The setting sun dyed the sky in a palette of reds and oranges. The hustle and bustle of North Star High School had mostly faded at this hour since most students had already gone home for the day.

Perhaps everything that followed could have been avoided if I hadn’t been called to the teacher’s office to talk to Ms. Blaine about my best friend Leo’s growing number of female admirers.

The sight of Elizabeth McDouglas’ butler waiting for me at the entrance to the school had knots forming in my stomach. I desperately wished I hadn’t left my stomach medicine at home.

“Sir Asta, My Lady requests your presence.”

“R-Right…”

I wasn’t a Sir at all. Asta Ashford was as ordinary of a commoner that you could find anywhere in the world. I had no business talking to the daughter of one of the richest men in the world, but being friends with Leo Maxwell tended to open doors that would otherwise remain closed.

There was only one thing going through my mind as I sat in the luxurious car on the ride to an even more luxurious mansion. This day had arrived at last. Elizabeth McDouglas finally lost her patience with my best friend.

We arrived at Elizabeth’s place far too soon. I wasn’t ready, but I couldn’t exactly ignore the butler motioning for me to follow him. It was like I was entering a demon’s lair. Each step into the mansion brought me further and further out of my comfort zone. The butler led me into a dining hall full of familiar faces.

“My Lady, I have brought Sir Asta as requested.”

“Excellent work Sebas.”

My face paled as I took in the dining room. With the exception of the butler who had led me here, every other occupant in the hall was a beautiful girl. To make matters worse, I recognized nearly all of them.

Leo and my teacher, Ms. Blaine, Leo’s childhood friend Ashley, Leo’s self proclaimed rival Jade… Every girl here held special feelings for my best friend. Cold sweat dripped down my back from being in enemy territory. I spoke up to hide my nervousness.

“Elizabeth, I think there has been some kind of mistake.”

There were around twenty girls sitting at the long dining table and each of them loved Leo more than anyone else in the world.

“No, Asta. As the one closest to Leo, you have every right to be here. Please sit and enjoy the banquet.”

Over twenty pairs of eyes fixated on me with a range of jealousy, friendliness, and unhappiness. I wanted to cry. It wasn’t my fault that Leo would rather hang out with his guy friends than spend time with them. 

Some of these girls had backgrounds no less powerful than Elizabeth. I cowered under their gazes and quickly sat down at the dinner table. The master of the house continued on in a confident voice.

“Everyone, the goal of today’s meeting is to address the question that has plagued all of us. How can we get Leo to take us seriously?”

I didn’t want to hear about my best friend’s love life. Heedless of my wishes, a chorus of unhappy voices eagerly chimed in at Elizabeth’s words.

“Hmph. Not even pushing him down works. He somehow misinterpreted my advances as playful wrestling.”

“It is no use~ I confessed to him, but he acted like I said we were friends~”

“I gave it to him straight, but his selective hearing kicked in and he missed what I said.”

My mind wavered back and forth between awkwardness and fear. Cold sweat dripped down my back and I tried to pretend like I wasn’t here. Unfortunately, Elizabeth didn’t let me remain as an ugly wallflower.

“I’m confident that Leo will never find a better lover candidate outside of the girls gathered in this room. Don’t you agree, Asta?”

“I agree.”

I gulped nervously. The girls that loved Leo all held attractive appearances that put models to shame. As if that wasn’t enough, they also had great personalities and backgrounds. Each one of them genuinely loved Leo. It was too bad that he didn’t feel the same way.

“Then, why does he ignore us? His poor pretense at being a dense man can only fool those unused to traversing the two-faced world of nobility.”

Leo was a noble like Elizabeth and a few others in the room. His lineage may have a long history, but Leo and his grandfather were the only two left.

Leo’s grandfather changed after Leo’s parents passed away in an Upper World dungeon. His declining lifespan caused Leo’s grandfather to push Leo to produce an heir as soon as possible.

It started off by surrounding Leo with attractive maids and promising them money should they produce an heir. When that didn’t work, Leo’s grandfather began to escalate his actions. It was not long until Leo began to dislike women that approached him.

I knew all of that, but that didn’t mean I could answer Elizabeth’s questions. It wasn’t my place to give up Leo’s secrets. I could only play dumb.

“I don’t know.”

One of the other girls, a lower noble named Flora, banged her hand on the table.

“Don’t give me that. I’ll pay you however much you want. Tell me how to capture Leo’s heart!”

“That will not do, Flora. I brought Asta here as one of my guests. He deserves the same amount of respect that you would give to me. Attempting to use money to ferret out Leo’s closely guarded secrets is a disgrace to the Minkleheart name.”

Flora Minkleheart turned as white as a sheet at Elizabeth’s admonishment.

“I-I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I just want Leo to smile from the bottom of his heart. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t me as long as Leo is happy.”

Elizabeth and Flora were too good for Leo. No, that was wrong. All of these girls were too good for Leo. I didn’t know the specifics of how my best friend had captured all of their hearts and I didn’t want to know. Even so, I could guess that his unconscious heroic actions played a part.

I wished these girls good luck. While it would be a nice bonus to not get kidnapped on a semi-regular basis like what happened today, I simply wanted Leo to stop uttering such scary words to me. The only saving grace was that he was only joking when he said those scary words.

Elizabeth rang a bell and a bunch of servants brought in a round of beverages. The master of the house was the type of girl to thoroughly prepare before making her move and this time was no different. It was no surprise that I found my favorite drink, Dr. Pep, placed in front of me.

Elizabeth held up her glass and the others followed her lead in a familiar manner. I hastily mimicked them so as not to stand out.

“Let the 7th strategy meeting to capture Leonhart Maxwell’s heart begin. A toast, to Leo’s happiness.”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Glasses clanged together. I felt terribly out of place, but I wasn’t boorish enough to refuse the customary toast. I followed Elizabeth's lead and gulped down my glass of  Dr. Pep. Sweet, carbonated goodness rolled smoothly down my throat. The small, athletic girl to my side turned to me with a wide grin.

“Hehe, you drank the glass.”

A chill went down my spine. In fact, it wasn’t just her. Half of the girls at the table were looking at me with scary smiles while the other half were averting their gazes in awkwardness. Elizabeth’s words rang clearly through the sudden silence.

“Pardon our rude actions, but this was the only way we could come up with that would make Leo happy.”

“W-What are you talking about?”

Something was seriously wrong. I stood up in fright the moment I noticed something amiss. My body grew heavy and it was hard to maintain my balance. A burning sensation spread throughout my body.

I tried to leave. I only made it a few steps before my vision grew dark. A falling sensation struck me. Amidst my fading consciousness, I heard Elizabeth repeat the scary phrase that Leo liked to tell me as a joke. 

“If only you were a girl… right?”

Then, I knew no more.