I sat there quietly, comparing my failed attempt to the photographs that featured Lady Ayane, lining them up side by side as if the answers might magically reveal themselves if I stared long enough. The difference was imdiate—painfully obvious. It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t sothing you needed a trained eye to see. The gap between my work and hers scread at the mont my eyes settled on the screen.
"Hmm..." I let out a low hum without realizing it, my brows knitting together as I leaned closer. Ella was beside , equally focused, her gaze flicking between the images the sa way mine was. She wasn’t saying anything at first, but I could tell she was doing her own ntal comparison, probably spotting flaws before I even voiced them.
"There’s no way I could pull off sothing like that," she finally said, her voice subdued. "I don’t think I could manage it even if I tried using a similar pose."
"I don’t know... maybe," I replied, though the words ca out uncertain. I genuinely didn’t know if we even had a chance of reaching Lady Ayane’s level. Just looking at her photo made that clear. Her body was covered almost completely. There was no exposed skin, nothing overt as well as nothing blatant. And yet, sohow, the image radiated seductiveness. It was in the way she carried herself, the invisible pressure she exerted through posture alone. It made wonder what kind of presence she had, what kind of experience or confidence allowed her to do sothing like that without even trying.
Compared to that, Ella didn’t stand a chance—or at least, that’s what it felt like in that mont. I expected there to be a gap, sure, but this? This was borderline ridiculous.
"Ella," I said suddenly.
"Y-Yes?" She stiffened imdiately, her shoulders tensing like she was bracing herself. The way she looked at made it obvious she thought I was about to suggest sothing absurd—or worse, sothing completely outside her comfort zone.
I stood up and placed my hands gently on her shoulders, steadying her before eting her gaze directly. I made sure she was looking at , not at the floor, not at the photos.
"It’s ti," I said slowly, deliberately, "to put on the lingerie."
"Wha—?!" Her reaction was instant and explosive. "I can’t do sothing like that!"
Well... fair. That was definitely too much. Asking her to wear sothing openly suggestive while I took photos of her crossed a line—one I hadn’t really thought through before saying it out loud. I didn’t want to push her into sothing that would make her uncomfortable, especially not like that.
Truth be told, I wasn’t even confident I’d do a good job if we went down that route. Relying on blatant suggestiveness felt cheap, and worse, it felt like admitting defeat. So I pulled back, stepping away from that idea entirely.
"...Yeah," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "Forget that."
I took a breath, forcing myself to think more carefully.
"There has to be another way," I said, more to myself than to her. "Hmm... maybe we should change the angle instead."
The more I thought about it, the clearer it beca. The problem wasn’t Ella. It wasn’t even the pose itself. It was the way I was capturing it. Everything I’d taken so far was too straightforward and too safe. Flat. Boring. If I changed the perspective—tilted it, twisted it, made it less predictable—maybe I could inject so life into the shot.
"Just stay like that, Ella," I said, already moving. I stood up, repositioned myself, and adjusted the angle so I wasn’t facing her head-on anymore. From there, I took the photo while she remained seated on the floor, her posture unchanged.
The result was imdiate.
"Oh," I murmured.
It was infinitely better than anything I’d taken before. The depth, the framing, the way her figure fit into the composition—it all worked. For a mont, I felt a spark of satisfaction.
But even then, sothing still felt off.
"...There’s still sothing missing," I said quietly.
Ella looked at expectantly, waiting.
"Can you try looking cute toward ?" I asked.
"What?" She blinked. "I don’t know how to do that."
I sighed softly. "Just look at the sa way you look at Leon. That should do it."
"W-What?!" Her reaction was imdiate, her face flushing as she stiffened again. She looked genuinely shocked, like she’d been caught red-handed.
"Why are you yelling?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you really that surprised I know you have a crush on Leon?" I shrugged casually. "You’re not exactly subtle. Anyone paying attention would notice."
"B-But..."
"I’m not judging you," I interrupted. "I was the sa way, you know. It’s natural."
She hesitated, then looked away.
"You don’t need to worry anyway," I continued. "You don’t seem to realize it yet, but he already has a secret harem. And I don’t just an the girls and princesses at the Academy. There are way more than that."
"I-I already know," she said quietly. "I even know he’s secretly the father of Professor Gabrielle’s, Professor Irene’s, and Professor Rose’s children."
I blinked once, then sighed. "Yeah. That’s obvious."
It really was. The Academy wasn’t stupid as well. Professors didn’t just get pregnant out of nowhere without anyone noticing a partner. Everyone knew it was the sa man—they just pretended not to. And I knew exactly who that man was.
It was Leon.
Bold didn’t even begin to describe it. Impregnating professors like that, without a shred of sha? It was ridiculous. Infuriating. Admirable, in its own twisted way.
And... attractive.
That shalessness was part of why I loved him.
One day, I planned to carry his child too. Just not yet. Not until I proved that I deserved to stand beside him.
"Well," I said after a mont, "I don’t think Leon would reject you if you confessed."
She looked back at , uncertain.
"Why don’t you practice?" I suggested. "Use . Pretend I’m Leon. Think of it as preparation."
"I-I don’t know..." she said hesitantly. "I don’t want to act on these feelings. I was just going to keep them to myself."
I crossed my arms, unimpressed.
"That’s not going to work for , Ella," I said flatly. "You either take steps to join Leon’s harem yourself, or I tell him and push you into it."
Her eyes widened.
"S-So I’m going to be part of his harem either way?!"
I smiled faintly.
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