Chapter 12 – Neiny’s Heartfelt Cookies

“Be careful around the older brothers.”

The sharp clash of blades rang out, a high-pitched sound echoing in the air.

“What do you mean?”

Oryuga tilted her head at Al’s words, yet her body spun gracefully around the approaching blade, avoiding it with elegance.

The two of them, taking swordsmanship classes together, paired up every time, as the other students had no chance to join in since they were all in the same year except for the third years.

Neiny was also in the same class, but she came to Al every time, inviting him to pair up, only to be swiftly turned down.

“If there’s someone who is always paired up, it would be better to go with them. They’re waiting over there.”

Despite being the heir of a marquis family, Al politely declined Neiny, who was a year older. According to Al, those who were waiting a little distance away to invite him were also targets for conquest.

There are too many targets to conquer, right? And Neiny is diligently trying to conquer them all.

I caught the descending sword with my two blades.

Both Al and I moved slowly, carefully checking our movements. Knowing each other’s motions intimately, we anticipated the slightest shifts or breaths, moving in sync with them. To an outsider, it would seem incomprehensible, but for Oryuga and Al, it was proper training.

The twin swords, Kinshou, sent by His Highness Prince Narish, had been returned by my older brother Bize to no avail.

So, I decided to master the twin swords, which is why I was training like this. I couldn’t carry the real ones around, so I left them at the duke’s residence. The ones I was using now were practice swords.

“Neiny is about to start using her conquest items.”

“Conquest items!”

Oryuga’s eyes widened in surprise. Her crimson eyes, reminiscent of tea, became round with astonishment.

With a sharp clang, our flowing movements came to a halt.

“What is that?”

“You really don’t remember much, do you?”

“I’m sorry,” Oryuga laughed. I had hoped she would gradually recall, but it seemed she only remembered bits and pieces.

“It’s the Magokoro Cookies.”

“Magokoro Cookies?”

“They’re handmade cookies enchanted with the protagonist’s holy magic. Eating them increases intimacy.”

“Intimacy…”

“It skyrockets. Just a moment ago, the intimacy was at twenty percent, but one cookie can boost it by five. Before you know it, it could reach fifty percent. The trick is how many you can get them to eat.”

“If you’re hungry, you could eat as many cookies as you want, right?”

“That’s why it skyrockets.”

Isn’t that more like ulterior motive cookies than true heart cookies? Holy magic is scary.

Neiny is a holy magician. It’s a common trope in romance simulation games that holy magicians, capable of healing and purification, are rare.

Oryuga suddenly realized something.

“Wait, are you saying she’s aiming for a reverse harem with those Magokoro Cookies?”

“If you’re aiming for a reverse harem, Magokoro Cookies are essential.”

Oh dear, what a situation.

Neiny’s speed in conquest is astonishing. When I first saw her just after she became a second-year, she was only with Prince Narish, the captain of the knights, the prime minister’s son, the charming school nurse, and my older brother Ninrenei. Now, teachers and students alike swarm around her. Each one is a good catch, handsome and capable, yet for some reason, they are not disliked by other students. There’s a prevailing sentiment that it’s acceptable if it’s Neiny.

Is she even using them on the extras? That’s unbelievable.

“What kind of cookies are they?”

“They looked ordinary. Everyone praised them in the game for being crispy and crumbly.”

“Did you get any?”

“I was forced to take some, so I burned them. I regretted not conducting a proper ingredient analysis and magical power analysis after impulsively turning them to ash.”

It seemed he felt he had to inform me since he received them.

Then I agreed to tell my brothers to pass them to me if they received any, without eating them.

“Magokoro Cookies, huh…”

Protagonists always have handy items, don’t they?

Ninrenei received handmade cookies from Neiny.

“These are cookies I made last night. Please eat them if you’d like!”

With sparkling eyes reminiscent of fresh greenery in a vibrant forest, Neiny smiled innocently.

Ninrenei was troubled.

Because, unbelievably, Neiny had handed cookies to both him and Prince Narish at the same time.

First of all, you must not give handmade food to royalty. You never know what mixed in might be. Moreover, giving the exact same thing to their aides is unacceptable. This not only disrespects royalty but also implies that Prince Narish is on the same level as a lesser duke’s son.

No matter how much of a prime fiancée candidate she is, that’s too presumptuous.

With a twitch of his cheek, Ninrenei glanced at Prince Narish.

He was smiling. A refreshing smile, as always.

That’s the scariest part. It’s more frightening when he’s smiling in this situation.

Prince Narish opened his mouth, still smiling.

“Thank you, Neiny. I’ll have them later.”

“Come on, let’s eat them together now! I’ll prepare the tea!”

This was a lounge reserved for royalty. A room prepared for royals who had to juggle academics and public duties.

Oryuga had never been invited to this room. Back then, she had been chatty and had annoyed the prince, so she was avoided.

That said, it didn’t mean Neiny was permitted to enter. She had barged in on her own.

Prince Narish was sitting at his desk, sorting through documents during a break between classes.

“Neiny, the prince is busy right now. You should go home.”

He turned her around by the shoulder and gently pushed her toward the door. But Neiny resisted, insisting on feeding him cookies.

Is there something in these cookies after all?

Just the other day, Oryuga had mentioned wanting to collect the cookies for examination. I had informed the prince about that. If there was indeed something in them, whether it was a drug or a magical act, Neiny would have committed an offense against royalty. Either way, it would lead to imprisonment.

“Well then, please tell me your thoughts tomorrow.”

Neiny reluctantly left.

I quietly waited for the sound of her footsteps to fade after closing the door.

“Could there really be something in them…?”

In truth, this wasn’t the first time I had received these handmade cookies.

She brought cookies to the prince every chance she got. The prince only consumed what had been tasted for poison, so no matter how much of a prime fiancée candidate she was, he wouldn’t eat them.

“I wonder what happened to the cookies I received before.”

“I passed them to the poison tester. They reported nothing unusual, but they haven’t been returned to the prince.”

“Oh, if there’s no problem, I thought it would be better for someone to eat them, so I said it was fine to let them go.”

Ninrenei looked at the bag of cookies in his hand. The cute packaging was white and pink, tied with a ribbon.

Prince Narish was also contemplating the bag.

“Let’s investigate once. You can give Oryuga the ones you received to analyze. Do you have a connection?”

It seemed the prince intended to investigate personally as well. I let out a sigh of relief. I wanted to eliminate any concerns as soon as possible.

“Yes. Oryuga mentioned that he heard about this from the son of Marquis Roydenatel and said he would ask him.”

The prince’s smile deepened.

Oh no. Recently, Oryuga had been spending a lot of time with the son of Marquis Roydenatel. It seemed Prince Narish didn’t think highly of that.

Even though he had been told by His Majesty, he must have agreed to remove Oryuga from the prime fiancée candidate list, so it would be troublesome if he complained now.

Oryuga was still a candidate for the prince’s fiancée, but since he was no longer the prime candidate, he was in a position to find another lover.

“Seems you’re taking swordsmanship classes together often.”

His deep blue eyes narrowed.

He was probably using his shadow to investigate, so I wished he wouldn’t pry into Ninrenei.

Oh, “pry” and “shadow.”

Did he want to know how the Nobizel dukedom viewed the son of Marquis Roydenatel?

“…Oryuga said he was a friend.”

“Is Izeal Roydenatel the son of the marquis an Alpha…”

Prince Narish leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands, and looked at Ninrenei as if probing.

A bead of sweat trickled down Ninrenei’s forehead.

“It seems they only have a friendship.”

“But you call each other by nicknames?”

Oryuga called the son of Marquis Roydenatel “Al,” and for some reason, the son of Marquis Roydenatel called Oryuga “Captain.” Whether “Captain” counts as a nickname is highly questionable, but it is still a special name.

However, from Ninrenei’s perspective, the son of Marquis Roydenatel, who seemed to be much closer to Oryuga than Prince Narish, who had diminished chances of becoming a partner, felt more reassuring. I thought that the son of Marquis Roydenatel, being the only Omega, would cherish Oryuga.

I want my younger brothers to be happy.

It’s because I possess the Alpha trait that I feel this way.

But I can’t express my true feelings to the prince.

“It’s up to them.”

“That’s true.”

Should I ask Oryuga then? Ninrenei sighed softly in front of Prince Narish, who murmured that he might.

Prince Narish had once said that one Omega was enough. That didn’t mean he would only love one person; it meant that one Omega to care for was sufficient, and it was uncertain whether he would love only one person for life.

Even if a Beta found someone else to love, there was a possibility of being welcomed as a concubine.

In that case, the son of Marquis Roydenatel seemed like a better option.

I couldn’t understand what this person was thinking.

I felt a headache coming on, being in the presence of such a troublesome individual.