How could the boys not 'enlighten' them when given such an opportunity to speak out without taking the blame?
"Eh? You girls don't know? Emilia White is the childhood sweetheart of 'young master' Amos! Doesn't he always 'talk' about her?"
Tia and Mia looked at each other, perplexed.
"Huh? Wasn't that Danielle?"
"And… wasn't she supposed to be like, as ugly as a piglet or something? And wasn't her personality so totally disgusting that no one else could compare?"
The two sisters stared at each other in confusion before turning to Amos. The other boys watched with a feeling of schadenfreude as the silver-haired hero gritted his teeth and remained silent.
Although the two Gregory sisters were usually a little dull, after witnessing his obviously aggravated expression along with his lack of response, even they realized that something wasn't right.
Theo smirked as he remembered another 'interesting' tidbit his little sister had told him. Although he knew it was bull crap, wouldn't it be hilarious to watch this snake's reaction?
"You know, there's another interesting thing my sister told me."
Amos didn't know who Theo's sister was, nor did he care. Now that he had been humiliated to this extent, how could he continue to stick around and listen to their 'interesting stories'?
But as usual, Theo's friends weren't very cooperative with his cause.
"Oh? Do tell, it couldn't be 'big brother is not only a huge pervert, he's also a disgusting otaku', right?"
"… I'll fucking obliterate your ass if you keep that up."
"Hey, man, I know you're a pervert and all, being a siscon, but don't target me for your bi-curious tendencies!"
"…"
Theo took a deep breath. 'Focus, Theo. You can't fly into a rage right now, just think of how ugly Amos would look, how can you miss this opportunity? Don't forget, this bastard once called your precious sister a snotty little brat! This is your duty, Theo! You can do it!'
At this point, Amos was already gloomily leaning against a pillar all by himself. Even the Gregory sisters chose to stick around with the group that they had been 'brought into', making him look like even more of a joke.
But that wasn't enough for Theo. After motivating himself using his siscon powers, the spectacled boy instantly calmed down, causing the 'friend' who had been provoking him to be struck dumb with terror.
"Y-You're not really gonna hit me, right?"
Theo pushed up his glasses, making them shine 'menacingly'.
"Of course not, though you do deserve it. Anyway, wanna know what she told me?"
His friends gulped. Right, this pervert wasn't just an otaku and a siscon, he also happened to be a total lunatic who would go ripping and tearing at the opponent's clothes if someone managed to make him fly into a rage.
Wouldn't it be humiliating for them if it happened at the party? Since it looked like he had already reached his limit of tolerance for today, it was best not to push him any further.
"Y-Yeah, man, go ahead and tell us, I'm very curious. Totally."
Theo felt his eyebrow twitch, but managed to keep his calm. "Apparently…"
==========
"AMOS LOVES BOYS?!"
The shriek that stunned the entire party into silence came not from anyone else, but from the short-haired blonde who could often be seen gushing about Amos.
The hero's face turned purple from anger as he heard the cry, and then immediately went pale as he saw it came from one of his 'staunchest' admirers.
"That's awesome! Sister Mia, doesn't this mean that all those BL fanfics you've been writing about him could be true?!"
"T-Tia, shut up! I don't write such t-things!"
"Oh. Oh yeah, oops."
The shorter haired blonde sister gave her sibling a pitiful look, regretting her slip up, but Mia was more concerned about the Black Tiger's heir than her sister's folly. She knew she couldn't stay here with him.
Although Mia hurriedly excused herself along with her sister and swiftly left the party, the damage had already been done.
Had it been some random person brought in as a partner, or one of his 'enemies', the matter wouldn't be so serious. After all, it could always be a besmirching stunt meant to frame him.
But not only was the girl one of his own followers, she was also well known to not have an ounce of scheming, and couldn't possibly have been plotting against him.
The hushed whispers among the partygoers made the hero's blood run cold. This was on a completely different level than the rumors in the school. Not only were there many heirs and heiresses around, but also some of the genuine leaders of conglomerates and corporations who could directly influence the market with their attitude.
'N-No… when that bastard father of mine hears of this, he'll definitely blame me!'
As hundreds of eyes focused on his body, Amos felt as if he was standing on pins and needles.
'What should I do? If I vehemently deny it, it'll just make them believe otherwise, but if I don't say anything, isn't that the same as accepting it as the truth?'
Of course, if he had been calmer, he could have simply ignored it completely. But his reaction had been far from unperturbed, and that was no longer a viable option. At this point, he could only scoff and treat it as an absurd statement.
However, his luck finally seemed to shine as the star of the party chose this exact moment to arrive, completely shifting everyone's attention away. In their eyes, it wasn't really a 'major issue' to begin with, after all. Perhaps only Mr. Black and the girls crushing on the silver-haired boy would care about such things. Most people were curious, but they didn't really care about it.
Amos couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
But this was followed by a wave of rage as he realized just how absurdly shitty the day had been for him today. And to make matters worse, the party girl ignored everyone else to go straight into Emilia's arms before kissing her on the cheek.
Although her birthday was only an excuse to host the event, this preteen girl was still a major politician's only daughter.
Not to mention anyone else, even Emilia herself looked stunned.
"It's my birthday today, so that's my gift!"
Emilia blushed as she clung to one of Dixie's arms, 'shyly' looking away as her knight possessively wrapped an arm around her waist. But the short-haired girl didn't show any adverse reaction to the affectionate behavior of the birthday girl.
In any case, she was only nine or ten years old. Was she supposed to pick a fight with a kid? That would just make her look bad. She wouldn't do something so absurd, unless it was what her princess wished.
Of course, she had to be more careful not to let this kind of thing happen again. If it hadn't been for her moment of hesitation considering the young girl's identity, she wouldn't have succeeded in kissing Emilia so smoothly.
"Wow, Emilia, you're really good at this acting thing!"
'Of course. How could I even hope to dream of being a Queen if I couldn't even do this much? Anyway, I just have to make myself believe it, and it should look somewhat believable.'
Emilia's goal in clinging to Dixie was, of course, to avoid any more unwanted advances. Although she could definitely do it herself, it would also affect the public image she was trying to establish. If Dixie interfered on her behalf, however, wasn't it just right?
As for the little girl's kiss, well, to her, it was no different from the affectionate lapping of a dog.
Her obviously embarrassed reaction formed a charming contrast with her glamorous looks, making her seem even more endearing to the onlookers. It would not have worked if she had been older, but as a girl in the first year of high school, it suited her just right.
The number of fans she was making kept increasing at a terrifying rate, and Amos watched it all in real-time.