Ximo had no idea that her words had ignited Melrose’s sadistic desires like dry tinder meeting a raging fire. In any case, Melrose finally stopped teasing her and found two adjacent seats to sit down in.
This greatly reduced the risk of exposure. With the two of them sitting side by side, Ximo just needed to hide her wrist between their tightly pressed thighs.
She had finally made it through this ordeal. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ximo couldn’t help but ponder in her heart what Melrose’s intentions were in doing all this.
Today’s Melrose seemed like a completely different person. She had started off with this intimidating move right away, and Ximo felt there must be a reason for it—she couldn’t possibly be doing it just to bully her, right?
Moreover, Melrose knew about what had happened that night. Ximo was actually quite curious why Melrose hadn’t reported it to the academy but had instead come to threaten her with it. Ximo didn’t think there was anything about her worth threatening the princess over.
The bus slowly started moving. Just as Ximo was sitting upright and lost in thought, a sudden weight landed on her shoulder—it was Melrose, who had tilted her head to lean against it.
“Hey—Ximo, you don’t have to sit so stiffly. It’s uncomfortable for me to lean like this.”
“Ah? Okay…”
Ximo then realized her back was ramrod straight, not at all like someone heading out for fun. She slowly leaned back against the seat, and a satisfied light chuckle came from Melrose by her ear.
The Imperial Capital Magic Academy was located on a mountain some distance from Cantelot Imperial Capital. Even with a convenient direct bus to the city, the trip still took two hours.
If she hadn’t wanted to waste that much time, Melrose could have easily arranged a faster car to take her and Ximo into the city. But she had chosen to ride the bus with Ximo anyway.
Outside the window stretched the spring mountain scenery. The bus wound downward along the mountain road, and Melrose kept her head resting on Ximo’s shoulder, gazing at the view without any intention of lifting it.
“Ximo—you got any hobbies?”
Melrose’s sudden question nearly made Ximo straighten her back again instinctively. She had thought Melrose was about to grill her on that night, but it turned out to be casual chit-chat.
“Let me think…”
Ximo pondered for a moment. If it were her previous life, she wouldn’t have needed to think twice—chasing anime, gaming, sleeping in were all hobbies of hers. But ever since transmigrating to this world, she really hadn’t paid much attention to the question.
“…Maintaining weapons counts as one, I guess? Does that sound kinda weird?”
Ximo had actually thought of one. She didn’t know when it started, but she found herself particularly enjoying taking out each weapon from her handheld suitcase one by one to maintain them. Seeing every flying knife’s blade polished to a mirror shine that reflected her face made Ximo feel incredibly calm.
So even though it sounded more like some odd quirk, Ximo figured it was currently her biggest hobby.
“What’s that?” Melrose burst out laughing. “It does sound a bit weird, but it’s pretty good too—having a hobby you can openly share with others.”
Ximo caught a hint of sentiment in Melrose’s tone. She guessed that as the Roland Princess, Melrose probably had to deal with all sorts of things and rarely had time for her own interests.
“Does Senior Sister Melrose usually stay so busy you don’t have time for things you like?”
“No, that’s not quite it,” Melrose fell silent for a moment. “If—if I had a hobby even stranger than maintaining weapons, one so weird I couldn’t let anyone know about it, what would you think?”
The abrupt and baffling question short-circuited Ximo’s brain. She blinked a few times, unable to come up with an answer right away.
“Never mind, forget it—forget that. By the way, doesn’t this feel kinda like we’re out on a date?” Melrose lifted her head from Ximo’s shoulder, resuming her faint smile.
“Huh? N-no, probably not?”
Ximo didn’t dare agree. She knew her own place all too well—going on a date with the Roland Empire’s princess? She wouldn’t say that even if you gave her a few more guts.
But before Melrose’s smile could fade, Ximo added, “Though, about what you asked earlier—I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it?”
“Maybe everyone has some little hobby they can’t share with others. You only think it’s weird because only you know about yours. I think it’s totally normal.”
Ximo felt Melrose’s question was just like modern netizens’ kinks—everyone had different ones, and even weird ones (viewer discretion advised) were normal.
Melrose was stunned by Ximo’s words. So Ximo thought it was normal…
—
The bus bumped along for two hours before finally reaching the city. They didn’t chat much along the way, and toward the latter half, Ximo grew drowsy and dozed off against Melrose’s shoulder. It wasn’t until the pull on her wrist at the stop that she jolted awake.
“Mmph, sorry Senior Sister Melrose, did I fall asleep just now?”
Melrose smiled without saying anything, but she had already stood up. Students around them were rising to get off, so Ximo hurriedly repeated her old trick, standing and pressing close to conceal the leash on her wrist.
Phew, she had survived this round too. She never wanted to go through something like sneaking a toy in class while being careful not to let classmates hear the vibrations again!
Ximo had originally worried that Melrose bringing her to Cantelot meant some shady business—like dragging her straight to the royal palace for interrogation. But to her surprise, Melrose really just took her shopping and sightseeing around Cantelot.
The only embarrassing part was the leash on her wrist. There were no academy students in the imperial capital, but as Melrose had said, the place was packed with people. Ximo still had to go to great lengths to hide her wrist while accompanying Melrose on her strolls.
