A week had passed quickly since Xiang Yu and Sheba were summoned.
During this week, two starkly contrasting scenes were frequently observed in Chaldea—Hinako and Xiang Yu were always spreading romance and affection wherever they went. They basically left a trail of romantic vibes everywhere, making the single people in Chaldea feel physically uncomfortable.
On the other hand, there were Roman and Sheba. Though they were also a couple in their previous lives, almost no one in Chaldea knew about it. Even the fact that Roman was Solomon was the ultimate secret, completely unknown to Olga Marie.
Thus, to outsiders, Roman was an unfortunate victim somehow entangled by Sheba, who was summoned by Rei. Roman, who used to work energetically every day, had become noticeably weaker since Sheba started following him.
"Is this really okay, Natsukawa?"
The tenth night after returning from the sixth Singularity.
Also, the night before they decided to head to the seventh Singularity.
As usual, Naoki and Marie began their secret late-night conversation after midnight—though, this was something everyone in Chaldea knew about, so it was no longer a secret.
Including the hidden feelings in Marie's heart.
However, it would be strange if it remained a secret. After all, the fact that Marie and Naoki had known each other since she was a child was common knowledge. Chaldea's database recorded various publicly available details about Naoki.
Combining that with their daily interactions, it was easy to deduce this fact.
"What do you mean by okay? Roman?" Naoki asked. "Well, though he looks miserable, he's only looking miserable. The fact that Roman hasn't come to complain to me shows that everything happening now is still within his ability to handle—besides, this is a good thing for him."
"A good thing?" Marie frowned. "Romani's work efficiency isn't what it used to be. If this continues…"
Naoki smiled and patted Rei's hair, who was lying beside him under the blanket. "You're wrong, Olga. Rather than declining, it's more accurate to say it's 'returning to normal.'"
Roman had always pushed himself too hard.
This started when he truly saw the future of the Human Order Incineration at the end of the Holy Grail War ten years ago.
In the first two years, with Naoki joking around and sharing the burden, he still had time to go on vacations. But since coming to Chaldea eight years ago, he had been working himself to death.
Part of the reason for the Human Order Incineration lay with him—this fact made Roman feel he had to stop it, but as someone no longer Solomon, he couldn't confront the mastermind behind it directly. His only trump card had also been taken by Naoki.
The only thing he could do was work hard as an 'ordinary person.'
With three, five, even ten times the effort of a normal person, he completed everything he should and shouldn't have, with relentless determination, constantly draining his energy.
"The result is that Roman barely had time to rest. His only free time was spent watching virtual idols… But now, with Sheba following him, even if it's by force, he at least has enough time to rest and sleep compared to before."
Sheba probably saw through everything on the first day she was summoned.
A king who had no freedom in his previous life still lacked freedom after being reborn as a human. If that was the case, let her force some freedom onto him.
After all, Roman now had no power to resist.
"Since you put it that way, I'll accept it. He did seem a bit desperate before… Fine, if he dies from overworking, Chaldea would lose a reliable head of the medical department, and that'd be a huge loss."
"Yeah, exactly." Naoki laughed. "Rather than Roman, how about you, Olga? It's been half a year since your recovery. Your body's fully healed now, right?"
"Thanks for your concern. My body's fine now, very healthy."
In Leonardo's words, it had reached a level where she could give birth to several children at once without issue.
After a brief silence, Marie glanced at the time. "We're heading to the seventh Singularity in seven hours. It's late; get some rest. I'll head back now."
"If you really think that, don't sneak over in the middle of the night." Naoki smiled wryly. "You should sleep early too. Good night."
"Yeah."
The door opened and closed.
After confirming Marie had left, Rei, who had been pretending to sleep beside Naoki, opened her eyes. She sat up with the blanket covering her body, looking at the door with a hint of regret. "Marie didn't stay this time either? I was ready to keep pretending to sleep and then join in."
"What are you thinking?" Naoki rolled his eyes helplessly. "You're not even a succubus, so why do you keep thinking about these things every day?"
"Hehe~~~"
Leaning into Naoki's embrace, Rei laughed. "But, Master, honestly, you must've noticed Marie's feelings, right? Why don't you respond to them? You like her too, don't you? In various ways."
"Because there's no need to rush… Besides, I'll say it eventually, so it's better to say it all at once."
All at once?
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Truly greedy. Master, you've really become a 'jerk.'"
"I've given up. If I'm a jerk, so be it. It's been years. When I decided I wanted Aoko and Merry from the start, I became a runaway horse on this path, and there's no turning back."
Hearing these honest, shameless words, Rei smiled faintly, then her body slowly transformed. She quickly shifted from her appearance to Marie's, with the exact same chest size.
Turning to face Naoki, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Then Marie smiled. "Then, it's time for round two, right? There's still plenty of time before departure; we should make good use of it. Mana will be heavily used in the seventh Singularity, so please refuel now."
"Yes, yes, yes, dear Director."