Shouko was gone.
And she left quite decisively—as if she had completely shed a heavy burden. Her back looked carefree and relaxed.
But for some reason, watching that figure disappear, Rozen had a strange feeling… a sense that Shouko might never return, causing him to furrow his brow.
Before he could call out to her, Shouko had already vanished from sight.
Staring in the direction she left, Rozen could only suppress the uneasy thoughts welling up inside him.
"I wonder if she'll be able to leave the Academy safely."
Without Komurasaki by her side, Shouko wouldn't be able to act as brazenly as before. She surely couldn't come and go freely within the Academy anymore either.
"I really don't know what she's thinking."
Rozen let out a sigh and decided to stop dwelling on Shouko for the time being.
After all, there were still plenty of "problem childrens" staying with him now, and things were about to get lively.
And indeed, they did.
With the reunion of the three sisters, Rozen's room became a hub of excitement and noise.
"Let me make tea for you, Rozen!"
Yaya volunteered enthusiastically.
Clearly, she was delighted to be back and living with Rozen again.
However...
"Let me handle it, Yaya. You're always so careless. You never get the water temperature right, and you don't store the tea leaves properly. When will you ever mature?"
Irori criticized Yaya with a strict tone as she headed into the tea room. With skillful movements and speed, she brewed tea for Rozen in no time.
"Then… then let me wash your clothes, Rozen! You must have a big pile of unwashed laundry, right?"
Yaya quickly offered again, only to be stopped once more by Irori.
"Let me do it. Last time, you got so excited thinking about Rozen-sama that you accidentally activated Kongouriki and tore the clothes apart. We can't allow that to happen again."
Irori scolded Yaya severely and took the clothes from her hands. Soon after, everything was cleaned immaculately.
"Then… then I'll make the bed! I'm best at that!"
After freezing up for a moment, Yaya latched onto a new task and ran toward the bed.
But…
"Let me do it, Yaya. You'll probably sneak into the covers while we're not looking and wait for Rozen-sama to get in. Let's take this seriously."
Irori once again shut her down, and with her flawless skills, finished making the bed before Yaya could raise any objections.
Yaya was left standing there blankly, watching Irori complete one household chore after another, her entire figure turning gray.
Seeing Yaya like this, Irori actually started to worry.
"What's wrong, Yaya? Are you not feeling well? Should I get Master to check if there's something wrong with you?"
Irori asked with concern.
Yaya began trembling.
"Yaya?"
"...Onee-sama."
"What is it?"
"Please go back!"
And with that, Yaya cried.
In the words of the Moon Maiden herself:
"Yaya and Rozen's love nest was invaded! I hate you!"
She cried and threw herself into Rozen's arms.
"H-Hate…!?"
Irori, completely unprepared for the emotional devastation Yaya inflicted, suffered a tremendous blow and her eyes welled up with tears.
This snow maiden was still as uptight as ever, and yet she adored her younger sister so much that her efforts often backfired.
That said, Irori truly was the perfect yamato nadeshiko. Whether it was housework or general upkeep, she could handle anything flawlessly and was far more reliable than Yaya. Back when they lived at Shouko's estate, all the domestic affairs were naturally handled by her.
Of course, the idle one clinging to Rozen's side—Komurasaki—cheerfully commented:
"Onee-sama really can do everything. But she insists on doing it all herself and is awful with machines."
It seemed Irori had a small but significant weakness there.
Still, compared to Yaya, she was already near-perfect.
At least Irori didn't burst into black aura whenever Komurasaki got close to Rozen.
"Ko-mu-ra-sa-k!!!"
"Eek, Onee-sama is scary. Rozen, protect me!"
"N-No jumping on Rozen's back! That's Yaya's right!"
"Is that so? Then I'll leave the back to Yaya and take Rozen's lap."
"Ah!"
"Wow, Rozen's lap is so comfy. I wanna sit here forever."
"...Komurasaki."
"Yes?"
"Please go back!"
And once again, Yaya cried.
That day, Yaya practically cried an ocean.
There was once a time, she was the only one at Rozen's side, the one responsible for his daily life, and the only one with the right to cling to him. Now those rights were being taken by her own older and younger sisters. Just as she said—it felt like her love nest had been seized, and she and Rozen were no longer in their own little world.
This greatly triggered Yaya's sense of crisis.
"In that case, tonight Yaya must come up with a plan and finally get Rozen to…"
Muttering in an ominous tone, Yaya lowered her head so no one could see her expression.
This made Rozen feel extremely pressured.
"Is it really okay to provoke Yaya this much?"
Rozen had a strong feeling that the coming nights would be filled with storm and fire.
Having her very existence threatened by her sisters, Yaya was surely about to unleash a series of crazy tactics.
The more he thought about it, the more Rozen felt afraid.
"I'm not alone anymore… I've got four ladies inside me watching my every move."
If things got out of hand, and all four of his servants witnessed it live, Rozen figured he might as well disappear from society altogether.
Especially with Mash around—this wasn't something to joke about.
Getting taken down by another girl in front of the one you previously taken down?
Emmmmmmm…
Rozen decided he needed to take action.
So, he quickly proposed:
"While there's still time, why don't we head outside for a walk and grab a bite?"
He planned to go all out entertaining the girls, hoping to shift their attention.
This idea was immediately welcomed by the fun-loving Komurasaki, even Irori was tempted, and Yaya's eyes lit up at the thought of a date with Rozen.
Rozen was no longer that clueless man. With Edelweiss as his lover, Asuna as his fiancée, and Mash in his life, he'd learned well how to make girls happy.
Thus, the group left the Academy and spent an entire day sightseeing around Liverpool.
Over the course of that day, the three sisters slowly adapted to the reality of serving Rozen together.
Rozen also took the opportunity to renew the contracts on each of them before returning to the Academy, ready for the new semester and the resumption of the Night Party.
However, even that night, Rozen couldn't escape the fate of being attacked by Yaya.