Good Changes, Bad Changes

“Have you… ever thought about having a girlfriend?”

At Tisha’s question, Kyle turned his head to look at her.

He didn’t ask “What?” He didn’t pretend he hadn’t heard properly and ask her to say it again.

Nor did he stupidly answer something like, “Well? I’ve never really thought about it.”

Even from an idiot, there are lessons to be learned. Namely: I must never end up like that.

If he forgot that lesson and gave such an answer, he would become the exact same kind of idiot.

Having already decided the original plot could go to hell, he had nothing to worry about on that front.

Why else would she ask a question like that? For heaven’s sake, don’t act like some emotional eunuch.

He discreetly studied Tisha’s expression. She was trying to play it cool, but her nervousness was plain to see. She had asked the question herself, yet she was fretting over whether the answer she wanted would come. Regret over asking at all seemed to radiate from her with perfect clarity.

“A girlfriend.”

“Y-yes. Kyle. What I mean is…”

“I’d like one. A girlfriend.”

“What?”

“If possible, I’d like to date someone. I’ve heard there are a lot of students who do that during academy life. They say relationships you have as a student leave a deeper, more lasting impression than the ones you form out in society. After spending all my time gripping barbell bars instead of a girl’s hand, that sounds even more true to me.”

If possible, he’d like to date. At those words, Tisha’s expression shifted several times. It brightened at “I’d like to date,” then turned flustered at “If possible.” It was only natural—the answer left her unable to tell whether it was negative or positive.

“The problem is, I’m in a rather awkward situation right now. There’s this one person who keeps trying to get closer to me. Even when I tell her not to, she just steamrolls ahead.”

“Ah—ahhh!”

The moment she heard Kyle’s words, one woman sprang into Tisha’s mind.

The Fifth Princess. One of the Imperial 10 Strongest. Yulika Sebastian Lovisa de Lottringen.

That had to be who he meant. No—she was certain. The person Kyle was talking about was the princess.

The princess they had met at the café had made her feelings for Kyle blatantly obvious. Or… was “feelings” even the right word? There hadn’t seemed to be the slightest trace of tender affection. Saying she wanted to become someone’s possession had been strange from the start.

Kyle doesn’t seem particularly interested in the princess either.

Just thinking of the expression he’d worn recently was enough. It had felt more like he was going along with her because she was a princess, or listening because he’d made a promise. It wasn’t only Tisha who’d sensed that—Elga and the Saintess had felt it too. Only the princess herself had kept clinging to Kyle, trying to force things her own way.

Even so, the other party was a princess. The Emperor’s legitimate daughter. And one of the Imperial 10 Strongest. If she pushed more aggressively, nine times out of ten things would end up working out for her. Even setting aside Kyle’s easygoing nature, she was still a princess.

Joining the imperial family was an enormous privilege and a tremendous gift. Even a mere commoner like Tisha understood that perfectly well. A once-in-a-lifetime honor, a stroke of luck that would never come again—every extravagant phrase imaginable still fell short. For a noble to join the imperial family was harder than for a commoner to become a noble.

Could Kyle also… be agonizing over becoming a member of the imperial family?

The moment the thought reached her, a sharp ache bloomed in her chest. What if—just what if—there was a chance he might choose someone other than the princess? If she tried harder, might Kyle look at someone who wasn’t the princess? That was what she had thought. It would be difficult. The odds were low. But she hadn’t considered it completely impossible.

That was why she’d been throwing herself into shamanism research even more fiercely lately, and why she’d started paying attention to how others saw her. The word “witch” had never grated on her this much before, yet these days even that felt burdensome. She couldn’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠help it—not when she believed every tiny detail might influence Kyle’s decision. Even slipping into this ridiculous outfit and making a brief appearance at the party had been for that very reason.

But maybe it’s still hopeless after all. As a commoner…

Kyle hadn’t given a definitive answer yet, but she already felt thoroughly outmatched. The fact that he was agonizing at all meant the princess’s plans had already partially succeeded.

Tisha let out a bitter sigh inwardly and had just reached for a book when—

“Because of that person, my girlfriend might feel uneasy. That’s what’s been weighing on me. That’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠why I’ve been hesitating.”

At Kyle’s answer, Tisha went “Huh?” and turned to look at him before she could stop herself.

So his answer wasn’t that he was agonizing because the other party was a princess. It was that the princess kept clinging to him, and he was worried that might put a burden on his girlfriend—so he couldn’t casually start dating that girlfriend. He was prioritizing and considering his “girlfriend” over the “princess.”

Not because of the princess… but because he was worried about his girlfriend…

The sorrow that had been rising in her heart until a moment ago vanished all at once. The anxiety and nervousness disappeared as well, and in their place settled a hopeful Could it be…?

“Then… what if you were given the certainty that your girlfriend wouldn’t feel uneasy?”

“I’d still think it over a bit. Worry a little too. But in the end, I think I’d go for it.”

Hearing that, a soft flush rose to Tisha’s cheeks. She’d secretly been hoping for an answer like this, but she had never imagined she would actually hear it. Kyle surely knew exactly what she was getting at with these questions. And for him to answer like that—wasn’t that rather positive?

“Kyle.”

She slipped her shoes back on properly, straightened her disheveled clothes, then—still kneeling on the floor—called the name of the person sitting across from her.

“Whoever becomes your girlfriend will try to overcome that. She’ll overcome it just fine.”

“How can you be so sure? It would be incredibly hard.”

“Because you’re a boyfriend worth it?”

At Tisha’s answer, Kyle smiled once and replied.

“I’m not that great of a person.”

“You are. You just don’t know it.”

It wasn’t that he was “great” in some grand sense. Sometimes the small and insignificant things hit the hardest. A feeling that comes from something tiny. Warmth felt in the trivial details. Wasn’t the human heart always the sort of thing that toppled over at the slightest little something?

“Am I really that great? All I’ve got going for me is being a little better-looking than most people and having a decent body.”

When Kyle tossed out the joke, Tisha fielded it with ease this time.

“You are handsome, Kyle. And if that body of yours is only ‘decent,’ what are the rest of the men supposed to do?”

“Work harder, of course. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If you put in the effort, anything’s possible. The body doesn’t lie.”

He was starting to veer into workout talk again, his gym-geek side showing. Tisha quickly headed him off, then slowly rose to her feet.

“Think about it, Kyle. About getting a girlfriend. Because a certain ‘someone’ will wait a very long time for your answer. Continuously. Forever.”

With that, Tisha said she would be going and turned away, a few books tucked under her arm. Normally she would have suggested they leave together, but today she said she would go first. Probably so that a certain “someone” could give him more time to think about the girlfriend question.

“Tisha.”

Toward that someone, Kyle asked a question as if he genuinely knew nothing.

“Just curious. Why would that someone want to be my girlfriend? She’s plenty wonderful herself. Plenty amazing. She could be anyone’s girlfriend if she wanted.”

At Kyle’s question, Tisha gave a soft smile. Then, as if he were asking something obvious, she answered without a second’s hesitation or deliberation.

“Because it’s you, Kyle.”

The flush on Tisha’s face was so pretty, Kyle thought absently. Looking at her like this, the black dress and the high-heeled shoes suited her remarkably well. They formed a strangely lovely harmony with her violet hair. She looked wonderful.

“So think about it, Kyle. About your girlfriend.”

Even as she parted from Kyle, Tisha’s steps were leisurely. Elegant, even. But the moment she left the fifth floor and started down the stairs, her pace quickened. By the end she was racing down the stairs so urgently her dress hem fluttered behind her.

Tap-tap-tap—

She reached the first floor in an instant and didn’t slow down. Her feet ached in the still-unfamiliar shoes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but she paid it no mind. Something far more important—far more consuming—had just happened moments ago!

“Think about it, Kyle. About getting a girlfriend. Because a certain ‘someone’ will wait a very long time for your answer. Continuously. Forever.”

I’ve lost my mind! I actually did it, Tisha?! I really said that!!

Kyle was no fool. He wasn’t some dense guy who couldn’t take a hint either. He already knew who her “someone” was. Who the person waiting was! And yet somehow the courage had come—or maybe she’d just forgotten how to feel embarrassed. In the end she had poured out every word she’d been holding in her heart, worries and all.

“Haa… haa…”

Bursting into her room, Tisha flung herself onto the bed just as she was. Normally she would have sat at her desk at once, opened a shamanism text, and researched a new spell. But right now, not even the most fascinating shamanism could hold her attention.

I told him. I told him clearly. And…

And she had gotten an answer. Not the negative one she’d been dreading. A perfectly normal, perfectly positive answer—that he wanted a girlfriend too.

He’s not conflicted because the princess keeps throwing herself at him. He’s worried his girlfriend might feel uncomfortable because of the princess. That’s what it was.

She understood Kyle’s dilemma now. That left only one thing. To make him certain that a girlfriend wouldn’t spare a thought for such discomfort. That she herself could endure it just fine. To give that certainty to her boyfriend—to Kyle.

“Ah.”

Something seemed to occur to her; Tisha shot up from the bed. Then she began hurriedly scribbling something on a memo pad.

“Hmm…”

After a brief hesitation, Tisha drew a long line through the last item. Remembering how Kyle had said it suited her—that she looked pretty—she wrote again.