CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: THE PRESENCE THAT COMMANDS RESPECT

"I’m back."

Opening the door, Haruka waved to the car parked in front of her house and stepped inside.

As she swapped her high heels for slippers, she heard the sound of footsteps.

The one who greeted her was, of course, her beautiful daughter, Emilia.

"Mom, welcome back," she said with a faint smile.

"Wait a bit, I’ll change and start preparing lunch," Haruka said, handing her bag to her daughter.

"Mom, you must be tired, and it’s a rare day off," Emilia said. "Let me make lunch."

"Thanks, but I rested plenty yesterday," she smiled.

"... Were you with your boyfriend?" Emilia asked cautiously.

Haruka froze for a moment.

"Well... I talked about him with you yesterday, right?" Haruka began, and when her daughter nodded, she continued with a slight blush: "I was with him yesterday and slept at his place."

Even without her saying it, Emilia wasn’t naive enough not to imagine what her mother had been doing at her supposed boyfriend’s house.

"I see..." Emilia said. "W-Well, I’m happy for you, Mom. You deserve to be happy, and from what I can tell, this boyfriend of yours makes you happy."

"Very much," Haruka replied.

There were still many things she hadn’t told her daughter, like her boyfriend’s age, for example. But that was something she planned to share, just not now.

**

**

Wearing dark gray pants, a light blue button-up shirt, and a dark gray blazer, Zayden arrived at the meeting spot.

It was twelve-twenty. The meeting was set for one o’clock.

The meeting point was in front of the Shopping Center.

Stepping out of a taxi, he saw it was Catherine.

She looked stunning.

Her beautiful hair was tied up in a high ponytail that swayed cheerfully from side to side. Black sunglasses, red lipstick highlighting her gorgeous full lips, a pair of hoop earrings, and a gold necklace with a teardrop-shaped purple sapphire pendant.

The sound of her black high-heeled shoes echoed as she began to walk. In her right hand, she held a small black purse.

She was wearing high-waisted black pants, snugly fitted to her body, with a gold belt.

Her top was a tight black high-neck blouse with a subtle triangular cutout at the chest. Over it, she wore a mustard-yellow long trench coat with black details on the collar and cuffs and gold buttons that added a sophisticated touch.

"Sorry for being late," she said as she reached him.

Shaking his head in denial, he said, "I just got here and... you arrived over 30 minutes early."

She simply smiled at that.

Seeing her like this, he understood and said, "By the way... or rather, I should’ve said this the moment you showed up. Catherine, you look incredible. It’s like I’m only now truly realizing how beautiful you are..."

That comment made the girl blush.

"Really?" Catherine grinned from ear to ear and grabbed Zayden’s arm, hugging it tightly. "You look pretty cool too~"

Men who noticed Catherine’s arrival had considered flirting with her, but when they saw her with the tall boy with blond hair and red eyes... not even the courage of a bull would’ve been enough for them to approach her.

Even girls who had noticed Zayden and were gathering the courage to approach him gave up in defeat upon seeing Catherine.

They could only sigh in admiration as the two looked so good together.

"Could they be models?"

It was a question several of them began to have.

It wasn’t without reason. After all, both Zayden and Catherine were quite tall, especially by Japanese standards. And, as if that weren’t enough, they had also been blessed with striking beauty.

Wherever Zayden and Catherine passed, the sound of necks snapping to look at them echoed.

The number of people staring in their direction surpassed single digits before they even took the escalator to the second floor.

"Hungry?" Zayden asked as soon as they reached the second floor.

To their right was the food court, and to their left, at the end, was the cinema wing.

"Not yet," she replied. "I ate a lot at breakfast."

"Same," Zayden said. "So, how about we check what movies are playing and see if we find something interesting?"

"That’s a good plan," she agreed easily.

As they walked through the corridor with the open section that allowed a view of all the shopping mall’s floors, they spotted a familiar face coming out of a clothing store.

Catherine murmured softly, "Kisaragi-san?"

At 1.51 meters, he looked like an elementary school student.

And with his delicate facial features, even with his dark brown hair in a short, slightly emo-style cut that partially covered his eyes, he was often mistaken for a girl.

At that very moment, a boy was approaching him and started flirting with him.

"Boku (I) am a boy!" he exclaimed, sounding upset.

The stylish boy who tried to flirt with him looked utterly shocked and froze.

When the stylish boy’s friends saw and heard what Subaru said, they burst into laughter, some clutching their stomachs.

The boy in question, being called gay by his friends, turned red with embarrassment and anger. His piercing gaze toward Subaru made it seem like he wanted to devour him alive.

Zayden noticed from Catherine’s expression that she wasn’t comfortable with the situation.

Sighing slightly, he shouted loudly, "Hey! What do you think you’re doing with my classmate?"

His shout successfully drew their attention.

Catherine looked at him with an indescribable sparkle in her purple eyes from behind her dark sunglasses.

"Voltrex-san and Lefevre-san..."

Obviously, Subaru recognized them.

Zayden approached with Catherine holding onto his arm.

He didn’t say a single word upon arriving, just stared at the four boys.

His presence alone spoke louder.

The four boys shrank back. The three who had been laughing until they clutched their stomachs had stopped long ago.

"W-We... Excuse us!" the one who had tried to flirt with Subaru earlier shouted, turning to his friends. "Let’s go!"

"""Y-Yes!"""

Without further hesitation, they all fled down the stairs to the first floor.

"Are you okay, Subaru-san?" Zayden asked.

Subaru didn’t seem very happy or grateful.

Still, he said, "Thanks for the help. I’m going now..."

Before leaving, he glanced at Catherine. His expression seemed complicated before he passed by them, heading in the same direction they had come from, likely to take the escalator down.

{Image of how Catherine looks on this date in [Volume 0: Auxiliary Volume: Current harem]}