The Villainess With A Heroine Harem

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"Are you sure that's all we have to do?"

Squinting in satisfaction as her girlfriend's nimble fingers combed through her scalp, Emilia hummed. "That's right. Just keep it going for as long as you can, and make sure he doesn't die."

Naturally, the person on the other side of the phone had no idea that their 'extremely serious' conversation was being handled by Emilia on her girlfriend's lap.

"Is that so… alright then…"

The reluctance in the somewhat masculine voice was obvious, and Emilia couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion. "Is there a problem? I was informed that you volunteered—"

The other party interrupted her in a panic. "A-AHH! Please don't misunderstand! I was just disappointed that we couldn't return to Blue Dawn sooner, that's all!"

The crimson-haired girl hummed. "If you wish, you can always come back and take up another task in exchange?"

Strangely enough, although the other party clearly didn't like the task, they still vehemently denied any alternatives, and Emilia couldn't help but frown.

It was only after being repeatedly assured that the task would still be completed per her requirements and definitely not abandoned halfway through that she put the matter aside.

After their conversation ended and she handed over her phone to Crystal, Emilia couldn't help but give her a curious look. "You told me they were very eager to do 'whatever I needed', but they don't sound very eager to me?"

The heroine bit her lip nervously. "T-To be honest… even I didn't expect you to give them such a task at that time."

Normally, Emilia didn't mind taking either Crystal or Noelle's advice on important matters before making some crucial decisions, but she had ended up skipping that step this time.

After all, this was a matter in which she didn't have much of a choice. If Amos died before her final mission was completed…

The crimson-haired girl reluctantly got up from her girlfriend's extremely comfortable lap pillow to properly look her in the eye. "Do you think it's a bad idea, then?"

The blonde girl quickly waved her hands in denial. "No no, that's not what I—ugh… well, maybe?"

Realizing that her words might be misunderstood, Crystal quickly gathered her thoughts before coughing awkwardly. "I-I understand that you need Amos to live longer and all, and in that sense I don't think what you're doing is a bad idea. B-But whenever I think about you 'protecting' him in secret…"

Although she didn't finish her words, Emilia could obviously tell how she felt from Crystal's twisted expression, and she couldn't help but sigh.

In Emilia's mind, Crystal was the kindest and least 'utilitarian' girl she knew of, and also someone with an incredible level of empathy. But she also knew that if there was one person Crystal really and truly hated from the depths of her heart, it was Amos.

Whether it was because she knew that the boy had tried to get her mother's life involved in his 'conflict', or because of their previous 'entanglement', Emilia had no idea.

However… there was no need to dig into such things anymore.

The blonde girl was still trying her best to control her unexpectedly turbulent emotions when she felt a soft and warm embrace wrap around her.

"I have no choice but to let him to live for now, but when I don't… I promise, his fate will be in your hands."

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Staring at the new message from Emilia, Dixie couldn't help but frown. 'Why would Emily change her mind now…?'

Clearly, her princess had told her that she didn't care about what would happen to Amos once she confirmed that her final task had been completed. Unless Emily's feelings on the matter had changed, it could only be someone else influencing her decision.

Sam and Noelle were both in Carmen in now, so it couldn't be them. Emily's ever-loyal maid Michelle and the taciturn Cindy-Mindy would never dare cross that line, so it couldn't be them, either.

Considering that she was in Carmen as well, even if the dark-haired girl was to think with her toes, she could still tell who must have made Emilia change her mind.

"Is Crystal stupid or what?!"

Feeling a little furious, she couldn't help but pull out the chat app on her phone.

Knight Lady: Didn't we agree not to bother her with things that might influence her missions?!

She was slightly surprised when Crystal started typing not long after she sent out her message. 'I thought she would be busy at this time?'

Seeing the girl's single word reply of 'sorry', however, the knight's confusion immediately turned into smoke as she glared at her screen furiously. "What do you mean 'sorry'?! It was your idea to make sure we are always of help to her, and never let her regret her choices!"

Maybe it was out of guilt, but Crystal didn't reply to her next few inquiries at all, and only 'reacted' with various pleading and sad emotes, which only served to frustrate the knight further.

And to make matters worse, when she tried to call her, Crystal rejected it!

'Can't we at least talk?! Fuck!'

At this point, even the usually silent Noelle had come out to negotiate between the 'usually friendly' girls, though without knowing the full situation, her words were also of limited help.

Dixie's fist froze right before she touched the table in front of her, though, and after taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she sighed before adding her reply. "… Forget it. I will consider this your birthday gift, then. You won't get anything from me this year!"

Maybe feeling moved, Crystal had just typed her 'thank you' when everyone except for Sam also added a 'me too'.

Dixie thought that Emilia's older sister must be feeling soft-hearted because Crystal called her 'big sis' so adorably, but unexpectedly, she was the most ruthless of them all!

Sister #1: Aww, Crystal's birthday gifts are canceled? I guess that secret extra ultra-premium limited-edition Emilia plushie I had custom made can only be given to Dixie instead?

Needless to say, the 'extra' could only mean that she would be keeping the original for herself, but that was only to be expected from someone like Sam.

And as if to rub salt into Crystal's wounds, she added. "Don't worry though, darling, there's always next year!"

Looking at the blonde girl's 'flipping the table' emote, Dixie couldn't help but giggle in delight. "Deserved it!"

Of course, her expression froze immediately after. "N-Not that I have forgiven her already!"

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