Today was another day full of hope.
Leon, who'd broken free of the blanket's seal good and early, now stood at the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, a cotton coat draped over his shoulders and a coffee cup in his hands, gazing quietly at the snow whirling across the sky as he took a contented sip of the scalding coffee.
"Delicious!"
One small taste of his freshly brewed coffee, and Leon's eyes lit up.
"Drinking it black still takes some getting used to, though. When I've got time I'll work on it with Rose, try blending something new."
"Coconut, milk, coffee, that combination sounds pretty classy to me!"
Worth noting, the beans in the cup were premium stock produced by Demeter Familia, which fetched quite a price on the market. As for how Leon got his hands on them, that was naturally because the stuff was an internal perk of Demeter Familia.
Well, the truth was Persephone had quietly slipped him some when she'd come around a while back to "catch up."
"Phew, Orario's weather really does change at the drop of a hat."
"But on a heavy snow day like this, holed up indoors by the fireplace with a mouthful of hot coffee, the sense of comfort and ceremony is maxed out."
Just as Leon was savoring this hard-won bliss...
A set of light footsteps came down the stairs behind him. He didn't even need to turn around. From the pace and rhythm of the newcomer alone, Leon easily identified who it was.
This was a kind of "superpower," a sense of being almost in tune with each other, that had been born from their deep communication.
Rose came down the stairs cutely stretching with one hand while rubbing her bleary eyes with the other. When she unexpectedly spotted the familiar figure with his back to her, she froze for a beat, then the corner of her mouth tilted up.
She crept forward, looped her arms around Leon's neck from behind, pressed her whole body against him, and greeted him in a lazy, husky voice right against his ear.
"Good morning, darling!"
Leon reached back to pull her into his arms, one hand gently circling her slim, soft waist, the other still steadily holding his coffee, and dipped his head to plant a light kiss on her cheek.
"Morning, Rose."
Nestled in the man's warm, reassuring embrace, Rose also looked out at the drifting snow and asked softly.
"Why are you up so early today? This isn't like you."
After all, on a normal day Leon had to rely on the women taking turns with wake-up service. Left undisturbed... given his temperament, sleeping till the sun was high in the sky was no problem at all.
At that, Leon pressed his lips together and started grumbling under his breath.
"The holiday's almost here, and lately there's a mountain of stuff to deal with."
"Freya Familia, Loki Familia, Astraea Familia, this month's Monster Hunter Special purchase orders still aren't done; the Wonder Pack we need for ourselves is still being rushed; there's learning and mastering Pharmacy and the Wild combination potions, plus the new member in the familia to train, and all those odds and ends before the holiday..."
"Every single thing has piled up at the same time, just my luck. With this much tangled around me, how am I supposed to sleep?"
As he spoke, he took a sip of coffee, savored the bitterness on his tongue tip and the sweetness of the sugar cube, and his furrowed brows eased a little.
"Sigh, a while ago I was laughing at how hard it is to be one of the Goddess of Beauty's fanatics, and now the boomerang's come back and stuck me right in the chest."
"This instant karma is way too real, heh."
He gave a self-mocking laugh and went on venting.
"Way I see it, being captain makes me more of a workhorse than a workhorse."
"For crying out loud, I'm already Lv.4, so how is my life harder than when I was Lv.1? Then what was the point of leveling up at all!"
After hearing his rapid-fire complaints, Rose's lips curved and she finally couldn't hold back a laugh.
She patted his arm with exasperated amusement and threw him a reproachful look.
"You really don't know how good you've got it. Our life right now is so much better than the people still struggling down in the lower-rank adventurer class, it's not even close, and here you are complaining."
"Hmph, quit being ungrateful. If the folks who go hungry one meal and full the next, licking blood off the blade's edge all day, heard you say that, they'd come give you a hard time for sure."
With that, Rose let go of her embrace, turned, and headed for the washroom.
"I should get breakfast ready. What do you want to eat? Seeing as you gave our Holy Maiden such a good time last night, I can add a special dish just for you."
She glanced back at Leon and winked, a playful, teasing look in her eyes.
Leon: "..."
You sly thing, Rose, you were eavesdropping through the wall again last night, weren't you!
I knew it. No wonder Jeanne reacted so hard last night, she'd known all along that Rose was right next door!
Hmm, recalling the Holy Maiden's spectacular performance last night...
He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
You wouldn't believe it, you really wouldn't...
The Holy Maiden in a Metatron outfit really did have a flavor all its own.
Yeah, even her expressions and her voice were different, a complete contrast with her usual serious self!
Savoring the memory of Jeanne's performance the night before, Leon found the corner of his mouth lifting, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"This morning I want two fried eggs! With salt and black pepper!"
At that, Rose gave him a meaningful look.
"As you wish, darling."
...
...
At breakfast that day, everyone's expression was strange.
Margaret especially. This was her first meal with the group since joining the familia, only she keenly sensed that... the atmosphere around her was particularly odd.
Rose's amusement, Aura's spectating, Kureha's pensiveness, and the innocent, curious Laurier and the Iri "baby."
And finally...
The leading lady of this breakfast...
Jeanne's flustered, evasive eyes, the way her knife and fork over-"dismembered" the food on her plate, and her cheeks flushing red the instant she noticed the looks being snuck her way... every sign pointed to this Holy Maiden teetering on the edge of mortified fury.
Meanwhile, the man who'd once bullied her wore a perfectly breezy expression, with a half-smiling, not-quite-smiling look in his eyes as he gazed at Jeanne.
Sharp-witted Margaret connected it to what had happened between her and Leon the day before, and suddenly understood something.
This guy, could it be...
An incredible thought flashed through her mind, and Margaret's expression stiffened. She quietly glanced around and finally registered an astonishing fact...
In this house, apart from Leon, the one and only male, everyone, herself included, was female, and every one of them was strikingly beautiful and uncommonly refined.
C-could it be... this guy is planning to start a, a... a harem in the familia?!
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