Part 2

Bonus Chapter

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing I asked them to do was to come to my house and sit down with a cup of tea or something. At that time, Kaori introduced herself to Owen-san and Luna as well, so I'll be answering the questions from the two of them earlier…

I opened my mouth, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the sharp looks from the two… no, three people, including Luna.

"Well… first of all, Kaori, she's a friend of mine."

When I said that, Kaori looked a little dissatisfied, but on the contrary, Lexia-san and the others looked like they were missing a beat.

"Eh? Is that all?"

"Other than that, it's hard to explain…"

I sneak an earful to Kaori, who looks at me with a quizzical expression at my stalling.

"I haven't explained our world to those… Lexia-san and others."

"Eh?"

"For some reason, they think I'm a foreigner, too…"

"I-I see…"

Before Lexia-san and the others arrived, we had talked about the technology and power of this world is dangerous to Earth, and Kaori was convinced that I hadn't told them I was an otherworlder.

"B-but still… only friend is…"

"Eh?"

"I-it was nothing!"

Kaori seems to have muttered something after that… well, if she says it's nothing, it must be so.

"The first thing you should know about Lexia-san and the others is that… Lexia-san is the princess of a country called Alceria Kingdom."

"Eeh?!"

Kaori's eyes widened in surprise at my explanation. It's natural, of course. It's not like she's going to meet a princess in her normal life.

"And Luna and Owen-san are her bodyguards."

"A princess and… bodyguard…"

She seems surprised at the word princess, but I heard that even Kaori has a bodyguard, so it's not that unusual. A knight would be unusual, though.

…No, if I think about it, Kaori is also a person who lives in a different world than I do, right? Just having a bodyguard on Earth is very impressive, however…

When I remember again that Kaori is a young lady, she came back to her senses and asked me.

"S-so, how did that princess, Lexia-sama, and Yuuya-san meet?"

"Ara, you can call me Lexia if you want. You… Kaori is the same age as Yuuya-sama, right? Besides, I'll call you Kaori too!"

"Eeh? N-no… is that okay?"

Kaori was feeling pressured by Lexia-san's push as usual, but Lexia-san smiled.

"Of course. I'm the one who told you, after all, so it's okay!"

"…Lexia-sama. I'm sure it's fine for this occasion, but if you handle it that way in your official duty, you'll have to deal it with more…"

"As you said, it"s fine here, right?"

"…I don't care anymore."

Really, thank you for your hard work, Owen-san.

"Now, if you're going to call Lexia like that, you should call me Luna, too."

"E-err…"

Kaori looked at me as if to say what to do.

"Well… they said it's good for them, so I guess it's fine."

"I-is that what it is… but I'm sorry. At least allow me to call you Lexia-san and Luna-san, please."

"Hmm… well, it can't be helped…"

Kaori is always polite, so it would be difficult for her to call them casually like that for now. Lexia-san seemed to have figured that out, and she nodded while smiling bitterly.

"So, as for how I met Yuuya-sama… one day, I was targeted by assassins who wanted to kill me, and I ran away to this forest to escape from them."

"A-assassins…"

Kaori is suddenly dumbfounded by a word that is unlikely to be used in normal life in Japan.

"But those assassins were killed by a monster in this forest, and I thought I would be killed as well. But… Yuuya-sama saved me from that!"

Lexia-san says that with sparkling eyes, and I feel very embarrassed when she says that again.

"After that, I couldn't stay long; I came here to see Yuuya-sama again and asked him to marry me!"

"M-marriage proposal!?"

Ah, wait. That's awkward. This is going to complicate things. As expected, Kaori, who was surprised by Lexia-san's words, looks at me in a daze.

"Yu-Yuuya-san… the marriage proposal, was it true…?"

"No, I mean, it was true, but… I have refused it properly! Because from my point of view, we were complete strangers at the time!"

"T-that's right…"

"Well, I'm not giving up on it, though!"

For some reason, Lexia-san proudly puffed out her chest. What's really good about me…

Then this time, Luna also opened her mouth.

"And while I'm at it, I'd like to tell you about me, the assassin who attacked Lexia in the story earlier, one of them is me."

"Eh… eeeeehhhh!"

Luna's words surprised Kaori again. That's true too. A former assassin and his target are together now. It's usually hard to believe.

"When I was hired to do that job, I visited this forest to investigate… I was also attacked by monsters, and when I was close to death, Yuuya saved me. Well, a lot happened from there… but that's a long story, so that's okay."

"…A different world is amazing…"

Kaori was, first of all, stunned by the many stories she had never heard on Earth, and then she muttered of such things. While I was smiling bitterly at Kaori's figure, Lexia-san suddenly stood up.

"Well then, Yuuya-sama!"

"Eh?"

"Let us take a bath, please!"

"…Huh?"

The request was so abrupt that I involuntarily gave a distracted reply…

"Uhm… are you here today to just take a bath…?"

"No. I just got sweaty and dirty from running to come here…"

"Geez… I'm sickened by your selfishness, but I'm sick of sweat and dirt, too."

"I-I see…"

It looks like it was really hard to get here, Luna nods, and I guess I have to let them take a bath. Then Kaori, who doesn't know about the bath I have, tilted her head in wonder.

"A bath…?"

"Yes, that's right! Since we're here, Kaori should come in with us too!"

"Eh, me too?!"

Kaori was surprised that she was also invited to join them, but it seems to be the decision between Lexia-san and Luna now. Since I have no reason to refuse to let them take a bath either, I prepare for it without understanding it well.

"Ah, Yuuya-sama. You refused it last time, but do you want to come in with us this time?"

"Buhoh!"

When I finished preparing the bath, Lexia-san said something like that again, just like before, no way. Kaori blushes as I gushed at that statement.

"E-eh!?! come in together!?"

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"…How is that not wrong? Really, what's going on in your mindset…?"

"Excuse me, okay! It's perfectly normal!"

No, I don't think it's normal…

Unable to say so, I managed to convince them to give up, and the three of them went to the bath.

＊＊＊

"There's really a bath…"

As I took off my clothes, I was surprised to see a bath with steam rising in front of me.

At first, I thought that I would take a bath in this house, but it seemed that one of the drop items that Yuuya-san had talked about before was a bath that could be carried around, and that I would be in it.

I didn't understand the idea of taking a bath with them, but I don't understand even more about a portable bath than that. How does one go about carrying a bath with them?

──That's what I thought, but the moment Yuuya-san somehow took out a square object and placed it on the floor, a bath was instantly created.

I was no longer at a loss for words. This world is simply astonishing because it defies all common sense on Earth. However… I was told that we would be in this bath together, but even though we are the same girls… I was a little nervous about it.

When I was waiting without knowing it well, Lexia-san and the others came over and prepared for it. Then we rinsed off, and when it came time to get into the bath──.

"Haaaaahhh…"

I couldn't help but let out a voice at how good it felt. Then Lexia-san and the others, who were also soaking in hot water, also looked comfortably.

"Phew… It feels so good."

"Yeah… as always, the baths Yuuya has are the best…"

I can vaguely guess from their words, but after all, they have been helped by Yuuya-san and have used this bath before. It's probably okay, but I don't think it's possible that they are… in it with Yuuya-san, right?

Earlier, Lexia-san said something about Yuuya-san joining us too, but… I think it's okay, no, I think it's okay to see Yuuya-san's reaction. The two of them told me how they met Yuuya-san, and I was happy to hear that Yuuya-san is still the same in this world.

After all, when someone is in trouble, he goes to help…

That's probably why Lexia-san was attracted to Yuuya-san like that.

And I also──.

"──So, what about Kaori?"

"Eh?"

I give an unwilling response to Lexia-san's abruptly thrown words. I-is it okay…? …The other party is a princess. I've met a number of important people through my father's relationship, but as expected, I never had the opportunity to meet a princess, so I couldn't help but think so.

However, Lexia-san doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by this, and she looks straight at me.

"So, I mean, what do you think, Kaori?"

"Uh… what is it about?"

"That's Yuya-sama, of course!"

"Huh!"

I stifled a few words, not expecting her to ask me so straightforwardly.

"I-I'm… Uhm…"

"You don't have to fake it or anything. I just want to know how Kaori really feels."

I couldn't look away from Lexia-san's eyes, which were staring straight at me as if to say that she would not allow me to lie.

"…I like Yuuya-san. From the first time we met, I was unintentionally attracted to Yuuya-san's kindness."

"….."

"After that, Yuuya-san never changed and helped me so many times that… I found myself feeling emotions that I had never felt before. And I guess this is what it means to love…"

With Lexia-san's prompting, I was finally able to calmly analyze my feelings.

I like Yuuya-san. I was confused because it was my first emotion, but when I finally accepted it, I felt… embarrassed and somewhat refreshed.

Then Lexia heard my words and nodded.

"I see… Luna is the same, but why does everyone want to hide their feelings. Why don't you honestly say you like Yuuya-sama?"

"…No, you're just too straightforward."

"It's okay. You must keep up the positive feelings. Otherwise, people won't be able to understand you very well."

That may be… but…

"Uhm… from what I hear about it… is Luna-san also… about Yuuya?"

"Uh… Yeah, that's right."

Luna-san blushed and looked kind of cute as she awkwardly looked away from me.

"Oh well, fine. Even if I find out Kaori likes Yuuya-sama, it won't change anything I do!"

"Eh?"

"I told you, right? I said I proposed Yuuya-sama. I haven't given up yet!"

"Eeehh! B-but isn't it too early to get married…?"

"Ara, is that the case in Yuuya-sama and Kaori's country? You know, in our country, marriage is commonplace at this age."

What a surprise. It's true that we women are just about the right age to get married on Earth, but Yuuya is not yet 18 years old.

But that is the law in… Japan on Earth and I guess that would be legal… in this world?

Lexia-san, who doesn't know that I'm confused, continues.

"So I won't give up on Yuuya-sama! Of course, I'm not going to let Luna and Kaori beat me, either!"

"Huh? But I'm one step ahead of you at the moment."

"Mukiii! That was because Owen didn't want to stop the carriageeeee!"

"Well, leave this sorry princess aside… as for me, Kaori, you are the biggest obstacle."

"Eh?"

"You're from the same country as Yuuya, and from the exchange you just had, you must know a side of Yuuya that we don't know about."

"Huh? That's right! Kaori has an advantage that we don't! That means… could it be that I'm the most late on this case?"

I don't know what made her think that, but I don't think that she is late about this, at least not when she is asking Yuuya-san to marry her. I just accepted my feelings honestly just now, but I really thought it was amazing that Lexia-san could communicate her feelings so clearly and even more so to her partner.

While I'm feeling that way, Lexia-san points her finger at Luna-san and me.

"Okay! I'll turn the tables from here, and I'll be the one to marry Yuuya-sama first!　Brace yourself!"

"Hmph, I'll just pull away again soon enough."

Somehow, Luna-san laughed wryly at Lexia-san's statement like that, but I felt strange about Lexia-san's statement.

"What do you mean by, err… first?"

Normally, once you get married, there is no later…

Then Lexia-san and Luna-san looked at each other.

"Eh, could it be that… it's not possible to marry more than one person in Kaori country?"

"T-there's no such thing, eh… can you do that on your country?"

"It's pretty standard."

"It's interesting. It's interesting how these parts of our culture can be so different!"

Luna-san and Lexia-san looked curious, but I couldn't believe it from my upbringing in the Japanese way of thinking.

"You mean that… polygamy?"

"There are not only polygamy but also polyandry, as well. Especially for royalty and nobility, they have a tendency to do either.

"My father has taken several other women besides my mother, you know. And I know the female heads of families who have married many men."

I'm honestly amazed at the explanation of Lexia-san and Luna-san, but when I hear the words nobility and royalty, I feel slightly chilled. Those people have to leave behind an heir, so they will probably marry a lot of women and men.

But…

"I'm sure that… was understandable if you meant among the nobility and royalty. But that idea is indeed unthinkable for the average citizen, isn't it…?"

"Well, it's rare for a commoner to be polygamous, but that's because they don't have the economic power to do so. A commoner with money would have been married polygamously. A great merchant would be a good example. On this point, there's no problem with Yuuya-sama. The materials of the monsters in this forest are enough to make a tremendous amount of money, and if anything, he can do well as an adventurer."

"And since he's going to marry me, he's going to be royalty anyway, right? That's perfectly fine!"

I'm beginning to get a headache from the common sense of the other world that is told too much one after another. It's true that there are countries on Earth where bigamy is allowed, but it's unthinkable in Japan, so to think that Yuuya-san would be adapted to that…

When I was shocked by that one thing, Lexia-san changed the topic in a cheerful tone.

"Well, we'll see what happens there! And I have to get Yuuya-sama to go for it too!"

"Right."

"So, for my part, I'd like to ask you about the things Kaori knows about Yuuya-sama!"

"Eh? T-the thing that I know about?"

"Yes! When it comes to this, we should be talking about what we know about Yuuya-sama with each other, right? I'm sure Kaori would like to know the side of Yuuya-sama that we all know, wouldn't you?" "That's, of course!"

I certainly don't know about Yuuya-san's activities in this world, so I'd like to hear about it. Lexia-san laughed happily at my reaction, and from there, Luna-san and I were included in a discussion about Yuuya-san.

It had been a really long time since I had talked this much with a girl my age, and by the time we left the bath, we had become great friends.