Although not a ‘genius’ like her daughter, Mrs. Miller’s mind was naturally far from slow. She was only halfway through being outraged at someone trying ‘pry her daughter’s corner’ when she realized her mistake.
Even if her daughter had all her little girlfriends wrapped around her fingers, their mothers wouldn’t necessarily support that type of relationship if they came to know of it, would they?
After all, it took her a while to come to terms with such an unconventional thing herself, and Mrs. Miller considered herself quite a bit more ‘open-minded’ than most.
Thinking of all the fierce parents interfering with her daughter’s relationship and cutting her off from the only few ‘friends’ she’d managed to connect with after being alone for so long, Mrs. Miller quickly made up her mind.
Seeing how everyone else was now staring at her in either confusion or curiosity, she coughed in embarrassment. “I-I mean, how could he try to hit on my daughter’s friend? S-She’s clearly out of his league. He looks dumb!”
Koko’s mom couldn’t help but rub her chin in confusion. “Out of her league? Well, yeah, he doesn’t look very attractive or smart either, but isn’t it worse that he’s more than twice her age? Talk about an old cow trying to chew young grass! Dating should be strictly between peers.”
Sam and Noelle, who were hit by ‘stray arrows’ could only pretend not to have heard anything.
Fortunately, although Emilia was amused by their reactions, she didn’t let them continue ‘suffering’, and invited them for refreshments and snacks that had already been arranged in the ‘Disciplinary Committee’s Office’.
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Noelle had already had her study table replaced with a larger round table to accommodate all the food and drinks, which was in turn arranged by the staff at The Fawn’s.
Naturally, everything had to at least match the standard of a five-star restaurant, and was meticulously prepared by the restaurant’s overenthusiastic manager in person.
Emilia’s friends were already used to such treatment, but some of their parents couldn’t help but be surprised.
Fortunately, the crimson-haired beauty was an attentive host, and made sure everyone was comfortable, including Penny’s parents.
Feeling her husband poking her ribs, Penny’s mother threw a scathing glare, making the man subconsciously shrink back as he whispered. “I-I just wanted to say that Penny’s obsession doesn’t look so unreasonable now, right?”
Of course, he still didn’t approve of his daughter’s somewhat extreme fanaticism. He didn’t even understand where she got it from!
Penny’s mother paused for only a moment before she snorted softly. “Of course it’s not unreasonable. If I wasn’t already married to you, I’d join her.”
”…?!”
Was his wife always so frank about putting a green hat on his head?
But not to mention getting angry, he couldn’t even try to compete with this ‘potential rival’. If he really fought a little girl his daughter’s age, wouldn’t he just die from shame? That is, if Penny, that loony little daughter of his, didn’t kill him first.
The man decided it was better to speak less. Wasn’t life so good just five minutes ago? Why did he have to go digging into things he didn’t need to?!
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret, though wine did ‘help’. The only regretful thing was that there was only some mild fruit wine on the table, which was far from enough to get him wasted.
Crystal had obviously never had any before, though, so even with the low alcoholic content, she still got buzzed and started ‘teasing’ Emilia, who didn’t seem to mind at all.
The blonde heroine pouted as she threw her arms around the crimson-haired beauty. “Why do you always bully me?!”
Emilia blinked innocently as she naturally shifted their chairs closer and wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist to keep her from falling. “Why would I bully such a cute girl?”
Crystal humphed. “You took Penny and Dixie to play with you on stage, but you didn’t ask me to act.”
The crimson-haired girl giggled. “Would you have enjoyed it?”
The blonde girl was stunned for a moment, but soon shook her head hesitantly. “… N-No, but… I-I’d go if you asked!”
Emilia smiled. “See, how can I make you do something you wouldn’t like?”
Crystal could only pout and turn her gaze to Dixie, who was innocently peeling a shrimp on her right. “Did you have fun on the show?”
”…? I-I had fun playing around with Emily, y-yeah—”
Crystal narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “But you got your face smashed?”
The dark-haired girl coughed. “T-That doesn’t matter, right…?”
The blonde heroine rolled her eyes as she mumbled ‘I knew you were a masochist’, making Dixie almost choke on her own saliva.
Fortunately, Crystal’s mumble was soft enough that only Emilia and Dixie could hear it, or the dark-haired girl might have suffered from another social death.
Looking at the curious gaze of her princess, though, Dixie grit her teeth in annoyance. ‘I-If Crystal doesn’t apologize to me after coming back to her senses, I will, uh, I-I will make fun of her in our chat group for a whole week! Y-Yeah!’
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Emilia’s body was naturally tireless, but that clearly wasn’t the case for her companions.
Since the events they were participating in next were towards the end of the week, Emilia hadn’t felt any need to stop them from overindulging, though.
The crimson-haired girl wasn’t sure if they ended up over stuffing themselves, or if the fruit wine wasn’t as mild as it claimed, but by the time the sun went down, except for Noelle and Sam, everyone else already appeared exhausted.
Looking at even Penny’s ‘robust’ father nodding his head absentmindedly, Emilia couldn’t help but purse her lips. “I don’t feel safe letting them head home by themselves. Let’s drop them off?”
Noelle hummed. “Alright, I’ll arrange a limo.”
Sam grinned as she threw her arms around the gray-haired girl. “I never knew you’d give me a day off without even asking!”
The older girl smiled. “Oh? It’s good that you didn’t expect it, or you’d be disappointed.”
Sam’s ecstatic expression froze. “Huh?!”
Emilia could only hug her dispirited older sister in consolation. “Don’t worry, big sister, I’ll give you a massage to relieve your stress when you return, okay?”
Sam sniffed. “How can I make you work so hard after such a long day? Just sleep.”
Emilia stood on her tiptoes and smiled as she pressed a kiss up on the older girl’s cheek. “You know I don’t get tired. I’ll wait for you to return.”
Just as Sam was about to cry from being moved, Noelle finished arranging for the limousine, and dragged her away to clear her day’s pending work.
After Emilia waved them goodbye, she slowly guided everyone to the limo like a shepherd would a flock of sheep, making sure none of them went astray or got lost.
”Be careful of the wall, aunty!”
Koko’s mother jolted as she realized how close she had been to painting her face on the wall. “I-I’m awake!”
Unfortunately, her alertness only lasted for a few moments before her mind became blurry again. Emilia could only sigh and continue being a good little shepherd girl.
Thankfully, she soon encountered some ‘knights’ on the way, who happily helped her escort everyone to the limo.
”Thank you!”
”I-It’s our pleasure, princess!”
”Anything for you!”
Emilia couldn’t help but smile happily, and she even kissed all four of the girls who had helped her on their cheeks before waving them goodbye, leaving them standing there in a daze.
Cynthia shuddered. “G-Get in the car quickly! I feel like those perverts are about to jump you!”
The crimson-haired girl chuckled as she closed the door leisurely after making sure everyone was inside. ‘Don’t be like that, Cynthia. They’re so adorable and helpful, ahh, I feel lucky that they like me so much!’
”…”
Emilia didn’t pay much attention to her partner’s speechlessness, and quickly told the driver all the locations he needed to stop at before heading home.
Fortunately, Noelle had arranged a limo that was big enough to comfortably accommodate up to twenty people, so even if someone was tired, they could just lie down.
Crystal and Penny’s homes weren’t too far from the school, though they were in opposite directions. Koko’s home was further away, though, and by the time they were done sending the girl off with her mother, both Crystal and Mrs. Miller had already dozed off in the car, and even Dixie was blinking stupidly, as if only half awake.
Emilia giggled at the dark-haired girl’s desperate attempts at warding off sleep. “It’s okay to close your eyes, you know? Do you think I’ll lock you in the car if you fall asleep?”
Had she been fully awake, Dixie would surely have vehemently denied that such ‘absurd thoughts’ could ever cross her mind, but as it was, she could only dumbly shake her head from side to side.
Emilia couldn’t help but squeeze the girl’s face with an amused smile. “So cute.”
Despite having both her cheeks pinched, Dixie only continued to stare at her stupidly, wondering why her princess kept multiplying into two.
Only she knew how complicated she felt about it. Her princess was so perfect, how could there be another? It just made no sense, no matter how hard she thought about it.
Not that Dixie could think very hard at the moment.
Fortunately, they managed to reach the White Deer’s mansion before the dark-haired girl fell asleep.
Since Emilia had decided to let Mrs. Miller sleep in her guest room, Dixie quickly offered to help Emilia carry her up. “I-I’ll carry auntie, she must be heavier.”
Emilia looked at her ‘trying my best to help’ expression, and sighed. ‘She’s never carried Crystal before, has she?’
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