Since standing around talking here wasn’t an option, I brought the three of them into the reception room and asked Illness-san to prepare tea and teacakes for us.

  Incidentally, this is a different room than the one used for the meeting between my loves and my parents…… the room that had the ability to suppress Isis-san’s magic power of death.

  The house is just unnecessarily large, and there are many rooms…… of which almost never used……


  Cento-san and Cien-san were kind of stiff and tense, sitting in their seats with their backs straight, and even from the sidelines, I could see that they were pretty nervous.

  No, well, I had a feeling that they were nervous from the moment they arrived, but I think they were a little too nervous. Perhaps, it was the influence of me being Kuro’s lover……


  In contrast though, there was Tre-san, who was completely relaxed.

  [These were nice cookies! The tea is also good!]

  [……Esteemed Sister Tre, please show some restraint.]

  Seeing Tre-san eating the cookies deliciously, Cento-san complained, but of course, Tre-san didn’t seem to mind her.

  Well, I’d rather them be as casual as Tre-san though.

  [Esteemed Sister Tre, do you know exactly why we went here today?]

  [Eh? Didn’t we come here to play with Kaito?]

  Tre-san curiously tilted her head at Cien-san’s words. Unnn, well, Tre-san had consistently been saying from the beginning that she was here to play with me, looking like she was visiting a friend’s house.

  Holding her head lightly at Tre-san’s words, Cento-san spoke.

  [……We’re here today to greet and apologize to Miyama Kaito-sama, remember?]

  [I understand the greeting…… but apologize? What for?]

  [Apologies for the inconvenience we caused when they had to help us search for Esteemed Sister Tre.]

  [……Hmmm.]

  Hearing Cento-san and Cien-san’s words, Tre-san forcibly smiled, her expression looking complicated.

  [Esteemed Sister Tre had also caused trouble for Kuromu-sama’s lover, Miyama-sama……]

  [That’s wrong.]

  [ [ Eh? ] ]

  Tre-san’s voice was quiet, but it wasn’t as lax as before…… It sounded serious and somehow heavy, making Cento-san and Cien-san reflexively stiffen.

  [……It’s not “Kuromu-sama’s lover, Kaito”. It was “my friend Kaito, who was also Kuromu-sama’s lover”…… I don’t think that should be something you could make a mistake on.]

  [……Esteemed Sister Tre?]

  [Of course, the friendships another person has are also important in estimating what kind of person they are. I’m also really grateful to Kaito for saving Kuromu-sama…… but don’t you think it’s a mistake to change how you interact with him for being Kuromu-sama’s lover?]

  After saying that much, Tre-san took a sip of her tea, and gently smiling, she admonishingly spoke.

  [……Kaito helped you two find me. Which means, shouldn’t you treat him as the kind person who helped you out?]

  [Y- Yes……]

  [It is as you say.]

  [And yet, as soon as you found out that he’s Kuromu-sama’s lover…… The “thank you for helping us” turned into “I’m sorry for bothering you”…… How can you describe that as respecting Kaito?]

  [ [!? ] ]

  Tre-san’s words made Cento-san and Cien-san look shocked. It seems like Tre-san really has a good grasp of the true nature of a person, or rather, she seems to understand others very well.

  I certainly was thinking about this…… Or rather, I feel like they were humbling themselves too much.

  [That’s why…… The person we’re meeting here is the person who helped you out, which just so happened to be Kuromu-sama’s lover, so I think it’s okay to visit her to introduce ourselves and thank him again. It depends on who you’re talking to, but for this case, you two should relax more while keeping some respect to Kaito.]

  [……Cento.]

  [Unnn, it seems like…… the one who needs to apologize wasn’t Esteemed Sister Tre, but us.]

  After listening to the advice Tre-san said with a smile, Cento-san and Cien-san seemed to have relaxed a bit, and after they exchanged glances, their expressions softened.

  Then, nodding at each other, they turned to me and spoke.

  [I’m sorry, we’re being so conscious of you being Kuromu-sama’s lover that we acted rudely instead.]

  [……If it’s not too much trouble, just like Esteemed Sister Tre, Cento and I would also like to treat you as friends, so may we call you Miyama-san?]

  [Yes, of course.]

  [Once again, thank you for helping us find Esteemed Sister Tre yesterday.]

  [You have been a really great help for Cento and I.]

  The expressions on their faces as they spoke were softer than before, and they seemed much more approachable. Seeing this, after nodding in satisfaction, Tre-san reached out for the cookies again…… It feels like she’d end up eating all of it by herself.

  **********