Editor : Amethyst00



When Luna saw Leo disguised as an elven woman, she made an incredulous face.

'What? Isn’t that just… a total pervert?'

Staring at Leo—beautiful no matter who looked—Luna’s expression turned serious.

'Did I really fall for someone like that?'

How do I even put it…?

She couldn’t imagine any future where she would fall for Leo.

'Sure, when he gave me those flowers, I did think he was cool…'

But seeing him like this, even that cool impression felt completely shattered.

'Did future me completely lose it from doing too much magic research or something?'

Otherwise, there was no way to explain it.

'Yeah. I’m sure I must’ve lost it. I don’t want to become some crazy mage—'

Smack!

“…Huh?”

Luna stared blankly down at her right hand.

Completely against her will, it had suddenly slapped her across the cheek.

It wasn’t a hard slap, but the fact that her body had moved outside her control left Luna with no choice but to look utterly flustered.

Meanwhile—

Rena—who had been startled when she saw Leo—let out a small “Ah—!” and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Elena placed both hands on Rena’s shoulders.

“Now then… why would this little kid look at Leo and called him 'Your Majesty'?”

Elena narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Right—where is Leo-oppa— I mean, Leo is supposed to be… Huh?! Don’t tell me that elf woman is him?!”

Still affected by the perception-blurring spell and unable to make sense of what she was seeing, Chelsea’s eyes went wide.

At Chelsea’s reaction, Elena broke into a bright grin.

“Isn’t she pretty?”

“What did you do to Kyle-oppa?!”

Chelsea protested, her face turning bright red. Elena jutted out her lips in a pout.

“Oh my—look at you. Do you really think I’m capable of doing something like that?”

“Maybe not, but you’re the only one who’d be bold enough to force Kyle-oppa into something that humiliating, Senior Elena!”

“For something ‘humiliating,’ doesn’t it suit him ridiculously well? And besides… this happened because Lyl decided to pick on Leo.”

Playing innocent and pinning everything on Lyl, Elena looked down at Rena.

“Anyway. Who is this little young lady?”

“Come to think of it…”

Chelsea, looking a bit awkward as well, glanced at Rena.

“Just in case—let me ask. Did this kid come from the future?”

Elena asked, half-lidding her eyes.

Before Chelsea—who hesitated for a moment—could answer, Luna, who was frowning and staring down at her own palm, nodded.

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“And you are…?”

As Elena looked at Luna with a puzzled expression, her eyes suddenly widened.

She’d slipped free of the perception-blurring spell’s effect that had been placed on Luna.

“Today really is… full of surprises.”

Murmuring that, Elena greeted Luna politely.

At Elena’s sudden change in attitude, Luna scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“Anyway—if she really is from the future…”

Elena narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and Eiran picked up her words carefully.

“Th-then… could she be Lord Leo’s descendant… or something like that?”

She phrased it like a question, but Eiran was certain.

At that, Rena covered her mouth and blinked a few times—then her shoulders drooped.

"…Yes, that's right."

Rena admitted her identity without resistance.

"My name is Renaeshan Plov. Second Princess of the Kingdom of Arhi and…"

Rena stole a glance toward the parade moving off in the distance.

“…I’m Lord Leo Plov’s granddaughter.”

bl

Chelsea looked at Rena sitting across from her.

'This is uncomfortable.'

The thought rose in her mind without even trying.

Elena and Eiran were seated on either side of Chelsea.

Luna sat beside Rena.

The reason Chelsea felt so uneasy was painfully simple.

It was Rena’s presence.

'Leo-oppa’s granddaughter?'

Her thoughts were a mess.

Now that she knew, it was obvious—setting aside the hair and eye color, there were quite a few ways Rena resembled Leo.

'It doesn’t seem like a lie.'

Chelsea’s eyes darted around.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange at all for Leo to have children.

Leo was, by all accounts, the king of a nation.

For the sake of succession, having heirs was only natural.

The problem was…

'Whose child’s child is she?'

Perhaps thinking along the same lines as Chelsea, both Elena and Eiran were giving off an odd air as well.

Just then, the door opened and an elf walked in.

The place the five of them had come to was an elf-style teahouse run by Seiren students.

Elf-style teahouses were known for assigning you a luxurious private room and serving an array of high-end teas and sweets.

It was quite different from the teahouses Chelsea was used to.

A Seiren student working as a server opened the door, stepped in, and quietly set the refreshments down.

Eiran, seated beside Chelsea, spoke.

“Apparently this teahouse is really popular with the Lumene students.”

Eiran wore a genuinely puzzled expression.

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because… it’s nice.”

“Huh? Aren’t human teahouses much better?”

“It’s just a difference in culture. You know—foreign things always feel fresher and more appealing.”

“Is that so?”

Tilting her head, Eiran grasped the teacup’s handle and lifted it.

Chelsea carefully lifted the saucer with both hands.

She brought it to her nose, inhaled the aroma, then set it back on the table.

Then, after straightening the cup neatly, she closed her eyes, raised it, and let the tea rest on her tongue.

Clink—

"This is nice tea."

After savoring it, Chelsea opened her eyes with a quiet note of admiration.

“Hm? Is there something on my face?”

When Chelsea asked with a puzzled expression, Eiran said,

“I was surprised—there’s a real elegance to you.”

“The nobles of the Lordren Empire are strict about etiquette, sure. I just didn’t think Chelsea would be like that.”

At Eiran and Elena’s comments, Chelsea made an embarrassed smile.

“Normally I just drink it, but when you come to a place like this, you end up minding your manners.”

Since the inside of the elf-style teahouse was so luxurious, Chelsea had naturally found herself slipping into proper etiquette.

“Oh? So you’re a young lady from a fine house. Just like her.”

Luna looked at Rena beside her.

Rena, too, had taken in the tea’s fragrance and sipped it in the same way Chelsea had.

It wasn’t the skill of someone who’d done it only once or twice.

Flawless etiquette, without a single slip.

Watching that, Chelsea’s expression turned strange.

'That’s Lordren-style etiquette.'

This wasn’t imitation—it was the manner of someone who’d been trained from childhood.

Just then, Rena met Chelsea’s eyes and smiled, her eyes sparkling.

As if saying, "Didn't I do well?"

As Chelsea’s expression turned oddly complicated at the sight—

“Just look at her. Clearly my granddaughter.”

Elena said with a bright little smile.

Chelsea shot a glance to the side.

“See? She’s cute because she takes after me.”

“Weren’t you the one saying she looked cocky when you first saw her?”

As Chelsea jutted out her lips and said that, Elena gave a bright little smile.

“Isn’t that part just like me too?”

At those words, Eiran fidgeted her fingers and spoke up.

“Um… well, since she’s have an elvish look… there’s a chance she could be my granddaughter too…”

“It’s just a disguise.”

Rena answered, fiddling with the tip of her pointed ear.

“Oh! I see.”

Eiran nodded.

Watching her, Elena tilted her head.

“You don’t look disappointed.”

“Lord Leo is the king of a nation, isn’t he? Don’t kings have multiple wives?”

“…What?”

“Even if Miss Rena isn’t my granddaughter, wouldn’t there be a child born between me and Lord Leo?”

At that, Chelsea wore a dumbstruck expression.

“And besides—whoever it was, the fact that Miss Rena was born means… in the future, Lord Leo no longer sees the women around him as children.”

Hearing that, Elena looked at Rena with a slightly sulky face.

“So the man who becomes your grandpa goes around messing with this woman and that woman in the future?”

“It’s a secret.”

Rena smiled brightly and raised a finger to her lips.

“And I might be Lady Eiran’s granddaughter, too.”

“…What?”

“Because there’s definitely elven blood running in my body.”

Chelsea’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly, and Elena’s brow twitched in irritation.

“Of course, it could be that my father is the one with elven blood.”

“Wow. She’s totally playing with us.”

Elena pressed her temple with a finger.

“So? Who’s the one that becomes your grandmother?”

Frowning, Chelsea asked point-blank.

At that, Rena blinked her red eyes.

“Are you sure you won’t be shocked?”

“……”

Chelsea, looking slightly tense, nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Lady Eliana.”

“What?!”

Chelsea yelped in disbelief and sprang to her feet.

At that reaction, Rena broke into a wide smile.

“Just kidding. Who my grandmother is—that’s a secret too.”

“Kiiii—!”

Chelsea made a furious, frustrated face.

Seeing that, Rena burst into cackling laughter.

“By the way… is it really okay to just reveal information that could change the future like this?”

When Eiran asked carefully, Chelsea furrowed her brow.

“Come to think of it… isn’t this the Hero’s World?”

It was a plausible hypothesis, but Elena shook her head.

“If it were, it wouldn’t let us approach things like this… And the fact our feelings haven’t shifted means this isn’t the Hero’s World.”

At the three of them talking, Rena took a small sip of tea.

“My coming here is magic in the end. The future won’t change or anything. When I designed the spell formula, I also accounted for the possibility that my identity would be exposed.”

Hearing Rena’s explanation, Luna tilted her head.

“Rena… did your personality suddenly change a little?”

“Huh?”

Rena looked slightly flustered.

“Mm… not exactly that your personality changed… but you seem to be treating us more familiarly than before. The distance is gone.”

“That too, but… you also seem more mature somehow?”

Eiran blinked her big eyes and tilted her head, and Elena wore a puzzled expression as well.

At that, Rena played dumb.

“I want to look around outside some more.”

Luna said that as she stood up from her seat.

“Ah—then I’ll come with you.”

“We’re heading to where that pervert is, so let's go that way.”

With a small smile, Luna slipped out of the teahouse.

“…Pervert?”

Eiran tilted her head. Chelsea answered,

“I think she means Leo-oppa.”

“Ahh…”

Eiran understood and nodded awkwardly.

“Still… a granddaughter…”

“I’m really curious whose granddaughter she is.”

As Eiran and Chelsea’s eyes darted this way and that—

Elena stroked her chin.

“Hm. Either way—if he’s human, it means with enough effort, you can knock him off his feet, right?”

“Elena sunbae, you’re really… proactive.”

“Yeah. I’m the type who can’t rest until I get what I want. So how do I seduce that guy?”

As Elena mulled it over—

“Um… in books, they tempt someone by making them take some kind of ‘potion.’ Wouldn’t that work? If you got him to drink something like that?”

“……”

“……”

Elena and Chelsea looked at Eiran.

“Eiran. That kind of magic ‘potion’ from those indecent books you read doesn’t exist in human society.”

“Huh? I—I mean, not that! I mean a love potion—don’t those exist?! They show up all the time in novels!”

“…There’s no way that exists.”

Chelsea let out a small sigh.

Watching Eiran droop her ears with a disappointed expression, Elena thought,

'Honestly… when you think about it, she might be the most dangerous one here.'