He swore to the heavens that he hadn’t done anything shameful, but no matter how you looked at it, the situation was completely incriminating.

From inside the guardhouse, Miaha's exasperated voice can be heard saying, "See, I told you so."

Amid the awkward silence, Gosetsu smiles seductively and casts a lustful gaze at Allen and Giselle, who are standing behind him.

"Oh...? Even though you have Lady Charlotte, you're having a secret affair with another woman? You seem to have a surprisingly bold side to you. By the way, just to be clear, how do you want to die?"

『What are you doing, you idiot… If you make Mama sad, I’ll bite you. 』

“I-It’s a misunderstanding!”

Even Luu groaned, glaring at him as if he were filth.

Allen realized this must be exactly how it feels to be a father accused of cheating.

While he was panicking, Giselle suddenly stepped out toward the main street, smiling pleasantly for some reason.

“By any chance, are you Charlotte-san?”

“Y-Yes. Um… and you are…?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Giselle, captain of the city’s royal guard.”

Giselle bows her head and respectfully introduces herself. Though she's not wearing her armor, her demeanor is refined and well-behaved.

Perhaps because of her innocent demeanor, Charlotte's expression softens somewhat.

Just when you thought they'd clear up the misunderstanding, Giselle places her hand on her chest and boldly declared

"I'm Allen's apprentice, and he's teaching me naughty things!"

"Eh..."

"Okay, stop talking! Stay back!"

Allen barked the words reflexively. Giselle obeyed, tilting her head in confusion.

“Hmm… what’s wrong with Master?”

“Uh, that was not okay, Captain… You’re making it sound way worse.”

“Why? I’m also someone who learns from Allen-dono, just like Charlotte-san. I thought I should greet her properly…”

“Ahh… you’re clueless about this kind of thing, huh.”

“The Captain’s a good girl, so let’s go get ramen first.”

Giving Giselle a warm look, the other members bowed deeply and headed off to the ramen shop. They seemed more like a group of babysitters than the Royal Guard.

Anyway, seeing them off, Allen frantically grabbed Charlotte's hand and clung to her.

“It’s not what it looks like, Charlotte. There’s a perfectly good reason for all this.”

Then he roughly explained the events of the day.

He stammered, concealing the charges of abuse and kidnapping so as not to make Charlotte worry, and although he'd been falsely accused, he'd managed to convince her of the wrong things and the suspicion had been wiped away.

"So, I was just feeding her delicious food. This was definitely not cheating. Please believe me... Huh!?"

Allen swallowed his words.

As if pouring ice water over his head, all the blood drained from his body, and of course his heart stopped completely.

"N-No way..."

Charlotte's face was pale and she was trembling uncontrollably.

Tears were beginning to form around her wide-open eyes, threatening to spill out at any moment.

Gosetsu and Luu suddenly exuded murderous aura. Allen bravely prepared himself for death.

After what seemed like an eternity of seconds, Charlotte bit her lip tightly and cried out in a pained voice.

“Th-That’s… not okay!”

“Huh? Ehh!?”

She suddenly hugged his arm tightly.

Allen was used to hand-holding and leaning close, but this much full contact was still too much especially when it was an unexpected attack from her side. He froze completely.

Charlotte seemed to be at her wits' end as well, as her face was bright red and her words were incoherent.

“N-Naughty things are only for me… I-I’m the only one who can be your girlfriend… anyway, if it’s something naughty, it has to be with me!”

"Eh, ah, okay."

In essence, she was trying to say, ‘I'm the only one Allen can do naughty things with.’

(…So this is jealousy? Eh… c-cute?)

Plus, what was pressing against him was… soft.

A mix of emotions made him grin foolishly, which earned him glares from Gousetsu and Luu.

“Looks like the crisis is over… but for some reason, this is infuriating.”

『Should I bite him after all? 』

"Oh, come on, shut up...ugh."

Allen looked up and choked on his breath.

This was the main street of the city.

Naturally, there were a lot of people around, and many passersby stopped to give Allen and his friends curious looks. They could hear things like, "I thought so..." and "report..." here and there.

(Th-This is bad…! I’ll get reported again!)

He tried to calm Charlotte down.

“S-Sorry, Charlotte. Let’s calm down for now. I’ll be more careful from now on. In return, let me make it up to you.”

“…Really?”

Charlotte stopped shouting and looked up at him with wary hope.

Allen smiled gently and nodded.

“Of course. Have I ever lied to you?”

“Then… I have a request.”

"Just tell me anything. I'll make it happen."

Allen declared with resolve. He had made his lover sad, so it was only natural that he would make amends and give himself to the bone.

Perhaps Charlotte had sensed his resolve, as she looked relieved.

After fidgeting for a moment, she made up her mind and yelled out a cute request.

"Then please... teach me something even more naughty than what Giselle and those girls did earlier!"

"I see..."

At that moment, the onlookers watching from afar stirred.

Allen could only look up to the sky.

Today had been a day filled with many opportunities to reflect on himself. However, this was the hardest.

(Yeah… maybe I should try living a little more honestly from now on.)

Lost in escapist thoughts, he saw Charlotte’s face twist in worry.

“Wh-What? You won’t teach me anymore? Not even me?”

"No!? I'll teach you! I'll teach you! So, yeah, let's go home for now!?"

“Really? But it has to be way better than what you taught Giselle-san, okay?”

"Yeah, I'll do my best to teach you something amazing! So let's go!? Right!?"

"Hmm... Allen-san, something seems a bit suspicious. Are you really going to teach me? Tell me specifically here."

"Uh, that's...!"

Allen could only wince at Charlotte's sulky expression.

The things he taught Giselle and the others were pancakes, massages, and nail art.

(What's even more amazing than that...?)

Nails and stuff like that were Miaha's idea. Allen, completely ignorant of such things, had no idea about superior versions.

(That's right, Miaha...! Miaha can do something about it...!)

Giselle and her group headed for the ramen shop, but Miaha was sure to be behind them. I turned around with hope, but...

"Oh, a message from Lady Miaha. 'I've got another job, so I'll be off now. Please give me the pay from this job at the next pickup."

"So I really don't have any popularity, huh!?"

"You thought you did?"

Only Gousetsu and Luu remained. Charlotte tugged on his sleeve.

“So, Allen-san… are you going to teach me or not?”

“S-Someone… anyone, help me…!”

Allen finally cried out.

He hadn't expected for a second that they would actually send a rescue boat, but...

“Sure thing.”

"What...?!"

A familiar voice answered.

He turned around quickly...and there stood his sister, Eruca. Allen blinked at the unexpected appearance.

"Eh, Eruca...?"

“Hey, bro, long time no see.”

It had been almost two months since they last saw each other, but Eruca waved casually and walked towards them.

However, when she saw Charlotte still clinging to Allen's arm, her eyes widened slightly.

“Wow, you two are lovey-dovey now? Finally together?”

"We'll talk about that later! For now, just help me!"

"Eruca, listen to me! Allen's so mean!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll listen to your lovey-dovey stories later."

Eruca nodded, seemingly completely unconcerned, and grinned.

“But first… we’ve got a problem. I need you both to come with me. Yes, Charlotte-chan too.”

“A problem?”

“M-Me too?”

“Yeah. In fact, it won’t start without you. I came here to get you two.”

Allen and Charlotte exchanged glances.

But what Eruca said next caused them both to hold their breath.

Eruca held out her right hand and spoke with a serious expression.

“We’re going home, bro, to our old school, Athena Magic Academy. Natalia-chan’s in big trouble.”

"What...?!"

“Natalia…?”

The name Eluca spoke was unmistakable――the name of Charlotte's half-sister, Natalia Evans.