As it turned out, Naohara's suspicion had been correct.
Katisia, or rather, Akemi, really did have serious problems with her mental state.
Beneath her seemingly calm exterior lurked an extreme and obsessive side, along with an anxiety that was difficult to ignore.
Yes, anxiety.
If it had to be put into words, she was constantly afraid of gaining something only to lose it again, leaving her with an overwhelming lack of security.
That insecurity could manifest in all sorts of ways.
For instance, her emotions could become extremely unstable. One moment she might fly into a rage, while the next she could sink into melancholy.
Feelings of inferiority would also surface from time to time, though they weren't especially obvious.
There could also be social difficulties, a greatly increased tendency toward dependency, and various other psychological symptoms.
From Naohara's observations, however, Akemi's symptoms were concentrated mainly in two areas: emotional instability and intense dependency.
Her dependency in particular was extremely pronounced.
By comparison, her low self-esteem, social difficulties, and other issues didn't seem nearly as severe.
Perhaps it was because Naohara had been the first familiar face she saw.
Combined with certain innate traits of the Dragon Race, the passive influence of the World-Class Item [Millennium Rod], and the anguish she had endured while waiting for centuries, all of those factors had come together.
In the end, they had caused Akemi to develop an abnormally strong dependence on him.
Naohara also suspected that some personal feelings were mixed into it.
In her current unstable state, Akemi might even have subconsciously blurred the distinction between him and Yamaiko.
As a result, she had transferred part of the affection she held for her older sister onto him.
The clearest evidence was the phrase "for the rest of my life," which Akemi had started saying from time to time.
The weight behind those words was impossible to miss.
So what was he supposed to do next?
Naohara wasn't a psychologist, nor did he know anything about this sort of thing.
This really was... a headache.
"Naohara-nii, what's wrong?"
"Ah, sorry. I got a little lost in thought."
Naohara snapped back to reality and looked at Akemi, who was smiling as she fed him, then released the spoon from his mouth.
"Honestly, that's very rude. One point deducted."
As Akemi spoke, she stared at the spoon in her hand, or more precisely, at the saliva on it. She bit her lower lip, looking somewhat troubled.
It seemed as though she were hesitating over something.
Seeing that, Naohara picked up the dragon-skin napkin beside him and wiped the spoon clean.
"Hey, Naohara-nii!"
"What?"
"Ah... n-no, it's nothing."
Akemi shook her head and ultimately said nothing more.
She merely turned slightly and stared regretfully at the spoon.
...
She wasn't just hesitating over whether to lick my saliva off that spoon, was she?
This is getting stranger by the minute.
Naohara rubbed between his brows, trying to drive the bizarre thought from his mind.
"Akemi, is there anything you want to do in the future?"
Naohara glanced across the table at Momonga, who had been making pointed looks at him ever since Akemi sat beside him at the start of the meal, and then at Herohero, who remained completely unmoved, before turning the question back to her.
Just as Herohero had told him through Message.
Momonga was no help at all.
And given Akemi's current state, there was a good chance she would only listen to Naohara anyway.
Her own inner turmoil was slowly devouring her from within.
She looked perfectly normal on the surface.
But deep down, she was like a baby with no sense of self, one who would start crying inconsolably the moment its parents left its side.
Akemi wasn't crying, but her fragile heart was already on the verge of falling apart.
She... couldn't endure being abandoned a second time.
Naohara had no intention of abandoning her. After all, no parent raising a child would simply choose to cast that child aside.
Even if the "child" happened to be several hundred years older than him.
What he needed to do was broaden Akemi's world.
He needed to help her reach a point where she wouldn't feel anxious or insecure even when he wasn't around.
That way, she wouldn't remain trapped inside her own little world forever.
"The future?"
Hearing the question, Akemi set down her utensils and hesitated for a moment before suddenly smiling.
"I think... I want to become Naohara-nii's wife~"
Pfft!
The moment those words left her mouth, the sound of someone spraying out their drink filled the room.
Momonga hurriedly covered his mouth, but the alcohol still spilled through the gaps between his fingers.
Good heavens!
Inside Momonga's mind, a tiny version of himself appeared, clutching his head and screaming.
What kind of bombshell was that?!
At most, Momonga had assumed Akemi was somewhat fond of Naohara, so he had simply sat back and watched the show.
He hadn't expected anything like this.
Wife?
She meant that kind of wife, right?!
Not a girlfriend or anything like that. Kati... no, Akemi... When did Akemi become this bold?!
When she used to visit Nazarick, she had been mischievous at most. Overall, she'd still been a very well-behaved girl.
Am I just too stuck on my old impression of her?
Akemi had said she'd been in this world for over four hundred years, so naturally, he couldn't judge her entirely by how she had been back then.
But... that still didn't add up.
No matter how he looked at it, this was strange. If he counted only the time Naohara and Akemi had spent alone since finding each other, it couldn't have been more than an hour or so.
They fell for each other that quickly?
Love at first sight?
A fast-food romance?
Had the world really become this absurd?
Elsewhere, while Momonga was busy questioning reality itself, Herohero kept his thoughts to himself and turned his attention toward Naohara, curious to see how he would handle the situation.
Naohara, meanwhile, showed no change in expression.
Now that he knew Akemi's mental state was unstable, he had already prepared himself for something like this.
Admittedly, her words had made his heart flutter a little, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.
"Ahem. Akemi, I meant something you want to do."
"Something like painting, or becoming a bard. Not something about how you want to live. We have very long lives ahead of us, so we need to find things to occupy ourselves with, right?"
Naohara didn't answer her confession. Instead, he redirected the conversation.
"Oh, I see. But I don't think there's anything in particular I want to do right now."
Akemi tilted her head up and stared at Naohara for a long moment. Rather than pressing him about the change of subject, she seriously began considering his question.
What did she want to do?
Well, she had absolutely no idea.
Becoming Naohara-nii's wife still sounded far more reassuring.
"There's no rush. I'll have someone show you around Nazarick first. They can explain the current situation along the way and fill in some of the minor details I didn't mention earlier."
"You can give me your answer once you've thought of one. After all, we'll always have plenty of time."
Naohara didn't try to rush her.
Instead, he chose to soothe Akemi gradually and subtly.
Compared to the risk of aggravating her condition by pushing her too hard, taking things slowly was the safer choice.
Letting time wash everything away might be a clumsy method, but if it worked, that was enough.
Besides, aside from hidden threats like Kuyō, time was the one thing they had in abundance.
Naohara, Herohero, and Momonga were all standard Heteromorphic Races, so none of them had to worry about lifespan.
Akemi was an Elf and had only a relatively short lifespan of a thousand years, but with Fluder's ritual magic, that wasn't a concern either.
At that thought, Naohara made a decision.
The dining hall doors opened, and a figure dressed in a Battle Maid uniform walked inside.
"Naohara-sama, Momonga-sama, Herohero-sama, and... Akemi-sama."
The newcomer had a strikingly proper face and appeared to be in her twenties. She wore glasses and carried herself with a calm, composed air, giving her the impression of an intelligent beauty.
She was none other than the deputy captain of the Pleiades and the eldest of the Seven Sisters.
"Yuri... it really has been a long time."
Looking at the kneeling figure before her, Akemi's expression turned distant.
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