Alinea

Earlier that evening…

Suzuki Ara ended the call with her fiancé wearing a smile.

A husky!

She was not able to stop a giggle from escaping her lips earlier when Kou asked her to guess what his pet was. It was truly funny since she had been calling him her Siberian husky in her mind. But, she was surprised that he really did have a husky – and a puppy too! It was as if he realized she wanted an actual Siberian husky and got her one.

The smile on her lips froze.

Wait a minute…

Ara frowned as she glanced at the screen of her phone, and stared at Kou's number.

Hmmmmnnn…

"That idiot," she whispered softly, but the frown on her face had already vanished, and her smile had returned.

She had just realized that her fiancé didn't have a dog. He just said so because she sounded like she was happy when she mentioned it.

She was truly touched.

"Oh well…"At least she had a pet now.

She never had a pet before – save for the horse she had in Ritz, and the golden retriever Aki had when they were young. If what she thought was correct, that the Siberian husky puppy would be for her, then it would be the first time she'd be having a real animal companion.

"A big and small husky…" Ryuu and the pup.

They're now a family of three, Ara thought as she chuckled, then blushed as she realized what she said.

"What are you laughing for Suzuki? We're hungry. We can't eat without you. Have pity on us," one of her male classmates called out as soon as she appeared, and others echoed his sentiments, even pretending to die of hunger on the table.

"Sorry. I had to make a phone call to someone to thank him,"Ara explained as she beamed at them.

The others understood that she was undoubtedly talking about the person who had arranged their train ride and their accommodation in her name.

"Oh? Then please tell your brother we are truly grateful the next time you talk to him," one of the teachers said, which the others parroted with smiles.

Well, it wasn't his brother, but she didn't correct them. The reason why they probably thought it was Aki was that the train staff said that the arrangements were done by her "family". Although they were her teachers and classmates, she didn't want to tell them that it was Homura Ryuu who did everything.

She didn't have to explain to these people about her engagement to Ryuu, since she's not really close with them. That part of her life, she'd like to keep as private as possible, most especially since the Homura heir's name was more popular than a rock star, in spite of people not really having seen him, she realized.

"Well, let's eat then," she announced, and everyone became so excited. The "dead ones" slumped on the table finally sitting up straight in delight.

They had been looking forward to dinner because of the lunch they had earlier that day. Her schoolmates' and teachers' eyes nearly popped out when the hostesses of the ryokan served them a full course kaiseki ryori for their noon meal. The food was extravagant and very delicious – a rare chance for most of them.

They were not disappointed.

The moment Ara sat down to join them at the table, the hostess signaled her companions, and soon, servers came one by one with trays and trays of delectable dishes in buffet style.

Tonight was a real feast. Giant platters and bowls of seafood such as a variety of lobsters, mud crabs, prawns, scallops, giant oysters, clams, crawfish, and mussels served with different types of soup and noodles were placed on their table. The appetizing smell that blast from the smoking trays made most of them salivate in hunger.

Even Ara wanted to drool upon seeing the food. It would be her first time partaking such a grand meal.

"Stop drooling," a voice called out, and Ara snapped back into her senses, thinking that it was her who was just reprimanded.

She turned her head and saw some of her classmates teasing another by pretending to wipe the guy's face. The others laughed at the banter, but Ara surreptitiously wiped the corner of her mouth just in case.

Soon, they didn't have to salivate over the food anymore as they had started eating.

"Suzuki-san, I'm so jealous you can eat something like this all the time," Yashiro, her classmate who she had a beef with the first day she came back from the hospital, but was now okay with, said as she happily put food in her mouth.

Ara shook her head with a smile. "That's not true. We don't eat things like this a lot. This is the first time I'm having this kind of meal as well," she told them.

"That's right," a boy agreed with her. "If Suzuki eats something like this every day she'd be as fat as you," he added, and everyone laughed again much to Yashiro's embarrassment.

"Hey, stop bullying people," the teacher scolded them, albeit also chuckling, so nobody took him seriously. They stopped teasing each other, however, and all happily finished the grand meal in front of them.

"Suzuki-san, would you like to come to take a bath with us?" one of the girls she recognized as Yashiro's friend invited her after dinner.

"We know you have your own pool, but, it's fun to take a dip with others, right?" another invited, and Ara nodded.

"Sure, why not?" she said before walking with them to the women's spring.

The hot springs' changing area was already equipped with waiting towels and cloth to scrub the body with, and so they didn't have to bring anything.

Ara, without thinking about anything, removed her clothes. She's not really shy to be n.a.k.e.d in front of people, because as a former princess, she always had someone else changed her clothes and helped her bathe in the castle. The first time she bathed alone was when she was eleven when Alistair allowed her to train to be a soldier.

"Oh my…"

Gasps sounded behind Ara followed by giggles, and so she turned around to see the girls staring at her n.a.k.e.d body, ogling her from head to toe.

"What's wrong?"

Ara had no idea why they were blushing and giggling while looking at her. Weren't they all girls? Why were they looking at her like she's some kind of a feast?

"Ara you look so beautiful – like a goddess."

"Suzuki-san you don't look like you had an accident before too. Your body healed well – like totally well, alright?"

"How do you grow your boobies?" Yashiro flat-out asked, as she leaned over her and reached out to grab her c.h.e.s.t which made Ara turn away in surprise.

What's going on?

For the first time in her life, the poor deity experienced how much more perverted women could be compared to men.

"At least guys don't just grab someone's b.o.o.b.s!" she cried in her mind as she got mercilessly groped by a giggling squad.