Children learn from their mistakes... or not.

'Ah, I messed up...' Mike thought after hearing Irina's name.

Mike made a small mistake when he took the mission of the forbidden love couple. He didn't completely look at Touji's profile. How would Mike know that he would just run into his daughter and get involved with her like this? Well, he isn't aware of his Plot Armor after all.

'This is bad. I didn't want to involve myself with Touji Shidou since he has a close relationship with Masaomi. And if he started an investigation about Masaomi, there is a chance he might suspect me for appearing out of nowhere. Well, normally people don't suspect children but I can't say the chances are null. It would be bad if I separated myself from this family now. They would become really sad if that happened. And it's impossible to avoid Touji Shidou since he will be at the feast tonight. Hmm...' Mike went into the world of his own thoughts and started thinking about the measures he needs to take.

"Mike-chan... Mike-chan!"

"Ah! Oh, I am sorry, Miki-san. I was just thinking about something."

Miki pulled Mike out of his world.

"What are you thinking about?" Irina asked.

"Ah, nothing really important." Mike didn't want to answer. So, Mike changed the topic. "Anyway, Irina and Nozomi huh..."

"Hmm... I like them both..." Mike said his thoughts out loud.

Obviously, there was a moment of silence after that. Irina, a comparatively normal girl, became bright red due to embarrassment after hearing that. As for the other three, they have stars in their eyes.

"Mike-chan actually took the harem route!"

"Hahaha! I know I can trust him on carrying on my legacy!"

"Husband accepted that he likes me! Hehehe!"

"Umm... I... I am glad about your feelings but could you give some more time, Mike? The three of us together... Awawawa..."

Miki, Gorou, Nozomi, and Irina interpreted Mike's words in their own way.

Mike looked at those reactions and thought about what he said.

"Ah, it looks like you had a misunderstanding. I was referring to their names. 'Irina' means 'Peace' and 'Nozomi' means 'Hope'. Hope and Peace are my most favorite words after all. So, I like the names 'Nozomi' and 'Irina'. Ah, that doesn't mean I don't like the girls. I like them as friends" Mike said with a calm expression "Hmm... Did I just friendzone Nozomi and Irina?"

Mike understood that shouting out his opinions in this family would just backfire at him. So, rather than wasting his energy, Mike decided to calmly give them a straight answer. Mike can learn from his mistakes after all.

"Well, at least husband still likes me."

"Ara~ Ara~ Mike-chan sure knows how to disappoint..."

Hearing Mike's immediate answer, the Hyoudous became disappointed. Gorou caught Mike's shoulders with a serious expression and said...

"Mike, listen to me! Even though friend-zoning and denseness are two of the important harem protagonist skills that stop him from making advances on a single girl which destroys his chances for the rest of the harem, you can't have those skills! Those skills are necessary for betas! But a Harem King needs to be alpha! The one who wants to be a Harem King and still act as a beta will be despised by a lot of people!"

"I don't want to be a Harem King though..." said Mike who kept looking at Gorou with a deadpan expression throughout the lecture.

While the whole ordeal is going on, the situation of Irina is...

"Awawa... Mike between me and Nozomi... No! Lewd! It's too lewd!"

It's hard to bring her back once she entered her perverted delusions. So, she didn't listen to what Mike or anyone else said after that. Mike understood that one of the reasons Irina gets along well with this perverted family is because she's a pervert too.

After the situation settled down, Irina was sent to have a bath first and Mike said that he will stay in the kitchen with the Hyoudous so that Irina won't be worried.

During that time, Nozomi cut her fingers three times. Well, Beginners make mistakes. Mike took out the first aid kit and applied disinfectant and put bandages on the wounds. Nozomi kept grinning the whole time Mike did that. In fact, it went like this.

*First time*

"Ouch! It hurts!" (Nozomi)

"Haa... Don't worry, it's normal for first-timers. Let me take care of everything." (Mike)

"Hubby! It's bleeding!" (Nozomi)

"Don't worry, I will be gentle." (Mike)

"Ah... Hubby... Ah... Hehehe..." (Nozomi)

*Second time*

"Ouch! It happened again!" (Nozomi)

"Haa... Jeez, be careful. Come here." (Mike)

"Hehehe... Please take care of me..." (Nozomi)

*Third time*

"Yay! Hubby! I cut myself again!" (Nozomi)

"Why do you look so happy about it?! Take care of your body a little more!" (Mike)

"Hehehe... Hubby is worried about me..." (Nozomi)

"Listen to me! If you intentionally cut yourself again, I won't let you cook anymore!" (Mike)

"Mike-chan is right, Nozomi. I know when the person you like worries about you, you feel happy. But it's wrong to intentionally worry them." (Miki)

"Muu... Okay..." (Nozomi)

***

After Mike and Miki scolded her, she didn't get another cut on her finger again. Mike sighed. Mike knows that a cut on fingers can be considered a small thing but Nozomi's still a child. And even though she's a child, Nozomi is ready to cut herself because she wants Mike to worry about her. Mike didn't understand why she is so dedicated to him. For the first time, Mike felt like Nozomi's feelings are a little heavy.

Before Mike can think of anything else, Irina came out of the bath. So, Mike went and took a bath. When he came back into the living room, he found Gorou, Irina, and a man with light brown hair.

"Ah, so you are Mike. Nice to meet you, young man. I am Irina's father, Touji Shidou."

Mike bowed in front of him "Nice to meet you, Touji-san, I am Mike, Irina's friend."

Looking at Touji's positive mood. Mike understood that the church's message about his colleague's death still didn't reach him. So, Mike is safe for now. But Mike also concluded that since the church didn't send the message even though they could just do it on the phone, there are some discussions still ongoing with the Underworld about how to cover up the story. In any case, the story that will be told to Touji will remain the same anyways

'We got info that your colleague Masaomi Yaegaki and Kuoh's devil ruler Cleria Belial are in a romantic relationship. So, we secretly sent someone to investigate this since you have a close relationship with your subordinate. The info turned out to be the truth and the one we sent had to kill them both as they were unable to persuade them to stop the relationship. You are requested to take the credit for it since the one we sent want their identity kept as secret.'

Mike wondered about Touji's reaction once he gets that message but for the moment, Mike decided to enjoy the situation.