Yet Another Competitor
"...Who are you?"
"Please do not joke around, my lord."
Is that really Silvia?
The Silvia I know?
The moment I came face to face with her—dressed in a gown so long it dragged along the floor, its fabric clinging so tightly that every curve of her silhouette stood out in stark relief—I was left completely speechless.
"You. Did you drop weight already?"
"...You really do have a talent for saying the most rude things as if they were nothing."
Hadn't Silvia always carried a fair bit of softness on her frame?
If the memory of burying myself against her when we were swallowed by that ant colony was anything to go by, that was definitely the texture I remembered.
Yet in a dress that laid her figure bare like this, there was not a single scrap of excess flesh to be found. The lines of her body were clean, sculpted, absolute.
A bold plunge that cut all the way down her back to just above her hips. The scrap of fabric covering her chest hung from her neck alone, artfully concealing the mark of my brand. And those well-honed muscles of her back—she seemed to be deliberately relaxing them, yet even so the underlying form was unmistakable, still more than enough to stir a man's envy and admiration.
It was a beauty so complete I couldn't even find the heart to mock it.
Like a statue, almost.
Charlotte and Yulia simply didn't possess those ideal curves. Silvia did.
"Still, this is a bit much. Have you forgotten the nature of the mission you were given?"
"I understand it perfectly, and I chose this attire with that very point in mind. I judged that we would need to draw a moderate amount of attention."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Until now, House Belmont has maintained a policy of complete silence on the public stage—never showing its face at official functions. For a house like that to suddenly appear at an event like this simply because His Majesty the Emperor extended an invitation... it would still look far too suspicious. Would it not be far more natural if we attended as though you had brought along a lovely lady purely to show her off?"
"A lovely lady, you say. Are you referring to yourself by any chance?"
"It is a perfectly self-evident fact. Isn't that right, girls?"
"That's right! Knight big-sis, you look so pretty dressed up like this!"
"I was startled too. You look like the daughter of some high-ranking noble."
"..."
Buoyed by Charlotte and Yulia's barrage of praise, Silvia puffed up even further, radiating smug confidence.
The sheer shamelessness of her tone was grating, but...
There was a grain of truth in what she said.
Plenty of people would already be wondering why Aslan Belmont had suddenly begun engaging in external affairs. Reinhardt, in particular, would be watching me like a hawk. When every scrap of justification mattered for diluting suspicion, her reasoning held water.
I don't have a single good counterargument.
Watching her praise herself so brazenly was unsightly, yet I still couldn't refute her.
Because today's Silvia truly was radiating a refined, classical beauty.
How someone whose every other sense of style was a complete disaster could possess such impeccable fashion sense remained an utter mystery. Perhaps it was simply that she had spent so long wrapped up tight or buried in plain clothes that never emphasized her figure. With her lines laid bare like this, she looked like a completely different person.
"I still have not heard my lord's appraisal. Please do not try to brush this off with some half-hearted remark—give me your honest thoughts."
"..."
Silvia fixed me with a leisurely little smile, waiting.
This brat.
I suddenly wanted nothing more than to snap that soaring nose of hers clean in half.
"Well, knowing my lord, you will no doubt say something you don't even mean and start sneering, as usua—"
"You are extremely beautiful, Silvia. I always thought you carried a fair amount of flesh, but looking at you like this, that isn't entirely the case. The bold exposure has revealed a fine layer of residual muscle, paired with curves that verge on excessive—together they create a distinctly feminine beauty. And those back muscles... no matter how many times I look, they drive a man mad. I find myself wondering, with genuine excitement, what they would look like if you tensed them. Clothes really are the wings of a person. That old saying fits you perfectly."
"Ah? Uh? Eh? Hm...?"
"What is it?"
"N-nothing... It's nothing... I mean... really... it's nothing at all..."
She had asked for an honest appraisal, so I had given her exactly what she wanted.
Silvia froze in place, looking thoroughly flustered, and then a slow flush began to climb up her face. When I took a single step closer, she fumbled and twisted away, desperately avoiding my gaze.
All that earlier swagger had vanished without a trace. The only Silvia left was one frantically trying to hide an expression that had turned beet red.
"...!"
"...!!!"
Yet there were others who seemed even more shocked than Silvia herself.
The maids peeking in from the corridor all stood there with their mouths hanging open in pure astonishment. The instant their eyes met mine, they bolted, huddling together further down the hall and whispering furiously among themselves.
...I had a sinking feeling that yet another strange rumor was about to start circulating.
Evil God Kali warns you about your careless words and actions.
Ah. What about Charlotte and Yulia?
Kali's jab finally made me realize the danger. I had been worried they might have gotten a little sulky after hearing me praise Silvia so thoroughly.
I whipped around to check—only to find Charlotte and Yulia showing no particular signs of agitation.
Thank goodness.
If Charlotte and Yulia had been disappointed in me, the heartbreak alone might have killed me on the spot.
"Um, that is... my lord..."
"Speak."
"My face is burning so much... I will go wash up and redo my makeup..."
"..."
Silvia fled in a flustered scramble, slamming the door behind her.
After a brief silence, Charlotte opened her mouth.
"Mister made Knight big-sis cry!"
"No I didn't."
Evil God Kali is fretting restlessly.
Oh no...
It seemed a completely different misunderstanding had taken root instead.
While we waited for Silvia to return, a brief lull settled over the room.
Charlotte and Yulia only managed to escape after the maids had drilled into their ears—until they were practically calloused—that they must take absolute care not to ruin their dresses or hair ornaments.
The moment they were free, the two of them fled to a spot safely out of Aslan's line of sight and convened an emergency meeting.
"Wh-what do we do!? Knight big-sis was already pretty, but now that she's all dressed up she's way prettier!"
"Even Aslan was shocked. A formidable rival has appeared..."
They had always thought Silvia was far too beautiful to be wasted as a mere bodyguard knight. But confronting her after she had properly adorned herself left them both open-mouthed in awe.
Normally she wore nothing but clothes that were easy to move in—mostly pants with belts so she could keep a sword at her hip. Now that she no longer needed to carry a blade, she had apparently chosen a dress that fully showcased her feminine charm.
Even they had been left breathless with admiration. What about Aslan, who was a man?
The instant that thought struck them, Charlotte and Yulia were sucked into a swirling vortex of crisis the likes of which they had never experienced before.
"We're doomed! Knight big-sis used to handicap herself by always looking all rough and casual, but now that she's started dressing up, I can't see any way to win!"
"N-no, Lady Silvia probably doesn't have any intention of seducing Aslan, so..."
"Stop running from reality! Face it head-on! Yulia, you're in danger of getting pushed aside by Knight big-sis right now! In terms of feminine charm, she's going to be way stronger than us for at least the next five years!"
"...!"
Yulia's pupils, which had been whispering it'll be fine, it'll be fine deep inside, began to tremble.
Charlotte was right.
Silvia already possessed a fully mature adult body, with every aspect of her feminine allure in full bloom. They, on the other hand, still had a long way to go before they finished growing. There was not even a guarantee they would surpass Silvia once they did.
Could they ever hope to overcome that bursting chest, that cinched waist, those flaring hips—and especially those back muscles that Aslan had been practically drooling over?
No matter how they looked at it, their chances of victory were vanishingly slim!
Forced to stare reality dead in the face, Yulia went blank with shock.
"We can only... lose..."
"I told you to face reality, not give up! Snap out of it, Yulia!"
"Uuuugh..."
Charlotte grabbed the shoulders of the completely demoralized Yulia and shook her hard. Even so, Yulia showed no sign of recovering her spirit.
Ah. This was hopeless.
She had run headlong into an overwhelmingly powerful enemy and sunk into pure helplessness. At this rate she would stay like this for a while.
Charlotte was just about to give up and let go of Yulia with a heavy sigh when—
"Ah!? Yuri's here!"
"Uh, y-yeah..."
"Not 'yeah'! Let's go meet her right now!"
Charlotte's sharp ears had caught a sound from outside. She seized the limp Yulia's hand and started running.
"Aaaah! Unlike you, my dress is way too big—I can't run in this...!"
"Then I'll just carry you!"
"Hgyak!?"
In one smooth motion Charlotte scooped Yulia up and thundered down the stairs.
Held in Charlotte's arms, Yulia felt an enormous downward acceleration that left her body floating for a moment as if weightless. Every time they spun half a turn and plunged down another flight, Yulia's screams rang through the entire mansion. It felt exactly like being flung off a cliff over and over again.
After an experience she never wanted to repeat, Charlotte and Yulia finally burst outside—only to be greeted by the sight of:
"Ah."
"Another competitor...!"
Aslan, kneeling on one knee in the dirt, carefully tying Yuri's hair.
And Yuri herself, wearing a complicated expression that did not look entirely displeased.