Chapter 105: The Collaborators!
Mikoto picked a fight with Katherina as soon as they arrived at the cafeteria. Mikoto may not have meant to pick a fight. But it sounded like she was trying to pick a fight with him. And Katherina was just as likely to say something like that… and now this.
“In the first place, it’s none of the maid’s business whether or not Flora, the master, eats her lunch. All a maid has to do is make sure everything is in order for her master to live comfortably.”
“No, no. A maid’s job is to look after her master’s health and make sure he’s well. It’s not healthy for you to skip lunch. And it’s fine that you didn’t say anything to me, but not informing someone about an appointment or a change of plans is considered a breach of common sense. It is the maid’s duty to make sure that this does not happen.”
Yeah, well… Well, you’re both right. Butlers and maids shouldn’t be so intrusive. Householders are supposed to be prepared for whatever the master does, whenever he does it, and it’s not their place to tell him what to do.
But as Katerina said… it’s part of your job to take care of your health… and to rebuke your master when he does something out of the ordinary.
You’re both right. And they’re both slightly off base. That’s why they can’t get their words out and they can’t work it out. I know that, but I can’t interfere. Or rather, I’ve been told to stay out of it so early on that there’s nothing else I can do but sit between the two of them.
And these two are subtly scary… I’m afraid of them… I’m more intimidated. I don’t like arguments between strong girls. I don’t think I can handle it.
So I’ve been listening to them arguing for a while but I’m going to be late for my afternoon class… Can’t we just call it a night and continue later?
“Huh. Calm down, both of you. We’ve got afternoon classes. Can’t we just call it a night and talk about it later?
“”…””
When I interrupted them, they both silently stared at me. I’m scared shitless to be honest…
“Oh… I’m sorry.
“Yes. I can’t have Flora miss class because of me.”
Looks like they’re calling a truce for now. That’s good. That’s good. And I hope they don’t fight again…
You’re… Katherina. We’ll talk after school.
Yes. I understand, Mikoto-sama. After school when there’s plenty of time we’ll have a long talk with you and Flora-sama.
“Well…”
No. They weren’t done arguing. Maybe by after school they’ll get mad and stop fighting… I don’t think so… I can’t expect much from these two…
I managed to settle the situation, but it was only to postpone the problem, and there was still plenty of time after school. I can’t just say that I don’t have time for another lesson like this one. The afternoon class has begun, and I feel as if I’ve been sentenced to death.
By the way, Mikoto and I were a little late for afternoon class. Mikoto was with us, so she didn’t say anything, but I was a little worried that I might get a negative grade because of my attitude.
******
Finally, after school came. I’m in our carriage… between Katherina and Mikoto. I don’t know how this happened… I don’t know what to do.
“Hey Flora, no, I’m done with school, so I’ll just call you Floto. Floto… You’re not messing with another pretty girl, are you?”
“What? What…?”
What do you mean, you’ve got your hands on a pretty girl? I haven’t even kissed her yet. I haven’t even squeezed her tits to make it look like an accident!
“Yes… Lady Flora? There are still other women out there that I don’t know about, aren’t there? You will be honest with me, won’t you?”
“Well…”
I wonder… I’m pretty sure Mikoto and Katerina were arguing at lunch about me skipping lunch without permission, so why is this happening…
“Anyway, first of all, be honest and confess all the girls you have your hands on!”
“Yes!”
When Mikoto said that to me, I did my best to straighten my back and say yes. What? That’s strange… You used to be more… I used to be more like this… Mikoto used to be a sweet girl who cared about me… but since we haven’t seen each other in a while… it feels like I’m the one who’s being talked about more than her.
“I’d like to ask you too, so please be honest with me about everything and everyone except Louisa and Claudia, okay?”
“What? Who are Louisa and Claudia? You’ve already got another woman in your life!”
“Wait! Wait! Just calm down! Listen to me!
They’re getting excited again, and I’m trying to control it. Why do I feel like the husband who just got caught cheating on his wife? Or is it that? The guy who got caught two-timing you? Whatever it is, why am I the only one being blamed? I can’t help but feel the world is being unreasonable.
“I’ll tell you in order first!”
I started by explaining to them how I met Katharine. I met Katherina, Katherina left me, I was in shock, then I met Louisa… I met Claudia, Alexandra, and Mikoto, and we parted ways. I’ll try to explain the rest of the story in a few words.
“I see… So there’s still a woman named Alexandra that I don’t know about?”
“Ugh…”
I’m afraid of Catherina. I certainly haven’t told Katerina about Alexandra, and I’ve never met her.
“Wow! You have four other girls besides me!”
“Mikoto, calm down! I don’t feel bad about that!”
Because we all met at different times… It’s not like I was dating each one of them, and then I met the next one right after I thought things were going to end badly. If I had been going out with them all at the same time, you could call it cheating or two-timing, but in my case, it was after things didn’t work out with the first one, or at least after I had enough to judge it that way…
“That may be true… But if there were other people like that, you could at least explain that.”
You can’t say that… There’s no way I could carelessly say that I’m a homosexual who likes women (at least physically) when I’m not even in a relationship yet.
“So here’s what we’re going to do. We should gather all five of us together once and have a proper meeting.”
“Yes. That’s good.
It’s the only time we can both agree on something like this… I don’t think that’s gonna happen. At least Alexandra’s not gonna show up just because we call her.
“It’s hard to say. . because we’re not in that situation with Alexandra…”
What do you mean?
“Are you saying that this Lady Alexandra is the only one who is special?”
That’s why I’m scared, you two! I’ll explain everything, but I need you to calm down.
“Alexandra is in a very tricky situation right now. I’d like to do something about it, but there’s nothing I can do right now.”
I took it in turns to tell them both about Alexandra. How things have unfolded since Nikolaus’ assassination and where we are now. And then I told them about the information that had come to light, and what we could infer from it… I wanted them to judge without prejudice, to hear what they had to say, but I also told them what they didn’t know.
If I explain it subjectively, we may end up with the same opinion, but I should still give you as much information as I know.
“”…””
Excuse me? Both of you?
After listening to my explanation, they remained silent. I thought they’d say something more or get angry like before, but they just kept their stern expressions and remained silent.
“You’re unforgivable!”
“Well… First of all, the five of us have to deal with Alexandra-sama’s situation so that we can compete for Flora-sama in a fair and equal manner.”
Before I knew it… They were nodding at each other. I don’t know if they hit it off or what.
Let’s just get the four of us together. And then we’ll talk about how to save this Alexandra girl.”
“Right. I’ll contact Louisa and Claudia. When would be a good day for you, Mikoto?”
We’re just kind of going at it on our own. They don’t listen to my opinion.
“Oh, you can call me Mikoto. I’ll call you Katherina, too. I’m always ready. I’m all about you, Frodo.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when I know the other two are available.”
You really left me in the dark, and we made all these decisions on our own. I’m not gonna say anything else. I just listened to their conversation and let it all happen.
******
There are four girls here at Carruthers today. Katherina, Louisa, Claudia and Mikoto. They’ve all been introduced and are seated.
“Floto… “Why are all these girls so pretty?”
Louisa’s eyes hurt… But these five girls, plus Alexandra, are all my friends. I don’t know why all these girls are so cute, but they’re all I have.
“Hmm. Louisa and Mikoto. That’s nice. I don’t mind at all.
Claudia is the only one who’s shiny. Why is that… Well, I can understand why. Claudia’s a homosexual who likes girls. All these girls are pretty. Not just because they’re beautiful, but because they have their own personalities, their own strengths, their own charms.
“Louisa and Claudia… You know, Flotto really is a knave…”
Mikoto puked! She’s saying that with her cheeks puffed out. She’s cute, but she’s not very stylish. I’ve been made to feel like I’m a cheater, but I’ve told you again and again that we met at different times and it was only after things didn’t work out with the other girls that we met. It’s not like I was two-timing or three-timing them.
“And here we are with Lady Alexandra…”
What? There are still others? “”
Louisa and Claudia look at me in surprise. Louisa looks at me in disbelief, and Claudia looks at me as if she’s expecting something.
“Yes. But it seems that Lady Alexandra is in a bit of trouble. That’s why we’re here today, to discuss it.”
Katharina acted as the hostess of the meeting. I thought I should leave it to Katherina, but she urged me to explain to Louisa and Claudia what I’d explained to Katherina and Mikoto before.
I know it’s a bit tedious to tell you the same story again, but I thought it’d be better if I told you myself. My encounters and my breakups with each of these women since I met Katerina. And Alexandra’s current situation. Now, even if I’m lying, there’s almost always someone in the room who’s going to tell you something’s not right, and they’re going to come right out and say it. So I tried to be as accurate as I could.
“Well… I kind of dumped you for hurting Frodo, too.”
“Louisa…”
I know that’s what happened with Louisa. But it was my fault too… I’ve said this before. I told her not to worry about it, but she does, and there’s no point in going over it again and again.
“Well, you know… I totally dumped Frodo, too.”
“Well… That’s true…”
Claudia dumped me once. That’s a fact. But that doesn’t mean you have to go around saying things like that in front of everyone…
“But anyway, this Alexandra? Miss Alexandra? I don’t think we can allow that to happen.”
“Yeah. I guess I’ll have to deal with Miss Alexandra first, too.”
“Yes. That’s why I’ve asked you all to gather here. First, let’s find out how Lady Flora came to be in this situation. And then after we get Alexandra back, we’ll have a fair and equal battle between the five of us for Flora. When Alexandra is rescued, we will fight again. But first, everyone deserves an equal chance. Until then, let’s work together.”
Hmmm… I don’t know if this is the right thing to say in front of me… I mean, am I right in assuming that everyone wants to be with me? That’s what it sounds like.
Anyway, this meant that four of my five remaining female friends, all of whom were my own age, were going to help me rescue Alexandra.
