In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Surrounded by a Clingy Older Woman, a Walking Red Flag, and an Exhausted Office Lady - 38-39

Chapter 38: They Came to Pick Me Up

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That day, I was waiting for a message from Aoi, just like always. When it came to what I did on my days off, my first priority was learning about clothes, nails, and beauty so that Aoi would think I was cute. I was also working hard on housework for Aoi’s sake and keeping an eye on my smartphone so that I could respond whenever he might invite me to hang out.

That was how I spent my holidays—thinking of Aoi—but then, I received a message like this.

『 Renka. Do you want to live together? Of course, not immediately. I’m talking about a little further in the future.』

At first, I doubted my eyes.

I stood there dazed, unable to comprehend what had been written. As I read the sentence over and over and gradually began to understand the situation, I found myself sitting on the floor in tears before I knew it. My legs had simply given out.

When I managed to ask for the details of how this had come about, it turned out that the girl mentioned before, Shizuku Saiin, along with another girl named Alicia, had their families buy a house. The proposal was for all of Aoi’s bride candidates to live there together. Initially, I felt a bit down realizing it wouldn’t be just Aoi and me. However, when I thought about it carefully, Yua-san, Kaoruko-san, and I had already been discussing how to persuade Aoi so we could all live together anyway; this was just moving the timeline up.

I imagined living with Aoi.

(I’m sure Aoi would gently wake me up in the mornings since I’m not a morning person.)

I thought to myself. 

(Since he’s good at cooking, he’d probably make meals for me.)

I thought to myself. 

(Maybe we would even go beyond just kissing.)

I thought to myself.

As various fantasies crossed my mind, my head became filled with happiness.

“He… He really is a prince after all.”

A prince who would carry me away, a partner of destiny whom I would never be able to meet again in a lifetime. Therefore, my reply had been decided from the very start.

『 I look forward to being with you for a long, long time.』

That was how I replied.

I managed to stand up on my still-trembling legs, opened the door to my room, and tottered toward the first floor of the house until I entered the living room. Seeing me like that, Mama tilted her head and approached me with a worried look.

“What’s wrong, Ren-chan? Is it about that rumored Aoi-kun again?”

“Y-yes. That’s right.”

Perhaps because I had made it to the first floor on such shaky legs, Mama drew closer in concern.

“Was it Aoi-kun? Did he do something to you? Honestly, the more I hear your stories, the more I feel like this Aoi-kun person doesn’t even exist, and even if he did, I’m sure his true nature is…”

“N-no, that’s not it. Well, it’s not not it, but it is. Aoi being a prince hasn’t changed.”

I stopped Mama as she tried to continue based on her misunderstanding and told her the rest.

“It’s not happening immediately, but I’m going to be living with Aoi, so I have to start preparing for a lot of things.”

“…Eh?”

Mama looked at me with a blank face, just as I had earlier.

“Living… together?”

“Y-yes. We decided to live together.”

“With a man?”

“Yes.”

“…It’s not a scam, is it?”

“No.”

As I nodded to Mama’s questions, she grabbed my shoulders firmly and said this.

“Let me meet this Aoi-kun. I’ll live with—no, I’ll evaluate him. Your mother will judge for herself if this Aoi-kun person is truly the man I’ve heard about.”

(You’re being way too desperate, Mama.)

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Chapter 39: I Look Forward To Being With You for a Long, Long Time

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During the New Year’s holiday, the four of us, myself included, spent a relaxing time together ringing in the year and eating soba noodles, but that was all about to end as work was set to begin soon.

Above all else, I was feeling incredibly lonely because Aoi-kun had returned to his hometown. Without the motivation to do anything at all, I was just absentmindedly looking back over my past message history with Aoi-kun when a new message arrived.

『Kaoruko-san. Do you want to live together? Of course, not immediately. I’m talking about a little further in the future.』

At first, I couldn’t comprehend what was written, but after looking over the characters again and again, I finally understood.

…

(He wants to live with me?)

(Eh? You’re kidding, right?)

I understood the meaning of the words. However, because the content was so shocking, I read the sentence aloud several times to confirm it wasn’t a lie.

“Am I going to live with Aoi-kun? Is it really okay for me to live with him? Aoi-kun is the one saying it’s okay. That’s what this means, right?”

Could it be that he properly considered what I said before about living together? Thinking that, I operated my phone with trembling fingers to ask, but it turned out to be different from what I had imagined.

Apparently, the parents of his high school classmates Alicia and Shizuku Saiin—names that had come up before—had bought a house, and the plan was for the women close to Aoi-kun to live there together with him. The process was different, but since the end result was that I could live with Aoi-kun and he could live in a house with proper security, I had absolutely no problem with it.

As a matter of feelings, there was the issue of not being able to keep Aoi-kun all to myself, but since I was the one who originally proposed that the four of us—myself, Renka-san, Yua-san, and Aoi-kun—live together, it was too late to worry about that now.

Of course, I could imagine that there would be plenty of things to be jealous about, like wanting him to increase the amount of time he spent with me, wanting time for just the two of us, or not wanting him to pay too much attention to others. I knew there would be times when dark, muddy emotions would unconsciously flow from within my heart.

(But I will be with Aoi-kun. Because it has to be Aoi-kun. No one else will do. Because I can’t imagine a future with anyone but him. Because I can no longer find a reason to live in a world where Aoi-kun is gone.)

Therefore, without a moment’s hesitation, I sent this.

『I look forward to being with you for a long, long time.』

The melancholy feelings from moments ago cleared away, and I was suddenly overflowing with motivation.

(I’m going to be able to live with Aoi-kun. I have to move as quickly as possible.)

My body, which had felt so heavy, became light as if it had suddenly grown wings. I stood up from my bed and began to plan out which belongings I would pack.

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