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“The plankton that is collected at the bottom of the sea is stored for years, and later becomes oil.”

“Pulankuton?”

Louise stared blankly at him, she looked like a child parroting Saito’s words. Her expression was unreadable as half of her face was hidden behind Saito’s parka. For a moment Saito thought that this Louise looked irresistibly cute.

Furthermore, Louise even washed for him. It was impossible. Saito became scared somehow. Up 'till now, such actions were unimaginable for Louise.

Her cheeks were red. Saito was concerned so he decided to check to make sure she wasn't ill and had a fever.

Louise got startled when Saito approached her. She trembled, and… turned away.

Trying not to think how she must hate this, Saito grabbed Louise’s shoulders and brought his forehead close to her. Louise’s body stiffened but she didn’t fight and quietly closed her eyes.

Just as I thought, her body condition must be really bad, Saito thought.

“It seems you have a fever.”

When Saito pulled his forehead away from hers, Louise for some reason clenched her fist in tightly.

“What is it?” he asked, as Louise turned away from him and after some quiet rustling snuggled under the covers.

“Hey,” Saito poked.

“Sleep,” Louise answered and became silent again.

Wow, the fever must have eased up, Saito thought as he crawled into his pile of hay.

It was quiet for a moment and then a pillow flew at him.

“What the…?”

Saito asked.

“Bring back the pillow I just threw. Didn’t I tell you to sleep in the bed from now on? Idiot.”

Louise’s sulky voice was heard.

He just couldn’t understand Louise’s mood, whether it was gentle or saucy as usual. What does it matter?, Saito thought as he slipped into Louise’s bed.

Though Louise was stirring restlessly in her futon, she soon quieted down.

Now he could think about how the day passed. Anyway, now his head was filled with Siesta. Siesta’s parting words were repeated in his head again.

Siesta certainly said “The most amazing was you…”.

Was it a confession? No, was she making fun? That’s not so. Am I popular? He wasn’t popular either. The only one who showed interest was Kirche, but it was surely because I am convenient.

Aah, but, Siesta was cute. Although Louise was cute, too, Siesta had a completely different allure.

Naive, simple, but honest. Unlike Kirche, she looked wonderful when taking her clothes off. Ghaah. T-that’s right. Nice. W-w-w-what. Damn. Beaten. I’m beaten.

For something that he hadn’t considered much until that moment, the impact was huge. Fascinated by the girl, Saito started to think of the ways to return back to earth.

He would find it surely, even if he hadn’t even the slightest clue how.

Then, feeling dizzy, he started thinking about Louise. He loved Louise. But, because Louise is a noble she would never think of me that way. Besides I decided to protect her. This way I wouldn’t be that far from a lover.

Still, to be lovers one would need to sway a girl… No, even Siesta might be only having fun. Aah, I guess that’s how it is.

Becoming sleepy while thinking about various things, Saito fell into the happy sensations of the dream world.

Outside Louise’s room window, Tabitha’s Sylphid was floating. On top of which, as usual, Kirche's and Tabitha’s figures were sitting. Tabitha was reading a book in the moonlight. Kirche was staring into Louise’s room from the crevice of the window.

Kirche snorted.

“After all, it is not looking good.”

She remembered the blush on Louise’s face as she cuddled with Saito on the back of the dragon, returning from Albion. Louise seemed to not be her usual self.

“Really, he doesn’t treat me seriously? Every time I approach him, I get rejected, it makes me worried against my will.”

Until now, there was no man who would refuse courting her. It was Kirche’s pride. Truly, Kirche felt forgotten like an inconvenient thing.

Kirche was irritated. A little while ago, he even bathed with a commoner's daughter. She was ignored and two-timed. Kirche’s pride was shaken. She was defeated by Louise, she was defeated by a commoner girl, this made her name of “Ardent” cry. She had to plunder Saito from Louise, by any means possible. Snatching away La Valliere’s lovers was an old Zerbst tradition.

“Yes, though plotting isn’t my specialty, I can still think of some strategy. Right, Tabitha?”

Tabitha shut a book, and pointed at Kirche.

“Jealousy.”

Kirche blushed. And then she shook her head at Tabitha’s words.

“D-don’t say that! I’m not jealous! I cannot feel jealousy! A game! This is just a game of love!”

Nevertheless Tabitha was not convinced. She repeated the same word again.

“Jealousy.”

Chapter Four: Love Triangle

Louise was seated in the east courtyard of the Academy of Magic, commonly known as Austri, and frantically knitting. The spring weather was beginning to change as summer approached, but Louise could still be seen in her spring clothing. Even during the summer, it was quite dry instead of humid.

Ten days had passed since they had returned from Albion. Today was a day off. Without even eating dessert, Louise came to the courtyard after her meal to knit. Sometimes, she would give her hands a rest and stare at the white pages of the Founder’s Prayer book while thinking of a fitting edict for the Princess’s ceremony.

Around her, students were enjoying themselves. There was a group playing with a ball. Using magic, they would throw the ball into a basket without using their hands and try to score the most points. Staring at the group of people, Louise sighed heavily and looked at what she had started to knit.

Looking at the scene from the side, it was much like a painting. Sitting there quietly, Louise looked like a beautiful girl. Louise’s hobby was knitting. When she was small, her mother told her that if she had no talent for magic, she should at least have something she was good at, and so her mother had taught her how to knit.

But it seemed like the heavens did not give Louise any talent in knitting. Louise had planned to knit a sweater. However, regardless of how favorably she looked upon it, it looked more like a distorted muffler. Actually it was more like an object complicatedly entangled with wool. Louise stared bitterly at the object and let out another sigh.

The face of the maid working in the kitchen resurfaced in her mind. Louise knew that she was making food for Saito. Saito thought Louise didn’t know, but she was not completely oblivious.

That girl can cook well. Kirche has good looks. What do I have? Harboring these thoughts, she decided to try her hobby, knitting, but it seems like it wasn’t such a good choice.

Just as she was becoming slightly depressed from staring at the thing she was knitting, someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Kirche. Panicking, Louise quickly hid what she was knitting with the Founder’s Prayer Book.

“What are you doing Louise?”

Kirche gave her usual smile that seemed like she was looking down on her, and sat next to Louise.

“C-Can’t you see? I’m reading.”

“But, that book is blank, isn’t it?”

“This book is a national treasure called the Founder’s Prayer Book, you know?”, said Louise

“Why do you have a national treasure?”

Louise explained to Kirche that at Henrietta’s wedding ceremony, she was to read out the edict and how she was to use the Founder’s Prayer Book, and so on.