"Sorry, I'm late."
Pushing open the door in a hurry, Asuna apologized somewhat sheepishly to the girls seated in their chairs. Tilia merely smiled upon hearing her apology.
"It's fine, Miss Asuna. The timing is just right. Let's begin."
"Um... why did you call us here this time?"
Only then did Asuna realize that something seemed off. Earlier, she had merely received a message from Eriri on her Personal Terminal saying everyone was getting together for a little gathering. Asuna had assumed they would simply drink tea and chat as usual, but upon arriving, she found the atmosphere so serious and tense that it felt like the eve of a war.
At opposite ends of the oval conference table sat Tilia and Kasugano Sora. The former still wore her signature smile of elegant young-lady refinement, while the latter, as always, hugged her black rabbit plushie and curled up in her chair with an unhappy expression.
Along both sides of the table sat Black Cat, Eriri, Kurumi, Akemi Homura, and Little Black... To Asuna, this was indeed a rather strange combination.
"Uh... what exactly is this about?"
Asuna swallowed, quietly taking a seat beside Eriri and lowering her voice to ask. Eriri shook her head.
"I don't know either. Black Cat told me to come."
Hearing that, Asuna looked toward Black Cat, who also shook her head.
"Miss Kurumi notified me."
After glancing at Tokisaki Kurumi across from her, Asuna ultimately did not dare ask any further questions. At that moment, Tilia finally revealed the answer.
"We called everyone here this time because there is something we need to report. In the world at the third coordinate point, someone has proposed marriage to Brother."
Upon hearing this, everyone was startled at first, and then...
"...That's it?"
Eriri stared at Tilia in