It was late at night, yet the lights in Leo's manor were still on.
Yukino, Asuna, and Utaha were all gathered in the living room, sipping tea as they chatted.
"Our beloved President sure is in a great mood. It's been almost ten hours since school ended and he still hasn't come back. Don't tell me he's drowning in some girl's gentle embrace and can't pull himself out?"
Utaha let out a cold laugh, her tone carrying a faint edge of irritation. Anyone could see she was getting impatient.
"What exactly is Leo-san… or the President… doing out there?"
Asuna frowned. She had already texted Leo several times, but he never explained what he was busy with—just told them to head back first, not to wait for him for dinner, and to respond to any summons if called. Everything else could wait until he returned.
"Didn't senpai already say it? He probably went out with that first-year angel."
Yukino held a book in her hands, flipping pages without anyone knowing whether she was actually reading. Her voice was calm and steady. "Maybe he took a liking to her and wants to recruit her as his servant."
She sounded composed, but inside she was just as annoyed.
He'd claimed he wasn't targeting "aloof beauties" like them… yet now he had his eyes on a first-year Spring Flower?
He'd already said it himself—aside from Asuna who transferred in midway, Sobu High originally had only two Sacred Gear users: her and Utaha. Mahiru and Eriri weren't Sacred Gear users, just popular school idols.
And now he was eyeing yet another aloof beauty, one without a Sacred Gear at that. Yukino was very interested in hearing what her "master" planned to say this time.
"I mean… shouldn't we try to stop him?"
Utaha stabbed her cake with a spoon, her irritation clear. "He's obviously trying to collect every aloof beauty in Sobu High. He's not even hiding that he's building a harem. And we're just supposed to sit here and watch?"
"And do what? We're just his servant followers. Whatever the master decides, we obey."
Yukino didn't even lift her gaze from her book. Her voice was steady, emotionless. "And it's not a harem. We're his servants, not his women."
…Which was even worse.
Utaha almost rolled her eyes.
Being his women would at least give them the right to complain. But as servants? They barely even had the right to object.
She didn't consider herself Leo's woman, but compared to Yukino, she was more accepting of the situation.
After all, she still remembered something he'd once said—something that had struck her deeply.
"From the moment you became my servants, we became a shared fate that can never be separated."
"Devils live for a very, very long time—so long that some fall into madness from sheer boredom. That's why we all need something to anchor our hearts and minds."
"To me, a master and his servants are just that. Our families will eventually grow old and pass away. Our friends will fade one by one. But we will remain—with each other—until thousands and tens of thousands of years have passed."
Those words had hit Utaha hard.
As a literature girl, she slipped into that imagery far too easily.
Yukino and Asuna had been moved too, but not as deeply.
So among the three, Utaha was the one who took Leo's words most seriously.
And because of that, Leo, Yukino, and Asuna had become far more important to her than before—so much so that it felt completely different now.
Which meant she had a responsibility to speak up. At the very least, Leo needed a little restraint.
The future was long, and a group of women living together would inevitably create chaos and trouble. She refused to spend the next thousand years in a never-ending battlefield of jealousy.
"I do want to complain to him a little. Tell him to look more carefully before getting attached. Just because a girl is cute and pretty doesn't mean he should be interested."
Utaha sighed. "At the very least, he shouldn't take in anyone who won't get along with us. If trouble breaks out, it won't just affect him."
Her words made Yukino raise her head, and even Asuna froze.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai… you don't like Shiina-san?"
Asuna asked in surprise.
"It's not that. I've heard plenty about that first-year angel. She has a good personality and is easy to get along with."
Utaha shook her head. "But a good personality doesn't guarantee compatibility. Especially for girls like us who are always in the spotlight and constantly compared to each other. The smallest thing can strain a relationship."
Yukino and Asuna fell silent.
They knew better than anyone how exhausting it was to be watched and compared nonstop.
They themselves hadn't grown resentful of each other, but plenty of students at Sobu High disliked them—envied them, even hated them—just because they were labeled aloof beauties.
Because of that, none of them had grown close to others before. They all knew that even if a friendship seemed stable, the smallest rumor could turn someone against you.
Girls were complicated like that. There was a reason sayings like "a woman's heart is unfathomable" existed.
And "the most venomous is a woman's heart"—that one absolutely wasn't baseless.
When a girl turned ruthless, it was terrifying.
A group of girls was already complicated. A group of outstanding, beautiful girls? That was a recipe for disaster.
The ancient emperors' harems had thousands of breathtaking women—who schemed and fought more viciously than anyone. Even women who had never met could still plot to kill each other.
"We really should give him some advice."
After a moment of silence, Yukino nodded. "I don't want to fight side by side with someone I can't get along with."
Yukino wasn't someone who compromised easily. If she were, she wouldn't have gone through school with no friends.
"I actually want to make more friends."
Asuna smiled helplessly. "But if someone and I don't mesh well, it's hard to stay around them long-term."
At her core, Asuna was gentle—almost like a perfect yamato nadeshiko. But her mother had controlled her whole life, burying her true self under endless schedules and expectations.
And yet, she was also incredibly resilient. Once she made a decision, she held onto it fiercely.
In the original story, when she was trapped in the death game, she once shut herself inside a room, terrified of the outside world and of dying. But she eventually walked out on her own—because she refused to let herself rot away while waiting for a rescue that might never arrive.
Better to die fighting than live in fear.
She picked up her sword and became one of the strongest front-line players—earning the names "Flash" Asuna and the fearsome "Demon of the Frontlines."
Back then, she threw away all emotion just to clear the death game. But later, she realized that life's meaning didn't end because of a virtual world. Even in harsh conditions, one had to live true to themselves.
After that transformation, Asuna became the perfect marriage partner—fiercely loyal in love, endlessly tender toward even an AI child who called her "mama." At sixteen or seventeen, she awakened a maternal love most adults struggled to achieve. She was a flawless wife.
She wasn't there yet now, but at seventeen, the gentle resilience within her had already begun to surface.
And that meant she would no longer compromise so easily.
"Then it's settled."
Utaha straightened up, confidence growing as the other two agreed. "When that guy gets back, we'll—"
She didn't finish.
A strange voice cut in from behind them.
"So what are you planning to do, huh? Rebel against me?"
The moment that voice echoed, the room froze.
Then all three girls shot to their feet, turning toward the doorway—where Leo stood.
Arms crossed.
Eyes narrowed.
A half-smile on his face as he looked at his three servants.
A silent display of authority.
"You—you're back?"
"Wel—welcome home!"
"When did you get here?!"
Yukino, Asuna, and Utaha all spoke at once, each a little stiff and awkward.
Leo grinned—the kind of grin that made their hearts sink with guilt.