Chapter 191. Blood Ties, School Ties, Regional Ties
"So... the two of us are dating Lee Hoyeon together?"
"Yeah... At.. Choo!"
In truth, Lucy was happy with anything as long as she was with Lumi.
If Lee Hoyeon was added to the mix, she couldn't imagine how it would be, but it didn't seem bad.
It was fun even just being friends. If they were lovers, it would be even better.
Yeah. Of course.
But a part of her heart was still anxious.
If what Lumi said was true, it was fine.
She just had to endure a bit of embarrassment.
Then everything could go back to normal—no, even better than before.
The problem was if it wasn't sincere.
'What if... she's forcing herself to act that way?'
Could it be she's pretending?
Could they be kissing just to comfort her sadness?
Knowing that Lee Hoyeon and Lumi were kind people, Lucy had to consider the worst-case scenario.
If she found out later that it was all just to be considerate of her, she felt like she wouldn't be able to recover.
"...Lumi. Just rest for now. I'll go home and think about it."
"Mm. I love you, Lucy."
That smile from Lumi.
It definitely wasn't a lying smile.
But... Lucy couldn't get the image of the two of them in front of the motel out of her mind.
Could she really squeeze herself between the two?
"I love you too. Hand me your smartwatch. I'll fix it and bring it back."
"Okay, sure."
Lucy cleaned Lumi's room and prepared food so she could eat alone, then left the dorm.
Returning to her room, Lucy threw herself on the bed.
What should she do?
She rolled around on the bed, trying to decide, but she couldn't reach a conclusion.
All she had to do was say yes, but emotions she couldn't quite identify—pride, shame—wrapped around her.
The biggest issue was the image of them kissing in front of the motel that kept playing in her mind.
"They went to a motel...."
A man and a woman going to a motel.
There could be many reasons, but the most likely is... to have sex.
They even kissed in front of the motel, so it seemed even more certain.
"Did it feel good... Of course it must have."
With no experience with men, Lucy was curious about those things.
She was always the one listening intently when her friends talked about naughty stuff.
"Lumi...."
Imagining Lumi and Lee Hoyeon kissing and undressing each other filled Lucy's chest with strange emotions.
At the same time, she felt her body getting hot.
The pounding sensation rising from her lower belly made her instinctively slip her hand between her legs.
"Haa...."
Lumi kissing Lee Hoyeon. And her too.
Lumi underneath Lee Hoyeon. And her too.
Since the twins looked exactly the same except for their hairstyles, it was easy for her to project herself onto Lumi.
"Lu-Lumi... Hnn. Lee Hoyeon...."
Twitch—
It was the first time she masturbated since being kidnapped by Felix.
She was never good at it, so her fingers were clumsy, but even that awkward stimulation on her pussy made Lucy shudder in climax.
"...What the hell am I doing."
After wiggling her fingers for a while, Lucy stopped.
She felt pathetic for giving in to lust when she should be thinking seriously.
Sighing, Lucy got off the bed and glanced at Lumi's smartwatch on the desk, then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror nearby.
Her long blue hair flowing down to her shoulder blades.
Lucy's hair had been blue since she was young.
She dyed it to differentiate herself from Lumi, since they looked too alike.
After that, people could easily tell them apart.
"...."
Just then, an idea flashed through Lucy's mind.
People distinguish Lucy and Lumi by hair color.
Then what if she cut her hair and dyed it black—would Lee Hoyeon recognize her?
"He'd never... recognize me."
It's been about two months since she met Lee Hoyeon.
Of course, that doesn't mean her feelings for him were shallow.
It just means they hadn't met that often.
Even friends who had known them for over 10 years couldn't tell them apart without the hair color.
So Lee Hoyeon probably wouldn't recognize her either.
"I should just ask him directly."
No need to stress over it like an idiot.
Just dress like Lumi and ask Lee Hoyeon directly.
Then she could learn their true feelings.
*
Sunday morning.
After checking Lumi's condition and replying that she was still thinking about things with Lee Hoyeon, Lucy left the dorm.
Then she entered the salon she had booked in the academy shopping district.
"Miss, you're so pretty."
"T-thank you...."
After her hair was done, Lucy looked at her face in the salon mirror.
Her long hair now lay on the floor, and her unique blue color had turned black.
'...Lumi's face.'
Even seeing it herself, she couldn't believe it—it was Lumi's face.
Leaving the salon, Lucy walked down the street.
It felt weird with her hair no longer brushing her shoulders, but she'd get used to it.
On the way to the hospital.
Many Victoria Academy cadets roamed the shops near the academy.
That's when some of Lucy's friends started walking toward her from down the street.
"Oh! Hey guys...."
No, this isn't right.
She wasn't Lucy now, she was Lumi.
Shaking her head, Lucy cleared her throat.
The twins had similar voices, so with a bit of effort, she could imitate Lumi.
"So~ over there... Hm? Isn't that Lumi?"
"Oh, Lumi? Where are you headed?"
Luckily, they called out to her first, so Lucy responded.
"Ahem... Ah, hello."
Bow.
Lucy bowed politely like Lumi would.
"Where's Lucy? Are you alone?"
"Lu-Lucy is in the dorm. I'm just out shopping...."
Chatting with her friends, Lucy gradually got the hang of it.
Once she felt her performance was perfect, she ended the conversation.
"I-I should go now. It's getting late...."
"Aha. Got it. See you next time~."
"Yes. Goodbye."
Bow.
As she bowed, Lucy smiled to herself.
Even friends who had seen her for years didn't recognize her.
So she was certain Lee Hoyeon wouldn't either.
Her heart was pounding, but she had no time to worry about that.
Lucy found an open workshop, dropped off Lumi's smartwatch, and headed to the hospital.
*
Sunday morning.
As usual, he was checking public sentiment on his smartwatch when suddenly a system window popped up.
[A sub quest has been delivered!]
"Hm?"
A quest out of nowhere?
It's been a while, and it came out of nowhere.
----------------------
[A Harsh Road to a Harem]
To build a harem, you must perfectly understand the heroines!
Haven't you been relying too much on the heroines' status windows?
Solving things on your own once in a while can also be a great step for growth!
- Objective: ???
- Reward: Drastically increased natural healing ability
- Restriction: Heroine status windows sealed for 24 hours
----------------------
"...What kind of quest is this."
Sure, the system had a point, but it felt abrupt.
And the objective was unknown.
"These damn bastards again with their bullshit...."
Knock knock.
He was about to complain about the absurdity when a knock came.
It wasn't time for his regular checkup, so it must be a visitor.
"Yes. Come in."
The door opened, and the first face he saw was Lumi's.
Lumi entered the hospital room in her usual cadet uniform.
She had seemed unwell yesterday because of a cold.
"Hoyeon...."
"Lumi? Are you feeling better?"
"Y-yes...."
Lumi entered timidly and sat in the chair. He tried to read her status window.
'Status window'
But unlike usual, nothing appeared.
"Hmm...."
"What is it?"
"It's nothing."
It really wasn't showing—what were they thinking?
"By the way, how's Lucy doing? She hasn't answered any of my messages."
"A-ah... she's fine. Probably just sleeping."
"That's good."
Lumi fidgeted slightly with a reserved posture.
She seemed like she wanted to say something.
"Got something to say?"
"...Um, I talked to Lucy about the three of us dating...."
"Ah, yeah."
Finally.
Hopefully it went well.
"B-but... Lucy seemed a bit negative. I think she feels like we're deceiving her...."
"Well... I get why she'd feel that way."
Even he would find it hard to believe right away.
He thought Lumi could persuade her, but maybe not.
"Then what should I do? Should I try convincing her myself?"
"...."
As he pondered, he turned to look—Lumi was staring right at him.
As if waiting for some kind of reaction.
"What is it?"
"What do you think, Hoyeon...? About how Lucy reacted."
"I think it's understandable. What matters is how we convince her."
Not much a bastard trying to date two girls at once could say.
"Still. She didn't believe us, and she felt betrayed... I thought she wouldn't...."
"Not at all. But Lumi, you seem a little off today. Still sick?"
The way she spoke, it felt like she wanted to badmouth Lucy.
Normally, Lumi would spend two hours praising Lucy during a hospital visit, but today was different.
Something felt awkward and off.
"...."
'Status window'
Still no response from the status window.
Then, a hypothesis formed in his mind.
Could this situation be what the quest was referring to?
To test it, he tossed a question.
"By the way... do you remember we planned to have dinner together today?"
"Y-yes. Of course I remember."
"Hmm. I see."
Of course, there was no such plan.
Lumi came yesterday feeling unwell from a cold.
There was no way they would have made dinner plans.
So why did she say she remembered?
Because the one in front of him wasn't Lumi.
"...."
He tensed up for a moment, then slowly turned his thoughts.
If it were an enemy disguised as Lumi, his Combat Sense would have alerted him.
But his Combat Sense didn't react at all.
Nor did [Mana Sensitivity].
If she was using magic to disguise herself, he would have noticed.
Ting—
Enduring the pain, he concentrated his mana to use [Mana Sensitivity], but still no signal.
That meant the person in front of him wasn't using magic or artifacts, but was in her original form.
"...."
"W-why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing. Lumi."
And there was only one person in the world who could pull something like this.
Twin sisters guaranteed by the setting to look exactly the same.
For some unknown reason, he felt the person before him was Lucy.