After spending some time wandering around town, Leon, Vivian, and Fio went to the Slavers’ Guild and helped Fio officially obtain a high-grade slave license.
When they came out of the Slavers’ Guild, Fio held her slave papers, her feelings complicated. She was a king of her people, for crying out loud—and now she’d fallen so far that she was a perverted slave. When would this kind of life finally end?
Leon walked out in front, leading Fio and Vivian.
Fio thought back on Leon’s reactions that day. He’d been downright strange—colder than usual, and today he’d reached the point where nothing could get through to him.
Fio, who fancied herself a master of romance, had tried every technique in her playbook, but none of them worked on this man. If anything, Leon’s attitude only got worse. Now he wouldn’t even talk to Vivian, and he’d started keeping his distance from her.
“Fio, why is this happening? Are you deliberately setting me up?” Vivian whispered.
“No, Vivian. Do you think my methods are strange?”
“No. I think they’re all brilliant plans, but… they’re not working at all, are they?”
Fio was puzzled by her own question, too. If the two of them already had a good relationship, why weren’t these romantic setups bringing them any closer?
Since she’d also been a man in her previous life, Fio tried to put herself in Leon’s shoes.
Maybe Leon was in such a bad mood because he liked a girl but hadn’t managed to win her over yet, so he had no interest in other women throwing themselves at him.
Fio looked as if she’d suddenly figured it out. No wonder! The person Leon liked most right now wasn’t Vivian, so these events weren’t having the effect she’d expected.
Then who was the girl this man had fallen for?
A bad suspicion slowly rose in Fio’s heart. She marveled at how bold—and reasonable—her theory was.
The person Leon liked right now might actually be her!
No wonder he’d been acting so strangely toward her. Besides, Leon was surrounded by incredibly well-endowed girls; where would he find a flat-chested loli type like herself? Maybe a guest tired of lavish feasts would suddenly find a simple meal quite delicious.
“Fio, why are you sweating? Did you think of something?”
Vivian leaned closer. Fio immediately forced a strained smile and brushed her off. “N-no, nothing.”
Fio quickened her pace, caught up with Leon, and tugged at his sleeve.
Leon glanced back without changing expression. “What?”
“Uh… well, I…”
Fio had no idea how to ask. She couldn’t just come out with, “Do you like me?”
Wouldn’t that be giving herself away?!
“If it’s nothing important, don’t talk to me. You’re annoying… I can’t think straight.”
Seriously? What’s with the attitude, you harem-protagonist jerk! Fio shot back at Leon, puffing out her cheeks as she yanked her hand off his sleeve.
Would he really act like this toward someone he liked? And think about it—does anyone in this world put a slave collar on their crush the first time they meet and then demand the other person become their toy?
As if! Even with zero romantic experience, I’d never do something that perverted to a girl I liked! This jerk has clearly gotten bored of regular women and just wants to try a child-sized demi-human; he’s only interested in me physically.
Fio remembered confessing to her childhood friend in her previous life. Her friend had looked surprised and said, “Why would you think I liked you?”
That painful memory made her even more certain she’d got it wrong. This man definitely had someone else he was secretly in love with. Fio decided she’d find a chance to talk it over properly with Vivian.
…
“What’s that ‘Destiny Reading’?”
Vivian pointed toward a passageway in the shadows. A little tent stood there, with a sign outside that seemed to read, “A legendary traveling fortune-teller, renowned throughout the continent, has journeyed here to read the course of fate for those destined to meet.”
“It feels pretty suspicious,” Leon said.
Fio seized the opportunity, hoping to keep the romance strategy on track.
“Come on, let’s give it a try. Maybe a love fortune or something~”
Though she made it sound like an offhand suggestion, both Leon and Vivian seemed to realize something at once. They agreed.
Fio went in first. She placed her hand on the crystal ball, which didn’t change in the slightest, while the fortune-teller started making things up—
“Congratulations, honored guest. Due to a wonderful twist of fate today, your relationship with your destined one will progress at breakneck speed, ascending the steps to adulthood.”
Wow, what is this charlatan talking about?! What destined one? I haven’t had one since I was born into this world! And what on earth are the ‘steps to adulthood’? There’s a limit to how much nonsense you can spout!
Fio made a few polite replies and went back outside. Vivian went in second. To protect their privacy, only one person could enter the fortune-telling tent at a time.
The two waited outside for Vivian. The place was a little way from the main street and deserted, so Fio and Leon leaned against the wall, bored out of their minds.
But this time, Leon unexpectedly spoke to Fio first. “What did the fortune-teller say just now?”
“It was just a love fortune, saying something would happen between me and my destined one,” Fio recalled the fortune-teller’s parting warning. “Before I left, the fortune-teller also said not to tell anyone other than my destined one, or it won’t come true.”
“I see. So it was about Vivian…”
“But it’s fine to tell you—I don’t believe in that charlatan stuff anyway,” Fio interrupted Leon. “It said that today, I’d ascend the steps to adulthood with my destined one… I don’t really get it, but it sounds ridiculous enough. There’s no way that could happen.”
“W-what?!” Leon cried out strangely. “I won’t allow you to start an improper relationship with my little sister so soon!”
“Huh?”
Fio was completely baffled. She considered pressing him for an explanation, then decided against it. He’d been acting weird all day anyway.
Come to think of it, even if the fortune-teller had been telling the truth, I told Leon about it, so I broke the rule that no one but the person destined for me could know. That means the prediction won’t come true anyway.
