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Dixie chuckled. "If you want, sure, but maybe the principal will have a heart attack."
Not to mention the old principal, even Crystal almost choked upon hearing Emilia mention whipping. She'd already been punished by tickling, and if this girl knew about another level of punishment… wasn't it only a matter of time before she got a taste of it?!
Crystal couldn't help but feel a little complicated, because she had no idea whether her heart sped up from apprehension or excitement.
Emilia obviously noticed the heroine blushing in a corner by herself, and a mischievous smile lit up her face. "Did Crystal want to be whipped?"
Whether it was the teasing tone of her voice or the embarrassing subject, the shy heroine could only hide her face in her hands. "D-Don't speak nonsense!"
Although her heart was tickled by her cuteness, Emilia decided not to bully Crystal too much. "Well, good thing all our members are here. Any suggestions on what we should do?"
Koko, who was still kneeling by the bedside to hug Emilia, immediately jumped in joy. "I second Emilia's idea! I want to be whipped!"
Crystal blanched. "NO!"
She felt like she might be the one to get the shortest end of the stick if things went in that direction. In her panic, she completely forgot that Koko wasn't even a member of their disciplinary committee, which included just her, Emilia, and Dixie.
Dixie coughed. "Well, I have no opinion either way. I'll support Emily in whatever she picks."
Emilia sighed as she sat up on the bed and ruffled Koko's hair. "Alright, let me think about it."
Koko was about to move away reluctantly, but much to her delight, the redhead pushed her head onto her lap. "Happiness came too quick! Mama was wrong, after all!"
Emilia chuckled. "What did your mom say now? Un, by the way, I'm borrowing your notebook. Oh, the two of you please note down some ideas of your own, okay? Then we can discuss it."
Snuggling into Emilia's soft thighs, Koko failed to notice the dark look from Dixie and Crystal as she smiled in contentment, leaving them to helplessly move to the table to get to their task. "Mama said I'm dumb and annoying, so you must be avoiding me on purpose."
Obviously, she failed to mention that she had been complaining about not getting her daily dose of Emilia as frequently, and how much she missed the girl to her mother for hours at a time.
Koko's mother, who worked nearly twelve hours a day, was understandably annoyed when her resting time was interrupted by her daughter's trivial love troubles. Especially when the other girl hadn't even 'broken up' or anything!
Emilia sighed as she pat the girl's head affectionately. "That's not the case at all. I think Koko is adorable. I've just been busy with a few… things."
Recalling the matter of Amos, her expression turned a little cloudy before she shook it off. She'd already confirmed that his behavior was indeed a little different from usual, and Penny's report should be accurate.
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Meanwhile, Crystal couldn't help but pout. "Why did you let her cling to Emilia, don't you usually stop her? I think Koko doesn't know her well enough yet."
She had been the one to rush away and open the door to avoid being tickled, but now that Emilia was petting someone else, the blonde couldn't help but regret it.
Dixie sighed. "I only stop it if Emily doesn't allow it herself. Obviously, Koko doesn't deserve her petting, but neither do you."
The blonde girl gave her a gloomy look. "I thought we—"
Dixie smiled and patted the girl's hand, interrupting her. "I don't deserve it either. But if my princess wants to play around, does anything else really matter?"
Crystal blinked in confusion before she finally realized the dark-haired girl's thoughts. Her expression immediately cleared up as she smiled wryly. "No wonder she trusts you so much. Hm, but I'm different."
Dixie just shrugged before pointing at the still blank sheet of paper. "Focus on what she told you to do first, miss Different."
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Looking at Crystal diligently discussing something with Dixie on the table, Emilia smiled grimly. 'It's unfortunate that I can't erase that pest yet, but hopefully this time he'll learn his lesson to keep his distance from Crystal.'
Cynthia hummed thoughtfully. "Don't get your hopes up, I say. Your plan isn't bad, but given everything that happened so far, I'm not very optimistic. You will make progress, sure, but I don't think it will be enough to complete that mission."
Emilia pursed her lips. 'You'll see. Fortunately, this event is still a long way off. I have to take care of that matter first.'
After all, she had to make sure no one noticed anything out of place. Especially on the hero's side. Even if Amos was incompetent, his father was not.
Emilia knew for a fact that they kept an eye on her from time to time, though Noelle tried her best to prevent it to the best of her ability.
It was possible, though unlikely, that she could slip up by not giving it her all in the event, or appearing too distracted due to her focus on other things. No matter how small that possibility was, it couldn't be overlooked.
Instead of giving anyone the chance to notice anything strange, Emilia would rather just move her plans forward.
Reaching into the freckled girl's backpack, she picked out a notebook and pen to make a list. Flipping open the last page, however, she was left staring blankly at her name scribbled all over the back with tiny hearts and ribbons.
Emilia's grim mood evaporated completely as she smiled wryly before flipping over a few more pages until she found one blank.
Koko, the airhead, obviously didn't remember doing such a thing, and peacefully lay her head on Emilia's lap.
Emilia could only zip her bag back up before placing the notebook on the girl's head as she started scribbling away. 'By the way, Cynthia, any ideas on what I should do with Crystal and Dixie for the event?'
Cynthia shrugged. "Do whatever you want— wait, is there a 'winner' in this event thingy? I mean, aren't they all just making a presentation type thing, all unrelated to each other? So… how does that work?"
The redhead thought about it a little before nodding. 'I think so. I'll have to look into how they handle the process, though.'
Obviously, the individual events that were in competition form had clear judgment criteria, but that was decided by the clubs and committees themselves.
The overall 'winner' of the Annual Events Week, on the other hand, was supposedly the most 'popular' attraction, if she recalled correctly. How that popularity was judged, though, Emilia would definitely have to look into.
Knowing Cynthia, she was sure to preach about how her partner couldn't settle for anything less than the best position anywhere, even if it was a minor and inconsequential thing.
And as expected, the raven-haired girl coughed. "Well, as long as there's a winner… you know what I want, right? A villainess must have her own prestige, you definitely can't lose!"
Emilia just smiled. 'Of course, how can I disappoint you?'
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