“Is there… anything else you’d like me to do?”
Arisa asked Yuzuru that.
But being put on the spot like that, nothing immediately came to mind.
“U-um…”
“…Anything is fine, you know? Today, I’m your personal maid.”
As she said that, Arisa leaned closer to him.
At the same time, her ample chest was pushed forward.
Even Yuzuru, for a brief moment, felt improper thoughts cross his mind—
(N-no… it’s too soon for that.)
He somehow forced them down with sheer will.
“Well? …Nothing at all?”
When Yuzuru stayed silent, Arisa asked again, sounding slightly disappointed.
Being asked like that, he couldn’t exactly say “nothing.”
“…Then, maybe… a lap pillow?”
“That’s fine.”
At his request, Arisa immediately sat in seiza and patted her thighs invitingly.
Yuzuru gently rested his head on her pale thighs.
“How is it?”
“…Yeah, it’s nice.”
He answered honestly.
He’d had a lap pillow from her before—
But this was the first time while she was in a maid outfit.
No, come to think of it, the first time had been when she was wearing a short skirt.
The vivid warmth of her skin beneath him made his heart race slightly.
“…Speaking of which, Chiharu-san recently brought up an arranged meeting to me.”
“An arranged meeting?”
“With her future child and mine… well, more like an engagement, or… suggesting they get married.”
“I see…”
Yuzuru nodded.
“Ah, that. So Chiharu-chan brought it up to you as well.”
“You knew about it?”
“She mentioned it casually—something about it being a bridge of goodwill between the Uenishi and Takasegawa families.”
He’d heard a similar suggestion when he’d been alone with Chiharu before.
Of course, he hadn’t agreed.
More accurately, it wasn’t something he could agree to.
“She’s getting ahead of herself… Children are a blessing, after all. We don’t even know if we’ll have any, or what their gender would be. If they were the same, marriage wouldn’t exactly work.”
“That’s true. And besides… a political marriage…”
“Well, if it did happen, it might not be a bad thing.”
Yuzuru murmured that quietly.
Historically, the Takasegawa and Uenishi families hadn’t been on good terms.
Which was exactly why a marriage between them would be quite a groundbreaking development.
“…Eh?”
Arisa’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“…Are you in favour of it, Yuzuru-san?”
“It’s not really about being in favour or not. Talking about children who don’t even exist yet doesn’t mean much…”
“Then… what about after they’re born?”
“That would depend on the child, wouldn’t it? If they didn’t want it, we couldn’t force them. But if they were open to it… then I suppose it’d be fine.”
Yuzuru himself wouldn’t want to marry someone he was fundamentally incompatible with.
And yet—
By chance, he’d ended up with Arisa, someone he got along with perfectly.
He fully intended to marry her.
In fact, if he were told he couldn’t, he’d resist with everything he had.
“…So it depends on the child’s wishes. I suppose that’s true, but… even so… it’s still a political marriage, isn’t it? Wouldn’t they hate that?”
At her words, Yuzuru tilted his head inwardly.
Because—
“…Isn’t that what we are?”
Their engagement was also a political one.
But neither of them disliked it because of that.
Yuzuru wanted to marry her.
And he believed Arisa felt the same.
“…Yuzuru-san, are you engaged to me because it’s a political marriage? That’s not the case, right…?”
As if confirming, Arisa asked.
Yuzuru nodded firmly.
“Of course not. I like you, regardless of all that… That’s why I proposed to you again, wasn’t it?”
That wasn’t his parents’ will—
It was his own.
“…That’s true, isn’t it? Then… ours is a love marriage, right?”
“Well, the starting point was still an arranged meeting… so doesn’t that make it a political marriage? If we hadn’t met like that… well, we’re classmates, so we would have met eventually, but we probably wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
They had an arranged meeting.
A fake engagement.
A sprained ankle, and helping each other.
Dates to keep up appearances for their families.
And that led to where they were now.
At least, that’s how Yuzuru saw it.
Arisa didn’t disagree with any of that.
But still—
“That may be true, but…”
“Arisa…?”
“Sorry. I can’t quite put it into words.”
She scratched her cheek, looking troubled.
And Yuzuru couldn’t quite grasp what was bothering her.
