Practice for a blind date.
She wasn’t sure why they even needed to practice for this, but regardless, Laura had a surprisingly soft spot for Anna.
Laura herself hadn’t thought deeply about why this was the case. Perhaps it was simply part of her nature as a villainous noblewoman.
Villainous noblewomen were always followed by their loyal entourage.
In that sense, Anna was arguably (since returning to Earth and excluding her blood-related sister, Rion) Laura’s first follower. Maybe that’s why she treated her softly.
Or perhaps she simply regarded Anna like a pet cat.
After all, Anna, who couldn’t even manage household chores, wasn’t so different from a domesticated cat. Laura wasn’t confident she could clearly explain the distinction between the two.
At any rate, that’s how they ended up practicing for the blind date, though both Anna and Laura soon realized the truth.
Aurora had no aptitude for blind dates.
“You dare to sit at the same table as me for a meal? Are you challenging the authority of a duke’s daughter like myself?”
“No… then where am I supposed to eat?”
“Only after the nobles have finished their meal are commoners allowed to eat. Didn’t you learn this in your etiquette training?”
“Laura-chan… this isn’t going anywhere. Should we try a different scenario?”
The roleplay of a ‘commoner on a blind date with a noblewoman’ was far too difficult for Anna.
So they decided to try a different setup.
“Anna, your table manners are a mess.”
“…What?”
“You keep mixing up the placement of your fork and knife. And if you’re going to use a knife, isn’t it basic decency to cut your food into bite-sized pieces? Stuffing your mouth until your cheeks puff out—it’s unbecoming of a noble. Nobles eat gracefully and slowly. Gulping down food in a rush is what commoners do.”
When they switched to a setup where both were nobles of equal rank, Laura couldn’t stop pointing out Anna’s faults.
Of course, Anna had never properly learned table manners.
Left hand for the fork, right hand for the knife—that was about all she knew. She was unsure whether to use the utensils from the inside out or the outside in.
“To associate with our ducal family, refinement is the bare minimum. And Anna, you severely lack delicacy. I’m sorry, but you simply don’t meet the standards to be my match.”
“Laura-chan… isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“What are you talking about? Being on a blind date with me, a duke’s daughter, implies your family must be of comparable status. So, you should at least match the refinement and dignity of a crown prince.”
“A crown prince…?”
What kind of romance novel nonsense was this?
Even so, Anna understood what she meant. The words and phrasing were just too elaborate. Honestly, how many people in the world could possibly go on a blind date with Aurora?
Laura’s parents were ordinary office workers—or so Rion had said. Still, Anna knew Aurora was different from other girls.
Perhaps ‘exceptional’ was the right word. Even her smallest actions exuded elegance.
The idea of Aurora dating or marrying an average person seemed… highly improbable.
“So, Laura-chan… if you were to go on a blind date someday, would you do it like this?”
“What a foolish question. Why would I ever need to go on a blind date?”
That was Laura’s answer.
Anna didn’t know much, but Laura’s views on marriage were rather peculiar.
After all, would a duke’s daughter even need to go on a blind date?
For nobles, marriage was more of a tool. It was all about forming the ‘most advantageous match’ to enhance their family’s power and influence.
For a ducal family, marriage talks were usually arranged between heads of the households, with decisions made long before the individuals involved even met.
In extreme cases, a noblewoman might not even meet her future husband until the wedding day.
‘I hated that.’
Sacrificing personal happiness to bring benefit to the family.
Laura had vehemently rejected such arrangements, occasionally even sabotaging marriage proposals.
As a result, she had grown quite weary of the entire subject of marriage proposals.
She had no interest in blind dates or arranged meetings, and if she were ever to entertain the idea, the person would have to be someone capable of moving a nation—someone extraordinary. Refinement was, of course, a given.
When it came to love and marriage, Laura had always taken a passive stance.
Her thoughts were more along the lines of, ‘Maybe someday I’ll meet a fated partner who shakes up my values. Or not. Living alone for the rest of my life sounds just as fun.’
In other words, Laura was probably the worst possible candidate for practicing blind dates.
“Laura-chan… you’re terrible at this!”
In the end, Anna exploded.
“Who suggests visiting land plots as an after-date activity?!”
“But isn’t a blind date meant to lead to romance, and romance to marriage? I need to see the land where I’ll put down roots to properly plan my future. It’s an excellent after-date idea, allowing me to gauge the other person’s ability to plan a life.”
“Who in their right mind brings that up on the first date?! It’s too heavy and scary! Can’t we approach this more casually?”
“Casually? What an odd thing to say. Since a blind date could lead to marriage, how can romance be casual?”
And so, because Laura’s mindset was steeped in noble ideals, a typical scenario was out of the question.
Sigh.
Anna let out a deep sigh.
“How did this even turn into a discussion about marriage… Laura-chan, let’s change the setup. It feels like you keep imagining me as a ‘potential future husband’ when roleplaying this blind date…”
“That’s what a blind date is.”
“See? That’s what’s weird. Let’s just pretend we’re two girls hanging out as friends and having fun.”
Anna adjusted her perspective.
Come to think of it, the phrase ‘blind date’ was the problem. The punishment this time was just a planned broadcast where she’d hang out with Rui and have fun.
The real challenge was figuring out how to make Rui enjoy herself. Anna wasn’t confident in that, which was why she was practicing.
Romance and marriage were unnecessary complications. The core idea was simply to befriend Rui.
“Alright, let’s try that instead.”
Laura nodded, and the two sat at a table and started chatting.
About 30 minutes later, for the after-date…
Laura and Anna found themselves at a PC café.
“Hey, can you put some pressure on mid? I’m splitting right now.”
“The team fight’s already won.”
“Nice~.”
Laura and Anna ate cup noodles at the PC café, even grabbing hot dogs while they were at it.
“Where should we go for the next after-date?”
“Normally, a karaoke room, wouldn’t it be?”
“Oh, that sounds good. Shall we sing?”
And so, they also went to a karaoke room.
"Oh, it's a pojangmacha (street food stall)."
"Do you like alcohol?"
"Not really. What about you, Laura-chan?"
"I only drink wine."
"Wow… I can totally see that. Wine or champagne really suits your vibe. But you know, I've always been curious about pojangmachas."
"Would you like to try going?"
"Yes, let's do it!"
They ended up drinking soju.
"What kind of blind date is this?!"
It wasn’t until Anna was tipsy that she realized it.
Why are you realizing this so late, you idiot…!
For the record, Laura, who had trained her body to the extreme, didn’t get drunk at all.
She hailed a taxi, grabbed Anna by the back of her neck, and gracefully dragged her into the house.
"You’re the one who said we should aim to hang out as friends and have fun. Wasn’t it fun?"
"It was fun…! But girls don’t hang out like this!"
"Is that so?"
Laura tilted her head in confusion.
To be fair, Anna wasn’t entirely sure either.
With her long history of having no friends, Anna (a high school graduate) had little experience hanging out with other girls.
And of course, Laura wouldn’t know any better.
"Playing games at a PC café… isn’t that something guys usually do?"
"That might be true."
Laura admitted it. They really had hung out like a group of guys.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Anna and Laura already knew each other too well.
Thinking about it, how many times had Anna already visited Laura’s house? It wasn’t just once or twice.
And Laura had even stayed at Anna’s place for a whole week, hadn’t she?
They knew each other’s likes and preferences well—and to top it off, their tastes were surprisingly similar.
Anna was an extreme indoor person.
She was a full-on otaku who’d rather stay home watching anime than go to amusement parks or aquariums.
For Anna, fun outings meant places like PC cafés or karaoke rooms. Since she rarely ventured out, her stamina was poor, and she hated walking around outside.
Laura was much the same.
If there was time for dating, wouldn’t it be better to play another match in queue? That was Laura’s philosophy.
And so, the result was a duo completely incapable of figuring out how to ‘hang out like normal girls.’
"Oh… what do we do?!"
A whole day had passed, and they’d made absolutely no progress—a grim reality.
The alcohol buzz disappeared in an instant.
"If I end up alone with Rui like this… I’ll freeze up and say something weird in a desperate attempt to get closer…! It’ll make the atmosphere so awkward!"
"That’s oddly specific."
"It’s from experience…!"
She had a knack for saying things that tugged at the heartstrings.
But as the saying goes, life is a battlefield. …Though this probably wasn’t the situation that phrase applied to.
In any case, Laura figured they didn’t really need to practice before tackling the punishment game.
‘Wait a minute. Could this actually be an opportunity?’
A thought flitted through Laura’s mind.
"Anna, what time is it?"
"Huh? It’s just past 1 a.m.…."
"Not as late as I thought."
With so many VTubers who’d flipped their day-night cycles, 1 a.m. was hardly ‘late.’
For Laura, who rarely slept more than four hours a day, it felt more like the evening. And Anna, whose sense of time, day, and date had long since crumbled, wasn’t much different.
Come to think of it, Laura hadn’t streamed today because she’d been hanging out with Anna.
"Let’s prepare for a stream."
"A stream? What kind of stream…?"
"Obviously, a stream to prepare you for your punishment game."
"How would that help…?"
Anna asked, not understanding.
"It’s simple. You want to prepare for your blind date with Rui, don’t you? Then wouldn’t it make sense to bring someone to play Rui’s role?"
"At this hour…? Who could we possibly call?"
It was obvious most people would be asleep.
Sure, people like Rui or Mero might still be awake, but most Japanese VTubers were currently visiting family.
Which meant there wasn’t anyone they could call.
"There’s one person who’s definitely awake."
With that, Laura turned on her phone.
【This_Code: EYEAI 6th Gen Server】
Aurora:
[@Inagika]
[Get ready for a collab stream immediately.]
Inagika:
[?]