Back to Classes

 

The next day (after a rest night for Bar), classes resumed.

As Bar was walking towards the classroom, Francesca met up with him halfway there.

“Am I too close?” Francesca whispered as they walked side-by-side.

Bar felt a bit embarrassed having someone walk next to him to class, but shook his head. I need to get used to it anyway.

Francesca gave him a small smile before turning forward, tensely holding onto her bag.

They got a few glances, but most people were going about their own business before classes started.

Entering the room together, Gerard was about to greet him, before noticing Francesca next to him. Giving a smirk, he watched as Bar sat next to him, and Francesca sat next to Bar. He leaned over, whispering “Something happen over break with you two?”

Bar blushed a bit. “Yeah, our...parents set us up.”

Gerard clapped him on the back, chuckling, “Haha, I thought you two were a better fit anyway.”

Bar glanced over at Francesca, who was blushing and smiling while focusing on her textbook. Yeah, I guess so...

The rest of the students filled in, Carlotta and the rest her crew seeming to either not be surprised, or not notice, that Francesca was sitting with him.

However, one person did seem to notice. Alice, who entered just before class started, gave a noticeable glare towards him and Francesca.

Bar wasn't sure what to make of it. It didn't seem to be an angry or upset look, more...surprised. What!? Did she think other woman wouldn't be interested in me!? Bar then blushed in embarrassment at his own thought.

Turning to Francesca, who also seemed to have noticed, he saw a small, but devious grin dance on her lips, before she looked at her textbook again.

Bar, glad he was on her good side, looked at his own textbook as Miss Renee came in.

“Alright everyone, I'm sure you enjoyed your week off, but it's time to focus on classes again. And just a reminder, your exam results will be posted in the hall at lunch.”

There was audible groaning at this.

Miss Renee shook her head. “You have no one to blame but yourself if you did poorly. I was impressed by some members of our class, though,” she added, with a smirk and a glance.

Is...is she looking at me!?

 

Classes went as normal in the morning, until lunch came.

Francesca asked Bar, “Would you like to sit together today?” with a smile.

Bar had to remind himself that she was both putting on an act, and serious, so nodded.

Gerard said, “Let's go check out the grades before getting food.”
Francesca and Bar looked at each other. Is he inviting himself to sit with us? Well, whatever...

They walked towards the cafeteria, and soon came across a large crowd blocking the hallway, looking over a number of sheets of paper pinned on the wall.

“Aww, come on, I did better than that.”

“Phew, I did alright.”

“My parents will disown me.”

Murmurings and declarations like this were being made around them.

Gerard made a path to the first-year results. He instantly got a grin on his face. “Well look at that,” he said, pointing to the top.

 

1. Gerard Coronet

2. Barrois Champagne

 

Bar was speechless. Wow, I did it. All that studying actually paid off... he imagined the happy faces his fiances would have (especially Claire, the biggest stickler for making him study). Underneath, he noticed another name.

 

3. Alice Bearen

 

Well, I'm not surprised, when we were studying together it was obvious she was smart. I thought smarter than me, honestly...

He didn't have much time to dwell on that, though, as he heard an incredible amount of delighted squealing right next to him.

“Bar, look, look!” Francesca was shouting, jabbing her finger at the paper.

 

8. Francesca Nantes

 

“That's the best I've ever done! In high school I wasn't even in the top half! It's all thanks to you!” she said, jumping up on him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Bar got a bit embarrassed, blushing and gently patting her back. “No, you worked really hard, too.”

Gerard was chuckling watching them.

After a few moments, Francesca realized where she was at, quickly letting go and fixing her dress. “Sorry...”

“Wow, you two got really close over break,” Gerard said.

Francesca smiled. “Yes, we did.”

Gerard was taken aback, before chuckling again. “Haha, come on, let's get some food.”

 

After a lighthearted conversation-filled lunch and and a droll set of afternoon classes, the school day was over.

Francesca grabbed the side of Bar's shirt. “Is it okay if I come over for dinner?”

Bar smiled, “Of course...you can just come over whenever, for dinner or anything else.”

Seeing his smile, Francesca's stomach fluttered a bit. Why is he so stunning!?

“Do you not want to come study with me?” Bar asked.

Francesca shook her head. “I probably will later, but I need to take care of a few errands first.”

Bar nodded. Seemingly not sure what to do in the classroom, he eventually decided on grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze before they parted ways.

Francesca blushed a bit, watching him go. She then shook her head, No, can't get distracted. Quickly going out the door, she stalked down the halls towards the club rooms, walking quickly to catch up with her prey.

After a minute, she saw said prey ahead of her. “Alice?”

Up ahead, Alice stopped. Pausing for a moment, she turned around, seemingly caught off guard at being called out. “You're...Francesca, right?”

Francesca gave a 'hmpf'. “Surprised you even know that.”

Alice just looked at her. “Did you want something?”

Francesca glared at her, “Don't give me that. I saw that look you gave Bar and I this morning. You had your chance-”

She stopped as Alice's face slipped, contorting into anger. “Is that what you-” she started, before seeming to calm herself.

Francesca was surprised by the sudden emotional changes, but then continued, “You had your chance. He's mine now.”

Alice seemed confused. “You...you know about his proclivities, don't you? His weird obsession with his maids, and his 'love' for the Dorm Mistress?”

Francesca crossed her arms, “Yes, they're all fantastic people.”

Alice's jaw dropped a bit, before pursing them back together. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

Francesca nodded. “I don't care how important your family is, you'll regret it if you mess with ours.”

Alice just blinked a few times. “You think I...” she shook her head. “This is a waste of my time. I don't care what you or Bar or whoever does.”

Francesca watched as she turned back around, a noticeable rigidness to her walk as she went down the hall. Well, I think I got my message across.

After Alice was gone, Francesca turned and walked back to her dorm.

 

“Was that really necessary?” Becky asked, as she poured some tea for Francesca when she came in.

Francesca nodded, taking a sip. “Yes, I had to assert my territory.”

“But you're already sharing him with four other women...”

“Yes but...” Francesca pursed her lips, “...this is different. I'm basically acting as cover for all of us while we're at the Academy. I have to make sure everyone knows I'm not to be trifled with.”

Becky sat down, taking a sip from her own tea cup. “Are you sure you didn't just want to rub it in her face?”

Francesca blushed. “No, I...well, okay, maybe I did. But everything else was true too!”

Becky nodded, “Of course, Mistress.”

Francesca sighed. Grabbing a cookie from the plate (Becky always baked a few cookies for her after classes), she started chomping on it.

Becky asked, “Have you given any thought to what Miss Claire said last night?”

Francesca nodded as she munched. “Yes. I think studying with Bar, I can graduate with good marks, too. I'm hoping I can leverage my friendship with Carlotta to get a good paying job in some bureaucratic department.”

Becky raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn't that entail going to the Capital, then?”

Francesca blushed, “Potentially.”

“But...how is that going to work? Will you live apart from your fiance?”

“I don't know, okay! If it pays well enough, maybe I work a few years then come back once I've made a decent amount.”

Becky shook her head. “You're so head over heels for him...”

Francesca smiled and blushed, grabbing another cookie. “What about you? Have you thought about my suggestion?”

“About letting him have his way with me?” Becky replied

Francesca flung a cookie, hitting Becky in the forehead. “That's not what I said...I said consider it if you're interested. I'm not forcing you. Or letting him do anything.”

“But you would let him if I wanted to?” Becky snapped back.

“So you do want to?” Francesca replied back with a smile.

Becky, in a rare show of defeat, bit her lip slightly. “I don't...have the same type of relationship with him that you do. I'll do my maid duties if I need too, but otherwise, I'm just fine without it.”

Francesca, not expecting that, nodded. “Sorry, I didn't mean-”

Becky shook her head. “It's fine. I...” she paused, considering her words, “...I would like to have kids in the future. Miss Claire's comments yesterday made me think about it.”

Francesca, overcome with feelings for her maid-friend, reached over and hugged her.

Letting a smile come to her lips, Becky hugged her back.

 

Bar sat in his room, going over a textbook. They didn't have a lot to go off yet in the new semester, so he was getting a head start on what would be covered in the future.

As he was reading, the door opened, Claire running in.

“There's my top-marks fiance,” she said, running in and kissing him.

Bar was about to protest that he was only number two, but stopped as she was followed by Mio and Dolly, both in maid outfits.

Claire, noticing Bar was distracted, giggled, “Hehehe, Dolly fit one of Joan's uniforms, although its a bit tight in the bust...”

Dolly blushed, before scratching her head and smiling. “Whaddaya think?”

Bar, deadpan serious, gave a thumps up. “Amazing.”

Dolly was caught off guard, smiling and blushing further as she looked down.

Joan and Belle, who were preparing dinner, looked over at Dolly, then at themselves.

Mio snuck up behind them. “Ooohhh, this smells good, what is it?”

Belle responded, “It's beef roast with mashed potatoes.”

Mio raised an eyebrow. “Beef roast is good, but why would you mash your potatoes? Isn't it easier just to bake them?”

Joan grabbed a spoon and dug into the mashed potatoes she was whisking, handing it to Mio wordlessly with a look saying 'just try it'.

Mio blew on it to cool if off, then stuffed it in her mouth. As she tasted it, her face glowed, sparkles coming into her eyes.

Joan crossed her arms and smiled, nodding at her reaction.

“This...this is the greatest thing I've ever eaten,” Mio replied, digging her spoon back in for another bite.

“It's my signature dish. It'll be one of our options at the restaurant.”

Claire's (who was sitting in Bar's lap again) ears wiggled hearing the restaurant mentioned. “Do any of you know any carpenters? Well, affordable ones?”

Dolly shook her head. “By the sound of it, you know some that arn't affordable?”

Claire nodded. “Yes, while I was crib-, I mean, furniture shopping, I found some, but-”

She was stopped as Bar picked her up, turning her slowly around while looking at her. Claire cowered a bit seeing the intense look on his face.

“You can't just casually say you were crib shopping and gloss over it!” Bar said.

Claire blushed, but then replied. “What's wrong with that!? I'm already twenty-four, I need to start popping them out soon!”

Bar grabbed his temples, “We haven't even really talked about it, besides just agreeing that we will.”

Claire turned the rest of the way around, straddling him with his legs. “Well, we need to discuss it!”

Bar's eyes went wide. “What!? Are you pregnant!?”

“No, I'm not pregnant, you idiot! I'm taking my contraceptive medicine!” Claire responded, jabbing his cheek with a finger.

As she had been shouting 'I'm not pregnant', the door had opened, Francesca coming in. As Claire was finishing up, she looked over at her.

Francesca didn't know how to react. “Umm...should I come back later, or...”

Joan, who had walked over when the door opened, shook her head as she closed the door (after Becky had also come in). “No, it's fine.”

Bar, still focusing on Claire, responded, “I'm only nineteen! I can't have kids yet.”

Claire shook her head, “That's a perfectly normal time to have children. My mother had me at twenty, and I wasn't even her first!”

“I'm still taking classes though! I can't...” he trailed off, looking down, “...look, I want to have children too, I'm just...not ready to be a father yet.”

Claire blushed, before looking down, and sliding off his lap. “Sorry, just...as long as you're taking it seriously...”

The dorm room was silent for a moment, before Dolly butted in, “Err...I'm kinda running out of time over here, so the sooner the better for me, too!” she said chuckling a bit.

Joan coughed, “Since we're talking about it, I'd like to start relatively soon as well, or we won't hit your quota...”

“I think our babies will be really cute,” was all Belle said, looking down and smiling while poking her fingers together.

Bar was blushing while looking down. I can't let all my women down! But I really don't... Bar did want to have children. In fact, he had even daydreamed about it on occasion (although in his daydreams they just looked like miniature versions of their respective mothers). But, even if it wasn't uncommon to have children now that he was an adult, he didn't think he was mentally ready for it. Trying to think of a compromise, Bar said, “Once...once we get a house, maybe we can start trying then...”

Claire leapt up at him, swinging off his neck in celebration.

Joan seemed conflicted though. “Aren't we really far away from getting a house big enough?”

Bar shrugged, “Maybe...maybe we can get a small house while we're saving up for the large one. It's not like we all need to stuff ourselves in there, we still have our dorms and the tavern.”

Belle asked, “We can probably work at the restaurant while pregnant, but what about you, Claire?”

Claire gave a fist pump, “Once I have Bar's child in me, I'll be unstoppable!”

The others just blinked at her, before nodding.

Francesca, who had been silently drinking tea at the opposite corner of the row of tables, chimed in, “I, for one, would like to wait until I've graduated and have a job, first,” she said, before blushing and grabbing her drills.

Bar smiled across at her, “That's perfectly fine with me.”

Becky, sitting across from Francesca, replied, “I may be pregnant before you then.”

Francesca gave an angry growl, poking Becky in the forehead.

Mio, who had been chowing down on a bowl of mashed potatoes while this conversation was happening, swallowed a mouthful before saying, “Are you all really going to be okay sharing Bar? I don't understand how you all don't get jealous of the others having sex with him.”

The fiances all looked at each other.

“I'm not saying this to imply I 'settled' by getting with Bar, but it is better than my alternative options,” Joan explained with a shrug.

Belle nodded, “It's a little crazy having someone win me in a duel and then ask me to marry them, but I'm happy.”

Dolly scratched her head again. “Any guy crazy enough to keep pursuing me is good at my age.”

Bar started have comical tears come out of his eyes. “So you're saying you all just married me because you had no other option!?”

Joan smiled, leaning down and setting her chin on his forehead as he looked up. “No, it's because you gave us the option.”

Belle and Dolly both nodded vigorously in agreement.

Mio, not fully convinced, looked at Claire and Francesca. “What about the noblewomen? I'm sure you had other options.”

Claire fumed a bit. “Those bastard nobles didn't give me any options!” However, her fuming quickly turned into a maniacal grin. “My ex-classmates will be seething when they see me getting married to some young, sexy man, living in a big house, while there stuck with some old guys at some small estate in the middle of nowhere.”

Sexy again!? “So you're just using me for revenge!?” Bar asked.

Claire shook her head, jumping back in his lap and kissing him. “No, I'm doing what makes me happy, which is the best revenge.”

Mio looked over at Francesca.

Francesca blushed a bit. “I...” she started, before trailing off. “I had to get my claim in on him before any of the other Academy girls!”

The other fiances all looked at her.

“What!?” she said, blushing further.

Joan smiled, scratching her cheek, “Well, he seems to like older woman, so we never really thought he'd be into Academy girls, especially after the tiff with Alice...”

Bar nodded. “To be honest, I didn't think I would either...”

Franesca crossed arms. “You seemed into me when I came to your room...”

Bar blushed, “I was wrong, okay...”

Joan giggled, before going over to Francesca, “You know, I didn't get a chance to hear about that yet...”

“Oh, I want to as well!” Claire said, jumping down again and rushing over.

Francesca blushed but gave her haughty smile, “Well, I knew Bar would be alone, so I...”

As she told her story, Bar just shook his head and drank his tea.

Mio snuck up behind him, slightly scaring him as she studied him closely. She then started sniffing.

“What, do I smell!?” Bar asked.

Mio shook her head. “No. I thought maybe you were giving off some weird pheromone. I don't understand why they're so crazy over you.”

Bar blushed, shrugging.

Mio raised an eyebrow. “How do you win them over though?”

“I just...try to treat them right.”

Mio made a sideways thinking face. “Hmm...maybe I should try something...”

Bar was confused. “Try what?”

Mio thought for a few moments, before asking. “Can you hug me?”

Bar was taken aback. “You just...want a hug?”

Mio nodded. “Yes, but...close your eyes and pretend I'm Joan or one of the others.”

Since the others were still talking, Bar shrugged and closed his eyes, before wrapping his arms around her.

It was hard to imagine her as one of the others, as she was thinner than even Claire, he could have probably wrapped a single arm around her if he had tried. After a few moments of embracing, he felt Mio's thin arms wrap around him as well. As if on reflex, he instinctively pulled her close, feeling her perky breasts stick into his chest.

Opening his eyes, he let go, “Sorry, I didn't mean-”

He stopped as he saw Mio was tearing up a bit.

“Sorry, I...thanks...” she said, before walking over and back to the kitchen, before quickly scooping herself some more mashed potatoes.

Becky, who had gone over to finish the cooking while everyone else was distracted, looked over at him from the corner of her eye.

What!? She wanted a hug...

Sitting down, Becky started serving plates as Francesca finished her story.

“After that, we cuddled for a while, but I left before Becky could find out.”

Becky, sitting a plate down in front of her at that moment, shook her head, “What a silly mistress I have...”

Francesca tried to poke Becky's forehead again, but Becky deftly dodged, before sitting down across from her with a plate for herself.

 

As everyone was eating and chatting, Bar looked around, smiling nervously. Yeah that house is gonna be necessary. I'm really happy with everyone we've picked up, but...I feel like it's getting a bit crowded in here...

 

Later, they decided that Dolly would spend the night with him.

“She's already here, and the tavern is closed until we renovate it, so may as well,” Claire explained with a shrug.

Joan nodded, “We'll figure out the rest of the rotation later.”

Bar shook his head, I guess it's a necessity...

Dolly seemed really happy as they went into his bedroom. Looking around, she seemed surprised. “It's big, but I thought a noble's bedroom would be bigger.”

Bar chuckled, “They normally are, this is just the academy's dorm. The one at my parents' estate is larger.”

Dolly gave a forlorn smile, “I'm assuming your parents wouldn't like me.”

Bar started to share his head, but then stopped, looking at her chest that was bulging out of the maid outfit. “Actually, my father probably would like you...”

Dolly blushed. “Well, I'm with you now,” she explained, hugging Bar and smashing his face into her chest.

Bar started to feel himself getting aroused. Kissing her, he pulled down her maid outfit and grabbed her breasts.

Dolly gave a little squeal before pushing him over onto the bed and making out with him. Pulling off Bar's pants, she hiked up her skirt and pulled down her panties. “Let's get down to business!”

Bar blushed and smiled, grabbing her waist as she slid down onto his member.

Dolly let out a satisfied moan as she started bouncing up and down.

After a couple minutes, Bar grabbed her tighter, pulling her down as he released inside her.

Dolly, all red in the face, fell onto him breasts-first, before slowly kissing him again. After a few moments, she hugged him tightly.

Bar smiled, “What's wrong? I'm not going anywhere!”

Dolly smiled, “I know. I just...you make me feel so...”

Bar tilted his head a bit, waiting for her to respond.

“...so wanted. Like you actually want me be be here.”

Bar chuckled, “Of course I want you around.”

Dolly hugged him again. “That's what I mean! It's just...nice.”

Thinking back to earlier with Mio, Bar rolled over and pulled her closely to him, maximizing their contact.

Dolly blushed, smiling. “Yeah, this is nice too.”

After a couple minutes, Bar's member started poking into her stomach.

Bar blushed, “Sorry...”

Dolly giggled, “You want that too...” she said, before grabbing his member.

 

After undressing and going at it twice more, they curled up together on top of his bed. Bar held her close as she fell asleep, a satisfied smile on her face.

Bar, however, was thinking about what she had said earlier. Being wanted? Hmmm... Bar realized he was a bit lucky, there, as he had...multiple people that wanted him. Not everyone else was that lucky, of course. Claire's probably the same way. Maybe Joan and Belle too. He also thought about Mio wanting a hug earlier. Is that how she feels, too?

Realizing he had something to be thoughtful of in the future, he closed his eyes, pulling Dolly closer.