Climbing the wooden stairs, one step at a time, walking towards his and Aveline's room, Hajime turned the doorknob. It was locked. He tried turning it the other way, as if he had forgotten how to open a door.
She locked me out, he thought as he scratched the back of his neck. The sound of mud hitting the wooden floor caught his attention.
He looked back to the path he took, mud trails, two of them leading to Brielle's and Veloria's room, and the other two belonged to him and his roommate. Downstairs, a maid began cleaning the mud, cloth in one hand while the other held a bucket of water.
Hajime pulled at his collar, dirtying it with his muddied hands.
"Sorry." He whispered before going downstairs, heading to the garden where he had spotted a hose earlier. The heat dried the mud that clung to his uniform and body.
He picked up the hose that connected to the mansion, thoroughly examining it, looking for the water symbol, after finding it he placed his palm on it and used his mana to turn it on.
"What are you doing?" a voice startled him causing the nuzzle to point at his face.
A jet of water blasted him in the eyes. Carefully rubbing the water out of his eyes, his vision returned revealing a princess with a small smile on her face.
"Princess Calantha?" he said, "I'm just washing away the mud."
He pulled on the hose, directing the water at his back.
"Are you perhaps scared of showers?" she giggled.
"More like avoiding the guillotine."
"She locked you out didn't she?"
Hajime looked away, "Yes."
"How amusing." she said.
Hajime grabbed a bucket of water, pouring it over his head as the strands of his hair flattened themselves against his head.
Calantha leaned forward, her eyes intently staring at him.
"What do you think about my tournament?"
"About the tournament?" he echoed.
Calantha nodded her head, the pink streaks in her hair seemed to glow with the reflection of the setting sun.
"Will you participate?" she asked.
"Uhm-" he hesitated, trying to think of the correct thing to say. The rest of the academy knows he's bonded to Aveline and ditching a princess for another princess is perhaps not the wisest choice. Calantha could think he's shallow and after her status or that he sees floraliths like tools meant for war. So he did what he did best.
"Are you hoping that I will?" he smirked.
Calantha eyes gleamed before she brought her hand to her forehead like a dramatic actress.
"Am I not worthy of your precious time?" she gasped, placing her hand on her chest.
"Are you perhaps only interested in foreign flowers? Perhaps princesses from other empires are more intriguing." she sighed dramatically, "Here I hoped you'd be my knight in shining armor."
Hajime couldn't hold his laughter in, "So you're a drama queen."
"Drama princess." she corrected.
"With the second and third years participating, I wouldn't stand a chance if I decided to join." he said.
"Oh? Aren't knights supposed to rise to the occasion, regardless of the odds? To be the hero that saves the damsel in distress." she tilted her head, "Have you given up already? What happened to the person who threw his partner as high as the Statue of Sunfloria and still caught her?"
"That was-"
"Impressive." she clapped, "No, but seriously will you participate?"
"I'm already bonded to Aveline." he finally said.
"So in your eyes, Aveline is more valuable than I?" she said as she rubbed her forearms.
Valuable is an odd word to use, he thought.
"I wouldn't say either of you are more valuable, rather I can't betray Aveline." he said.
Calantha crossed her arms, taking a deep breath in before slowly exhaling.
"I don't want to partner up with Zovian." she said.
"Then, reject him?"
"It isn't that simple." she said, "I want to follow in my mother's footsteps and become an Aicte. For that, I need to bond with the strongest student."
Her pink eyes locked onto his, forcing his to meet hers, demanding his complete attention.
"That's you."
Hajime couldn't suppress his chuckle, he laughed so hard a snort escaped him.
"That's funny." he said.
"I'm serious." she said, narrowing her eyes.
"Think about it." she insisted, "You managed to lift Aveline all the way from the ground to the statue. That's a feat only those capable of becoming an Avyris can achieve."
"Still-"
"You have a week before the first match." she said, before walking away, leaving Hajime alone with the running water.
Hajime sighed. He's going to have to make all the princesses trust him completely and he has to trust them too.
[Mind Control]
'No.'
He turned off the hose and started to walk back inside the mansion. He opened the door and saw Veloria going down the stairs, wearing blue shorts and a white shirt, exposing her milky white thighs.
"Hey Prince Velor." he said, standing in the doorway.
"Hajime." Veloria said, "Just the man I was looking for."
"Huh?"
Instead of answering him, she grabbed his arm, dragging him outside to the garden where Hajime took an improvised shower. Veloria stood in front of Hajime, his back against the mansion wall, his nose almost touching hers, her hand leaning against the wall just above his face like a wife preventing her cheating husband from escaping.
"Velor?" he asked, feeling a tightness in his chest, perhaps because of her display of dominance. I'm not into femdom, at least I don't think so, he thought.
"I saw what you did with Sakura." she said, her eyes studying his reaction.
Hajime let out a small sigh. He wasn't surprised because the System had already told him that she watched them that night.
"Saw what?" he said.
Velora narrowed her eyes, leaning in even closer.
"I know you had sex with her." she said.
"That's impossible though? Humans die when they have sex with floraliths." he lied.
Veloria scoffed as she slowly brought her other hand to his face, caressing his cheek, a slight blush appearing on her face.
"You should be lying on the floor, screaming your lungs out, experiencing the worst pain a human can feel." she said, gently grabbing his chin.
Hajime deadpanned, causing her to think over her sudden action. Her face turned pale, her hands trembling as she opened her mouth only to close them again.
"Relax I already know that you're a floralith." he said.
"Ho- how?" her voice trembled.
"I saw your panties."
"What?"
"White, lacy, floral pattern."
"..."
"Sound familiar?"
"You went into my room?" she said.
"To be fair, the door was unlocked. I saw it when I peeked through. Oops." he scratched the back of his head. She didn't need to know that the System told him what color her panties were.
Tears started to fall from her face, a drop landing on his foot, its coldness quickly disappearing as it warmed from the sunlight.
"Please d-don't say anything." she begged, "I'll do anything."
"Woah calm down."
"Y-you can use my body any way you want."
Hajime was at a loss for words. She's not the brightest flower in the garden, he thought. He debated whether or not to take advantage of her while he had the chance. Her sobs filled the silence between them.
"I'll keep your secret but you'll owe me a favor." he finally said.
Relief replaced her sorrow, her puffy eyes slowly returning to normal.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"You promise?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Pinky promise?" she shoved her pinky finger in his face.
"You're not serious." he said.
Veloria's insistent stare bore into him, her expectant eyes waiting for him, forcefully holding his shoulder, preventing him from leaving without a pinky promise.
He raised his pinky and entangled it with hers.
"Promise."
"Good." Veloria nodded before wiping away her tears.
"I am curious though, what was your plan?" he asked.
"Plan?" she looked puzzled.
"Yes, you and Brielle can't bond to each other so it's only a matter of time before someone finds out no?"
"Well uhm- I-uh." her face turned red.
"You don't have one, do you?"
She averted her gaze, "I do."
"If that's the case, then you won't mind telling me, right?"
"We were planning on bonding with our maids. But we don't know the ritual." she said before her eyes gleamed, "Do you know the ritual?"
Hajime crossed his arms as his mismatched eyes caught hers, the corner of his lips lifting upward, creating a mischievous grin.
"Perhaps."
"Can you help me and Brielle?"
"I'm not so sure. What if your maids aren't compatible with you? And they end up dying. That's no good, don't you think?"
"But you said-"
"I do have another way of helping you but first, does your sister know about me and Sakura?"
She shook her head.
"Good. Keep this a secret from her." he said as he stared at her, trying to think of a way to get both sisters. Using their secrets against them might get them to hate him in the future.
[The host's problem would be solved with mind control or slave collars]
'You're getting more immoral by the second aren't you?'
[The immoral one lives a free life as the moral one lives by his shackles]
'I'm not having this conversation with you again.'
"Do you love your sister Veloria?" he asked.
"Wh-what kind of question is that." she said.
"What would you do to keep her safe? To keep her alive and happy?"
"Anything." she replied without thinking twice.
"What if the both of you could bond to the same person?" he asked.
"I-It's impossible. Isn't it?"
"What if it's not?"
Her eyes widened.
"You bonded with-"
Hajime covered her mouth with his hand, stopping her from announcing to the entire world that he could bond with two floraliths.
"Want to say that even louder?"
She shook her head and a muffled 'no' escaped her mouth, smearing his hand with her saliva.
"Okay so give me a week to come up with a plan to help you and Brielle." he said.
"Okay." Veloria replied with a glimmer in her eyes, "What about your favor? Do you want my body?"
"No, not now at least."
"Not now?" she tilted her head.
"Anyways, I've got to take a shower. See ya." Hajime waved her goodbye before going back inside the mansion, where Aveline hopefully finished showering.