Cornelia stood silently before the magic tool used to operate the Slide Puzzle, her mind clearer than it had ever been. At this moment, she was in what could be called an invincible state—one where her consciousness automatically filtered out any thoughts that might lead to stomach pain.
Unlike Marie, Cornelia didn't mistake this for a dream; rather, she was simply in a condition where all unnecessary thoughts were silenced. She was, quite literally, in the zone.
With all extraneous mental noise purged, she focused entirely on the task at hand. She felt a level of mental sharpness she had never experienced before.
Indeed, without even realizing it, she had been conversing with Fate and Lilliwood as if they were old acquaintances. She had even made a verbal promise to attend an evening party with Kaito if the opportunity arose, and beyond that... she had been speaking with Kaito so intimately that an onlooker would have found it difficult to believe they weren't lovers. The "debt" of future stomach pain she was accumulating was enough to almost certainly guarantee she would collapse with foam at her mouth once she regained her senses, but in this singular moment, her mind was brilliant.
(The shape of the completed image, the current positions of the four corner pieces... the steps to move them... It’s mysterious. I know exactly how to move them without even thinking. I don't mean to boast, but I feel as though I have a very wide field of vision—or rather, I’m solving the puzzle naturally while maintaining a bird’s-eye view of the whole thing. I must be in a state of perfect concentration.)
In a sense, she was in a state where the mental resources normally used to worry about the future—including her impending stomach pain—were being focused entirely on the present. Cornelia completed the Slide Puzzle using what was essentially the shortest possible sequence of moves.
As she did, the remaining slide puzzles began to move automatically, aligning themselves until the door at the back swung open.
"That was amazing, Cornelia-san. It looked like a pretty large and difficult puzzle, but you solved it fluently without getting stuck at all."
"I feel like I was able to concentrate well. It’s thanks to Kaito-sama lowering the difficulty in the previous room. I managed to solve it this time, but having to do five of them would have been a massive challenge..."
"The way you were just now, I felt like you could have breezed through the others too. Are you particularly good at puzzles?"
"No, I wouldn't say I'm especially talented; it just went well by chance today. As for that 3D puzzle in the previous room, that was my first time seeing such a thing... I don't have the confidence to solve that within five minutes. I was truly astonished that Kaito-sama solved it in less than ten seconds."
As evidenced by the fact that Megiddo had seen it for the first time recently, the Rubik's Cube was not common in this world... or rather, it hadn't existed here at all until recently. Since it had started being sold after the first Six Kings Festival, it was now available to the general public, but its recognition was still low. It was only natural that Cornelia didn't know about it.
"Ah, that's called a Rubik's Cube. It's a toy from my home world... It just happens to be a game I'm very good at. There are standard procedures for how to solve it, and if you understand those basics, it's actually quite simple."
"I see, so it is an Otherworld plaything. Even so, to solve it that quickly is quite an achievement... If you wouldn't mind, would you be willing to teach me how to do it sometime?"
"The Rubik's Cube?"
"Yes. Part of it is curiosity about wanting to experience Otherworld games... but I also thought that saying so would give me a good excuse to spend time with Kaito-sama. Looking back, we first met at a tea party hosted by Eris-sama, then you guided me through the trading company, and this time we had a chance encounter. While I feel our interactions are building up, I also have a desire for us to interact in a more... relaxed manner."
Cornelia smiled happily as she spoke. If her usual self were to hear this, she would have tried to stop herself with everything she had, even if it meant punching herself unconscious, for she was essentially charging headlong into a minefield. Unfortunately, in her current invincible state, she didn't notice this at all.
"Kaito-sama is the elder, but our ages aren't that far apart. While our relationship as nobles is important, I have a... well, a 'desire' to set all those formalities aside for a moment and just play normally as friends."
"Ahaha, but for me as well, that would be much better. It's nice not to have to be so formal. Speaking of Otherworld games, I played some with Eris-san at my birthday party, but there are also things called 'video games.' Those are fun too, so let's definitely play together next time."
"Yes. I look forward to it."
Deep within Cornelia's heart, her suppressed consciousness was screaming at the way she was rapidly piling up advance reservations for her own demise... but the current her didn't notice. She headed toward the next room while enjoying her idle chat with Kaito.
She remained blissfully unaware that this exchange was significantly increasing Kaito's affection for her...
Serious-senpai: "She’s basically placed a reservation for the Stomach's Graveyard. However, an invitation like 'wanting to deepen our friendship as just friends' is a proposal that ranks as a 'perfect answer' when it comes to Kaito... There’s no future left where she can escape the stomach pain, is there?"