The next day, Rest, Viola, and Primula decided to go shopping in town.
Today the academy was closed — a holiday date, so to speak.
When Rest left the House Rosemary estate flanked by the sisters on either side, they found a crowd of people in the garden.
"You lot aren't putting in enough effort! Five hundred more push-ups!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
In the garden were the sisters' mother, Irish Rosemary, along with a group of young magicians serving House Rosemary.
Among the men being put through their paces shirtless, Rest recognized several faces. They were the ones who had challenged him to a footrace the day before — and lost.
"Oh, Rest, sir!"
"Young ladies!"
"Good morning!"
"O-Oh…"
Upon noticing Rest and the Rosemary sisters, the men doing push-ups sprang to their feet and bowed in greeting.
Leading the group was a young man of minor noble blood named Nick Beil.
"Going out? Please, do take care!"
Despite having been all bluster yesterday about refusing to acknowledge the sisters' fiancé, he was remarkably deferential today.
The crushing defeat he'd suffered yesterday, beaten by an overwhelming margin, must have really gotten to him.
(No, actually… maybe what's getting to him is his wife's scolding…?)
"That's enough chatting! Resume your training!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
As soon as Irish gave the order, the bare-chested magicians immediately resumed doing push-ups.
True to his word. Last night, Irish had said he would retrain them... and it looked like he was already putting them through the wringer.
(I feel bad for them... but they reaped what they sowed. Sorry, but hang in there...)
"W-Well then, ma'am. We'll be heading out."
"Do try not to be too late. And you two — don't dote on your husband too much."
"I know that! Stop saying it in front of everyone!"
"Yes... we're off."
Viola and Primula said shyly, each taking one of Rest's hands.
Their harmonious image with the beautiful sisters was bound to draw the envy of the other men... but surprisingly, not a single one looked at them with jealousy.
The young magicians, starting with Nick, wiped the sweat from their bare upper bodies and sent them off with refreshing smiles.
"I guess that means he's been accepted..."
"House Rosemary is all about merit, after all. Top to bottom."
"If you have ability, your birth doesn't matter... It wasn't just Mother — Grandmother was like that too, you know?"
It seemed the family had been that way for generations.
Rest smiled wryly at the thought that he'd been welcomed into such an impressive household, then headed toward the carriage parked in front of the gate.
He led the sisters by the hand onto the carriage, and the three of them sat down side by side.
"So... is there anything you'd like to buy today?"
"Hmm? Not particularly."
"Nothing in particular."
"Huh? There's nothing?"
Rest blinked both eyes.
Since he'd been asked to tag along on a shopping trip, he'd assumed they had something specific they wanted to buy — but could it be that they had no goal at all?
"My goodness… Rest still doesn't understand women's hearts at all, does he? Perhaps our fiancé needs some education?"
"Those kinds of things are what make you cute, though. If you became the type who understood women's hearts and got popular, that would be a problem. This level is just right, don't you think?"
Viola and Primula exchanged glances, sharing wry smiles.
For Rest, he genuinely had no idea what they meant.
"Um… what do you mean?"
"It's not that we're going shopping because there's something we want to buy — the point is going shopping *together* with you, Rest."
"That's right. We invited you because we wanted to enjoy shopping together!"
Both of them said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
In his past life, he'd had no connections with women and hadn't been wealthy enough to afford shopping as a hobby, so this was simply a concept Rest had never encountered.
*(It's not about having something I want to buy — shopping is the entertainment itself?)* He'd heard that women liked shopping, but Rest now understood, as if learning it for the first time, that this was what they meant.
"We can pick out clothes together, have tea… let's enjoy that kind of time as a couple."
"We'll give a thorough education to the hopelessly dense Sir Rest. You'd better brace yourself!"
Come to think of it… it had been over a year since he'd met the two of them. They'd even bathed together, yet they'd hardly ever gone on anything resembling a date.
Between studying for academy admission and his training, he'd been busy, and once enrolled, getting used to classes and academy life had become his top priority.
*(Is that why they've been so unusually cheerful about this…)* It seemed Rest had been obtuse about the whole thing.
They were his fiancées, after all… yet he'd been far too passive and hadn't been considerate at all.
(I ought to start inviting them on dates myself once in a while… or they might just give up on me.)
Resolved not to be cast aside by Viola and Primula, Rest made up his mind to start acting more like a proper boyfriend.