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The lake where Sayaka had been bathing wasn't actually far from La Folia's location—the straight-line distance was less than fifty meters.
Yet perhaps because one was trying to avoid being caught bathing outdoors while the other had been keeping a low profile to avoid pursuers, the two had completely failed to notice each other despite being so close.
Soon, with Sayaka leading the way, the pair quickly returned to the lake where Bokue had encountered a certain silver-haired princess.
When they arrived, La Folia was already waiting for them on the shore.
Fully dressed, of course.
In the moonlight, the silver-haired girl wore an indigo business suit with the royal emblem embroidered in silver on the chest. Black stockings outlined her shapely legs. With hands clasped elegantly in front, she gave a slight curtsy upon seeing them return.
"Oh my, you two have returned."
"S-sorry for keeping you waiting, Princess La Folia..."
Sayaka returned the curtsy.
"Honestly, we didn't expect to find you here, Your Highness. Perhaps we should return to the villa first to discuss the details."
"Villa?"
Hearing these two words that logically shouldn't appear in this context, even La Folia's composure wavered momentarily.
Sayaka looked somewhat embarrassed, practically telegraphing a glance at the youth beside her before clearing her throat.
"Yes, anyway, please come with us first."
"Hmm..."
Though unclear about the specifics, La Folia nodded in agreement.
❁❁❁❁
Scene shift—
The three had returned to the beachfront mansion.
Just as Sayaka had anticipated, from the moment they emerged from the jungle and saw this luxurious villa standing on the beach, right up until sitting down in the living room, a certain princess's exclamations of wonder hadn't stopped.
"This is really... wait, but I remember when I first arrived on this island, I came to this beach. There definitely wasn't any villa here. Could it be..."
At the dining table, when the amazed La Folia turned her gaze to the youth sitting across from her, she suddenly understood what Sayaka's earlier glance at the lake had meant.
So it wasn't "he found it" but "he made it"?
"That's basically the gist of it."
With no intention of taking credit, Bokue dismissed it casually.
"Anyway, Princess La Folia, you can stay in this villa tonight. There are two rooms upstairs. You can share one with Sayaka..."
Stare—
Before he could finish, Bokue suddenly felt an intense gaze from beside him.
Turning to look, the one firing heat vision at him was a certain War Dancer girl.
"What?"
Bokue spread his hands.
"I built this house. You can't expect to take both bedrooms while making the builder sleep on the downstairs couch. That would be too much."
"I-I didn't mean that of course..."
Sayaka's cheeks reddened as she denied it.
"Actually, I was thinking since you can teleport people everywhere, now that we've found Princess La Folia, why not just teleport us back to Itogami Island?"
"...What about your speedboat? Just abandon it?"
Bokue spread his hands.
"Even if we go back now, you rented that speedboat from the harbor, right? You'll still need to return it tomorrow."
"Then teleport the boat back too!"
"Even if we teleport back now, the boat rental owner has office hours. You'd still have to wait until tomorrow morning to return it, wouldn't you?"
"Ugh..."
The War Dancer girl was completely speechless now.
That was true. Even if they all teleported back to Itogami Island with the boat, she'd still have to wake up early tomorrow morning to return the rented speedboat to the dock.
Rather than make that extra trip, better to rest comfortably in the island villa tonight and return tomorrow morning.
"Alright, that's settled then."
Bokue pushed himself up from the table and headed toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
"I'm going up to shower again. You two chat. There's food and drinks in the fridge—help yourselves."
"Wait!"
No sooner had he spoken than Sayaka suddenly stood up too.
"I'm coming up with you!"
"?"
Bokue stopped and looked back at her.
"I'm going to shower. You sure you want to come up with me?"
"...Yes!"
After a second's pause, the War Dancer girl nodded firmly.
Bokue: "..."
Whatever, suit yourself.
Scene shift to the upstairs bedroom. As the door opened, Bokue entered first, followed by Sayaka, and finally even La Folia came into the room.
"Oh~ I didn't expect the bedrooms to have private bathrooms."
"They do. Want to shower again?"
Bokue suggested.
Actually, he didn't need to ask. If hot water was available, La Folia would definitely prefer it. After all, the difference between hot water and cold lake water was... significant.
"Hmm~ Good idea."
La Folia only considered for a second before agreeing.
"Then I'll go shower in my room first. See you later~"
"Mm."
So La Folia returned to her own room.
With the door closing, only two people remained in the room.
Bokue's gaze swept across the War Dancer girl's face, and he made a soft sound of surprise.
He actually saw Sayaka's cheeks were flushed.
"Sayaka, why is your face so red? Did you catch a cold from the cold water bath?"
"...No."
After a moment's silence, as if finding it difficult to speak, Sayaka turned her face away.
"I'm just thinking about taking another shower too."
"Go ahead, you can go first if you want."
Bokue didn't think much of it, just teasing casually.
"Though La Folia's showering now too. If you also shower, no one will be supervising me. Is that okay?"
"Ugh... I get it."
Whether it was the youth's imagination or not, Sayaka's tone seemed to have become particularly gentle compared to before.
"E-even though I kept suspecting you before, I understand now, alright? I believe you won't peek. Is that good enough?"
As she spoke, the War Dancer girl's cheeks grew even redder.
"But when I shower later, you stay by the door and don't leave. I... have something I want to tell you."
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