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Just as it appeared from outside, the mansion's interior facilities could be described as fully equipped. Even the kitchen refrigerator was stocked with various ingredients—meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, and vegetables all present.
It had reached move-in-ready status.
As the sun gradually sank below the coastline, time quickly arrived at after dinner.
In the beachfront mansion's first-floor dining room, Bokue Keikain stood by the sink in the open kitchen's interior. He'd already washed all the dirty dishes and returned them to the rack.
Meanwhile, at the open refrigerator beside him, a certain War Dancer girl stood thoughtfully contemplating the fully-stocked ingredients before her.
"...If you want some dessert, help yourself. No need to be polite."
Bokue shook the remaining water droplets from his hands, circling past her toward the stairway.
"Though I'm going upstairs to shower now. If you're afraid I'll peek, you'd better go shower in your own room too."
"Eh?"
Sayaka Kirasaka froze momentarily, then immediately chased after him.
"Stop stop stop... you stand right there!"
"What now?"
Bokue actually stopped, turning to look at her curiously.
"Don't tell me you're going to follow me into the shower too?"
"O-of course!"
The War Dancer girl's cheeks immediately began burning at the words "shower together," but she still stammered insistently.
"You say you're going to shower, but that's just your word. How do I know you won't use shower time to go somewhere else? Anyway, I'll supervise you from outside the bathroom!"
"..."
She really was going to follow.
Bokue mentally raised an eyebrow, but since Sayaka had already said as much, she'd clearly made up her mind. Refusing would be pointless.
"Suit yourself."
With that, he turned toward the stairs. The War Dancer girl still standing there hesitated slightly before stomping her foot and following.
Scene shift to the bedroom.
As the youth entered the bathroom, Sayaka's footsteps stopped outside the door.
Through the frosted glass bathroom door's transmitted light, she could vaguely see Bokue removing his clothes piece by piece inside, followed by the sound of running shower water.
So he really did come up to shower...
Never having experienced anything like this, even just hearing water sounds through the door made Sayaka's cheeks threaten to burn again.
After all, she suffered from severe androphobia. Growing up, forget hearing men shower—she'd never even shared a room with a male. Yet here she was... ugh~
This was all that Bokue guy's fault, breaking through her boundaries again and again!
No no no, she couldn't let this guy disturb her.
Taking another deep breath to calm herself, a thought suddenly popped into Sayaka's mind.
Since that Bokue guy really was showering inside and couldn't leave, could she also take a bath?
Not using the villa's shower, of course.
But they'd discovered several freshwater lakes while searching the island during the day. Since drinking water was no longer a concern, using some to clean her body seemed reasonable...
With this thought, Sayaka glanced tentatively toward the door, then carefully shifted away.
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Five minutes later, as the water sounds ceased in the bathroom, the freshly showered and dressed Bokue opened the door and emerged.
Hmm?
Just stepping out of the bathroom, the youth sensed something amiss.
Sayaka had actually disappeared. The room was empty except for him.
No more supervision?
With this thought, Bokue decisively left the room and went to the opposite bedroom door, knocking lightly.
"Sayaka, are you in there?"
No response.
Bokue then searched the first floor, still finding no one.
She'd gone out?
That seemed unlikely. Given her intensity about supervising even his shower, how could she just leave?
Had something happened?
After brief consideration, Bokue closed his eyes and focused.
Just to prevent such emergencies, he'd casually left a spiritual beacon on her during their afternoon of being dragged around.
Though it was truly just a backup precaution, he hadn't expected to actually need it.
Like Flying Thunder God activating, the next moment Bokue's figure vanished from the spot.
With the spatial transfer, the mansion's cool air-conditioned atmosphere vanished in an instant, replaced by the humid, stifling air of the nighttime forest.
When Bokue opened his eyes, the bright summer moon shone down from overhead, illuminating the lake surface before him.
He now stood at the shore of a freshwater lake.
And in the waist-deep water before him, a beautifully figured silver-haired girl wearing nothing at all was turning sideways in surprise to look at him. The cool lake water condensed into beads on the girl's skin so pale it was almost translucent, then slid drop by drop along her soft curves.
Her lips parted slightly in astonishment, time seeming to freeze at this moment.
"You are..."
"Princess La Folia?"
Though the forest light at night was quite dim, with only starlight providing illumination, Bokue still recognized her at a glance as La Folia—the one they'd searched for all afternoon.
"Yes... I am..."
The silver-haired girl in the lake seemed not quite recovered from this sudden situation, only stammering a response after Bokue broke the silence first.
"Um, may I ask who you are?"
"Bokue Keikain. I was dragged here by a certain War Dancer girl to rescue you."
"War Dancer... so the Lion King Organization?"
"Mm."
Bokue acknowledged.
"I see..."
Getting the youth's affirmative reply, the royal girl named La Folia seemed to understand everything in an instant, immediately pressing her chest and sighing in relief.
"You scared me. I thought those pursuers chasing me had found this place."
"Of course not, um..."
Bokue shook his head, about to continue, when he suddenly realized he'd strayed from the original topic too long, making a thoughtful sound.
"More importantly, Princess La Folia, have you seen a girl around your age and build here? Brown hair in a high ponytail."
"I haven't actually..."
The silver-haired girl covered her important areas with one hand while tapping her lip thoughtfully with the other.
But before she could finish speaking, a sharp whistling sound suddenly attacked from behind Bokue. In an instant, a sharp sword tip pressed against the youth's back.
Along with it came a certain War Dancer girl's voice, embarrassed to the extreme.
"Y-y-you... I knew I was right about you! Daring to try peeking at a War Dancer bathing...!"
Without turning around, this voice was obviously Sayaka Kirasaka.
Bokue sighed helplessly in his mind.
"Don't be silly. I just finished showering and found you weren't in the house. I thought something had happened to you, so I came looking."
"Eh?"
At the same time, the War Dancer girl behind him—holding a great sword transformed from her bow in one hand while carefully covering her chest with the other—froze at these words.
So by this logic, this guy was actually worried about her?
"And coincidentally found Princess La Folia too."
"...Huh?"
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