Seeing Enid still standing in place, her cheeks flushed crimson and steam practically visible above her head, Victor grinned and reached out, pulling her down to sit beside him on the bed, the mattress gently bouncing.
"So, Enid? Isn't it super comfortable?"
Victor's eyes sparkled, exactly like a little boy showing off a new toy to a friend, his tone brimming with pure desire to share.
Feeling the softness of the mattress beneath her and looking at Victor's face, which was completely devoid of ulterior motives and clearly said 'praise me for picking such a good mattress,' Enid couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame and self-reproach:
Oh my god, what on earth was I thinking just now... Victor is so innocent, how could I have speculated about him with such impure thoughts?
Just then, Wednesday, who had been calmly observing from the side, spoke up in her cool voice, laced with a trace of barely perceptible teasing.
"It seems Miss Sinclair's mind is running some rather unhealthy programs."
Victor immediately turned his head curiously, blinking his big eyes and pressing further:
"Huh? What unhealthy stuff? Is it a virus? Do you need me to help you run a virus scan?"
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
Enid hurriedly interrupted, raising her voice, the blush on her face deepening as she shot a glare at Wednesday, silently warning her not to stir up more trouble.
Watching the silent 'clash' between the two, Victor tilted his head in thought. Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, he clapped his hands together, his face lighting up with an excited and mysterious expression, and dropped a bombshell:
"That's right! Since it's still early and the bed is so big... how about the three of us play a tense and exciting game together~"
He deliberately drew out the last syllable, his words full of ambiguous hints.
The effect of these words was immediate and dramatic!
The temperature on Enid's face, which had just cooled slightly, 'exploded' crimson again, skyrocketing until even her neck turned pink. She stammered in shock:
"V-Victor! Wh-what nonsense are you talking about! Wh-who wants to play that... that shameless kind of game with you! And... and with Wednesday too... that's too... too..."
Even Wednesday, usually so composed and self-possessed, widened her eyes in a flash of rare panic upon hearing Victor's earth-shattering proposal.
She subconsciously tightened her grip on the bedsheet beneath her, a faint blush rising on her pale cheeks.
Though she maintained a facade of calm on the surface, her slightly quickened breathing betrayed her inner turmoil.
Victor looked at his two girlfriends' intense reactions, his face filled with utter confusion and incomprehension.
"Huh? What's wrong with you two? It's just a game of Ludo... Is that really worth such a big reaction?"
As he spoke, he bent down and deftly pulled out a flat cardboard box from under the bed, which clearly displayed the brightly colored pattern of 'Ludo.'
"Ludo?"
Enid was completely dumbfounded, her small mouth hanging open as she stared blankly at the children's educational game in Victor's hand.
Victor nodded vigorously, his expression one of pure reasonableness.
"Yeah! Isn't Ludo more fun and exciting the more people play? What did you two think it was?"
He looked suspiciously at Enid's flushed face, then at Wednesday, who had regained her expressionless mask but whose ears were still tinged red.
"W-we..."
Enid was at a loss for words, wishing she could immediately find a crack in the floor to disappear into.
So his 'tense and exciting game' really was just literally... Ludo!
Wednesday took a deep breath, swiftly reining in all her exposed emotions and returning to her usual coldness. She cast a faint glance at the game board in Victor's hand, her tone calm and even:
"It's nothing. Ludo it is, then."
However, the slight tremor in her fingertips as she released the bedsheet betrayed her brief moment of fluster.
Though Victor thought his girlfriends' reactions were a bit strange, he didn't dwell on it. Happily, he spread the Ludo board out on the bed and began distributing the different colored pieces.
Victor, head bowed and completely focused on distributing the red, yellow, blue, and green Ludo pieces, humming an off-key tune, was completely unaware of the'secret plotting' happening between his two girlfriends behind his back.
Wednesday, taking advantage of Victor having his back turned, leaned in quietly. Her cool lips almost brushed against Enid's burning ear as she whispered a few sentences in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear.
Upon hearing it, Enid's eyes instantly went wide, the blush on her cheeks 'flaring' and spreading as if steam might physically erupt the next second.
She turned her head incredulously towards Wednesday, protesting in a whisper:
"Wh-why do I have to be the one to say it? Can't... can't you say it?"
A faint, yet somewhat sly, smile curved the corner of Wednesday's lips. She also lowered her voice, analyzing with clear logic:
"If I say it, given Victor's understanding of me, he'd probably think I'm just being sarcastic and teasing him again. The effect would be greatly diminished. But if you say it..."
She glanced meaningfully at Enid's rosy cheeks.
"...the effect would be absolutely explosive."
Enid bit her lower lip, shyly lowered her head, and unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes, her heart in a fierce internal struggle.
Seeing this, Wednesday continued in her unique, cool yet slightly bewitching tone, quietly adding fuel to the fire:
"Think about it. All this time, it's been Victor who's been flirting with us, intentionally or not, looking so composed and at ease..."
"Don't you want to 'get back' at him a little, flirt back for once?"
"Don't you want to see... our usually either crazy or innocent boyfriend, when caught off guard, turn beet red and flustered, looking absolutely adorable?"
These words were like the final straw, precisely crushing the hesitation in Enid's heart.
She abruptly raised her head, a flash of determined resolve in her eyes, clenched her small fists, and whispered solemnly as if heading into battle:
"I... I do want to see it!"
With that, she took a deep breath, as if mustering all the courage in her life, and slowly, carefully, began inching her body closer to Victor, who had his back to her and was completely off guard.
Watching Enid's 'ready to die for the cause' back, Wednesday finally let the triumphant smile on her face show, tinged with the pleasure of a successful prank.
"Victor~"
Enid leaned close to Victor's ear and, in her softest, slightly trembling and shy voice, breathed out a sentence extremely quickly and quietly.
The content of those words was probably known only to her and Victor, but it was undoubtedly highly impactful.
The moment the words fell—
Victor's hand, which had been distributing the pieces, froze mid-air. His whole body seemed to hit pause, his breath catching for a second.
He whipped his head around. His peach blossom eyes, which usually sparkled with either mischief or innocence, were now filled with utter disbelief, his pupils even slightly unfocused from excessive shock.
His originally fair cheeks visibly flushed crimson at an alarming speed, spreading from his earlobes all the way down his neck, like a shrimp that had been boiled.
"You... you..."
He opened his mouth but only managed a few meaningless syllables. His gaze was evasive, not daring to look directly into Enid's nearby blue eyes, which held both shyness and a hint of smugness.
"Victor? Your internal hormone levels... why have they suddenly spiked so drastically? What happened?"
Venom, sensing its host's sudden and drastic physiological changes, couldn't help but poke out half of its black head, curiously looking around.
But when it saw Victor's beet-red face, Enid's flushed face beside him, and Wednesday's amused expression, it instantly understood. It let out a hiss akin to an 'Oh~' of realization, then quickly retracted, pretending it had seen nothing.
Venom's 'reminder' made Victor even more mortified.
He practically scrambled off the bed, staggering and covering his nose as he rushed towards the ensuite bathroom, mumbling incoherently, "I-I'm going to wash my face!"
Then the door slammed shut with a 'bang.' Faint sounds of a faucet being turned on and what seemed like coughing from choking on water could be heard from inside.
"Pfft—"
Watching Victor's practically fleeing back, Enid finally couldn't hold back a laugh. The earlier tension and shyness were replaced by a huge sense of achievement and delight.
"Victor like that... is really cute."
She covered her mouth, her eyes curving into crescents.
Wednesday glanced at her, her tone still flat, but with a trace of understanding and faint teasing in her eyes:
"Now, you finally get a taste of what he probably feels like when you get all flustered by his unconscious flirting, right?"
Recalling Victor's rare, pure-hearted teenage boy-like embarrassment just now, the smile on Enid's face grew even brighter as she nodded vigorously.
It seems that taking the initiative occasionally... really does feel good!
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