One Week Later
The day of the Sports Festival had arrived.
The sky was slightly overcast, but the heat had eased—perfect weather for an outdoor event.
Hakua, the student council president, had been busy with administrative tasks since morning.
“President! I’ll head to the storage shed and bring the early equipment to the field!”
“Thank you. On your way back, could you stop by the faculty office and pass a message to the head teacher?”
“Got it!”
After the midterm exams, the week had been fairly busy with miscellaneous tasks.
This sports festival was open to the public, with parents coming to watch. Naturally, Hakua took charge of campus cleaning and ensuring the program ran smoothly.
However.
“…President? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Huh?”
At the vice president’s words, Hakua paused to reflect.
But she responded only with a soft smile.
“No, I’m fine. Just a little nervous, that’s all.”
“Even the student council president gets nervous!?”
“Well… I am human.”
Yes, human.
Sometimes, her words lacked their usual sharpness. Sometimes, she made mistakes. She didn’t need anyone to tell her that—she’d been painfully reminded of it already.
(This won’t do. I need to focus…)
Focus.
Work hard on managing the event. Work hard in the competitions. And then—
“President! Your lunchbox today is huge! Are your parents coming to watch?”
“Ah… yeah. That’s right. It’d be nice if they did…”
The tiered lunchbox sat in the corner of the student council room.
She’d foolishly made extra portions, clinging to sentimentality. As if he’d eat it now… Well, the student council could share it instead. Just as she was lost in thought, the door opened.
“Milady~! I’ve come to help~♪”
It was Meina.
She made no effort to hide their relationship anymore, and Hakua felt a flicker of irritation.
(No—this isn’t Meina’s fault. I brought this on myself.)
Her own failure to control her future attendant.
Her mistake in not preparing a cover identity on such short notice.
And worst of all—her complacency, assuming Izumi would never suspect her.
As the heir to a global corporation, learning from small mistakes now was better than making irreversible ones later.
…Even as she justified herself, Hakua sank deeper into self-reproach.
“…Meina, thank you. I am busy, so I appreciate the help.”
“No problem~! Oh, should I carry these microphones?”
“The equipment is heavy—leave it to the boys. You can… Ah.”
Her eyes landed on a stack of cardboard signs.
“Right, we still need these for the scavenger hunt this morning.
Could you quickly finish writing them?”
“Oh my~? Leaving it until the day of? That’s not like you, Milady~”
“I did make them earlier, but they vanished sometime yesterday…”
“Oopsies~ Maybe someone tossed them by mistake~? No worries, leave it to me!”
“Make sure the writing is big and easy to read.”
Handing over the markers and the scavenger hunt list, Hakua turned to prepare the relay sashes—freshly laundered and ironed.
As Meina swiftly wrote the signs, she asked:
“Speaking of which, you’re participating in the scavenger hunt too, right~?”
“Yes. I was originally asked to join the relay, but since I’m not particularly fast, they put me here instead.”
“Ah~. Being too popular is its own problem, huh~?”
Meina chuckled.
Meanwhile, the vice president glared openly at this sudden, overly familiar girl hanging around Hakua. But with the festival in full swing, she seemed to decide to let it slide.
“Oh, and Nanase-san is participating in the scavenger hunt too~”
“……!?”
Hakua stiffened—
“…I see. Then she’ll probably win, won’t she?”
“Probably~. She seems like the type who’d excel at this kind of thing~”
Oblivious to her mistress’s turmoil, Meina kept writing. Soon, she gathered the signs into a box.
“Alrighty~! I’ll go deliver these. The event tent, right~?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Once Meina left, the vice president exploded.
“President! That irresponsible girl shouldn’t be anywhere near you!”
“Hehe, it’s fine. She’s actually very capable.”
Yes, Meina was capable.
The problem was Hakua’s inability to handle her.
(…At this rate, the Shiragiku family might actually get taken over one day.)
Or worse—by the time it happened,
Izumi might be standing beside Meina.
[Milady! Welcome to your new role as a lowly employee under Nanase & Shiragiku Holdings Inc.~ ♡]
[Shiragiku Milady… no, just regular worker Hakua. Put on this lewd maid outfit and get to work.]
—BANG BANG BANG!
Hakua snapped back to reality, having slammed her forehead against the table.
“President!? What’s wrong!?”
“F-Fufu. No, it’s… nothing…”
It was clearly not nothing, but the vice president shrank under Hakua’s unspoken intensity. Meanwhile, Hakua’s mind spiraled further—
[“Lowly worker Hakua. Serve me in that lewd maid outfit.”]
[“N-No way!!”]
—Not that she wanted any of this! She was just assessing risks!
SLAP!
She smacked her own cheeks with both hands.
(Get a grip. I am Shiragiku Hakua!)
The success of the sports festival—that was all that mattered now.
With that in mind, Hakua moved forward.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
The festival began with Hakua’s opening speech.
[“Everyone—let’s uphold sportsmanship and make this a great event.”]
The morning events proceeded smoothly.
With many athletic students, the festival was lively. It was a local highlight—parents looked forward to it every year.
The morning featured inter-grade competitions: dances, ball tosses, and cavalry battles.
Hakua monitored operations from the event tent, ensuring no issues arose.
(Next is the first-years’ giant ball roll… Hm?)
Among the participants were Haru and Inori.
At the starting pistol, the two rolled a massive ball—bigger than themselves. Haru, nervous and flustered, scurried around with an expression befitting her “Devil-chan” nickname, while Inori stifled laughter behind her hand.
(Hehe. Those two are so honest and cute.)
She wished she could be that naturally endearing.
…Well, Haru’s tsundere act was so transparent it unnerved Izumi, so maybe it wasn’t ideal.
But still—better than Hakua’s own habit of putting on airs until she trapped herself.
(Sigh… I need to focus. The afternoon will be demanding.)
Just then, the vice president—handling the mic—checked the schedule.
“President, shouldn’t you prepare for the scavenger hunt soon?”
“Ah, right. I should—Wait, where’s the staff for it?”
The girls who were supposed to be on standby had vanished.
“Ah! Earlier, someone reported a wild fox on campus, so they went to get teachers!”
“A wild fox? In Tokyo?”
“Who knows? Foxes can be aggressive, and their parasites can cause echinococcosis—a deadly liver disease if humans get infected. It’s serious!”
“…You know a lot about foxes. Do you like them?”
(To avoid echinococcosis, always wash hands after hiking and properly clean foraged plants!)
“But what do we do? All the other staff are busy…”
Just as she was worrying—
“Heeey~! Milady, want me to handle it~?”
Meina appeared, as if on cue.
“Oh, Meina. Perfect timing—”
But Hakua hesitated.
“…You’ve been showing up at just the right moments today.”
“Whatever do you mean~? As your attendant, I’m always watching over you~! Oh, and last night, while admiring your sleeping face, I heard some very S&M-like mumbling—”
“That’s not the point!! Never do that again!!”
Flustered, she handed Meina the box of scavenger hunt signs.
“J-Just scatter these around the field before the event starts. And flip them face-down so no one peeks!”
“Got it~♪”
Though uneasy, Hakua trusted Meina’s competence. She delegated the task and headed to the waiting area.
…Where she found the last person she wanted to see.
“Ah! Hakua-san, you’re in the scavenger hunt too?”
“…Nanase-san.”
The scavenger hunt was all-grade,
so second- and third-years competing together wasn’t unusual—
“Hakua-san. Let’s do our best.”
“…Right.”
Nanao’s carefree smile made Hakua’s chest ache.
(She probably never feels jealous of others… unlike me.)
Thinking such thoughts, she waited for the previous event—the Swedish relay—to finish.
Before long, the Swedish relay ended, and the vice president made an announcement over the microphone.
[Next up is the scavenger hunt, with all grades competing against each other. To our guests in attendance, if a participant asks to borrow something from you, we kindly ask for your cooperation.]
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