Rem and Ram were tending to the flowers when they noticed one was wilting.
Rem: [Nee-sama, please come look at this flower.]
Ram: [Hm? What could have happened? They only just bloomed.]
The flowerhead fell off.
Roswaal: [Oh, dear. What's all this?]
Roswaal walked over, picking up the flowerhead.
Ram: [Roswaal-Sama.]
Roswaal: [During an important time like this, with the Royal Selection at hand... it appears something quite troubling has found its way to us.]
The window in Emilia's room could be seen freezing and then cracking.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Kiyotaka woke up as he breathed out, being able to see his own breath.
Kiyotaka: (Strange. From what I've studied, winter shouldn't be starting in this world yet. Not to mention it was especially warmer than usual yesterday.)
Kiyotaka sat up as he heard a knock on his door.
Kiyotaka: [One second.]
Kiyotaka: (Time for another day of work.)
Kiyotaka put on his butler uniform and opened the door to see Ram.
Ram: [You're awake on time. As expected of you, Ayanotaka.]
Kiyotaka: [I suppose you're happy to be able to work me hard, aren't you?]
Ram: [And when I used my precious time to wake you up, even though I didn't want to get out of bed. How ungrateful. Minus ten points for you.]
Kiyotaka: [You're a maid. You can't exactly stay in bed all day anyway.]
Ram glared at him as Kiyotaka sighed.
Kiyotaka: [Alright. Alright. I'm sorry. Let's get to work, okay?]
Ram nodded.
Ram: [Rem needs help in the kitchen.]
Kiyotaka: [Understood.]
He spent the day helping Rem and Ram.
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The next day, Kiyotaka woke up and had a deadpan face, but it was clear he was slightly irritated.
Kiyotaka: (This weather is getting worse. Something else has to be going on. Most likely it's to do with something Emilia is trying to get a handle on. Well, I trust her to deal with it eventually.)
Kiyotaka got into his ANHS uniform.
Kiyotaka: (I keep wearing this as if it's the only clothes I can have, but... I'm a bit fond of it.)
Kiyotaka left his room as he saw Beatrice sneaking around.
Kiyotaka: (Hm? What is she up to?)
Kiyotaka watched closely, but Beatrice turned around to see him and looked shocked before trying to cover for herself, awkwardly.
Beatrice: [Betty wasn't sneaking around or anything, I suppose.]
Kiyotaka: (You look extremely suspicious, though. Well, she's probably trying to do something in secret for Puck.)
Kiyotaka performed his duties and, at the end of the day, fell asleep.
Kiyotaka: (I'll give it one more night before I take action.)
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Another day passed as Kiyotaka had preemptively added extra layers to his bedding. He looked around to see icicles forming.
Kiyotaka: (This is becoming ridiculous. Shouldn't Roswaal have handled this, or at least told us about what's going on by now?)
Kiyotaka got up as he began doing morning exercises to heat up his body. Kiyotaka got out of his room and went to the kitchen to find Rem.
Kiyotaka: [Good morning.]
Rem: [Oh. Good morning Kiyotaka-Kun. It's awfully cold, isn't it?]
Kiyotaka: [It is.]
Rem: [You seem to be faring well, though. I'm glad.]
Kiyotaka: [I've experienced worse than this, but it is getting close to my worst experience.]
Rem: [Eh? Really?]
Kiyotaka: [Yes. From that, I figured out how to take control of my mind, and not feel as cold.]
Roswaal walked in.
Roswaal: [Ah yessss. You're absoluuuutely correct, Kiyotaka-Kuuuun. Mind over the body.]
Rem: [Roswaal-Sama. Good morning.]
Rem bowed.
Kiyotaka: [I assume you're doing your best to deal with the situation?]
Roswaal: [Why, of course, and I'm sure you've figured out what's causing the problem.]
Rem: [Um... what do you mean?]
Kiyotaka: [I read up on it yesterday. Puck is experiencing a magical release period, right?]
Roswaal: [Indeed.]
Kiyotaka: [I guess I'll go talk to her.]
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Roswaal, Rem and Kiyotaka arrived at her door.
Roswaal: [Emilia-Sama, forgive me for disturbing you so early. Do you happen to have a moooment to talk with us?]
Emilia: [Roswaal?! Um, um... Wait, just a minute! Just a minute, okay?]
Kiyotaka: [Emilia. Are you alright in there?]
Emilia: [Eh? Are you there too, Kiyotaka?]
Kiyotaka sighed.
Kiyotaka: [Roswaal. As the owner of the mansion, do you grant me permission to enter?]
Emilia: [Eh!?]
Roswal: [Go right ahead, Kiyotaka-Kuuun.]
Emilia: [Roswaal!... um... Wa...wait!]
Kiyotaka: [I'll give you 10 seconds to get decent. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...0.]
Kiyotaka touched the doorhandle.
Kiyotaka: (Freezing.)
He opened it as a cold breeze blew past him, and he saw the inside of her room frozen.
Emilia: [Y...you shouldn't come into someone's room before they say you can! It's rude! Yeah! Reaaally rude. You know... I mean... You know. Start over!]
Kiyotaka: [Request denied.]
Emilia: [Eh!?]
Kiyotaka walked in.
Kiyotaka: [Puck is experiencing a mana release period, right?]
Emilia: [Um, no he...]
Puck: [It's okay, Lia. There's no point in hiding it now anyway.]
Emilia: [Jeez, Puck, you're no help! I was going to be able to convince him.]
Kiyotaka: [There was a 0.000001% chance of that happening.]
Emilia: [Eh! That's reaaally small!]
Kiyotaka looked to see that Puck was experiencing the Magical Release period.
Emilia: [Me and Puck are reaaally sorry about this, okay? His release period should almost be over soon, too. Right Puck?]
Puck: [Yeah. If you let me keep going at this pace for about two more days.]
Emilia: [We're reaaally sorry.]
She bowed as Kiyotaka patted her head.
Kiyotaka: [It's fine. I can soldier on for a bit longer.]
Kiyotaka then looked at Puck.
Kiyotaka: [But no more decreasing the temperature. I'd prefer not to be frozen alive. Also, try to lower your release enough to extend it to three days. I'd prefer to suffer an extra day rather than Ram dying tomorrow or the day after.]
Puck made an awkward laugh at this.
Kiyotaka: (Ram was already in a bad mood when this started. She must be having a horrible time.)
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Kiyotaka went over to Ram's room as he knocked on the door.
Ram: [Le... le... leave Ram alone for to... to... today. It's... too co... co... cold...]
Kiyotaka: [I brought you some extra blankets and some warm tea. Can I come in?]
Ram: [Ye...yes please.]
Kiyotaka opened the door to see Ram wrapped in her blanket.
Kiyotaka: (... That's adorable. Even I might laugh from seeing this side of her.)
Kiyotaka suppressed this, of course, as he set the tea down on the table beside her and handed her the blankets.
Ram: [Tha... thank you Ayan....Ayanotaka.]
Kiyotaka: [It's fine. This is because of Puck's Magic Release period. It'll last for three more days. Try to stay warm, okay?]
Ram: [That's te... terrible news, Ayanotaka. Yo... you're supposed... to... to lead with... that. minus... te... ten.... points.]
Kiyotaka sighed as he began leaving the room.
Ram: [A...Ayanotaka!
Kiyotaka: [Yes?]
Ram: [Yo...you try to stay warm too...]
Kiyotaka: [Don't worry. I will.]
Kiyotaka and the others began taking inventory of firewood and collecting it for the fireplace to be able to keep warm.
Emilia: [I reaaally feel bad about all this.]
Kiyotaka: [It's fine. After all, there is an opportunity for something enjoyable.]
Emilia: [Eh?]
Kiyotaka: [It's raining, which means eventually it'll turn into snow. You can all go out tomorrow and have some fun. You can invite the people from the village too. A snow festival or something.]
Rem: [You're right. We could even host an event too.]
Emilia: [Eh, what about you Kiyotaka?]
Kiyotaka: [I'll join if you want me to.]
Emilia: [Definitely.]
Kiyotaka: [Alright then. I'll ask Beatrice to toggle the range of her barriers.]
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
In the morning, everyone from the village gathered in winter clothes as Emilia stood in front of the crowd with her hood on.
Emilia: [Um, so... everyone try your best to make a reaaally amazing snow sculpture, okay?]
They all cheered.
Kiyotaka: (Apart from the secret judge Muramosa, to think that the sadistic clown and I are judges... though to be fair, if I made one, I don't think anyone would be able to compete, and it would sour everyone's mood.)
Eventually, Beatrice came down to participate.
Kiyotaka: [It looks like you're joining in too. I'm surprised.]
Beatrice: [Don't think anything of it in fact. It was because Bubby insisted, I suppose.]
Kiyotaka: [Also no magic.]
Beatrice: [There's no written rule.]
Kiyotaka: [I'll dock points.]
Beatrice looks infuriated.
Beatrice: [You're so annoying, I suppose!]
They all began making sculptures as Kiyotaka saw them.
Kiyotaka: (All realistic. Well, that's better than subjective modern art. It would be difficult even for me to judge things like that.)
Kiyotaka began walking around when he came across a sculpture of the Boss Wolgarm.
Kiyotaka: [Excellent outline. Excellent structure. Excellent detail. Ten points.]
Man: [Ah thank you Kiyotaka.]
Kiyotaka: [It's no problem.]
Kiyotaka moved on as he passed one with a cloth over it, as Ram called out to him.
Ram: [Ayanotaka. Over here.]
Rem: [Wait, Nee-sama, I don't think...]
Kiyotaka walked over.
Ram: [We made this one ourselves. Your eyes are in for a feast.]
Kiyotaka: [Oh? Let's see it then.]
Kiyotaka: (I don't like the way I can see part of it from the indentations in the cloth.)
Ram: [Behold our finest work, a compilation of our strength, artistic talent, and sisterly love.]
Rem: [I did my best to draw out Nee-sama's idea, but I think I didn't work hard enough.]
Kiyotaka: (You just admitted Ram did not participate at all... well, I'll let it slide, but this sculpture gives me a bad feeling.)
Kiyotaka: [What's its name?]
Rem: [We titled it...
Rem looked embarrassed.
Rem: [A statue of the magnificent Ayanowaal.]
Kiyotaka: (I knew it.)
Rem took off the blanket sheepishly, revealing a half-Kiyotaka, half-Roswaal sculpture.
Kiyotaka: [...]
Rem: [Nee-sama couldn't decide between a statue of Roswaal-Sama and a statue of you, Kiyotaka-Kun, so we made this compromise.]
Kiyotaka: (The thought of sharing a body with the sadistic clown gives me shivers up my spine.)
Roswaal: [My, my! What brings the three of you together here?]
Kiyotaka: (Speak of the clown.)
Roswaal then noticed it.
Roswaal: [And... what's this?]
Ram: [Roswaal-Sama, I'm sorry you had to see that, but please take a look at this.]
Roswaal looked at it, and to cope with how disturbed he felt, he made a joke.
Roswaal: [Dooon't you think it's an exceeeellent representation of how cloooose we've become, Kiyotaka-Kuuun?]
Kiyotaka: [Don't use me as a way to vent your discomfort.]
Roswaal's sweat dropped.
Ram: [Um, so... how is it?]
Roswaal began putting up ten fingers as Ram looked happy with stars in her eyes. Roswaal quickly changed it to four before the result was set, and Ram looked depressed.
Kiyotaka: (Taking joy in her suffering, are you? You sadistic clown.)
She then looked to Kiyotaka with some hope in her eyes.
Kiyotaka: [If it was your intention to make me feel disturbed, I'd give you a ten out of ten but... I can see that wasn't your intention. I apologise in advance, but I must remain unbiased.]
Ram began to dread the result.
Kiyotaka: (I take no joy from this.)
Kiyotaka: [Three Points.]
Ram fell to her knees.
Ram: [Worse than Roswaal-Sama's score... Only 7 points out of twenty... not even... half... Even with a perfect score from the last judge, it will barely be... half.]
Rem sweat dropped, knowing the result wasn't going to be good, but she blamed herself rather than her sister. She felt that if she had worked harder, she might have been able to raise the point total even by a little.
Roswaal: [The quality is certainly satisfactory, but it just sort of...]
Roswaal shivered slightly.
Roswaal: [... gave me the chills.]
Kiyotaka sighed.
Kiyotaka: [Even though it would have made me uncomfortable as well, you could have made me and Roswaal with one connecting part somehow to justify it being one statue, and you would have scored much better.]
Ram: [How could I miss that idea!?]
Ram sulked more.
Kiyotaka knelt down, offering his hand.
Kiyotaka: [Well, considering how well you made this, can I give you a hypothetical score for such a sculpture?]
Ram looked up at Kiyotaka, blushing slightly. She took his hand as he helped her up.
Kiyotaka: [9 points.]
Kiyotaka: (1 gets taken off because I really can't stand being in the same sculpture as Roswaal.)
Ram looked happy at this, and Rem also smiled. Emilia walked over.
Emilia: [Hi Kiyotaka.]
Kiyotaka: [Oh. Hey. Is your's almost finished?]
Emilia: [Yeah.... eh? What's this?]
She saw the sculpture.
Emilia: [It looks reaaally strange.]
The kids began dragging Kiyotaka away to see another sculpture. They had sculpted him.
Kiyotaka: [Good outline. Excellent structure. Good detail. 7 points.]
Ram fell to her knees again.
Ram: [I lost to a child... Our total score from two judges is their score from one.]
Rem: [Nee-sama!]
Roswal: [Oh? How criiiitical. I personally think it's worth at least 8.]
Kiyotaka: [Is it really okay to hand out points like that?]
Roswaal closed one eye, looking at Kiyotaka.
Roswaal: [What do you think?]
Kiyotaka sighed.
Kiyotaka: [Well, it won't change too much, so it's fine.]
Kiyotaka walked over to Emilia's.
Kiyotaka: [And this... is?]
Emilia: [It's Puck.]
Kiyotaka: [Forgive me... 7 points.]
Emilia: [Eh? Why?]
Kiyotaka: [It did everything well except for detail.]
Emilia pouted.
Kiyotaka then saw Petra's sculpture. It was a small snow bunny.
Kiyotaka: [...]
Kiyotaka: (Weren't they supposed to be bad omens?)
Kiyotaka sighed, shaking his head.
Kiyotaka: (All things said, it has excellent detail structure and outline. Even if it's a bit small, but small isn't a bad thing. She really took to heart the saying "Work smarter, not harder.")
Kiyotaka: [Ten points.]
Ram fell to her knees, taking more damage.
Ram: [A child got more than triple my score...]
Rem: [Nee-sama!]
Some time passed as the winner was decided to be Petra. A perfect score. Thirty out of Thirty. She looked super happy and excited.
Petra: [So, Kiyotaka-Kun. What's my prize?]
Kiyotaka: [I'll cook you something real nice to warm you up, okay? But keep the recipe a secret, okay?]
Petra nodded excitedly.
Petra: [Okay! It'll be passed down in my family from now on.]
Kiyotaka: [...]
Kiyotaka: (Well I don't mind.)
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Emilia was walking around as Kiyotaka walked up to her.
Kiyotaka: [I made Petra that meal and gave her the recipe. She seemed really happy after having it.]
Emilia: [That's reaaally great. Is it a dish from your homeland?]
Kiyotaka: [Not exactly, but it's one only I know. Well... Petra as well now.]
Emilia giggled a little.
Kiyotaka: [Come inside. The party will start soon.]
Emilia: [Okay.]
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Everyone was gathered in the dining area with a glass in their hands.
Kiyotaka: [Well then, everyone, thank you for your hard work in this festival. I'm hoping you had a good time. Maybe we can make this a tradition.]
Kiyotaka looked at Ram.
Kiyotaka: [If we do, you'll get a second chance at winning the event.]
Ram looked a bit embarrassed but shook off the feeling.
Kiyotaka: [So, all in all, this was a success. Cheers.]
He raised his glass in the air, and everyone began eating. Roswaal then lifted some wine.
Roswaal: [So Kiyotaka-Kuun. How do you feel about alcohol?]
Kiyotaka: [Never tried it before. Never intended to but... I suppose one glass isn't a problem.]
Roswaal poured some out, handing one glass to Kiyotaka and another to Emilia. Kiyotaka drank his without issue.
Kiyotaka: (I can feel it killing my brain cells. Meh. I have too many anyways.)
Kiyotaka then looked to see Emilia drunk.
Kiyotaka: (It's only been a single glass...)
Emilia: [Kiyotaka... I'm feeling all dizzy. An' there're so many of you! No fair!]
Kiyotaka: (...)
Emilia: [Are all three of you gonna start making fun of me!?]
She said this as she collided with him, causing them both to fall to the floor.
Kiyotaka: (What kind of situation is this?)
She kept eating the sweets as she got crumbs on herself and hiccuped.
Kiyotaka: (Cute Drunk huh? Wait... Is there any state she can be in where she isn't cute?)
Kiyotaka pondered it for a second.
Kiyotaka: (It doesn't seem possible to me.)
Emilia: [Alcohol's yummy! I's no fair that y'kept this a secret f'so long.]
Emilia grabbed his arm, getting very close.
Emilia: [Everyone's been sneakin'... sneakin'... sneakin' around me with it, right?]
Kiyotaka: (I've never had alcohol before now, though. Well, it's just drunk talk.)
She then giggled, resting on his lap and falling asleep. Kiyotaka saw Rem drinking as she became dazed, sleeping on the floor. Then, looking at Ram, who seemed fine.
Kiyotaka: [You're holding out better than Rem. What is that? Your 4th glass?]
Ram: [Well, of course I am fine. I used to drink with the adults when I was younger.]
Kiyotaka: [Admitting to underage drinking, are you?]
Ram ignored this as she enjoyed her night.
Kiyotaka: (Well, this snow festival... it was nice.)
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Part:
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