âAre you
Alrescha Lyra Hartmann?â
âHm?â
On a particular day, I was greeted by an unfamiliar voice from behind. At that time, I was separated from the rest of my pals because I met with Erneste. He said heâd give me his notebooks for me to study, who knows it might be useful?
My pals had mixed feelings. Iris gave her thumbs of approval, while the others seemed to be grudgeful of Erneste already.
Alt-nii only shook his head helplessly as he chuckled at my palsâ reaction.
With such words, Alt-nii managed to make everyone (reluctantly) let me go alone.
He also encouraged the rest of us to associate ourselves with others if given the chance to.
Alt-nii is really maturing, huh?
Meanwhile, Iâm still a bit inferior when it comes to associating myself with others. Itâs like I donât really mind if I am only mingling with my current pals, eh.
Anyway, back to the present!
I turned my head in response to someone calling me out.
thatâ
I was a little bit surprised upon finding three girls standing behind me with their arms crossed like that.
The one in the center seemed to be the one who called out to me. She seemed to be a very prominent or dominant girl, with medium length hair that was of reddish brown color. The tips of her hair were slightly curled outside. There was a small ahoge turning upwards. Her bangs were quite short that I could see her short eyebrows completely. Her ash-colored eyes were looking at me⦠with a very sharp gaze.
Meanwhile, the two standing next to her seemed to have some similarities, and they seemed like the center girlâs⦠guards? I got that kind of vibe... Ah, I got it! The two girls possessed sakura-colored or pink-colored eyes that were similar.
The girl on the left had brown skin with thick eyebrows. Her deep pink hair was tied in a high ponytail on her left side. From her appearance, she seemed to be the tomboy sort of a girl. She seemed rather bold, although she didnât seem as dominant as the girl on the center.
Meanwhile, the girl on the right side had a pale white skin that exposed her freckles. Her eyes were the lazy eyes type, and her eyebrows were thinner than the girl on the left side. Her hair was a bit curly with the same color of her eyes, pink or sakura color. She styled her hair in some braids with the same high ponytail, but on her right side of the head. From how she styled herself, she seemed to be the girlish type.
âHello? Our boss is talking to you! Are you or are you not
Lyra?!â
The girl on the left raised her loud voice to me.
âOh dear me, Dmitria, youâre scaring the little girl, tsk tsk tsk,â the girl on the right side said with her gentle voice.
âSo what, Valerie? If thatâs how much courage she possesses, then she is really not worthy of Prince Erneste!â Dmitria argued.
âDmitria, Valerie, quiet. Letâs give this little one a chance to speak. Say, are you, or are you not?â The center figureâthe âbossâ spoke.
ââ¦I am Lyra, you are right. But whatâs that got to do with you lot? Have we met one another before?â I asked with a guarding look.
âHmph! Boss Briar, she says she is the one!â Dmitria said with an accusing tone.
âFufufu, poor one,â Valerie said as she wrung her handkerchief.
âNo, we havenât,â the bossâ
shook her head before she suddenly pointed her finger to me.
âHOWEVER!â
âHow dare you bewitch our prince, Erneste-sama?!â She angrily said.
âUhm⦠WHAT??â
EXCUSE ME?
I never once tried to approach Erneste. He was the one to approach me.
âPrince Erneste is everyoneâs prince, a figure that should never be snatched by any girl. We, of Prince Erneste fan club, vowed that weâd protect our prince with everything!â Boss Briar announced.
ââ¦â
âIf someoneâs going to have him, then Boss Briar should be the one!â Dmitria argued.
ââ¦Briar is Prince Ernesteâs number one fan, after all. Sheâs the one who found the fan club as well,â Valerie smiled.
â...â
âSo, scram! Donât ever approach Prince Erneste again!â Briar pointed her finger at me again and gave me a warning look.
Before I managed to say anything in my defense, she quickly added.
âHmph! You understand? Well, Iâll be kind enough to let you off now, but donât you think Iâll let you off in the future!! Iâm warning you!!â
You should thank Boss Briar!â
ââ¦How lucky of you,â Valerie said.
Then, the three of them disappeared in a
ââ¦â
What the heck just happened?!
I touched my forehead in my confusion.
I⦠I should consult this with my friends!
Iris might know more as she seemed to be a bit of Ernesteâs fanâ¦
With that in mind, I dashed off to regroup with my friends as quickly as I could.
***
âAh, they must be the troublemaker trio!!â
Iris quickly enlightened me as she clapped her hands together.
ââ¦Troublemaker trio?â
Iris nodded at my question.
âYou see, the boss of the troublemaker trio is the second daughter of the Marquis Remus residence. Sheâs Arusha Briar-Rose Remus. People often gossiped about how different she is from her perfect big sister. And they all said that if Briar-Rose has done something correct, then itâs only the formation of the Prince Erneste Fan Club.â
ââ¦What theâ¦â
âShe imposed too much rules, though, to the extent that they actually boycotted her from the fan club she founded⦠so people said. Add that they couldnât bring themselves to really like her, the troublemaker. With the only exception of the two other people that made up the troublemaker trio along with Briar-Rose. You can say that the two of them are Briar-Roseâs sidekicks.â
âIris, you know a lot, donât you?â I suddenly found Iris amazing. I looked at her in a new light now.
âW-well, donât you like listening to such rumors, Lyra? They can be exciting,â Iris asked me in return.
I thought for a while and shook my head.
âEeh, not really. I am not that much of a gossiper⦠but maybe thatâs why I really am not up-to-date with things.â
Iris sighed. She then asked me again, âThen, do you know Briar-Roseâs two sidekicks? They are quite well-known, you know?â
âUhm⦠Nope, sorry, heheâ¦â
I forced myself to laugh.
Iris sighed again.
I turned around to look at my other friends, only to find them silently feigning ignorance, although I could tell that they were all listening.
â¦
Iris finally continued.
âLyra, Briar-Roseâs sidekicks are a pair of sisters, Dmitria Bartlett Flugel and Thayne Valerie Flugel. Also known as the [miracle twins]. They practically half-siblings born in the same day, yet they are sooo different.â
âHalf-siblings born in the same day? Whoa, thatâs really a coincidence. Do they take after their respective mother?â
âHmmm⦠Iâm sorry to say that I canât answer your question, I havenât heard much about their family situation. I only know that theyâre called as the [miracle twins] because of something like that⦠Oh, they are the Flugel main familyâs only children.â
âFlugel family⦠Uuuuh, I have heard of them before. The earl family from the West?â
âAh, finally, you know something!â Iris happily tapped my shoulders.
ââ¦â
âSo, the crazy fangirls are starting to come to you, Lyra?â Clavis finally opened his mouth to talk.
âUh⦠I guess so?â
âWell, thatâs to be expected,â Luca nodded.
âBig Sis Lyra, Iâll go and beat those bad girls for you!â Ein pouted as he clapped his chest.
âNothing good comes from facing off against the ones known as troublemakers,â Iris said.
âHm? Lyr can just beat âem all!â Carbuncle made a gesture of⦠WAIT, ISNâT THAT A GESTURE OF KILLING?!
âThen, youâd better not seeing that sham prince again, Lyra,â Clavis suddenly gave an extreme suggestion.
âBut, Clavis! I already told him that I am willing to be his friend!â
âThen just say that youâve changed your mind.â
âThat⦠Isnât it a bit too heartless?â I was surprised at Clavisâ suggestion.
âDonât you think so, Luca?â Clavis suddenly brought Luca into our conversation.
âHuh, me? Hmmm⦠If it were me, I wouldnât want to get involved in something that bothersome. But then again, itâs up to Lyra,â Luca shrugged.
âAlt?â Clavis raised his eyebrows at Alt-nii.
âWell⦠This is a bit tricky,â Alt-nii scratched his head.
âI have an idea!â Iris suddenly added.
âYes, lawyer Iris, go and make your argument!â I quickly gestured at Iris.
âWhy donât you wait and see first? If they are persistent enough to cause you troubles⦠we are here to help, but thereâs a more effective wayâtry asking Erneste himself! Since the trioâespecially Briar-Roseâare Ernesteâs fans, wouldnât they be willing to listen to Ernesteâs words?â
A light bulb went on in my head.
âIris, brilliant!â I immediately grabbed Irisâ hands.
âMy Iris is awesomeee! Muah, muah (
! I love youuu!â I hugged Iris.
âYouâre very welcome, hehe~,â Iris laughed.
ââ¦â
I felt several eyes were looking at us with indescribable gazes, but when I tried to take a look at them, I couldnât find anythingâ¦
But anyway, for the time being, I already know what to do, so what?
Everything is going to be just fine⦠right?
***
On another day.
When I met again with Erneste to give his notebooks back, I decided not to mention the matter of his crazy fangirls first as they hadnât done anything to me anyway.
But right after we went our separate waysâ¦
âEkh?!â
I noticed my low twintails were tugged from behind. My hair was quite long by now and add that I styled it mostly in low twintails, so I guess people could really pull my hair to call me�
When I turned to look at the offender, I noticed the three familiar figures.
From left to right: Dmitria, Briar-Rose, Valerie.
I sighed when I noticed a rising headache from seeing them.
âYou! Boss Briar has warned you, hasnât she?!â Dmitria was the one to raise her index finger at me.
âYet the ignorant little one decided to pay no heed to Boss Briarâs kind warning, aiyahâ¦,â Valerie lightly shook her head.
âSince you ignored my warning, then I take it as a war challenge, alright?â Briar-Rose asked with her intimidating look.
âUhm, I donât want to wage a war or anything like that⦠In any case, Iâm only seeing him as a friend, and I only returned his notebooks just now,â I quickly defended myself⦠only to be greeted with the miracle twinsâ gasps.
âPrince Erneste, he...?!â Valerie gasped.
âHe
you
?!â Dmitria completed her sisterâs words.
I slightly tilted my head as I found myself focusing on the wrong part. I found it funny that Valerie and Dmitria were similar to Freyr and Freyja in how the two of them completed each otherâs sentences.
Speaking of which, I hadnât told my family anything about themâexcept Alt-nii.
I wouldnât want to make my dad roar in anger if he were to find out that I got into troubles because of Erneste (indirectly, and poor Erneste isnât the right person to blame, either).
Besides, I felt like everything would turn out fine anyway.
Right?
âYou!â Briar-Rose pointed her finger at me again.
Argh, really, these people kept pointing their index fingers to me as if they were asking me to bite on them, rawwrrr!! ï¼;â§ç¿â¦ï¼
âHeâs the one who suggested it to me, though? I didnât even ask for him to lend me his books, ah!â I defended myself again.
âWhat?! How dare you say that?!â Dmitria gasped again.
âHow shameless, trying to get close to Erneste like that!!â Valerie said in disdain.
âEscuâExcuse me, but
the one who
to me! Not the other way round!!â I objected again.
âY, y, y, youuuu!!â Briar-Roseâs index finger shook in anger.
I couldnât say anything before she suddenly added.
âThe fight is on, then! Prepare yourself, Lyra!!â Briar-Rose harrumphed.
I stood there dumbfounded, trying to prepare myself for what was about to come, butâ¦
The three of them rushed off just like that.
âPrepare yourself for trouble!â Dmitria said in a haughty tone.
âThe next time we meet, that is,â Valerieâs fleeting voice could be heard.
âYouâd better remember that!â Briar-Rose said as a closing statement.
ââ¦â
I blinked several times.
I couldnât understand these three girls.
While it seemed like troubles might be coming at me anytime soon, I found myself not getting worried over it at all.
Could it be that I was too confident that the three of them combined wouldnât be able to do anything really bad to me?
Was it because I was too confident of my power?
Or was it because I knew I had my pals that I could rely on?
Anyway, instead of being scared (the reaction that the trio troublemakers seemed to want), I even found myself smiling a bit in excitement.
Itâs hard to admit, but perhaps Iâm also looking forward for the ups and downs of my life, Iâm looking forward to the excitement.
A life too peaceful can be boring as well, you know?
I guess I wouldnât be too bothered about it if itâs just small and fun troubles like this⦠right?
In any case, these three are just ordinary girls.
Have they even celebrated their coming-of-age ceremonies yet?
Well, well, Iâll treat it like Iâm entertaining the young ones, okay?
Mmhm, yep, letâs do that.
I have all the rights to do so, as my time living in this world is definitely more than them, hehe!
In a corner of my head, thereâs a small thought popping up.
That person said he liked me. How would he deal with his fangirls for the person he claimed he likedâfor me?
â¦Perhaps I also want to test that person out.
Alright, Iâll be looking forward to what the trio troublemaker can bring to me!
And Iâll definitely tell Erneste about them the next time we meet.
As I headed towards where my friends were today, my footsteps seemed to be getting lighter as my heart was pounding faster than usual.
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to comment!
I hope you're still enjoying this series so far and are looking forward for the future updates plus the light novel :3