Chapter 4

June 4th, 2008

It's been about six months since the charity event.

The cheeky princess, Rita Ainsworth, is actually the granddaughter of the host, who turns out to be a friend of my grandfather. Rita comes from a noble lineage. Of course, that title means nothing in this modern era, except for the fact that she claims she often meets the Queen herself. To put it simply, her family is rich, and she's literally a princess.

Meanwhile, Mashiro Shiina, the eccentric girl, is a genius painter. Rita also self-proclaimed that she's her rival. She comes from a family with an art background, which explains her talent. Speaking of her, she's quarter Japanese.

Shortly after, the two of them never left me alone for the next few months while I lived in England. We went to the same school. I mean, this is just a small town with around 100k people, not even close to Chiba in comparison.

"Both of you. This is my room. Have you thought about how dangerous it is to come into a boy's room?"

"This is Grandpa's house. Stop nagging, Masamune, and be a gentleman. You wouldn't let two girls get soaked from the rain, right?"

"Well, yes… he is my grandpa. Moreover. Using the rain as an excuse is irrelevant when you can call your chauffeur to pick you up from school really make sense."

I glared at Rita as she just "Tehe~" at me and continued to draw something on my bed, smacking her feet on it.

"Masamune…" As I sat on my chair, I looked at Mashiro standing there like an idiot. "We came to play…" she said plainly.

"Alright, alright! Suit yourselves."

After the white cat, Mashiro, got my permission, she started to find her comfort spot in the room and dra—

"You little! Don't start stripping off your clothes!"

"KYAAA! Mashiro! What the—? You pervert! Cover your eyes!"

The last thing I saw was Rita glaring at me before a pillow landed on my face.

That girl. Someone has to teach her common sense, or she'll get in trouble. Just what I expected from a painting genius. Thank god I am now a minor. Or else, I'd get arrested.

I turned back to my computer. Yeah. Let's not get distracted by these British brats because I'm busy… with my money! The stocks I've been buying are booming now. Grandpa finally gave in and gave me the remaining 1 million USD. With my knowledge, it's a piece of cake!

Not to brag, but my investments are now worth around 32 million USD.

"Kehehehe~ Smells like good, good money."

"Masamune. Stop giggling like a creep, would you?"

"Uh-huh. Should I remind you that this is my house?"

It was then that I heard footsteps, and Rita's head peeked from my right as she hummed,

"What're you doing?"

"Making money."

"Okay, so when will you start learning to paint with me, I mean us?"

"I'll consider it…" I paused, "if I care."

"What?! When will you consider it seriously? You come to our atelier, but all you do is read books and stare at your laptop. Okay, let's do it right away aft—"

"I'm still gathering motivation because I don't want to be rejected and end up joining the army."

"What a ridiculous reason. Hmmmph…" I could see her pouting cheeks on the monitor.

"I'll teach Masamune how to draw," came a sudden voice from my left.

"Like I told you both, I'm not interested…"

"But Masamune likes my painting."

"What?! You said you liked mine better than Mashiro's?"

"It's true. Masamune told me at the event."

Rita moved so she could see my face directly. "Hey… care to clarify that? You told me you liked my painting, and now I find out you changed your mind? Why am I just hearing this now? Hm?"

"I like both of you."

"Confessing your love means nothing! And how dare you say it to both of us! Do you think you're handsome?!"

"Put it in context, you little. I meant your paintings. Who'd want to date a brat like you?"

"Brat?! I'm not a brat! Just you wait, Masamune! When I'm grown up a little more, you'll kneel before my beauty!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Masamune, do you like me?" Mashiro asked.

"I'm talking about your painting, Mashiro."

"So, you don't like me?"

Rita hummed, quirking her brows, seemingly waiting for my answer.

"I like you both as friends."

Let's be reasonable. I just wanted to say that so we could stay in the friend zone. There's no way I see them in a romantic way. Besides, I'm not into romance.

"What a wimp," Rita giggled. "Just admit you're acting hard to get."

"Well, I am."

"Ugh. That ridiculous confidence. Where does it even come from?"

I sighed and hummed at the same time. I turned around in my office chair and looked at them. More accurately, I was staring at the floating screen in front of me.

"Hey, you two. Can I ask you something?"

They both paused, then reacted together.

"Um/What?"

I sighed.

"Can you see something floating right in front of you?"

[Would you like to see your potential partner rating?]

Again... Partner? Potential? You mean these two? Fuck. I'm not a pedo. Anyway. What just happened to me? I've been seeing things like this ever since I met these two. I'm not going crazy, right?

"Eh? Seeing what?" Rita asked, while Mashiro just stared at me more intensely than usual.

"Nothing."

"WHAT IS IT? TELL ME TELL ME."

I asked something I shouldn't have. Rita kept digging for an answer, while Mashiro put her palm on my head. "It's cold."

Another side of her. She suddenly wanted to nurse me and cook something, and yeah, it turned into a disaster.

To make sure I was fine, they decided to stay over at my house for the next two days.