For the girl to come up with that idea, the first thing I did was praise Marika as soon as she received confirmation from her guards.

Her idea was similar or rather, a better version of what I had in mind. She managed to patch up what was lacking in mine; the bait that Ichihara Jun would certainly bite at. The bait that could send him away from here.

Even if there’s a high possibility that one of her guards would return to check the validity of her claim of having returned to her room, that alone was more than enough. We could think of a way for me to leave the house later as long as it’s only one of them.

As long as Ichihara Jun was sent on a wild goose chase, we had already gotten the precious time we needed. A win for us.

Rolling back to my side after putting down her phone, Marika snuggled close to my chest. “... I wish this can go longer, Junior-kun.”

“Getting greedy, are we?” I replied with a smile. I then slid my hand to her back, securing her in my embrace.

Marika wriggled slightly from the tickling sensation but soon enough, her whole body exudes the comfort she was experiencing.

“Is it bad to wish that, Junior-kun? I don’t mind spending the rest of my days with you.” Facing my gaze, Marika pouted as she muttered that last part in an embarrassed tone. While she’s confident to blurt that out, the afterthought made her blush for the nth time today.

“No. It’s not. But senpai, while I do feel the same way, I believe we can’t dodge this topic. You already have an idea of what kind of guy I am. I may be worse than that guy because I love Sena and it’s not just her.”

As always, even if her words were already close to a confession and I already dreaded repeating what happened yesterday with Juri, I couldn’t avoid talking about this with her.

The situation was different with Juri who was unaware. This girl had been made aware by Sena earlier. Now that she’s still acting like this with me, she either accepted it or dismissed it to the back of her mind.

Whichever the case, I deemed it the right moment to bring it up myself rather than have her find out everything from the others.

Surprisingly, Marika’s reaction was minimal. Her eyes didn’t falter in facing my gaze that was probably affected by my own words. Her lips stretched into a small, pleasant smile, indicating her understanding of the situation.

“Un. I do agree with you, Junior-kun. I may have to admit, Sena-san reminded me of how your mind works. That you’re going to tell me about this if you find us getting even closer than we are already... You’re diligently considerate and you tend to overthink things. Even so, I still find you more attractive than the man my family arranged for me to marry.”

There’s calmness in her voice as she said all that. Moreover, Marika gradually pushed her forehead against mine, locking our heads together. It’s definitely a show of her sincerity with her words as well as her conviction to continue what she already started.

Picking me over Ichihara Jun, she must’ve long decided on that. Well, maybe not that long. However, if her only choice was to uphold the agreement or claim her freedom, she would no doubt choose the latter. And as the one who opened her eyes to it, it put me in a very favorable position in her eyes.

I might be downplaying her feelings for me there but logically speaking, it’s really just as I mentioned. I may have done a lot to make her comfortable with my presence but anyone can do the same as long as they’re brave enough to go against Ichihara Jun.

“I appreciate that evaluation, senpai. But that is just how it is... Now that I am certain of what I feel for you, I can’t keep you in the dark anymore.”

“I understand, Junior-kun. You need not say more. But if you can give me a choice, I prefer it for you to slowly tell me about yourself. I find it enough to know how much you care about me. That’s all that matters for someone like me whose fate is still decided by someone else.”

At the end of her sentence, Marika flashed a hint of bitterness underneath her gentle smile.

Nonetheless, however faint that bitterness appeared to be, as soon as I recognized it, my whole body moved on its own.

I placed my hand on her cheek and caressed it and throwing caution to the wind, I pushed her down and carefully climbed atop her. After admiring her appearance from above, I lowered my head, locking our lips to each other.

Words would probably not be enough to convey what I wanted to say. And so, through this intimate action, I was relaying to her the extent of what I feel for her.

One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes.

After that long set of kisses, I lifted my lips off of hers. And with our eyes still locked into each other, I mouthed the remainder of what I wanted to convey to her.

“Allow me to change that fate, Marika-senpai. When the time comes, I’ll be bringing you out of here and we’ll live away from the influence of this family and yours.”

“Un. You’re going out of your way to say that, Ruki-kun. I will be looking forward to it.”

A small nod and a genuine smile. That’s all it took for her to grasp my heart at this moment.

After staring at one another for half a minute, I lowered my head again, locking us in another bout of intimate kisses. This time, our passion for each other was let out of the cage.

Marika’s legs wrapped around me and I pressed my whole weight against her as we rolled in her bed a few times, savoring every second that we had.

While it didn’t escalate more than that, we have, more or less, familiarized ourselves with each other’s figures. And even down there, the heat transferred to each other was more than a sign of how much we were being affected by our situation.

When we decided to calm down the fiery passion between us, it was at the same moment that one of her guards knocked on her room to confirm if she returned.

I must say... He took his sweet time returning. Or maybe, Ichihara Jun made it hard for him to return right away.

In any case, that didn’t matter. Like we previously discussed, Marika had already prepared for the eventuality of this situation.

While still comfortably resting on top of me, Marika responded to him normally. And that was proven enough confirmation.

Shortly after that, the man stepped away from the room and returned downstairs.

“How long do we have left?” Marika asked.

“More or less, ten minutes?” I answered.

Upon hearing that, Marika grinned mischievously before declaring, “My, it’s sufficient time to make you not forget about me tonight, Ruki-kun.”

“That goes the same for me... And Marika-senpai, you better prepare yourself... I might not be able to control myself from indulging in you.”

“That sounded lascivious yet if it’s you, I don’t mind it at all...”

“You shouldn’t say that easily, senpai. You’re going to provoke the beast in heat in me.”

I flicked her forehead but the ringlet girl endured it well. Furthermore, instead of grimacing, she returned a rather bold smile as though she was issuing a challenge. “Then, show it, Ruki-kun...”

Hearing that, I stopped responding with words and instead, followed through with actions.

Though I still held back in pushing us in a certain direction, the next ten minutes became a new, eye-opening experience for the lovely ringlet girl...

And another roll on the bed marked the end of our memorable night.

Next, it’s time to make my exit without being detected. Obviously, it would be accomplished with Marika’s help.