That really bothered me. This woman seems to be getting carried away.
'Honey, don't believe her. My heart still belongs to you. I like her, but not as much as I like you… she's in the top five after you, my mother-in-law, my mom, and Amy.'
'I told you to stop ranking that kind of thing. You have no idea how inappropriate it is... besides, wasn't your mom number two?'
'Yeah, but I've been missing my mother-in-law a lot lately, and I feel the looming threat from my mom, so the change was inevitable. But your spot at number one is eternal.'
'Whatever. Never tell anyone else you have something like a ranking… you should really stop doing it. Now I'm going to say a few things, please don't interrupt.'
'Yes, honey!'
Well, even though her words annoyed me, she really just wasn't understanding the current situation or all its implications.
Mainly, she didn't understand Iris at all, so it really wasn't worth getting angry.
Although I noticed that my original plan to pressure her wasn't working.
I realized she wouldn't be intimidated or pressured if it went against her principles, so I'll have to try another approach.
"I understand your anger, but some things just happen."(Rose)
"Fine, fine, fine!. I'm seeing how things are. Yes, after all, Iris and I got married on a whim; after all, as childhood friends, it was easy and comfortable for us to get married, when really we might not have been each other's type. Yes, now it's more than obvious: what she really liked was somewhere else."
I said those words while looking her up and down.
"So that was..." (Rose)
She seemed to get my point.
She must now be, on her own, coming to her own conclusions about how things went down with Iris.
That made her realize she has a stronger foundation than she thinks; that she doesn't have to feel so guilty and that she probably didn't do anything really wrong.
I could see the corners of her lips trembling slightly.
She seemed to want to smile, but held back because it wasn't the right moment.
She was so happy she might even be imagining a sweet future with Iris.
But that happiness was shattered by my next words.
"But I completely disagree with that. I may not be the person Iris loves, but she and I have been together for as long as I can remember, and I'm not going to let someone who came here being chased and asking for help take her away."
"..." (Rose)
As soon as I said that, her face darkened, and as if she'd started thinking about a lot of other things, her expression grew increasingly grim.
I guess she really is in a bad situation.
My words cruelly shattered her moment of happiness and reminded her of her reality.
'H-honey, what did you do? Her rational dropped to 20, my progress was destroyed.'
And, as if to confirm it, I heard Iris's voice complaining in my head… but I had expected it, so I didn't flinch.
The important thing now is to get her to tell me what that reality is that I forced her to return to.
"What? Don't you have anything to say? Do you want to take Iris with you and expose her to danger? Is that what you want?"
"No... I don't want that." (Rose)
She answered me in a low, heavy, and sad tone.
Iris, behind her, seemed to want to intervene or say something, but I gave her a warning look and continued speaking.
"Well, I'm glad you have at least this much conscience—which you didn't have when you went after a married man's wife."
"I-I..."(Rose)
"I what? Do you really have something to say? If you have any conscience left, you'd already be walking out of here, never to return. If you truly cared about Iris, you'd know that's what's best for her."
My words seemed to cut through her and hurt her deeply. With every sentence, her expression sank further, and by the time I finished, her head was completely bowed.
"...You're right... I'll leave."(Rose)
She couldn't really argue with what I said, and, keeping her head down without looking at either me or Iris, she walked past me and headed for the exit.
'Honey.'
Iris spoke to me telepathically, and I could see a hint of concern on her face, as if she didn't know what to do, her gaze shifting back and forth between me and Roselyn retreating back.
But I didn't say anything and just stood there. Only after a moment did I speak.
"Stop. I'm not done with you yet."
Finally, I turned just as she was about to reach the door.
"..." (Rose)
At my words, she stopped and turned toward me, still looking down.
Given the way things were going, it was obvious I was going to keep speaking harshly to her, and yet she did it anyway.
She was willing to keep enduring my words.
She seems to be a woman accustomed to enduring many things.
"It's best for you to leave, and personally, I think getting involved with you will bring nothing but trouble..."
"..."(Rose)
I continued in my harsh tone, and she again didn't respond, waiting for me to keep criticizing her.
But contrary to what she might expect, my next words weren't harsh, but rather filled with resignation and regret.
"Haaah~ But, knowing Iris, she wouldn't just let you go. Like you said, you've already formed a bond, and she'll probably follow you."
'Now then, get up and agree with me.'
"Oh!... You're absolutely right, honey. I won't leave big sister Rose alone. No matter what, I have to help her."(Iris)
Finally, thanks to my encouragement, Iris stood up and walked over to Rose, taking her hand as if to reaffirm her own words.
It came naturally to her because she wasn't really pretending; that was exactly what she was thinking.
When Roselyn heard Iris's voice and felt her hands holding hers, she finally lifted her face, and for a moment, she looked happy and moved as she gazed at her.
But then her expression darkened again; she lowered her head once more and spoke heavily.
"No, Iris, you can't. You mustn't get involved with me. It's dangerous."(Rose)
"I don't care about that, big sister. Do you think I can just stand by and do nothing now that you're part of our harem?"(Iris)
"All right, that's enough. You two, stop it."
I spoke before Iris took a strange turn; this wasn't the time for that.
They both looked at me in silence, and I continued speaking, with regret and a certain reluctance in my voice.
"Miss Rose, you've only just met Iris and don't understand how stubborn she is. Your simple words won't be enough to convince her… haaah~ so, even though I know getting involved with you means bringing unnecessary trouble upon us, it's already too late. We're already involved."
"I… I didn't mean to—"(Rose)
"Yes, Miss Rose, I can see you really didn't mean to do that, since you're obviously not that kind of person, but the fact is that's what you did. It's already too late, and you've practically dragged us into your affairs."
"..."(Rose)
I continued speaking with regret, though my tone now also conveyed a bit of understanding and sympathy toward her.
'System, buy a table and three chairs.'
But as I said this, in my mind I coordinated with the system.
Click.
I snapped my fingers, and as if it were second nature, a table with three chairs appeared between us.
"But, as you may have noticed, we're not your average massage parlor. So sit down and tell me in detail about the situation you've dragged us into."
I sat down and spoke calmly, without a trace of my initial harshness.
"..."(Rose)
She looked at me, confused. I don't know if it was because of the table and chairs appearing out of nowhere or because of the gentle smile I gave her when I invited her to sit down.
"...You don't have to look so confused. I'm usually a calm, gentle, and very harmless person. It's just that the previous situation upset me a little, but I think now that I've gotten a lot of things off my chest, I'm feeling better."
"..."(Rose)
She really didn't seem to be able to process it.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave out any details. Depending on what you say, I'll be able to assess whether this can be resolved in a way that makes everyone happy. I might even be able to fix it for you, since I'm really good at helping honest people."
"Ah! Big sis, tell him! Honey is very smart; he can find the solution to your problems. Heehe~ when my honey sets his mind to it, he's very capable."(Iris)
I was going to ask Iris to back me up, but she did it on her own.
She smiled happily and dragged a confused Roselyn toward the chairs.
Now they were both sitting in front of me.
"..."
"..."(Rose)
A silence fell over the room. Roselyn still looked hesitant and confused, though she gave the impression of being on the verge of giving in, mainly because of—
"(✧ω✧)"(Iris)
Iris's intense, expectant gaze, which seemed to be putting quite a bit of pressure on her.
Roselyn looked at me, and I kept up my harmless, gentle smile.
After a moment, and perhaps unable to bear Iris's intense gaze any longer, she finally began to speak.
"...umm... where should I start?"(Rose)
"Big sis, it's always best to start at the beginning. (≧∀≦)"(Iris)
"￣へ￣"
I said nothing and waited for Roselyn, who seemed to be gathering her thoughts, to speak.
"...As you must know, here in Nytherra, lineage is very important to the upper classes, and all nobles possess primordial blood... ah, do you know what that is?"(Rose)
"I know a little, but explain it anyway. Maybe there are some things I'm missing."
I really don't know anything. Although I now know which realm we're in; we're, so to speak, in the demon realm, where the race known as demons is dominant.
"Alright, well, let's start with how this realm was formed when the Age of the Gods ended…" (Rose)
I listened intently to her explanation.
'Oh, this is interesting, honey. Can I buy some popcorn?'
'Yes, and don't interrupt anymore.'
'Yeah! System, give me the deluxe caramel popcorn for 50 Myrr.'
I'm going to ignore the fact that I heard 50 instead of 5 and focus on listening to Roselyn's story and everything behind it.
..
.