"You... you're agreeing to it?"
Under the bright moonlight, Natsumi had always been very confident in her transformation abilities. She never expected Ryuya to agree to her demand.
She looked at the man before her and asked softly, "What are you scheming?"
"Scheming? If I had to say... it's the spiritual power you possess."
"There's someone I really want to see, but her appearance is conditional on me sealing the power of all Spirits."
Ryuya frankly stated his goal… he never hid anything.
"Seal my spiritual power? For someone like you... is that even necessary?"
Forget Ryuya, she was even no match of the combined efforts of Ellen and Karen. Natsumi knew she stood no chance against Ryuya either.
In other words, if this man truly wanted to seal her power using force, Natsumi couldn't resist.
"Are you asking why I don't use forceful means?"
Shaking his head, the expression on Ryuya's face gave Natsumi the feeling that even without words, she could understand his meaning.
"You want to tell me that in your heart, Spirits are also worthy of being saved, worthy of being treated kindly?"
"Yes."
"I don't believe it!"
Hesitating for a moment, Natsumi initially wanted to argue with Ryuya some more, puffing up her cheeks in anger.
But in the end, she agreed to Ryuya's proposal.
After that, Natsumi began trying to interact with Ryuya. After all, the wager involved whether Ryuya's lovers could recognize Natsumi transformed into Ryuya. To do that, Natsumi needed to increase her understanding of Ryuya.
The next morning, Natsumi arrived early at DEM Headquarters and dragged Ryuya out.
"You three, don't follow us. Otherwise, I'll assume you're spying on my secrets."
"You wouldn't want Ryuya to lose this bet, would you?"
Grabbing Ryuya's arm, Natsumi left those words for Karen, Ellen, and Westcott before heading out.
At the restaurant.
"I want ice cream."
Still in her mature older sister style, Natsumi wore a white lace long-sleeved blouse with golden threads on the collar and cuffs.
Her lower half was clad in a beige silk maxi skirt reaching her calves, paired with white ankle socks and black round-toed leather shoes.
Stylistically, Natsumi's outfit today was actually quite sweet and cute, but combined with her voluptuous figure and mature, enchanting aura, it created a contradictory charm.
Sitting directly next to Ryuya in the trendy brunch restaurant, Natsumi ordered what she wanted, then looked at Ryuya as if asking what he wanted.
"The same."
"Tch, so unoriginal."
Clearly somewhat annoyed by Ryuya's 'lack of romance' but unsure what to say, Natsumi could only poke at the exquisitely shaped ice cream in her bowl, seemingly wanting to break it apart.
"Pfft..."
Watching Natsumi with her eyes wide and cheeks puffed up in anger, Ryuya still saw her as the little girl.
Imagine a child trying hard to act like an adult, making all sorts of funny expressions… it was simply adorable.
Feeling a bit more interested, Ryuya started chatting casually with Natsumi.
She didn't talk about Spirits with Ryuya, just chatted about anything and everything. Natsumi's nature was quite lively.
After chatting for a while, Natsumi felt that Ryuya was actually quite interesting, worthy of being the perfect existence she had decided he was.
"By the way, Ryuya, I wanted to ask, who is that person you mentioned before?"
Wanting to ask Ryuya about the person he said he wanted to see, Natsumi inquired curiously.
"She's my lover."
"Another one of your lovers? Just how many lovers do you have?!"
"Haven't counted carefully. Roughly, over twenty." Ryuya said with a serious face.
"Over twenty!!!" Ryuya's words made Natsumi's jaw drop. Although the Date A Live World didn't have specific rules about this, and upper-class people might have more female companions, someone like Ryuya casually mentioning over twenty...
"Wait, maybe it's over thirty. Let me calculate... Hmm, yes, probably over thirty."
Before Natsumi could react, Ryuya continued.
Natsumi immediately showed an exasperated expression, "Even if you're joking, make it believable! Who would believe that?!"
"Well, if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do..."
As they talked, a few more desserts were served. Continuing her idle chat with Ryuya, Natsumi found his conversation logical and coherent.
Apart from some annoying points, she quite liked it.
"Speaking of which, Ryuya, what are your thoughts on clothes?"
Continuing to talk about Spirits with Ryuya, and learning that Nia, Kurumi, Yoshino, Kotori, Yamai Sisters, Miku, Tohka, and Westcott were all Spirits, Natsumi was clearly surprised that Ryuya already had so many Spirits around him.
Thinking for a moment, Natsumi wanted to ask Ryuya his opinion on daily fashion and clothing, since, needless to say, girls love clothes.
"Ah? About clothes?"
Finding Natsumi had asked about a blind spot in his knowledge, Ryuya rarely looked at Natsumi with an acting cute expression.
"Gasp... Ryuya, that's foul play!"
What does it feel like when a King acts cute? What does it feel like when someone usually serious and gentle acts cute? Natsumi was the best explainer at this moment.
Her heartbeat slightly accelerated, she stiffly turned her head away, and for some reason started getting angry.
After a long moment, she silently pulled Ryuya towards the shopping mall.
"Natsumi?"
"Don't talk. I'm very angry right now. You have to accompany me shopping for clothes."
After buying a terrifying amount of clothes with Ryuya at the mall, Natsumi then dragged him back to the hotel she was renting.
"Natsumi, what are you doing?"
Looking at Natsumi holding a huge pile of clothes, a sense of foreboding arose in Ryuya's heart.
"What am I doing? Isn't it obvious?"
Holding the clothes she bought, Natsumi's face was slightly flushed.
"Ryuya, I'm going to change clothes. I'll show you what a mature me really looks like!"
Taking a deep breath, gazing intently at the man, Natsumi declared her persistence regarding this false appearance!