Kaze and Lunaria were both sitting opposite each other with an awkward tension hanging around the room. Both of them hadn't said a word or made any relevant movement in the past 5 minutes, each feeling nervous and unsettled about what to say.
Right after Lunaria and Ash were seen together by Kaze, they left immediately without any explanation. The whole tour with Kaguya and Yumi concluded right after, the two oblivious about what happened other than the fact they were surprised to see Lunaria in person. Only Noel knew the significance of Kaze spotting his girlfriend together with another male who was presumed to have no close connections with each other anymore, hence why the hesitant look she gave him after they left the school grounds.
During dinner, everyone talked enthusiastically about how their day went with Kaze masking his suspicions and worries quietly. Noel also seemed to have placed it aside after seeing how Kaze and Lunaria acted, not wanting to fuss over their own issues. She trusted Lunaria that nothing actually happened, and an explanation would be given, which explained why Kaze and Lunaria were now alone in her bedroom.
Lunaria was already waiting for him when Kaze returned to the bedroom. She jumped a little as he entered the room before looking away guiltily, almost as if she did hide something from him that made her look uncomfortable. Even then, he didn't immediately pursue the topic, instead giving her a big hug to comfort her first.
Kaze understood that Lunaria acted this way because of her anxiety kicking in. For someone like her who so strongly expressed her love and believed in honesty, it was stupid of him to think that something like cheating was possible. With Lunaria, who was still suffering from the mental backlash of the recent devil attack, had anxiety as one of her recurring symptoms that frequently relied on her being with Kaze to calm her down. It definitely wasn't obvious in the recent week or so, but the effects were there, such as how she was reacting right now.
He then separated from the hug and sat down, patiently waiting for Lunaria to divulge things herself without any pressure. Lunaria understood his intentions well and proceeded to sit down in front of him. With her head hung low, she allowed herself to process her thoughts properly and calmed herself enough that she could have a proper conversation with her lover without stumbling her words. This led to the awkward mood 5 minutes later, Kaze still waiting for Lunaria to speak first.
"… Sorry," Lunaria's first words finally leaked from her mouth. "I-I must have made you worried…"
"Well, I won't deny that you had made me a little scared the moment I saw you with Ash," Kaze admitted with a nervous chuckle. "But I believe in you. Nothing happened, right Lunaria?"
"M-Mm, we only had a talk," Lunaria nodded vigorously at his words, relieved that he held no grudge against her being with Ash. "Which… I had already planned to discuss with you… since it was related to our relationship."
"Alright then, you can talk," Kaze smiled, nodding once for her to speak. "Let's start with how you met Ash."
"He was in the class we were assigned to."
"Oh, really? What a coincidence. Who else was assigned to your team?"
"Rena and Irene. The two also felt it a great coincidence that the class we were given had Ash. If you are wondering about his educational status, I haven't a clue why he is still studying. As his status is equivalent to a noble in Czech, he should have already studied and graduated a long time ago. My guess was that he took a hiatus since he didn't explain it to me properly when I asked him too."
"Heh…"
"A-Anyway, it was only after class and giving Irene the tour that we talked in private. Rena had already been in the academy before, so the tour was done in a breeze. We discussed about me getting along with you. More specifically, how the past few days had been with you."
"Ash must be concerned for your well-being, knowing that you had suffered like this in the past too."
"Mm, those were his intentions too."
"From what I can tell, he didn't have the chance to meet you when we arrived because he didn't want to interrupt you spending your time with us. Plus, he already knew that you had feelings for me the moment he saw you react to my unexpected appearance, so he already guessed how this was going to develop?"
"Mm… which is why we agreed to discuss what happened over the past few days for clearing up any misunderstandings we both might have."
"So what did you tell him?"
"I trust Ash as much as I trust you and the others. Without fully revealing everything, I let him know enough to know that he can be confident that I am not in some sort of toxic relationship with you."
"He is okay with us being together?"
"Well, he was definitely surprised to learn that Lunatea and Lucentia are pursuing your love too, but otherwise, he supported our decision to be together. To quote him, give or take, he asked us to 'be happy' and 'invite him to our wedding'."
"H-He even considered the point of marriage…"
"We are dating with marriage in mind after all, it's not surprising that he could guess that."
"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that people don't usually date the Emperor and Empress's daughter WITHOUT marriage in mind?"
"No…? Knowing father and mother, they would be fine if we were dating just to test out the waters. They wouldn't be THAT angry that we have such an intimate relationship, even if we planned to date without thinking about marriage yet. For us though, I would say that we are considering marriage already, so that scenario doesn't apply to us."
"I suppose that's true. So how did you end up at the training grounds with Ash?"
"Oh… Believe it or not, we just casually walked around and somehow ended up where you and Noel were. By then, we didn't really have anything more to talk about and just walked around as friends more so than because we needed a reason to walk. Also because it was awkward to just break apart like that, I guess. When you know someone for so long but don't actually know them because of how things were back then, it gets weird having a heart-to-heart conversation together."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Lunaria crawled towards him and laid her head on his lap. In response, Kaze placed a hand over the top of her head and stroked it gently, at the same time fiddling with her long ears between his thumb and index finger. His touch caused Lunaria to shiver as a smile gradually appeared on her face, apparently fond of him showing his affection for her through gentle gestures like what he was doing right now. Her tail swayed from side to side, eventually ending up curling around his waist and settling on the other side of his lap.
"S-So… did my explanation clear up your doubts?" Lunaria timidly asked him.
"It did, but at the same time, I still feel a little stirred," Kaze mused. "Maybe it just feels unsettling knowing that the person I love is close to someone else without my knowledge."
"I'm sorry for that, I really am," Lunaria sat up and hugged him tightly. "I wanted to tell you over lunch, but your thing with Lune-sensei threw my thoughts away. By the time lunch was over, I didn't have the chance to do so. Please forgive me."
"Nope," Kaze rejected her with a slightly smug smile. "You made me worried, so you have to earn your redemption from me."
Lifting her up while she was still hugging him, he stood up and got to the bed where he set her on her lying on her back, her arms now wrapped around his neck instead. Lunaria blushed the moment he climbed on top of her and had his arms placed on both sides of her face to support his body from pressing down on her. She gulped nervously, feeling one of his knees placed dangerously close to her inner thigh.
"W-What do you want me to do?" Lunaria asked him in a shaky breath. "I don't want you to be angry at me…"
Her submissive tone was rivalled with the mischievous look in her eyes. Obviously, Lunaria knew where this was headed and wanted to tempt Kaze into doing the act himself. It didn't help that she was wearing her skin-tight official royal outfit, for her body curves were greatly emphasized from the position they were in. With her breasts pressed up against Kaze's chest when he lowered himself to share a kiss, Lunaria made a soft gasp as Kaze began using his knee to rub the area between her inner thighs.
"Hmm~ I wonder about that," Kaze chuckled, giving her tiny nibbles of kisses trailing down her nape. "Something tells me you already know the answer to that."
Lunaria tried to sneak her hand to his lower body so she could remove his pants. Instead, Kaze caught her and pinned both her hands above her head, causing her to remain in a very exposed state that enabled him to easily access any parts of her body as he wished if he wanted. To this, Lunaria could only bite her lower lip in frustration since this was the first time Kaze tried anything close to asserting dominance over her in terms of sexual acts.
Before Kaze's lips could make contact with hers, a knock on the room door instantly dispelled their aroused mood.
"Excuse me, Lunaria-sama, Kaze-sama," the faint voice of the palace's head made, Tuarle, could be heard speaking. "Yuuji-sama is requesting for you two to be present at the living room so you could continue sharing your experience in school today."
"Y-Yes! We will be there in a minute," Lunaria answered back, her head falling back to the bed. "Urgh… why…?"
"What's wrong?" Kaze got up from bed and addressed Lunaria's frustration. "Are you mad?"
"W-What do you think? I got cockblocked…" Lunaria pouted. "I'm going to give Yuuji and the others hell for making me miss a hot session with my lover."
Sweatdropping as he watched Lunaria stomp out of the room, Kaze quickly ran after her in hopes that she wouldn't really give the others hell.
- - - - - -
The next morning, Kaze and the others walked to school together. Now that there was no carriage to provide the grand entrance they had as a part of the initial welcoming ceremony, they learnt how it was like for normal students to arrive at the academy. Dragonkins normally flew there to cover the distance between their house and the academy, but the other races could only walk.
Lunaria and the rest of her sisters were kind enough to walk with their friends, mainly because they knew that it would be rude to fly off on their own. Plus, three of the sisters had their own agenda, being trying to make the most of their time with Kaze.
"Lunaria-nee, haven't you had your time with Kaze already? At least let us walk with him while we are heading to the academy," Lunatea complained, trying to get Lunaria to yield over her lover to them.
"Nope, I will treasure any time I have with Kaze," Lunaria giggled, tugging on his arm.
"Aren't you all afraid that what you're doing will be taken wrongly by others?" Luniel sighed. "We are supposed to keep this a secret."
"I think we look more like a student group having fun," Kaze answered with a wry smile. "Besides, it's not like I don't want your sisters to be fighting at a time like this…"
As Kaze had told Luniel, this wasn't the first time it happened already. Recently, Lunatea and Lucentia had ramped up their approach on Kaze in an attempt to get him to spend more time with them. Sharing was always an option, but perhaps it was their competitive spirits that prevented them from compromising, instead choosing to try and take Kaze for themselves.
It all started after returning from their discussing the previous night. Lunaria had to get some documents from her workplace and left Kaze to himself for a brief period. When he waited for her at the corner of the stairway leading to the princesses' private quarters, Lucentia appeared and dragged him into her room. More accurately, Kaze got duped into believing Lucentia needed some help, causing him to get trapped with her. Lucentia's dragonic strength prevented him from escaping her snuggles until Lunaria 'rescued' him from her younger sister.
Upon returning to their room, they found Lunatea waiting in bed for Kaze. She definitely looked embarrassed that her eldest sister caught her sneaking around, but it was nothing compared to what happened the next day. Kaze woke up and went to use the bathroom, only to get caught by Lucentia again. Lunaria had already lectured Lucentia and Lunatea about being direct in their approach, so it looked like they sparred no punches and revised their overall strategy. Rather than sneaking around, Lucentia was already waiting for Kaze in the bathtub, causing him to narrowly avoid getting stripped naked by a very aggressive dragonkin as he slipped away in the nick of time.
During breakfast, all it took was one simple greeting with Lunatea before he got dragged off into another corner of the room and made out aggressively with her. Again, it wasn't until Lunaria showed up that Lunatea let him go. The rest of his friends seemed oblivious and hadn't a single clue on what happened with him and the three dragonkin sisters, for none of the things they did with Kaze was told to them.
The funny thing was that Lunaria seemed fine with everything that happened, almost as though she was encouraging her sisters with their direct attacks. Perhaps she was aware of what Kaze did to try and subdue her sisters with his own strategy, so she wanted to see how it would turn if they became more aggressive in their approach. It wasn't like Lunaria was going to lose anyway, since she had the advantage of him being her lover already.
Thankfully, their fight came to a halt when they approached the academy grounds. It wasn't worth risking the other students seeing them acting unrefined over the pursue of trying to get a single guy's attention, no matter how much they liked him. In truth, it was just them being cheeky and wanted to see how far they could get their other sisters to act differently in public. Even Lunaria had to give up clinging to Kaze as she knew that they were not at the stage yet where they could openly date.
"Alright then, to classes it is," Yuuji addressed the group. "Are we meeting for lunch?"
"Any updates will come from us," Lunaria answered, her sisters nodding in respond. "Don't worry, just enjoy your day in the academy with your new friends."
"See you later, Kaze," Lucentia whispered into his ear before leaving his side.
"M-Mm," Kaze shuddered, wondering if they had any ulterior motives regarding his privacy yet again.
"Don't worry, they won't try anything funny in the academy," Luniel came to his side and gave him a sympathetic pat. "Unless they want to be reprimanded by mother."
"Oh. Did Laevia-sama give them a warning?" Noel asked Luniel as they headed to class together.
"Nah. I meant it in the sense of 'if they screw up and cause some disturbance, mother wouldn't let them hear the end of it' type of reprimanding," Luniel dismissed Noel's guess. "You probably don't know it, but we are more afraid of mother than we are of father."
"I can tell," Kaze gulped at her words. "But… for Laevia-sama's sake, I'm going to have to agree to disagree."
"That's only because mother treats you kindly," Luniel nudged him with a small pout on her face. "She liked you from the get-go, it's not fair."
"Kaze, you do know that we are the exception right? No Emperor or Empress would be so kind to the point of accepting us upon our first meeting," Noel explained to him out of fear that he might have taken the rulers' kindness for granted. "I think it might be because of Lunaria who managed to change their perception on us, since Lunaria is especially sensitive to 'people'."
"I agree," Kaze humbly nodded his head. "I never once thought that Laevia-sama and Reginsleif-sama were too kind. I mean, Laevia-sama did interrogate me on the first day itself. Luniel here would know."
"Hehe~ I still remember how you trembled in fear when you learnt that you were meeting with mother first and separated from the rest," Luniel cheekily grinned at him. "Well, I don't blame you. It was just a funny sight since that wasn't the first time you met mother and father. Were you that worried something would happen because you got called?"
"W-Well… I thought that the blame of causing Lunaria to get kidnapped would be shifted on me, since the last person she was with was me before she left on her own," Kaze admitted, remembering the night they left the party after Lunaria slapped Bryle. "To this day, I wonder how I would have reacted if I knew to stop Lunaria from heading off herself. Could we have prevented the attack?"
"You know, the blame can't lie on you when we weren't even aware that devils had breached the capital city," Noel comforted Kaze. "If Laevia-sama truly did pin that blame on you, that meant the matter wasn't properly investigated."
Their talk ended the moment they arrived at their classroom. Like the previous day, they met up with their new classmates and talked for a bit before class would start. Luniel and Noel split apart from Kaze, for there were people who wanted to get to know them too, so it wasn't logical for them to stay together the entire time.
"Yo~" Yumi greeted him with an energetic wave. "Ready to start class today?"
"Morning Yumi, Kaguya," Kaze greeted her and the Disciplinary Board President, who sat next to Yumi. "Uh, I thought we don't have class today? The schedule I had said that we would be having slightly varied curricular activities."
"Oh, that's what I meant, sorry," Yumi apologised for her misleading statement. "So, are you ready?"
"Um, ready as I will be," Kaze shrugged, taking his place in the seat next to Yumi. "I don't even know what we will be doing today, how am I supposed to prepare for it?"
"Same here. I think Yumi meant that you should be mentally prepared?" Kaguya giggled. "It's not like we have anything needed to physically get ready for anyway."
"So… I actually want to ask," Yumi scooted closer to Kaze and placed a hand over her mouth to shield her voice from leaking out. "Do you… have a sort of special relationship with Lunaria-hime?"
"W-What? That's a weird question to ask," Kaze began sweating profusely as he expected this question since their encounter yesterday. "Why do you want to know? We are close friends, I guess."
"Heh~ is that so?" Yumi narrowed her eyes at his answer. "Then why did you act so surprised when you saw Lunaria-hime with another guy? Were you jealous that she had other close friends?"
"Yumi, I think Kaze here just has a crush on Lunaria-hime," Kaguya smiled wryly at him. "Isn't that the more obvious answer? He feels envious that Lunaria was alone with another male dragonkin."
"Hey!" Kaze gritted his teeth at Kaguya's words, a bright blush spread across his face. "I-It's not like that, okay? I'm not jealous, Lunaria can have her own friends for all I care."
"But you admit you have a crush on her?"
"K-Kuh…"
"It's okay to say yes, Kaze. You do know it's normal to have a crush on THE Lunaria, right? She is such a beauty and refined person, even I would have trouble breathing properly being close to her."
"I agree with Kaguya, Kaze. Just admit it, and may~be we will stop prying."
"Y-You know me admitting this is equivalent to death, right?"
"Why is that so?"
"What if other people find out about it? Won't they call me out for being too close with Lunaria at times that there is a suspicion I am trying to approach her intimately?"
"… Well, I wish you luck on that."
"Hey!"
Their ridiculous argument ended as soon as Lune-sensei walked through the door of the classroom. Kaze let out a thankful sigh as he feared that he would reveal some truth in his words if Yumi continued to pry information from him. It wasn't like he blamed them for being curious, since this involved the princess of their nation that everyone worshipped. He simply had a hard time of dealing with someone as insistent as Yumi was, who had a cheerful and pushy personality that very much reminded him of Shoko.
"Alright everyone, settle down. Over the next few days, we will be having a different curricular plan compared to the ones you already have to welcome the arrival of our new guests," Lune-sensei announced to the class. "Yesterday, we had our usual classes as a way to demonstrate the difference of education that our guests from Czech could compare to the way they are taught. Today, we will be taking things outdoors for half the day."
At once, the students in the class seemed agitated that they got to have classes outdoors. With there only being a limited number of things they could do, it was easy to narrow the scope of their activities.
"Lune-sensei, does this mean…?" One of the students excitedly asked.
"Yep, you guessed it," Lune-sensei grinned. "Get changed everyone, we will have a friendly sparring bout."