matter how many times you died in combat, and no matter how many events you failed, you could always reach some kind of ending. However, there were still certain bad endings you had to watch out for.

They were the ones tied to favorability.

"Why did Ji-soo have to make the love interests yanderes……"

This game, filled to the brim with the creator's dark tastes, had almost no normal people. Liu Yen and Lane Arthur, who were originally just a supporting character and a villainess respectively, the princess, and even most of the male characters who served as heroines(?) all had strange personalities or pasts. It made sense for a game that needed to include such stimulating elements, but now that it was reality, they had become incredibly troublesome and annoying people. Well, I had more or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠less adapted to that by now……

Anyway, among the bad endings, any that listed "a certain level of favorability" as a condition had to be treated with extreme caution. It was all because my damn little sister's tastes ran toward obsession.

"They probably ended with confinement or kidnapping, right?"

If you maxed out a character's favorability through their events and then kept raising it anyway, a hidden(?) bad ending would trigger. Something along the lines of kidnapping and confinement……showing their obsessive side. So if a warning about a bad ending appeared, you had to be extremely careful with your actions. But there was a reason I wasn't particularly worried.

"I'm a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guy, after all."

I wasn't gay, so there was no way I'd max out the male characters' favorability, and the female characters' favorability was capped to begin with. In other words, since the maximum relationship you could have with them was friendship, there was no need to worry about those bad endings. No matter what I did, their favorability would never reach that threshold!

"If I remember correctly, the Cage was……Lucas, wasn't it?"

I think this warning appeared during the Skill Thief incident. I must have raised Lucas's favorability while helping Lane back then. After that, we started speaking casually and became friends, so that tracks. I have no idea what Catastrophe is. I hadn't seen all the bad endings to begin with, anyway.

"Namgung Min? Namgung Min!?"

"………Ah, my apologies. I got lost in thought again."

"Never mind that! At this distance, those two shouldn't be able to catch up──"

……Well, I understood that Princess Kim Eun-ha was worried about me. But it was completely unnecessary. Why were we even running from Liu Yen and Lane in the first place?

"Your Highness?"

"Yes?"

"Why……are we running away?"

"……You're right. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to explain the important part."

After glancing around to check if anyone was coming, the princess grabbed my shoulders with both hands and looked at me with a serious expression. What was this about? Why was she so grave?

"Liu Yen and Lane Arthur……have developed abnormal feelings toward you."

"Excuse me?"

"I heard them clearly. Lane Arthur said she would lock you in a cage, and Liu Yen said she would put you on display in a display case!"

Hmm……… I see.

"Did you……perhaps have something to drink?"

"It's true!"

"Uh, um. Your Highness? My shoulders are going to break!!"

When I let out a pained scream, the princess quickly let go, but I definitely heard a cracking sound. That wasn't a fracture, was it? Was there really a princess whose grip strength could crush shoulder bones? My chest felt strangely moved……

Anyway, after nodding at the princess's apologetic expression, I met her eyes. I had to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Your Highness, you're greatly misunderstanding the situation."

"A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding!? If you heard what those crazy women said, you'd understand!"

"……Let me be perfectly clear. Liu Yen and Lane are not crazy women."

"…………."

We were alone in a back alley. The princess suddenly seemed to look behind me, so I turned my head as well, but there was no one there except a trash can and a telephone pole. When I looked forward again, the princess's shoulders had gone stiff for some reason, so this time I grabbed them.

……Ow, my shoulders hurt.

"Liu Yen and Lane are my friends, Your Highness."

"But………"

"And I trust them more than anyone else in the world."

To be precise, they were the only people I knew in this world besides them. So saying I trusted them the most wasn't wrong!

"A cage, a display case……I understand that you were agitated, Your Highness, but there's no way they could actually confine me, right?"

"…………."

"………Well, if they really put their minds to it, maybe it would be possible. But either way, it won't happen."

Stop looking at me like you don't believe me. I couldn't exactly explain the favorability lock to Kim Eun-ha, so this was driving me crazy. Still, since she seemed to have such ridiculous misunderstandings about Liu Yen and Lane, I had to set the record straight.

"And honestly, even if they did try something like that, what would there be to worry about?"

"……Excuse me?"

"If they tried something that abnormal, wouldn't Your Highness stop them?"

"………Hah."

When I said it with a joking laugh, the princess finally let out a dry chuckle as well. My shoulders still hurt, but I managed to shrug anyway, and the princess nodded as if she had realized something.

"……You're right. I just have to protect you. You're a valuable talent who will work for the imperial family in the future……"

"Your Highness?"

"Thank you. I always end up relying on you."

"Not at all."

"……I'm sorry, but running for so long has made me a bit thirsty. Could you perhaps buy me some water nearby?"

"Ah, but I don't have any Italian money……"

"Here. You can keep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the change."

Clink.

Hmm, no matter how I looked at it, what she handed me was a gold coin. And she was telling me to buy a bottle of water with this and keep the change? Honestly, even this gold coin was far too much, but after hearing about buildings and private jets as gifts, it somehow seemed appropriate.

……There was a jewelry store on the way here, wasn't there?

"I'll be right back!"

What a windfall!

……Ah, but it's strange that the princess is thirsty after only running this much. By the way, why were Lane and the princess in Italy……

"Come out."

"…………."

"………"

"You were watching the whole time, weren't you? Namgung Min is gone. Exchanging that gold coin at the jewelry store will take quite a while."

The princess, who had been waving in the direction Namgung Min had run off in, muttered to someone with a smile still on her face. Once Namgung Min had disappeared from the alley, she hardened her smiling expression and turned around. Black hair and silver hair came into view, one each.

"…………."

"……………."

"I thought I ran pretty fast, but you're both quick."

"……Your Highness, what exactly are you thinking?"

"What do you mean, what am I thinking? I simply helped out for the sake of the future imperial fortune teller."

"…………."

Liu Yen and Lane Arthur had caught up before long. The two girls were breathing heavily, which was unusual for them, as they tried to steady their breathing. It was proof that they had chased after him in such ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hurry that they had pushed themselves to their limits.

"Honestly, as the princess of the Korean Empire, I want to order the two of you to stay away from Namgung Min right this instant."

"Oh? You're not calling us crazy women?"

"Would you like me to? Namgung Min showed consideration for you, so I'm showing consideration as well."

"………Tch."

"Don't click your tongue, Miss Liu."

Kim Eun-ha knew very well just how ugly the feelings these two harbored toward Namgung Min were. Good heavens, a cage? A display case? She could understand loving someone, but was the idea of locking up the person you loved something that came from a sane mind? The day she would understand their emotions would probably never come.

That was why Kim Eun-ha could treat them as if she were lecturing them.

"I understand that the two of you like Namgung Min, but there are still lines that must be drawn──"

"No."

"──Excuse me?"

"This feeling……is not love at all."

The reason Liu Yen and Lane remained silent even while listening to the princess's words was not because they were intimidated by her authority. It was simply because of what Namgung Min had said earlier while they were hiding in the alley. Because his words—that he trusted Liu Yen and Lane more than anyone else in the world—had struck their hearts so powerfully.

But precisely because of that, they had no choice but to react to words that arbitrarily judged their feelings toward Namgung Min.

"It's……not love?"

"Of course not."

To Lane, Namgung Min was the other half who could fill each other's weaknesses. To describe such an existence as mere love? Lane felt like laughing.

"Something as trivial as love cannot define it. No word can perfectly explain my feelings."

"…………."

"If I had to put it into words……perhaps deficiency?"

It was only natural for someone who was incomplete from birth to seek their other half. Because she felt lacking, she desired completeness. Perhaps Lane felt a sense of deficiency in the form of Namgung Min.

"Defi……ciency………"

"I feel the same way, Your Highness."

"Miss Liu."

"I do not love Namgung Min. I can say that with certainty."

To Liu Yen, Namgung Min was something precious she always wanted by her side. That was why she wanted to put him in a display case and look at him, touch him, feel him for the rest of her life. Because she wanted him so much, so madly, more than anything else, she wanted to make him hers alone. Liu Yen knew exactly what to call this feeling.

"This is possessiveness."

"……Good heavens."

"The desire to have him, to obtain him, to make him mine forever."

"………"

"Isn't Your Highness also trying to bring him into the imperial family because you feel possessiveness toward him?"

"Th-that's……"

"Wanting to have what you desire. Feeling possessiveness is a natural emotion. What's so strange about that?"

Liu Yen, the Great Wealthy, lived a life of possessiveness. Would a princess be any different? Liu Yen was pointing this out without the slightest hesitation.

"………You're insane."

Kim Eun-ha frowned. Just like Namgung Min had, she had wanted to respect them as much as possible because of their long-standing connection since childhood. But the emotions emanating from the wealthy heiress and the psychic, with one man between them, were far too dark and gloomy.

Kim Eun-ha unconsciously took a step back while gritting her teeth.

"Never."

"………"

"…………."

"I will never hand Namgung Min over to either of you."

He was a citizen of the Korean Empire and a capable talent who would work for the imperial family in the future. Beyond that simple justification, a desire to worry about Namgung Min as a fellow human being welled up within her. If Namgung Min fell into the hands of either of these two, she felt like she would never see that fortune teller again.

It was only natural, as Namgung Min's "friend."

"……I wonder about that, Your Highness. From what I can see, you're not so different either."

"That's an unpleasant thing to say, Miss Lane."

"For once, I agree with the vicious woman. Rather, it seems more dangerous to hand Namgung Min over to Your Highness. I have that feeling."

"Nonsense."

She did feel friendship and favor toward Namgung Min. She was aware of that herself. But if someone asked whether this would grow into love, she could only shake her head. Namgung Min wasn't the problem. The problem was the princess herself.

"……Someone like me, a parricide, has no right to have a lover."

No matter how desperately she tried to forget, the memory occasionally resurfaced. The terrible memory of killing her mother with her own hands—the mother who had stroked her hair and told her it was okay. As long as this memory dominated her, Kim Eun-ha could neither love anyone nor be worthy of being loved. And because she knew better than anyone that this memory would torment her for the rest of her life……

To the princess, love was worthless. That was why she could scoff at Liu Yen and Lane's words.

"Remember this. The only reason I am not stopping you—whether physically or socially—is because of Namgung Min's consideration."

"Yes, yes. I'll remember that~"

"As you say, Your Highness."

Those were the last words. No more conversation passed between them, and the three girls simply fell silent. Deficiency, possessiveness, and worthlessness. Three extremely ordinary girls who possessed emotions that were different yet fundamentally the same turned their backs on one another.

Until Namgung Min returned with water after exchanging the gold coin for money.

The three girls had simply come to realize each other's differences firsthand.