It wasn't just the three young ones, Heith Velvet among them. Finn and Hedin, who had just stepped through the door, also nearly stumbled at his overblown tone.
The coolly composed Riveria herself came to a halt, and simply watched him in silence.
After a long moment, she arched one slender brow and let out a quiet sigh:
"Mr. Hart, such a hollow, theatrical aria... just which third-rate elven novel did you learn it from?"
Leon grinned, not the least bit ashamed:
"I merely absorbed the praise the gentlemen at the elven salons lavish upon you, along with the finest essence of elven verse. You know how it is... I've always loved to learn."
Riveria's eye twitched faintly:
"Learning the essence of our elven people would be one thing, but why have you also picked up the dregs, down to the last drop?"
"Pfft...!"
Beside them, Heith Velvet, Alise, and Kaguya all failed to hold it in and burst out laughing together.
Leon's face went dark. He reached over and dug into Heith Velvet's neatly combed pink twin-tails, mussing them up without mercy.
"What's so funny, Lady Gold-en Wi-tch? Where's that poise of yours?"
The gesture puffed up Heith Velvet's slightly babyfat cheeks in indignation, and she swatted Leon's wicked claws away:
"Damn it, get your grubby paws off! I spent half an hour on this hair!"
Leon pulled his hand back with a grin and shrugged:
"You act so sweet and well-behaved in front of your seniors, but you show your true colors the moment you're with me? Not cute at all."
Heith Velvet shot him an eye-roll, hurriedly fixing her strands while muttering under her breath:
"Hmph, none of your business!"
Once Heith Velvet swished her slightly mussed twin-tails, lifted her chin, and strode into the house on her own, only Alise and Kaguya were left at the door.
"Hee! I'll head in first, then!"
Alise winked at Kaguya, then sprang lightly over the threshold and waved to Rose inside:
"Rose, I'm here to bother you all!"
Rose, in a plain black knee-length skirt paired with a white ribbon-collared blouse, a length of fine, flawless calf showing through flesh-toned 60D stockings, fluffy animal winter slippers on her feet, stood to one side of the entryway with her hands folded elegantly before her, watching Alise with a smile:
"Welcome to our home, Alise."
With that, her gaze drifted lightly over Leon and Kaguya still standing outside the door, yet as though she'd seen nothing at all, she naturally took Alise's hand and led her toward the shoe rack.
"Wow... what adorable bunny slippers!"
"Rose, Rose, where'd you buy these slippers? I want to go get a couple pairs too!"
Listening to the cheerful chatter drifting faintly from the entryway, Leon turned to Kaguya, who hadn't moved, and gave a slight smile:
"Long time no see?"
Kaguya dipped her head slightly, the fingers inside her furisode sleeves twisting together without her noticing:
"It hasn't... hasn't been a long time at all... the year-end gathering was only..."
Before she finished, Leon had already slipped an arm around her slender waist.
"Come on, inside with me."
Kaguya flushed red to her ears, eyes darting in panic:
"Hey! You... let go!"
"The more you struggle, the more it excites me. Besides..." He lowered his voice, smiling. "It's not like I haven't held you before."
"Y-you... do you have any idea how terrible your reputation is out there? You scumbag! Pervert! Foot and leg fetishist!"
Leon tightened his arm just a fraction, drawing her whole body close. Their noses nearly touched, one head bowed and one tilted up, each of them able to clearly feel the other's hot breath.
The overly intimate, suggestive pose left Kaguya weak all over, her voice losing its strength, trembling faintly as she murmured:
"You... what exactly do you want... let go already..."
Gazing at this flushed, indignant face so unlike her usual cold demeanor, Leon chuckled and curved his lips:
"My reputation out there?"
"I couldn't care less."
"And anyway, they're just sour grapes, plain jealous that I've got so many remarkable women."
"Hee!"
Kaguya: "..."
Only today did she realize this man could be shameless to such a degree!
And what left her even more speechless was that he not only felt no shame, he was actually... proud of it?
...
...
Half-led, half-carried along by Leon, Kaguya kept her head down the whole way, cheeks burning as she put up feeble resistance. It was less than ten meters from the courtyard gate to the entryway, yet the two of them somehow took a full ten minutes to make the trip.
By the time she finally reached the entryway, Kaguya was weak all over, legs slightly trembling, barely able to keep herself upright.
She steadied herself against the wall, bending forward and breathing lightly, a faint sheen of sweat dampening the hair at her temples, the strands steaming up thin wisps of white in the low outdoor temperature.
Her chest rising and falling, she lifted her eyes and shot Leon a fierce glare, then slowly raised one calf and elegantly hooked off her short boot with her fingertips, revealing a length of fair, jade-pale calf and a gracefully lined ankle wrapped in a plain white tabi.
Just then, her swordsman's keen senses let her clearly feel a scorching gaze landing openly on her feet and calves.
Forcing down the embarrassment rising from deep within, Kaguya slowly lifted her head, meeting Leon's undisguised look of admiration and longing head-on.
"Beautiful, love the view!"
That gaze seemed to carry heat, sending a faint quiver through her heart, a numbing, electric tingle spreading from her belly through her whole body. Kaguya's cheeks went so red they could nearly bleed, even the tips of her ears flushing crimson.
"D-don't look...!"
"Who stares at a girl's feet like this... pervert!"
But for all she said it, her movements in slipping off her boots didn't speed up. If anything, they seemed to... slow down a little.
And that subtle change didn't escape Leon's eyes in the slightest.
He curved his lips, his gaze still fixed, as if appreciating a flawless work of art:
"Perfect!"
"As expected of lines shaped by years of training!"
"Symmetrical, flowing, every curve exactly where it should be."
"Skin smooth as cream, warm as jade... truly without a single flaw."
As for why a beautiful swordswoman's feet could be cared for to such delicate, jade-like perfection, perhaps the only thing to thank was the various pharmaceutical factions' "knack for turning a profit" on skincare products.
"My dear Mr. Leon, I feel obliged to kindly remind you that Mr. Finn and Mr. Hedin are already on their second cup of tea."
Rose's figure had somehow come to stand quietly beside the entryway. Arms lightly crossed, she leaned against the wall, smiling as she watched Kaguya still tangled up in her bashfulness, along with the man beside her who clearly hadn't had his fill.
"Ah, has it really been that long?"
Seeing that Kaguya had hurriedly tucked her feet into the fluffy slippers, Leon withdrew his gaze with a touch of regret.
"Let's go. Can't keep our 'honored guests' waiting too long."
Rose gave a soft laugh, stepped forward, and slipped her arm intimately through Leon's, casting a glance at Kaguya that was there and gone:
"Pretty words, but a certain someone was just now too busy enjoying the view to..."
Kaguya didn't catch the second half of that sentence, but she could guess what Rose had left out without even trying.
S-so improper!
How could I be so improper!
Kaguya, where have your manners and composure as a noble lady gone...
H-how could you shamelessly do that... that sort of thing...
Kaguya bit down hard on her lower lip and bowed her head deeply, her expression hidden from view. Only the crimson-tinged tips of her ears and her faintly burning neck silently betrayed how she felt at that moment.
...
"You two, I think I can more or less guess why you've come."
"It's about the 'Wild Mixture,' isn't it?"
Compared to Kaguya and Heith Velvet, Leon had far less interest in Finn and Hedin.
So the moment he sat down, he wasted no words.
He got straight to the point.
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