Chapter 24: I call you brother, but you want to be my stepfather?!
"Mother-sama…?!"
Gawain was shocked stiff.
Aside from the timeline matching suspiciously well, there were traces in other aspects too.
If one recalled carefully, it would become apparent that every time Morgan met Eikou, she displayed an unusual level of interest and concern, along with somewhat heavy-handed interactive behavior—everything seemed to prove that she cared deeply about this young man.
The Mother of the Lostbelt was not good at expressing her true thoughts; her intentions were always difficult to grasp, so Gawain had never wanted to bother analyzing the real motives hidden behind those details.
But if it was because she liked Eikou, then everything suddenly made sense!
Good heavens, he was just gossiping, so how did it end up being his own family's business?!
Tristan beside him was also stunned:
"Congratulations, Gawain—at last, you're no longer a child without a father!"
"Hah?!"
Bang!
The blond man, one meter eighty tall, was as if struck by lightning, instantly going limp and collapsing back into his seat.
"Wait, wait…"
He came back to his senses and hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"We can't draw conclusions so early. What if it's not what we're thinking? Mother-sama is usually busy with countless affairs—going on a three-day business trip once in a while is perfectly normal."
"..."
The two of them couldn't help falling into a somewhat awkward silence.
"Although we don't know what the truth is…"
Tristan said in a low voice.
"But if that's the case…"
Gawain said softly.
The gazes of the two Knights of the Round Table sharpened as they clasped each other's hands, reaching an astonishing consensus in this very moment:
"We must thoroughly investigate Sir Eikou!"
Who Eikou dated during those few days, and whether that person was Morgan or not—no matter what, they had to find out.
"So what exactly should we do?"
Gawain asked in a stern tone.
"It's obvious that Sir Eikou is currently extremely sensitive to topics related to that kind of thing, so it's best not to alert him."
Tristan stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then said,
"Just one slip of the tongue would immediately make him suspicious. If we don't handle this properly, the friendship between the three of us could very well develop cracks!"
"Then do you have any good ideas?"
Tristan thought for a while, then suddenly seemed to have an epiphany:
"We can play Truth or Dare with him."
"Tristan, are you even thinking straight?"
Gawain let out a sigh, his face filled with an expression of helplessness that said, "Asking an idiot like you really means I'm the idiot."
"Leaving aside whether Sir Eikou would tell the truth or not, your intentions are way too obvious. No normal person would easily agree to an invitation like that."
He shook his head.
"Let's forget it. To be honest, I don't really want to dig into this any further either. A brother I hang out with every day potentially becoming my stepfather…"
"Don't rush it, I've already revised this plan in my head."
Tristan said after thinking it through.
"Do you remember that at-home outfit with an apron that we saw last time at the Drama Club? Back then, all three of us said that if we could get Our King to wear that, it would be great. Later, when we were playing a board game, we added punishment rules, designating that they had to do one thing."
Using in-game penalties to make Our King wear a home outfit with bunny ears, while conveniently luring Eikou into joining as well—truly killing two birds with one stone.
(Note: I think they are talking about Catoria Berserker's stage 2 outfit)
"Even if we can't get any answers out of it, just being able to see Our King in bunny ears would already be a huge win—no loss at all!"
Tristan's eyes became sharp.
"I hereby name this plan—the Tristan scheme that harms both people."
"This really is the first time I've heard you come up with such a high-level plan."
Gawain was immediately convinced.
"Then it's decided. For Our King!"
"Why do I get the feeling that compared to the romantic relationship between your mother and your good brother, you care more about Our King's bunny-ear outfit?"
Tristan couldn't help but feel admiration, thinking that this was exactly the quality a truly loyal subject to the king should have—he really ought to learn more from Gawain.
...
On the other side, it seemed that Eikou and Barghest had also finished talking.
"Eikou, after school you absolutely must not be late."
Barghest said,
"We are both representatives of the Student Council from Britain Class, and also representatives of the class's honor, so we must complete the mission properly, understood?"
"Umu."
Eikou nodded.
"Even though you are someone the Queen trusts, if you make a mistake, I won't go easy on you."
Barghest emphasized in a very serious tone.
"Don't worry, it's just a campus patrol, I'll definitely do i—"
Before Eikou could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard a rather clear stomach growl coming from the opposite side.
"Grrr…"
"Huh?"
He lifted his head to look.
"Barghest, are you hungry?"
"No… no… fine then, it's just that I happened to skip breakfast this morning…"
Barghest's face flushed slightly as she wiped the corner of her mouth, where a bit of saliva had seeped out.
"There's no need to worry about it. You just need to do your Student Council duties properly."
She awkwardly changed the subject, straightening her expression on her beautiful face.
There was nothing wrong with the explanation, but only she herself knew the real reason.
Her stomach growling really was because she hadn't eaten breakfast, but on top of that, seeing Eikou blushing and looking more and more appealing had made her unconsciously activate her wild instincts.
She couldn't help wanting to turn into a beast of summer.
Just thinking about being able to go on patrol with Eikou after school—and with only the two of them—was enough to make Barghest unable to suppress the fluttering feeling in her heart.
Especially every time she saw Eikou, she couldn't help recalling how she had once secretly witnessed him doing that with Scathach in the gymnasium together with Murasaki Shikibu and the others…
Who would have thought that a male student who looked so pure could be so intense with mature women behind the scenes?
Then… if the two of them were alone, could she take advantage of the situation and pin him down…
At this thought, Barghest's face turned bright red, and she hurriedly shook her head.
What am I even thinking, that's far too careless. Eikou is someone cherished by Her Majesty the Queen—how could I casually snatch a share for myself!
More importantly, doing that wouldn't be proper at all, completely unlike a lady. On the contrary, it would be no different from degenerating into a careless sow driven by desire, easily seduced by the man in front of her!
But then… is there really anything wrong with that?
Barghest swallowed nervously, her face burning, and turned around to leave.
"Sorry, Eikou, I'll be heading off first!"
[Summer has arrived. In the latter half of the first semester, everyone feels a bit restless inside.]
[Daily life appears calm on the surface, but it seems no one is truly at ease—everyone is being swayed by the throbbing of youth.]
[You are no exception. First you tasted the flavor of the forbidden fruit and became addicted to it; then you were disturbed by the high-intensity temptation of My Love Is Eternal EX, making all the older women around you feel irresistibly alluring.]
[Disaster With Women alone was already terrifying, and now with My Love Is Eternal EX added on top, isn't it like being attacked from both sides at once? But for you, this is merely a part of everyday life.]