Taking advantage of the cafeteria's sparse crowd, Ryoji packed two breakfasts and swiftly left the premises. Instead of returning to his own room, he headed to the eastern side of the fourth floor, directly opposite to another room.
This was Ais's bedroom.
Bete certainly wouldn't have expected him to come to Ais's room, right?
"Why are you here?" Ais opened the door and, upon seeing Ryoji, her face flushed slightly, and she scratched her still-damp hair.
She had just finished showering, removed the sweat from her sword practice, and hadn't quite tidied up herself yet. Her clothes were also somewhat damp.
Wait, why did she care about her appearance?
"I came to have breakfast with you." Ryoji lifted the two breakfasts he brought, sporting a warm smile.
"Look, I brought your breakfast for you. Aren't I considerate?"
"Oh? That's indeed very considerate of you." From behind Ais, an Elf appeared.
She looked at Ryoji teasingly, unable to hide her smile.
"Riveria, what are you doing here too?" Ryoji was taken aback.
He felt a bit embarrassed unexpectedly.
Being considerate was one thing when fooling around with innocent girls like Ais, but it wouldn't work in front of the astute Riveria.
"After every bath, I help Ais with her hair." Riveria maintained her usual aloof demeanor as she spoke.
But her attitude towards both Ryoji and Ais was unexpectedly friendly, lacking the typical arrogance of Elves. Her treatment of Ais resembled that of a mother to her daughter, a well-known fact within the Familia. However, why she was so friendly towards Ryoji remained a mystery.
"Come in." Ais nodded, agreeing with Riveria's statement.
Ryoji glanced around and, seeing no one paying attention, relaxed and quietly entered Ais's room.
Ais's room was very simple.
It looked similar in decoration to Ryoji's room, and because of its small size, it was a single-person living space devoid of any girlish elements. It contained only a simple Magic Stone Lamp, a wardrobe, a bed, mirror, and so on. There wasn't even any makeup.
Ais indeed didn't use makeup and always had a plain face.
Ryoji placed Ais's breakfast on the bedside table and then opened his own to start eating eagerly.
Meanwhile, Ais sat at the table, allowing Riveria, standing behind her, to pick up a comb and tidy her golden hair.
Though Riveria was helping, as a Elf of the royal lineage who cherished nature, she detested heavy makeup. She only made Ais's hair a bit smoother.
"By the way, I heard some commotion from the courtyard earlier. Do you know what's going on?"
Riveria lowered her head.
Seeing that Ais showed no intention of speaking first, she could only smile helplessly. She felt that this child was far from normal and wondered how she had been raised.
"I heard it too. Maybe Bete has some serious illness?"
Ryoji took a bite of his sandwich, looking deeply moved. "Erectile dysfunction is indeed very fatal for men."
"What's erectile dysfunction?" Ais suddenly asked.
Having just bathed, she hadn't heard the commotion from the courtyard and had never heard of such an illness before.
"Ais, you don't need to know about such things."
But Riveria decisively spoke up, cutting off Ais's curiosity.
Since it was Riveria who said so, it must be correct, and it was okay not to understand this illness.
So.
Why was Ais raised to lack such common knowledge?
Riveria, who was very protective of Ais, completely didn't understand this.
"It's an illness that only males get. It's not a big deal. Anyway, Ais, when you see Bete next time, just comfort him and say, 'it's not a big deal,' then it will be alright."
Ryoji took the opportunity to persuade her.
Bete likes Ais. Getting comforted so considerately by Ais, he must be extremely grateful to me, right?
Sigh, people as helpful and kind-hearted as me are really rare these days, huh!
Riveria rolled her eyes.
It was a rather unladylike gesture, but she couldn't help it.
This kid is way too mischievous!
Still, she didn't stop him.
To be honest, she wasn't particularly optimistic about Bete either. He and Ais really didn't seem like a good match.
If only Ryoji and Ais could end up together…
That thought crossed Riveria's mind.
Although these two had vastly different personalities, in truth, they complemented each other perfectly. And they had something important in common, they both pursued strength and had plenty of shared topics to talk about.
More importantly, Ryoji possessed a mysterious sword technique that even Ais admired.
When they first met, Riveria had seen a reflection of Ais in Ryoji. So, since she loved Ais dearly, her affection extended naturally to Ryoji as well.
Elves are particularly sensitive about such things.
Unfortunately, Tiona had also taken a liking to him, and Riveria didn't want to be unfair. Otherwise, she would've really liked to match those two up.
But on second thought, maybe it's best to just let things progress naturally.
"Alright then, everything's settled. Ais, you should eat too."
Riveria gently let go of Ais's golden hair, letting it fall down like golden dust. Once she had made her look properly beautiful, she nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm." Ais gave a light nod, then walked over to the bedside table. She opened the breakfast Ryoji had brought and began taking small, quick bites of her sandwich.
Ryoji, on the other hand, was taking big bites, equally fast though.
"You two can just eat here, I'm heading to the cafeteria."
Riveria looked at the two of them, so opposite, yet oddly in sync, even in the way they ate, and couldn't help showing an auntie-like smile. Leaving that line behind, she exited the room.
"…Wait a moment, Riveria, I have something to talk to you about."
Suddenly, Ryoji's expression froze a little.
Then he stood up and followed Riveria out of the room.
Ais looked at the two of them blankly for a moment, then took another bite of her sandwich.
At the doorway,
"What is it?"
Riveria stopped walking and turned to look at Ryoji in puzzlement.
"Well, um… it's just…"
Ryoji carefully closed the door behind him so Ais wouldn't hear. Then he hesitated again, looking a little embarrassed.
This surprised Riveria. Her impression of Ryoji was that he was thick-skinned and sly, she'd never seen him like this before. It was kind of refreshing.
"What is it exactly?"
She purposely put on an impatient expression, but secretly, she was quite curious.
"It's just… do you happen to know how to… like… use makeup?"
Ryoji stammered.
"I normally don't wear makeup, but I do know a bit about grooming."
Riveria thought for a moment. 'What was he trying to say?'
"…Can you make a man look like a woman?"
"???"
What kind of weird interest did you just awaken?!
(End of chapter)
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