‘Just be your normal gentle self—that’s all you need to do. You don’t need to respect me or feel that you’re below me.’

Mai could feel the heartfelt sincerity in Seiji’s words and widened her eyes slightly in surprise.

This was when she finally noticed that she had been imperceptibly feeling beneath him.

She noticed that he was special and began to treat him as such.

He perceived this fact.

Rather than caring about his talent, he paid more attention to the change in her.

Honestly…

Mai felt helpless about the warm feeling that rose up in her heart.

‘You… you make girls fall in love with so easily, Junior."

A period of silence fell between the pair.

Seiji stood up and stretched. "I didn’t expect that I would be resting on that sofa for so long," he said. "I’m feeling hungry. Although I’m a little embarra.s.sed to ask, Senpai… when can I have some breakfast?"

Mai smiled gently as usual upon seeing the handsome boy scratch his face awkwardly.

"I’ve been taking care of a certain someone for the entire night, so I’m tired and want to rest instead of making breakfast."

"Ah…"

"But as long as that certain someone is willing to do one thing for me, I’ll go cook breakfast."

"What is it?"

"Sign a marriage application form."

"…What?" Seiji was stunned.

Did he hear that correctly!?

Tee-hee.

"Just joking~" Mai said, chuckling.

When she saw how silly he looked, she felt a pleasant feeling in her heart.

"I just wanted to say that the only man who I’d possibly be willing to work an entire night for and still cook breakfast after is my husband." She turned around. "You’re not my husband, so I won’t cook breakfast for you—it’s as simple as that."

"Oh…" Seiji answered dazedly.

"What’s with that ‘oh’? Shouldn’t you be forcefully commenting at this situation?" Mai suddenly turned back around with a devilish grin on her face. "Your commenting skills are lacking, idiot junior!"

Seiji was rendered speechless at this.

Only after he dazedly watched her walk off and exit the room did he finally regain his senses and smile wryly.

He sighed helplessly to himself. ‘That comeback was pretty good.’

He then proceeded to follow her back upstairs.

As Mai said, she wouldn’t cook breakfast for Seiji.

But they still needed breakfast, so she asked Seiji to do the honors.

Seiji listened to her instructions and got to work in the kitchen… although he felt it seemed a little off.

Well, as a temporary guest, it was only natural that he should help out around here. Not to mention Mai took care of him for an entire night. He definitely should do something to pay her back.

Seiji’s cooking abilities were rather average.

There was no way for him to cook at the level of Mai’s professional maid skills, so he mainly just heated some leftover dishes from last night, and made a few simple breakfast dishes to go together with them.

After bringing the plates to the dining hall, he saw that Mai was already waiting for him at the table.

The two of them had switched roles perfectly.

Seiji finally recalled that there were only three people here today for breakfast: Mai, s.h.i.+ka-chan, and himself, otherwise there was probably no way that Mai would have allowed him as a guest to cook for everyone.

He had been swindled by her.

Seiji smiled as he imitated Mai’s typical maid behavior while placing the breakfast on the table.

"Please enjoy, Houjou-sama." He backed up one step and bowed after he finished placing the breakfast dishes.

Mai also pretended to be important and merely nodded slightly towards him.

After that, she tasted the food.

"Mmm… I suppose it gets pa.s.sing marks, for a single boy living by himself."

"Is that supposed to be praise?"

"Yes."

"But why do I subtly feel like it was a dig at the fact that I’m single?"

"Oh, is that so?" Mai smiled gently. "My bad, as an apology, would you like this senpai of yours to help you stop being single~"

Seiji instantly admitted defeat.

He’d just requested her to "treat him normally," didn’t he? Wasn’t that right? Why did he feel like Mai’s att.i.tude towards him was now changing in a strange direction!?

"I’ll call s.h.i.+ka-chan over for breakfast as well."

He escaped using a logical excuse.

Mai rubbed her chest after she watched Seiji leave the dining hall.

Her heart was beating rather quickly.

‘I went a bit… overboard.’ She smiled wryly as she suppressed her fluctuating emotions.

Seiji’s cell phone rang while he was on his way to s.h.i.+ka’s room.

When he took out his cell phone, he saw that it was a number he didn’t recognize.

He frowned slightly at his cell phone but chose to accept the call anyway.

"h.e.l.lo, who’s this?"

"Are you Seigo Harano… Seiji Haruta?" A grim and dark-sounding male voice was on the other end of the call.

Seiji stopped walking towards s.h.i.+ka’s room. "I am. Who might you be?"

"My name is… Okubo Yos.h.i.+aki," the male voice stated.

Seiji narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Okubo Yos.h.i.+aki… He was Natsuya’s duel opponent as well as s.h.i.+ka’s most recent temporary contractor.

"Natsuya Yoruhana probably didn’t tell you, but I’m…"

"I know who you are. She told me everything. You were a ‘divine child’ in the past, right?"

The voice on the phone remained silent for a period of time.

"So she told you… what a vulgar woman."

Okubo Yos.h.i.+aki sounded like he was trying to remain as calm as possible, but his tone sounded even grimmer and darker than before, and from this Seiji could detect Okubo’s inner rage.

"Vulgar?"

"She puts down her opponent and brags about her underhanded victory. She’s that type of woman; she’s always been that type of woman."

"I feel that she only told me the truth."

"That wasn’t the truth! You were fooled by her! Everyone was fooled by her!!" Okubo Yos.h.i.+aki’s voice rose in volume as he continued, "Two years ago, I should have won that duel! She only won using underhanded techniques!"

"Underhanded techniques?" Seiji remained unfl.u.s.tered.

"That’s right… The duel was supposed to be a one-on-one duel, but she managed to secretly borrow another’s power."

"There were judges present at the duel, right?"

"Judges… Both those old guys favored her! They merely pretended not to see anything! I finally detected it afterwards and complained about it, but not only did they ignore me, they even made fun of me viciously!!"

Seiji could feel the hatred and contempt emanating from the other end of the cell phone.

Seiji decided to move his cell phone slightly farther away from his ear.

"Why? When you asked for elders to be the judges, were all the judges her elders?"

"There was one judge from each family acting as the two judges, but the Yos.h.i.+aki family elder secretly hated me because I defeated his grandson before… I only learned this afterwards."

"Oh…"

"Do you understand now? Everyone was fooled by her! Including you, Seiji Haruta!!" Okubo stated coldly. "I don’t know what methods she used to convince you to join her, but I know that she’s a vulgar woman who’ll use any underhanded technique! The only reason she approached you was for your usefulness to her!"

"Please tell me more about this." Seiji still remained calm.

"You’re someone from the Haruta family; even if you’re currently exiled, you’re still a part of their family… If something really happened to you, the Haruta family wouldn’t ignore your plight!"

"That woman merely wanted to make use of this, so she convinced you to come to her territory as a human s.h.i.+eld!"

"Don’t be seduced by her fanciful words! Don’t lose yourself in the tiny insignificant things she gives you! And, above all, don’t believe that she has any feelings for you!!" Okubo’s words sounded rather steely as he continued, "I know that this will be cruel to you, but this is reality! So wake up, Seiji Haruta, and don’t be seduced by that vulgar woman with nothing but a beautiful outer appearance!"

"Oh… Then what do you think I should do then?" Seiji acted confused.

"Help me! Help me defeat her so that justice can win!!" Okubo said in a serious and earnest tone. "As long as I defeat her, I can regain my pride, take back the respect I deserve, and let everyone know about her true, ugly self!"

"You’ll become a hero, Seiji Haruta! I’ll display my grat.i.tude and share my glory with you in front of everyone! Of course, there are tangible benefits for you as well. Whether you want money or women, I can grant you anything you desire!"

"I can even help you return to your family! As long as I prove myself and reclaim my pride and honor, my family will listen to me! When that happens, if I ask my family to help you out, the Haruta family will seriously consider accepting you back within their ranks."

"Oh, that… sounds pretty good." Seiji acted as if he was almost convinced.

"I’m truly sincere about all this, Seiji Haruta. Haruta-kun, as long as you help me, I’ll help you as well. I’m different from that vulgar woman who only wants to take advantage of you. I’ll reward anyone that helps me generously."

Okubo’s tone of voice seemed rather self-confident as he must have believed that he had almost succeeded in convincing Seiji to switch to his side.

"What you say definitely sounds appealing." Seiji pretended to sound almost completely convinced.

But in reality, Seiji’s expression hadn’t changed one bit. His expression remained calm and distant, with not even an eyebrow budging.

"I think I can consider it… but before that, can I ask you a few questions?"

The voice on the phone was silent for a few seconds.

"What questions?"