Feeling my heart racing as Rosemary-san embraced my arm, to cover it up, I called out to the nearby Camellia-san.
[Rosemary-san is in quite high spirits, isn’t she?]
[It seems she’s excited to see rare works of art. It’s really unusual for Eri to be this aggressive. Well, I think she’s just doing it unconsciously and is unaware of her current behavior, and it’s about time she noticed it……]
[Eh? What did I not no…… ticed…… Ahh……]
Rosemary-san, who tilted her head at the words Camellia-san said with a wry smile, looked puzzled for a moment, but then, her expression suddenly changing as if she realized something, she glanced alternately between my arm which she was holding onto and my face.And then, her face turned red and she flusteredly pulled her hands away.
[Ah, I- I- I- I’m sorry, Kaito-kun. I- I really didn’t mean to…… Ahh, errr, did your arm hurt?]
[Ahh, no, I’m alright. That did surprise me a bit, but I wasn’t hurt.]
[I- I see, I’m glad to hear that.]
[Fufu, unconsciously it may be, but for Eri to hug his arm, that’s just proof how much you trust Kaito-san, isn’t it?]
I reassured Rosemary-san as she apologized with a flushed face. In actuality, my arm wasn’t hurting at all, I just felt my heart racing from feeling the touch of her chest, but that wasn’t really something I can tell her about.
The dress that Rosemary-san is currently wearing is designed to be open at the bust, so the feeling of her bare skin against mine was incredibly powerful.[Even so, there are so many amazing exhibits here huh. I was briefed in advance about the artworks to be introduced on stage at the party…… but I’m not very familiar with the items that are only exhibited here. Are there any unusual ones around?]
I switched the subject so that I don’t get my eyes don’t awkwardly turn towards her chest. This exhibition room is much larger than I imagined, and it feels like there are all sorts of things displayed here, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see something unusual.
[Ahh, errr, that one over there is new to me too. I’ve heard a little about it from Blossom, and she said that iron giants exist in the otherworld, so I was wondering if it was a replica of that……]
[Iron giants? Errr, let’s see…… A- Ahh, I see…… It’s a robot.]
When I looked at the exhibit that Rosemary-san told me was unusual, what I found was…… unn. Errr…… Isn’t that the Great Alice-chan Robo!? I don’t know whether that was an action figure or a plastic model, but a miniature-sized version of that robot is being displayed.
……Now then, it seems like this exhibition room has some items that were added as a joke, items created by Alice on a whim, blending in with the rest……
[A robot huh. Neither I nor Lia have seen it before, so we found it quite curious.]
[I guess so. Are they creatures related to Iron Golems? Are they common in Kaito-san’s world?]
[Ahh, no, these robots are…… How should I say this…… creations depicted in literary works don’t really exist. It’s just, there are a lot of people who like them, so there are quite a few different versions of them……]
As I was briefly explaining what a robot is to them, I suddenly realized something. Things had naturally turned out this way with the previous situation where Rosemary-san was holding onto my arm, but currently, I’m sandwiched between Rosemary-san on my right and Camellia-san on my left, both beautiful women.
Being aware of this now kinda makes me a bit embarrassed.
[Unn? Kaito-san, is something the matter?]
[Ahh, no, looking at the positioning we have now, I was just thinking it’s kinda like I have a flower in both hands.]
[Flower…… Fumu, is it really alright to consider a Spirit of Grass like me as a flower?]
[H- Hmmm, how should I say this? If it’s more like the metaphor back home, meaning that I’m flanked by two glamorous and lovely women, then I definitely have a flower in both hands.]
Not knowing how I should respond to that, I simply conveyed what I was thinking. Thereupon, Camellia-san looked at me blankly, seemingly having heard something completely unexpected.
[Ah, I think she probably didn’t think you think that way and is surprised. Lia, even though she’s beautiful, has low self-esteem, and there’s also her strangely low presence…… It was a shame.]
[Indeed. I also think Camellia-san is a very beautiful woman.]
[Eh? Ah, I- I see…… Thank you.]
[Ahh, of course, Rosemary-san is very beautiful too.]
[Fufu, you were being considerate of me huh. Thank you…… Kaito-kun really is kind.]
Camellia-san, not being used to receiving compliments on her appearance, looked a bit embarrassed, while Rosemary-san seemed slightly more composed. Rosemary-san is just shy around strangers, but she likes glamorous outfits and can be quite proactive with those she has opened her heart to, so she might be more comfortable with this kind of topic than Camellia-san.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [This is just my hunch, but I think Rosemary is the same type as Isis, where feeling happy about being complimented by Kaito comes before any feelings of embarrassment or the like.]
