"69 weeks!"
Crystal nodded. "Right. So that's just one week less than a year and four months."
Emilia nodded.
The blonde girl's crystal blue eyes twinkled with mirth as she smiled in amusement. "What I mean is, if a girl eats fifteen short cakes every two days a week, it will take her less than a year and a half to gain forty kilos!"
Emilia obviously saw that the heroine's expression was strange, so she had already been looking for clues in her words to figure out what was going on.
Unfortunately, she was looking too deeply at the problem itself, and couldn't figure out that the whole thing was a joke.
"Fufu, you won't trick me, it's one week less than a year and three months!"
The heroine almost rolled her eyes. 'You're missing the point!'
Looking at neither of her two students understanding what she was trying to 'teach', Crystal could only raise her hands in defeat.
The heroine thought the matter would be over since they couldn't figure it out, but she didn't know about the existence of Emilia's dear partner.
"Uh, Emilia, I hate to break it to you, but aren't you the one who ate fifteen shortcakes just now? And you'll be coming here twice a week. So…"
Emilia blinked, as if such a thought had never crossed her mind. 'Eh? You mean to say… she's talking about me?'
Cynthia chuckled maliciously. "That's right. She's basically saying 'Stupid idiot Emilia, you moron, if you keep gobbling down cakes like that, in less than a year you'll become a fat Emily-ball that can roll down the streets', get it?"
'T-That's not true! It disappears soon after entering my belly, so there's no way I'm gaining any weight!'
"Yeah, but she doesn't know that, does she?"
'So… she's making fun of me, huh?'
"That's right."
'Hmph. To dare make fun of me…'
Of course, since she had successfully lit the fire, it was time to pour the oil.
"That's right Emilia! To dare make fun of my diabolical villainess, to the point of calling you stupid fat idiot, how can this imbecile go unpunished?!"
'…'
Although she was more ticked off with Cynthia than the heroine, her partner could only be dealt with in a more private setting.
The heroine, however, did not have that luxury.
"U-Uh, Emilia, why are you looking at me like that?!"
Of course, Emilia did not answer her at all. Instead, the girl got up without a word, walked around the table, and picked the startled heroine up in a bridal carry.
"Hey! W-What are you doing?! Put me down!"
Emilia rolled her eyes as she carried the blonde girl to the sofa.
"I'm going to punish you for making fun of me!"
Now that she realized there might be 'repercussions', how could Crystal admit it?
"I-I wasn't?!"
Unfortunately for the heroine, Cynthia had already wound her villainess up to the extreme.
"Liar!"
Luckily, the heroine wasn't too heavy, and Emilia's body was above average despite having not started her cultivation yet. It would have been quite embarrassing if she had to put the heroine down midway.
Upon reaching the sofa, she roughly threw the heroine on it before climbing on top of her, making the girl's face turn completely red.
A worried Dixie had followed them, but couldn't squeak out a single word.
If it had been Crystal trying to do this, it would be different. But with Emilia taking the initiative, the 'knight' really didn't know how to 'defend' her princess from herself.
'W-What is she going to do?'
That was the thought in both of their restless minds.
'It's not some ridiculously absurd punishment like kissing till you're sorry, is it?!'
Their questions were answered when Emilia pressed her knuckles against the heroine's sides. The thin sundress provided zero defense value against the pressure, and Crystal almost felt as if Emilia's soft fingertips were directly pressing on her skin.
The girl burst into uncontrollable laughter as Emilia moved her fingers up and down, but she was firmly held to the sofa by Emilia's thighs around her waist.
"S-Stop! Ahahaha, stop it! I-I'm sorry!"
Emilia continued to tickle her, resolute to punish the girl for daring to make fun of her. It's going to be five minutes, not a second less!
Now that they can be considered friends, and she was even working on improving Crystal's situation, how could she take that lying down? The girl definitely had to be punished!
But Emilia stopped abruptly when Crystal's voice became weird.
"Uh."
The heroine didn't seem to notice the awkward expression of the other two girls.
"U-Uhm, sorry, Emilia, I won't make fun of you again, okay? I was just worried, believe me!"
Emilia reluctantly got up and allowed the heroine to breathe a sigh of relief. She decided to ignore Crystal's moaning. Anyway, since the girl is unaware of it herself, no need to make it worse.
"O-Okay, well, I'll have you know, only I can bully my friends. My friends can't bully me!"
Although Emilia's statement was unreasonable and domineering, for some reason, Crystal only felt touched in her heart at being acknowledged as a friend by her.
"Um. I got it."
"Good. So… back to studies?"
And then Crystal said something completely uncharacteristic of her typically studious self.
"How about… we play a game first, as a break?"
Emilia tilted her head. "A game?"
----------
"Ahaha… cheer up, Emilia, this is normal if you're just starting off. You'll get much better before you know it."
Crystal's consolation did not dissipate Emilia's dark look at all.
The poor medieval princess had never before touched a video game. It was as alien a concept to her as the smartphone. And she hadn't even been allowed to learn the basics before the two girls took turns to bully her in a fighting game.
She tried her best to learn the combos, and after losing twice, Crystal and herself could be called evenly matched. Her partner even praised her for being a genius in video games!
Unfortunately, Dixie clearly had a lot more 'practice', and all of her matches with the girl could only be called as ruthless bullying of a noob by a pro.
If it had been the heroine, Emilia would really have beat her up for daring to act up after surrendering right before.
But she never expected her knight to betray her like this!
"Why do you keep bullying me, Dixie?! I'm still learning, have some mercy, you know!"
There was a glint of both vengeful satisfaction and expectation in Dixie's eyes.
"Ahhh, my princess sounds like Koko now, how sad~."
'T-This is definitely enough! She's gonna be mad!'
To her disappointment, however, Emilia did not 'punish' her like she did with Crystal.
"Y-You! Hmph. Anyway, I'm done playing!"
Crystal smiled. For the first time, she experienced what it felt like to play with friends. She felt a little sad thinking that she had missed this kind of experience for so many years, but it was better late than never.
"Alright, let's get back to studying, then."