The Prince Is Crazy About the Heroine, Desu wa!

The usual review meeting. Today had gone especially well, so they bought cake on the way back.

Koleha cheerfully clinked grape juice with Summer.

She had removed her makeup, so she was Summer now, not Hiiro.

"Ooh-ho-ho-ho! With this, we're one step closer to the serves-you-right!"

"… We are!!"

For some reason, Summer avoided making eye contact, but today's pseudo-bullying had been truly on point. The kind of subtle social warfare men would never understand, perfectly justifiable.

Indeed, Kenho had glared at Koleha.

As for Harks… he might have been staring at Koleha for some reason. No, he had surely misunderstood it as a step toward breaking up with Koleha and getting together with Summer. He must have been gazing dreamily toward that future.

Summer, who still wouldn't meet her eyes, had afterwards been escorted by the princes, in her guise as Hiiro, and comforted behind the school building, surrounded by them. Koleha had confirmed it herself.

That was the VR game bit, the so-called Handsome Prison.

A reward scene with handsome men on both sides… Well, with only three capture targets it was sparse. A wall behind: too cheap. If there had been four, it would have been handsome men on all sides.

In other words, the capture was proceeding nicely!

"Now then, Summer. Next is the event where he flirts with capture targets other than the prince."

"… Ugh."

You'd think she would be happy about getting to flirt with handsome men, but that reluctant expression warmed Koleha's heart, so she let it pass.

"You did pair with Sir Kenho at the magic practical. I don't know if that counts as flirting."

"My, going for Kenho's route? That one… yes, I think there's an ending where I get slashed. In half at the waist, even."

"Absolutely not!!"

Summer refused with conviction. She finally seemed to make eye contact.

"Oh dear, it's fine. I'm making steady preparations for a legitimate self-defense serves-you-right, so I'm maneuvering to avoid that outcome."

"… Even so, that's absolutely a route I don't want to take, okay?"

Now that Summer put it that way, Koleha realized she wouldn't want to be with someone she knew was doomed to fall.

"In that case, is there anyone among the capture targets Summer wants to be with?"

"Hmm, I refuse them all for various reasons. Rather, I want to serve Ojou-sama for life."

"My my, what fine loyalty."

"Even if I were stripped bare and thrown out, as long as I'm with Ojou-sama, you can produce anything with Poison Magic and survive. In terms of security, it's the best arrangement."

"What do you take me for? I'm not a magic mallet."

"Magic… mallet?"

"A hammer that can make anything."

"I see. That's basically Ojou-sama."

How does that follow? Koleha tilted her head.

"Ojou-sama can make anything except food. Actually, you can make food too. Ah, speaking of, I was running low on ink for wri—letters. Can you refill it?"

"Good grief. Buy that properly."

Of course, drinking ink would be bad for the body. In other words, it was poison. Doable. Done.

"Much obliged, sorry for the trouble! I'll make this ink a family heirloom!"

"Use it as intended!? You tricked me!? I won't forgive you for that, even if you're Summer!"

"Ahaha, I'll use it properly."

Summer laughed blithely.

"By the way, do you write that many letters? To whom?"

"Um… a bit of correspondence with the prince."

"!!"

It clicked. That was the thing she'd done in the VR game.

A letter-exchange system with capture targets, padding the scenario's volume!

"Hey, show me what kind of letters you're getting?"

"Ah, yes. One moment. Like this."

Koleha snatched the letter from Summer and opened it to check inside.

It contained lines like "To my beloved you," "like a lovely violet," and "I want to hold you and never let go, but I cannot speak these feelings aloud. Will this letter reach you…?" Utterly cringe-inducing.

… 'Reach'? Hadn't he handed it to her directly? But pointing that out would be boorish. In the game, the system would deliver letters at day's end.

He was probably using some similar magic here.

Hm? Was it his first time using that magic himself? That would explain the uncertainty about whether it would reach her.

"Still, this is… Heh-heh-heh, vital evidence for the serves-you-right…!"

"Indeed!!"

"May I keep this letter?"

"Yes! Please do!!"

Thus, while confirming that the prince capture target was falling for the Heroine, Koleha obtained a powerful piece of evidence.

For the record, at some point Summer had started averting her eyes again.

Did she sleep wrong on her neck?