Feilin swayed her slender waist in front of the mirror, taking a moment to admire herself in her new outfit.

Her silver hair, once tied in a single ponytail, was now divided into two low ponytails that hung down her back.

She’d traded her former finery for a sleeveless sailor-style top, leaving her pale, slender arms bare. A little ribbon bow was tied at the neckline.

A plaid miniskirt and sheer black thigh-highs completed the outfit. The bands dug into Feilin’s thighs, giving them a wonderfully plush look.

This outfit had absolutely no air of dignity about it. Leon actually liked this sort of thing? Was the guy a lolicon?

As Feilin mused to herself, she walked up to Leon and tilted her head slightly to meet his gaze.

She immediately caught the nervousness in his eyes. The man had picked out the outfit himself, yet he couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye.

Could Leon be the shy-but-secretly-pervy type? To make sure, Feilin bent down and leaned into his line of sight.

“Leon, do I look good in this?”

“……”

“You don’t have anything to say?”

“Y-You look good.”

Feilin blinked and thought for a moment, then decided to tease him a little more.

She rose onto her tiptoes and leaned close to Leon’s ear, lowering her voice. “Leon, if you like, I could wear something else too. Something only you get to see.”

“……!”

Leon’s face turned a little red. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth as if to say something.

“Hehe, I’m just kidding. I’d be a little troubled if you really asked me to wear something like that.”

Feilin stuck out her tongue at Leon, instantly dispelling the strange tension between them.

Leon let out a breath and said, “Fio, I feel like you’re… a little different today.”

Apparently trying to avoid Feilin, Leon went over to pay the shopkeeper.

Feilin slipped over beside him. “It’s an important date today, so I wanted to make sure I looked my best.”

“A date?!”

Leon’s back stiffened at once.

“I was so happy to get a present today that I wanted to go on a date with the man who gave it to me. Unless… I’m the only one who thinks of it that way?”

It took Leon a while to respond. “Fio, if that’s how you feel, then let’s do what you want.”

“Then let’s go. Just the two of us today.”

Feilin gently tugged at Leon’s sleeve and led him out of the clothing store.

……

As they walked along, Feilin deliberately stayed quiet and kept her eyes on Leon.

Leon glanced her way now and then, sneaking looks at her. But whenever he noticed Feilin watching him too, he’d pretend nothing was going on and look away.

Maybe the silence was getting awkward. Leon spoke first. “Fio, where’s the collar around your neck?”

“……The collar?”

“Yeah, the slave collar I put on you before.”

Feilin suddenly remembered what Myron had told her earlier: Leon had forcibly taken Fio away and made her his slave.

Feilin hadn’t paid attention to that detail at the time. Even though they looked exactly alike,

“Oh, you mean this? Could it be… that you want to… hmm?”

“W-Want what?! Just say it!”

She was only teasing Leon in a deliberately playful tone, but Feilin felt like she could practically control his mood.

“I used magic to hide the collar. I’m not shameless enough to walk down the street wearing a slave collar, after all.”

“There’s magic like that?”

“It’s perception-obscuring magic. It doesn’t make the collar invisible; it just makes people pay less attention to the collar around my neck.”

“You can use that kind of magic? Why didn’t you use it sooner? Then my little sister wouldn’t have found us when we were hiding in the closet.”

Hiding in a closet? Getting caught?

Feilin instantly pieced together an image from those words. She was a little surprised. Her own daughter had started getting up to things like that while they’d been apart?

Leon’s gaze lingered on Feilin’s neck, and suspicion began to creep into his expression.

“Leon, you really do want to, don’t you?”

Feilin’s eyes darted around, and she immediately thought of what to do.

“Just say what you mean! Stop answering my questions with questions. You’re acting really weird today.”

Feilin lowered her head and ran her pale, slender fingers over the imaginary collar.

“If you really want everyone around us to know I’m your slave, to show off your claim on me, I don’t mind… It’s the truth, after all. If you want to do something outrageous to me, Leon, I can only obey…”

Her lovely voice took on a bashful, helpless lilt, and Leon immediately choked on his words.

Leon glanced around and realized that, dressed like this, Feilin was so cute that she was already drawing plenty of attention. If she showed everyone she was a slave too… that really might not be a good idea!

“Ahem… No, no need. This is fine.”

To hide his excitement, Leon covered his mouth and coughed a few times, then quickened his pace and walked ahead of Feilin.

“…Oh?”

Feilin let out a soft laugh. She could tell now: the legendary Heroic Sword Saint had completely fallen for Fio. He was so smitten he’d lost his head.

Leon was a little surprising. She’d assumed someone as popular as him would be a master at romance, but he was actually a bashful, secretly passionate type.

As an elder, Feilin was quite pleased. Her daughter was just as clueless about romance, so Leon’s feelings for Fio would make it easier to bring the two of them together.

At the same time, Feilin felt even more confident in her plan. With just a few simple tricks, she could have Leon wrapped around her finger. Teasing him was actually kind of fun.

But this might all just be an act. Feilin needed to make sure Leon wasn’t acting out of some lolicon obsession… and began planning her next move.