It was a nice day, the sky was clear, the weather was good, and Edward was currently sitting at the same table as a Lysette who had a serious expression, an Atsuko who was sipping her tea while looking away from Edward with her cheeks blushing, and finally... A completely pale Nanako to the point that even her hair was looking white as a sheet of paper while she was in a position that resembled a certain scene of a certain anime, as she had a small smile on her face but was otherwise, barely holding onto her conscience.

"... Edward-sama, we need to talk"

"Okay, My dear Lysette"

"..."

Hearing Edward call her like that, was all that it needed to cause Lysette to start blushing, as she began taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"So what will we talking about, My beloved Lysette?"

"... F-F-first, please... J-Just call m-me a-as L-Lysette, E-Edward-sama"

"Okay, but only if you also call me without honorifics, My cute Lysette"

"!?... ... ... E... E... E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-Ed... E-E-E-Edwar... ... ... EDWARD-SA-!" *Covers mouth with both hands*

At the last possible second, Lysette was able to cover her mouth before she called Edward in the way that she always had done. But beyond that, Lysette's face was already turning completely red from just having to call Edward casually.

"Yes, Lysette?"

"... ... ... *Deeply breaths in* E-E-Edward-sa... E-E-Edward-sa... ... ... E-E-E-E-Edward... W-We n-need t-t-to t-t-talk a-a-about o-o-our... N... N... N-N-N-Nightly... A-A-A-A-Actvities!..."

"... Sure, what do you want to talk about it, Lysette?"

"..."

Lysette who was already on the verge of running away, was doing her best to contain her embarrassment, but between having to talk about the things she did on the bed with Edward three days ago, call him without any honorifics, and also because of the three, she was the weakest when it came to this kind of stuff and talks. This was a pretty tall task as it could be seen from her already fuming head due to the accumulating embarrassment.

"... ... ... Fr... From... From... From now on all of our nightly activities will be foursomes!!!"

"... ... ... Huh? Why?"

At Lysette's embarrassing, and also rather shameful, declaration, Edward couldn't help but feel confused at why Lysette was saying that from now he could only do it with her if Nanako and Atsuko were also present.

"B-B-B-Because it's impossible f-f-for only o-o-o-one of u-u-u-us t-t-t-t-to do it with you, E-E-E-E-E-Edward-sa... A-A-A-And i-i-its also u-u-u-useless t-t-t-t-to a-a-a-ask y-y-y-you t-t-t-to t-t-tone it down, because!... Because!... Because you always end up going all out every time we ask you to tone it down!!!"

In an impressive feat of desperation, Lysette was able to say everything that she was supposed to say to Edward, amidst her raging embarrassment, which was only getting worse the more she had to speak.

"Well... If you say so, Lysette. Then I shall abide by your request"

"T-Thank you... E-Edward-sa-... E-Edward..."

At that, Edward just gave his usual gentle smile to Lysette before taking a sip of tea. Then as he did so, he remembered about a certain something he had to talk with Lysette and the others.

"Ah! That's right, Lysette. There's something I need to ask you"

"...?"

Lysette tilted her head to the side, at what Edward could want to ask her, even more so since in these situations, his questions were mostly asking permission from her to do something related to flirting. While the other times were related to his work helping his father and around the manor, with occasional questions about how her father was doing.

"Lysette, should we start studying for the Royal Academy entrance test as a group? Since we still have a few weeks before it, I think it would be useful to have a study group with everyone at least once a week"

"Ah..."

"?"

When Edward said his idea to her as he showed a book about previous questions used in previous tests of the royal academy, Lysette couldn't help but let out a stupid voice after all... She had more or less forgotten about the Royal Academy test, especially because of the event from the past few days which prevented her from studying or even thinking about studying.

.

.

.

Days later

It was another usual day of the week. Still, today Edward, Lysette, Atsuko, and Nanako were all seated at one of the available tables of the library, as they diligently studied for the upcoming entrance exam of the royal academy. And as they did so, they remained silent with only the sound of their pencils echoing through the empty room, but that silence was a very awkward one because the three girls were also constantly glancing at Edward as if they were expecting him to make a move.

But this couldn't be helped, because in all of their previous attempts to study alone with Edward, whenever they stopped to have a break, it would always end up with Edward flirting with them, which in turn led to them more often than not forgetting to go back to studying as they became too engrossed in being kissed and flirted by Edward, or were straight up unable of studying at all as Edward would have them sit on his lap as he hugged them, that would, of course, lead to him flirting with them even more.

So much so, that he had essentially forced the girls to beg him to have group studies with all three of them every day, because that way, Edward would avoid going overboard with his flirting with either one of them, out of consideration for the other two present.

As such, the girls were now able to properly focus on studying for the exam, and even more so thanks to the fact that most of their stress from the day was being relieved in their nightly activities with Edward every day.

"... ... ... Everyone, shall we take a short break?"

At Edward's words, Lysette, Atsuko, and Nanako all looked at him and agreed to his suggestion, causing the sound of their pencils moving to stop as it was replaced by the sounds of the four conversing about random topics.

"... So have seen that report in the newspaper?..."

"Yes, I did. But I usually mostly prefer reading the news about..."

"... I recently heard from one of my siblings that sister has recently become a..."

"... That's great to hear, it's good to know that, the Sister is doing great... Hm? Now that I think about it..."

As they slowly talked, Nanako eventually ended up touching on the subject related to the church's Sister who used to take care of her and her orphanage siblings before they were brought to the manor, that caused Edward to remember something she had once asked him.

"I believe that she had asked me to hold our marriage ceremony at the church here, but now that we've decided to forego it... We should go tell her about it, and that we've already got married"

"Indeed, Edward-sama. We should go tell her, that there won't be a ceremony anymore, or else... She'll definitely approach me some other day and start begging me to have her conduct the ceremony for our marriage in the middle of a street"

As Nanako spoke about the sister with a lot of confidence in her tone, Atsuko couldn't help but feel curious at how she sounded so sure about how that church sister would act.

"Nanako-san, you appear to know that sister quite well"

"Hm? Ah! That's right, we never ended up talking about this with you.... You see, Atsuko-sama, the thing is that until some years ago, I used to live at an orphanage run by the church near the slums of the city, before Edward took me and my sibling in to work at the manor"

"... Oh, right... I remember you telling me that you had never met your parents when we first met, Nanako-san. But since you were engaged to Edward-sama, I didn't think you used to be a church orphan"

"I understand your thought, Atsuko-sama"

"Thank you for understanding it, Nanako-san... (Still, to be a church orphan, and have an appearance similar to my missing uncle... Could Nanako really be?...)"

As Atsuko began mumbling to herself about a certain suspicion she had of Nanako's potential parents, Edward couldn't help but say something that was bugging him from hearing the conversation between the two.

"Nanako..."

"Yes, Edward-sama?"

"... Weren't you supposed to call me without honorifics from now on?"

"Edward-sama, I already told you that I can't under any possibility do that, as it would be unbecoming of me as your maid to dress you so casually"

"And the real reason?"

Nanako held her breath for a few seconds before answering with a serious face...

"... I-It's too embarrassing t-to call you like that..."

That was almost instantly replaced by her usual embarrassed face as she let out her honest thoughts about calling Edward without any honorifics. And in turn, hearing her answer, Edward couldn't help but look at Atsuko's direction as if he wanted to hear her answer as well.

"... I-I will have to agree w-with Atsuko-san, E-Edward-sama"

And just like Nanako Atsuko also began blushing and stuttering at the idea of calling Edward in such a casual manner. With Atsuko's answer, the only one left was Lysette, who was already blushing and looking away from Edward which was already a pretty clear indication of her answer, but not wanting to be rude to Edward, she still gave him a response.

"E-E-Edward... Sama... I-I also c-can't a-a-agree o-o-on c-calling y-you w-without a-a-any h-honorifics..."

"Nanako, Atsuko, Lysette..."

Upon hearing the answer of the three, Edward just said their names as he closed his eyes and lowered his face, as he made a serious expression that he was very unconvinced at their answers...

"You all say that it's embarrassing, but last night you all kept calling me without any honorifics, which made me happy to hear you all calling me like that"

" " "... ... ...!?" " "

And then with that serious expression of his, he made a rather outrageous comment about what they were all doing last night with a straight face, which of course, caused the three girls to blush intensely in that very instant. Lysette and Atsuko also froze on the spot, since they were the weakest and second weakest respectively, when it came to enduring all Edward's advances, including those from last night, thus leaving only Nanako as the only one capable of confronting his words.

"W-W-W-W-W-What're you saying, Edward-sama!?"

"Hm? I'm just saying that I felt rather happy at hearing you all call me without any honorifics, Nanako"

"T-T-T-T-T-that's not the problem! Why're you t-t-t-t-t-t-talking a-a-a-a-about o-o-o-o-our n-n-n-n-nightly a-a-a-a-a-activities right now!!!"

"... Because you all only call me without honorific when we're having s-"

"Ababababababa!!! E-E-E-E-Edward-sama, please! I-I-I-I'll do anything you ask! So, please! Stop talking about last night!!!"

"Then will you call me without any honorifics from now on, Nanako?"

"I'll do anything but that, Edward-sama"

"Booooooo..."

At Edward's request, Nanako was able to regain her seriousness to answer him, which all it did was cause Edward to make a pouting expression as he booed Nanako's refusal to call him casually. But seeing, that Nanako, and by extension, Lysette and Atsuko, would vehemently refuse to call him casually... Well, most likely only Nanako and Atsuko, as Lysette, more often than not, always crumbled quite quickly if she was pressured with a few kisses and hugs.

But still, seeing that they three were keenly opposed to casually calling him, all that Edward could do was sigh before going for his second request for Nanako.

"Haa... Fine. Then Nanako... I want you to kiss me"

"Eh? J-Just that, Edward-sama?"

"Hm? Do you want me to ask for something more, Nanako?"

"I-I-It's n-n-n-not like that!... B-But if it's only a kiss, Edward-sama..."

Nanako took a deep breath to prepare herself, and after gathering her courage to do as Edward asked, she moved from her chair to Edward's lap before gently holding both of his cheeks, for a moment Nanako hesitated as her embarrassment slowly started to overwhelm her courage, so she closed her eyes shut and pulled Edward for a kiss on the lips.

It was a short kiss, but it was enough to cause Nanako's cheeks to turn redder and redder from her growing feeling of shame, and yet... She hadn't let go of Edward's head, as she kept looking at him, until... She pulled him for a second kiss, then a third, a fourth, and before she knew it, she and Edward were already passionately making out as Nanako seemingly forgot about the study group.

As for Lysette and Atsuko, they both remained frozen for a little while more, before seeing what was happening between Edward and Nanako, and out of impulse they also went to have their own making-out session with Edward.