Aiming for Tomorrow's "Serves You Right" desu wa!

Harks came to visit the Nyarlathotep mansion.

In the game, there wasn't much about their childhood, but they were engaged; so this likely did happen at least once.

"Hey, Koleha, I came to hang out!"

"What is it, Your Highness Harks? You sent word in advance, you're waiting politely in the receiving room, and you even brought tasty baked goods from the capital as a gift! You're like a proper prince, aren't you!?"

"I am a proper prince!"

That couldn't be. After all, in the future he would cheat with the heroine despite being engaged to Koleha and proclaim the engagement canceled.

Koleha said nothing and smiled sweetly.

"… Granted, I know I used to be awful, but I think it's about time you revised your opinion of me, no? Not that it's for me to say."

"Personally, I also want you to stay just as you are."

"Hm? If you say so, Koleha —"

"Because fools are easier to handle."

"— Right, I'll keep improving."

Huh? Koleha tilted her head. Oh well.

"Say, Koleha. I like you."

"Which do you prefer, me or rhinoceros beetles? Or cheesecake?"

"Not that kind of 'like'. I mean as your fiancé."

"My, my. How cheeky for a child. Well, what will become of that in the future. Fufu, we shall see."

"You're a child too, you know??"

Thinking of the game's start, Koleha smirked. In front of the heroine, this prince would forget even what he'd just said and go frolic through a field of flowers. She believed that.

At that half-wicked smile, Harks sighed.

"Hey, maid. How do I get through to Koleha?"

"Show it in your actions in the future. The question is whether the you of tomorrow will change your mind."

"… No matter what I say now, I can't prove I won't change my mind. It's not easy to regain broken trust."

"My. Did I ever trust Your Highness?"

"… I admit I was really awful when we first met. Want me to put it in writing? A contract would do. You're good at that sort of thing, aren't you?"

A contract. Hearing that, Koleha thought she could use it.

At the graduation party when he proclaimed the engagement canceled, she'd pull it out and say, "Oh my! Your Highness forgot all about this contract! I did nothing wrong! Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!!"

She could draft a contract now with terms she could use — yes!

What commendable spirit to offer up the seeds of serves-you-right himself!

"… Koleha, shall we do that then."

"Yes, that will do, Your Highness Harks."

"By the way, does your calling me 'Your Highness', 'prince', or by name with you changing constantly mean something?"

"Just my whims. It's nothing deep, you know? I call you whatever's easiest to say in the moment, my dear fiancé."

"That's a new one. Well, I don't mind if it's you, Koleha… as long as it isn't something weird."

Tch. So calling him 'Nasal Hmph Guy' was out.

"Then let's write the contract."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Right. He'd forget anyway, so better to make the contents amusing. That would make it all the more pathetic.

"To start, how about this: if Your Highness proclaims engagement cancellation, a shaved head."

"Engagement cancellation isn't normal to begin with… But fine. I don't want a shaved head, so precisely because I don't that makes it a proper penalty. That's fine."

"Oh my, truly? Then I'll be the one to shave you, with clippers!"

"Let's include that too. How's this?"

Harks himself took notes for a draft.

'If there is an incident in which Harks unilaterally dissolves the engagement, then Koleha shall hold the right to shave Harks's head.' … Hmm, he could write a pretty formal sentence. Koleha was impressed.

"Excellent. Then, let's include infidelity as well."

"Infidelity, yes — that's the epitome of a change of heart. We should be thorough."

"If you touch another woman, a fine of one copper per occurrence."

"Wait, wait! Physical contact is different. I'll have to work with women; that sort of contact can't be avoided! It'd mean I couldn't even interact with Mother. For you, that'd mean you couldn't get hugs from Lord Yarkot!"

"Mm. True. The penalty may be just one copper, but the ruling is too strict. Let's exclude accidental or job-related contact, as well as relatives."

"And fiancés. In our case it cancels out, but… ah. Exclude unavoidable cases like lifesaving, too?"

"Hmm, the fine is just one copper, so let's keep that out. I'd rather hear the story."

"Fair. Then at least hear me out afterward… But why one copper?"

"Having to pay a single copper just to offer an explanation, wouldn't that make you look foolish?"

"I see. That is to your tastes."

He added to the notes: 'From the standpoint of preventing infidelity, if one has physical contact with a member of the opposite sex, a fine of one copper shall be imposed. However, this excludes incidental light contact, ballroom dances, job-related matters, relatives, and the fiancé(e). If there were other unavoidable reasons, the fine shall be paid and the information shared.'

"Oh my, Your Highness? What's this 'incidental light contact'?"

"Like brushing past someone in a corridor. The academy apparently has some narrow hallways. You wouldn't want to count those every time."

"Indeed, that would be troublesome. I'll allow it. Hmm. Three seconds or less is safe."

"Three seconds, hm. That's about right."

A note was added: 'Incidental light contact is defined as a continuous period of three seconds or less.'

Here, Koleha deliberately left a loophole. If it's three seconds or less, a light peck would be possible. That kind of leeway.

"… That's your scheming face, isn't it?"

"Oh, did it show?"

"Very much so. When you're plotting something, you smile like you're having fun. Like at the orphanage."

"I need to work on my lady's training. Thicken my skin."

"… I happen to prefer soft cheeks."

"Your Highness? Your preferences aren't relevant to lady's training. It wouldn't do for a future queen to let her expressions run wild, would it? That's the point."

"If that's the point, I suppose… But it's fine to smile in front of me."

"Ah, then let's put that in too. That any expression in front of you is not to be faulted."

"… O-okay?"

Added: 'Whatever expressions Koleha displays in front of Harks shall not be reproached.'

With this, even a triumphant serves-you-right laugh wouldn't count as lèse-majesté.

Seeing her deepening smile, Harks shook his head, exasperated, and smiled along.

"That's about it."

"Hm? Is that enough? I feel like there's more."

"This is just right, Your Highness Harks."

After that, Marquis Yarkot would make a fair copy.

Harks felt bad about interrupting his work, but Yarkot readily agreed, saying, "If it's a request from Koleha, I'm not reluctant at all," and the contract was properly shared with the royal family as well.

What a childlike, adorable story. Koleha's parents were warmed.

Meanwhile, Koleha held a copy of the formal contract and laughed triumphantly.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! Your Highness Harks, one day this contract will breathe fire, desu wa —!"

"Eh, that contract doubles as a fire magic scroll?"

"It's a metaphor! A metaphor! But it will be the spark for the conflagration of social ruin, desu wa!"

Humming and skipping, Koleha locked the contract in the drawer of her vanity.

If she got to use it someday, it would surely be fun. Especially the shaved head.

"Summer, could you buy some clippers? I'll store them with the contract."

"Understood! Not magic-powered, though! They must be fully manual ones!"

"Yes!"

That's my girl, thought Koleha, nodding in satisfaction at her nicely developing maid.

With these very hands, she would buzz his hair, snip-snip, in public! She wanted to feel it in her own hands. So manual it was.

Even if he was a handsome love interest in an otome game, once his hair was shaved, his appeal would be halved — no, discounted by seventy-five percent!

"I look forward to the future, to the serves-you-right, desu wa——!!"

Koleha's triumphant laughter pierced the room and echoed through the mansion.

Today as well, the young lady looked happy and nothing could be better.