The distressed crease that had been forming between Noelle’s brows eased slightly, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief before continuing. “You know, if you really wanted to, what could you not do at this point? We trust you like family, because… to us, you already are our family… Do you not believe the same?”
The older girl refused to answer Sam’s question as she turned her head away indifferently, but Sam had already mastered all her tells, and could clearly see the slightly reddened tips of her ears. ‘My, the big ice-block lady is getting shy, is she? But why is she still so stubborn, ah?! I must melt some of her ice so she doesn’t unknowingly hurt both herself and my little baby!’
The taller girl couldn’t help but smile as she thought about it. “I know you’re only worried about us, which is why I’m trying to convince you. Don’t overthink so much, just be with us, be happy. And if there is something bothering you, can’t we just talk it out?”
Noelle threw her hands up in defeat. “Alright, you’ve gotten so eloquent! Did Emilia teach you?”
Sam stuck out her tongue playfully. “Passive influence, maybe?”
Noelle groaned as she held her head in pain. “Alright… convince me, then. What exactly is the ‘future’ for a relationship like this? Emilia, that little baby, is clinging to like five or six girls at the same time, and letting them play around with her as they please, including her blood related sister! It’s all bound to lead to a disaster eventually, and the only question is how much damage it will cause to everyone involved… especially the one at the center of it.”
Sam coughed awkwardly. “Listen, Noelle… I understand what you’re trying to say—”
The gray-haired girl rolled her eyes. “Do you, really?”
The taller girl couldn’t help but slap the table fiercely. “Will you let me finish?!”
Noelle resisted the urge to call her ‘childish’ again as she sighed. “…Alright, sorry, go ahead.”
Sam took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to say ‘who’s the one really acting childish here’, but thankfully she managed to calm herself before nodding. “Okay, so what you said isn’t ‘wrong’, but I don’t think it’s true for our situation. First of all, Emilia isn’t just ‘someone’, is she? Otherwise, would my ice-block Noelle melt like this?”
Although she rationally knew that Sam’s argument was absurd, as one of the parties involved, Noelle couldn’t deny that, absurdly enough, it rang true. Had it been anyone else, she really wouldn’t bother so much. “… I get it.”
The taller girl grinned in satisfaction. “It’s good that you do. Moving on, what’s going on isn’t a ‘secret’ to any of us. Even if there are a few misunderstandings here and there, it’s not like we can’t talk about it. Think of it like this… Emilia is our treasure, and we’re her guardians. Makes sense?”
The gray-haired girl chuckled as she gave Sam a ‘judgmental’ stare. “Oh… I didn’t know that treasure guardians nowadays were so perverted?”
Sam couldn’t find any way to refute the older girl, as she was still a little self-aware, so she could only point a finger at her indignantly. “N-Noelle!”
The gray-haired girl chuckled. “Sorry, sorry. You go on.”
Sam could only move on begrudgingly. Anyway, if she considered being labeled as a pervert as the price to be together with her darling, it didn’t seem like such an unpleasant thing after all. “Whatever, anyway, uh… although we enjoy caressing our treasure, the main goal is always to protect her from those who are envious and want to break her. There is no ‘conflict’ that will lead to a disaster or anything like you said.”
Although she had already ‘made peace’ with the matter in her heart by now, Noelle still shook her head in denial. “Absurd… Maybe you can think of it like this because you’re her blood related sister, and dare not get too greedy. After all, your relationship won’t be accepted normally anyway. But what about Dixie and Crystal?”
Sam cleared her throat awkwardly. “W-What about them? Dixie is loyal, and Crystal is a good girl, so—”
Noelle sighed. “Let’s not talk about Crystal, have you ever seen how Dixie looks at your little sister? I have never in all my life seen someone look so absurdly obsessed… and I’ve seen some of those crazy fans of boy bands who would do insane things for their ‘idols’. Do you get it?”
Sam coughed. “I-It just means she loves her princess a lot, alright? Nothing wrong with it.”
Noelle couldn’t help but groan. “You’re too far gone to understand, I see.”
The taller girl gave her a pointed look. “Doesn’t the same go for you?”
Noelle shook her head in denial, refusing to admit it.
Sam nodded. “Alright. Then, tell me, are you going to leave us?”
The gray-haired girl was stunned for a moment before she decisively shook her head. “… No. Never.”
Sam nodded, a victorious grin on lighting up her previously sullen expression. “You’re too far gone as well, then.”
”… I’m done talking to you.”
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Emilia had already returned from Sam’s office while the sun was still up high in the sky, but she still ended up spending almost the entirety of her evening planning and preparing everything for dinner.
Although she allowed Michelle to assist her on the girl’s insistence, it was only for the most basic tasks, such as washing and fetching various ingredients. Everything from cutting, chopping, boiling, baking, and roasting, to serving, was all done by her own hands, leaving the worried chef and maids stunned.
They’d already heard rumors that their young miss was staying with a restaurant owner’s daughter for a while now, but what kind of magical tonic did the girl feed their pampered little princess for her to become so proficient in the kitchen in such a short time?!
Even though they hadn’t sampled the dishes themselves, none of the seasoning proportions or other steps stood out as overly out of the norm even in the chef’s expert eyes, so the taste naturally couldn’t be too bad.
Moreover, since the dishes turned out so beautifully once served, the chef believed that even if they tasted just slightly above average, the person eating them was bound to have a very high opinion, and that wasn’t even taking into account their bias for the cook.
Of course, this was actually Emilia’s first time cooking so much food at once, so she had been a little overcautious. Before, although she had some practice with Mrs. Miller, the number of servings she made at a time did not exceed three, and she usually prepared only one or two things at a time.
Naturally, since Noelle was upset, Emilia went all out and prepared a big feast to clear the gloom in the girl’s heart. Even if it was a little tiring, she believed it would be worth it to see everyone’s smile.
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Having received her beloved little sister’s invitation, it was naturally impossible for Sam to be late for dinner, regardless of her workload. The tall brunette arrived well in advance, and delightedly took a seat while her little sister and her ‘maid’ finished bringing the food from the kitchen.
Emilia obviously noticed the absence of Noelle by Sam’s side, but other than a momentary pause in her step, no one could tell whether she was surprised or upset.
Sam, on the other hand, had already been both famished and exhausted by the time she arrived home. It had probably been a bad idea to try cleansing her bad mood after the argument with Noelle by imagining all the things that could and couldn’t happen tonight, after all.
But all her ‘hard work’ of the day seemed to be worth it in the end, as she was able to happily enjoy the taste of food that had been lovingly prepared by her darling.
Whether it was the simply baked sweet potato or the delicately prepared beef fillet steak that had been skillfully coated in pâté and mushroom duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry, and then baked… it all tasted like ambrosia on Sam’s tongue.
Seeing her sniff deeply each time before taking oversized bites, had Mrs. White been able to see her ‘well raised’ daughter at the moment, she would surely have had a seizure from shock.
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