Chapter 25
Max was situated between the Wolf and the dragon.
He was also receiving an undue amount of attention.
They kept their heads fixed on Max as if they couldn’t bear to look at each other, which was incredibly burdensome.
How fortunate it would be if it ended there.
Due to the Principle of Power, Max was forced into the position of leading the conversation.
“You two are friends, right?”
“No.”
“Does that make sense?”
At Max’s question, Flora and Ellen vehemently denied it.
Is a strong denial a confirmation? Or a genuine denial? It’s a conundrum.
“Then how did it end up like this?”
“I came to see Oppa. You said I could come anytime.”
Ellen was dumbfounded when Flora gave her answer as if she had been waiting for it.
Max was older than Flora Crimsonhowl. Therefore, Oppa was the correct title according to custom.
However, from Ellen’s perspective, it was an Affectionate Title she never expected to come from the mouth of Flora Crimsonhowl, whom she had spent three years with as a rival.
“O, Oppa…? Oppa! What’s your relationship with this Girl!”
Ellen showed her curiosity, but Max had no room to open his mouth to answer.
Because a 3rd-tier caught between 5th-tiers was like the proverb, “When whales fight, the shrimp’s back is broken'. Flora’s reaction was faster, and she took control of the atmosphere.
“Oppa? Why are you calling Oppa that?”
“What does it matter to you! What kind of Lewd Act were you planning to do even while lying about coming to see your Family!”
“L, lewd…?! I am Family to Oppa! You don’t know anything…!”
Flora denied it, but Ellen’s eyes were full of conviction.
It was a gaze containing many meanings.
The woman in front of her was neither a Wolf nor a milk cow! Flora Crimsonhowl was a sly fox!
It was obvious she was thinking something like that.
“This Girl was babbling about marriage and whatnot in the Infirmary, and it turns out she was talking about herself.”
“I said no! We’re just Family!”
“Don’t try so hard to hide it. Our Oppa is pretty decent among men. Having gone on a Night Drive and even to a Hotel together with him, I can guarantee it.”
Ellen knew well what kind of imagination this remark would provoke in Flora.
Because of that, her face burned with heat because she knew shame. In fact, she felt it more sensitively than others.
Even so, if she could just mess with Flora, she was willing to endure this level of shame.
Look.
Thanks to that, wasn’t a new side of that Haughty Young Lady being revealed?
'Huh?'
However, what popped out from inside Ellen was not a sense of thrill, but brief bewilderment and surprise.
Flora’s expression was indeed new, but it wasn’t a satisfyingly flustered face.
“Did you… touch my Family? Don’t tell me. Forcibly?”
A pressure that seemed to dare her to try blabbering that one more time emanated from Flora.
It was a presence that made her mouth go completely dry, threatening to burn her to a crisp depending on the circumstances.
'This Girl can have an expression like this when she’s mad, a face that could make a husband tremble.'
Ellen gulped.
Honestly, she was slightly intimidated, because it was a Chilling Aura that made her unconsciously bite her lower lip.
Still, she had no intention of backing down.
If Flora was going to face her seriously, that was exactly what she wanted.
“So what if I did it Forcibly - “
The moment arrived when Ellen was about to drop the bomb.
Max clapped his hands - clap! - to draw their attention.
“Okay. Stop.”
Max had listened to the conversation and understood their situation.
Thanks to that, his head throbbed.
'It’s complicated.'
Flora had informed Ellen that they were Family, but she had an attitude of not wanting to mention Family matters like her Mother’s Remarriage in detail to Ellen, who paid no attention to External Matters.
Ellen seemed to be trying to drag out the truth that she was working a Part-time Job here for as long as possible before telling Flora.
Max’s telekinesis reached out to the Computer Desk. It brought over a can containing candies.
He unwrapped two and popped them into Flora and Ellen’s mouths.
“Now, No Talking until you finish the candies.”
As soon as Max’s words fell, the girls reacted.
Crunch!
As if they had made a promise, Ellen and Flora crushed the candies with their teeth, chewed them crunchily, and swallowed.
Seeing the two of them looking like they still had a lot to spit out, Max felt suffocated.
“…”
He felt it just now and during the moment they were exchanging words. But weren’t the two of them surprisingly a good match?
“First, listen to me. I’ll unravel this one by one. Got it?”
Thankful to the two who showed their affirmation with small nods, Max sorted through the thoughts lingering in his head.
“I should tell Ellen first.”
“Tell me what?”
“Flora and I really are Family, though it hasn’t been long in terms of time.”
“What the hell does that mean? Is Oppa a Crimsonhowl Person?”
Before answering, Max asked Flora for her understanding.
After pondering for a long while, Flora nodded with a sullen face.
“I haven’t mentioned it outside at all since I cut ties with the Family, but this is my name.”
Max took out his iD and showed it.
Ellen checked the Steiger attached to Max’s name.
“…No wonder you were different from the Mercenary I imagined. You’re from a Wealthy Family.”
“It has nothing to do with me anymore, but it’s on the Family register.”
“So how are Oppa and this Girl Family?”
If it was Clements, she might have known somehow, but Ellen seemed to have no interest in the troubles occurring between the families.
“My Father remarried Flora’s mother.”
“!”
“Even though I don’t meet my Father and have cut ties, on paper, Flora and I are indeed Family.”
“Haa… So that’s how it is.”
Having finished understanding neatly, Ellen looked down and let out a deep sigh.
From her carefully shifting her eyes, it seemed she felt she had made some kind of mistake.
“Oppa. I want to ask something too.”
“All right. Anything.”
Flora interjected into the conversation, and Max naturally listened attentively.
“Earlier, about the Night Drive and… the h, Hotel, what did that mean?”
He thought “how do you know each other” would be the first question, but it wasn’t what he expected.
Max asked Ellen for her understanding, just as he had done with Flora.
“Ellen. You tell her this directly. If I do it, it’s hard to know where to Draw the Line.”
“Mmm.”
“Should I just do it?”
“It’s fine. Since I spat it out, I’ll be the one to clean it up.”
“Don’t provoke her without a reason.”
“…I know that too.”
Ellen began to confess the truth while fiddling with her horns with an awkward face.
As she explained, it naturally led to how Max and Ellen knew each other.
She explained that she was working a Part-time Job.
She also briefly confessed what happened when she followed him at his request. The parts with holes were filled in by Max’s explanations.
The story came to a close, as it did.
The stiff atmosphere softened.
“…That’s a relief. Really.”
At Flora’s genuine look of relief, the corners of Ellen’s eyes twitched.
“What’s a relief.”
“I hated the idea of you getting together with Oppa and becoming my Sister-in-law (older brother’s wife) so much I could die.”
“Oh~ now that I hear that, it’s kind of tempting?”
“Don’t even dream about it.”
Even though they were Bickering, it wasn’t a suffocating atmosphere like before.
Max also felt he could breathe.
“I almost died.”
Leaving the two of them arguing, Max got up from his seat and headed to the Refrigerator.
While making coffee, he also prepared the Iced Coffee that Ellen liked.
“And for Flora… Ah.”
Max, who had been rummaging through the Refrigerator, lifted his head.
“Flora, let’s step out for a bit?”
The scuffle that had been continuing on the sofa was instantly cut off as the two looked at Max.
“Huh? Where to?”
“There’s only coffee in the office, so there’s nothing for Flora to drink. Let’s go buy something.”
Before giving an answer, Flora glanced to her side.
Receiving her gaze, Ellen chuckled.
“You idiot. I have some tact too. I have no intention of intruding, so go on.”
Thanking Ellen, who said she would watch the office, Max put his outerwear back on.
Flora hesitantly followed him out.
As they went down the stairs, Max continued his small talk with Flora.
“Did the Academy end early today? Is that why you came?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry for visiting so suddenly.”
“Why are you sorry? I told you it was okay to come anytime.”
Flora’s ears perked up.
Strangely, Max’s words convinced her that he was telling the truth without any embellishment.
It was a completely different feeling from the one she got from those who spat out greasy sentences to try and win her favor.
“…Really?”
“Of course. I’ve been waiting for you to come since then. Ah! Before you go, I have a gift for Flora and Mother (polite), so make sure to take it.”
“A gift? Why all of a sudden?”
“How could I do nothing after receiving so many side dishes.”
“Mother prepared them. I didn’t do anything…”
“Bringing them over is hard work too. You have no idea how much strength it gave me to have you visit this lonely office. And it’s not a grand gift either.”
Unable to say anything in reply, Flora followed Max into the Convenience Store.
“Is there anything you want to drink?”
Flora pondered before grabbing a Fruit Juice. Seeing her about to take out her card next, Max quickly went to the Cash Register and finished paying.
To Flora, who followed him out with a flustered face, Max explained simply.
“For things like this, it doesn’t matter who has more money in their account or anything like that. Flora, if you had a Younger Sibling, you would have bought it for them, right, even if the Younger Sibling had more money.”
“Ah, I see… I understand.”
While returning with Max, Flora felt a gaze and lifted her head, seeing Ellen looking this way through the office window.
Following that, a single piece of information came to mind.
Flora caught Max’s steps with her voice.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“There’s one thing I want to ask of you…”