Chapter 3: Wait, so this is an option?
"Eueehhh?!" Katarina heard herself gasping as her eyes widening at the image on the page. It was full of details, clothing on the floor, a demure look on one of the maid's faces as she helped the other disrobe, the Princess's face was full of desire while the Peasant was blushing, her cheeks a deep almost incandescent scarlet.
The book slammed shut between her hands and she stared at the wall, her cheeks burning. Her mind rebooted itself as she processed the image. No, there was no mistaking it. The princess had been in a negligee! The peasant had been down to her undergarments... and had been removing them! The maid's outfits had been lying on the ground! There was no chance at all that they were having a normal slumber party.
She stared at the wall trying to either put the image out of her mind or figure out why it was making her blush so hard. It didn't take long for her to give up on the former, that image wasn't going anywhere. Katarina placed the book down on her desk and peered around her room cautiously, half expecting one of her friends to jump out and ask about it. She was alone though, and it was unlikely that any of her friends would appear in the middle of the night. Unlikely, but not impossible.
With one final paranoid glance around, she opened the book up again and resumed reading. Or tried to at least. It took a while for her to finally tear her eyes away from that image. Reading onward though, it got even steamier. The maids were joining the Princess and the Peasant in bed, and they began to kiss and then they crawled under the covers as the Princess and the Peasant focused on kissing each other and...
Katarina felt a warm rush spread through her at the descriptions. They were doing significantly more than just kissing. She turned a page and there was another picture, and she could see the maids through the covers. It was... they were... the maids were... Heat spread up her face until her cheeks felt like they were on fire. Slowly, mechanically, she moved a bookmark to the page and closed the book. Then she ran to her bed and buried her face in her pillow.
The council took some time to recover. They stared at the image long after Katarina closed the book again, holding it on their screen. Hesitantly, the Chairwoman banged her gavel. "We... need to discuss this."
"I liked it!" Happy blurted out, causing the others to jump.
"What?" "Really?" "You did?" The questions flew at her in rapid succession, but Happy just nodded.
"Of course she did!" Fearless announced, looking smug in a way she hadn't since they had stumbled over the first picture. "We all did!"
Studious adjusted her foggy glasses, "It was... very educational." The Chairwoman looked the other way, but also nodded. Spineless flushed fluorescently.
"So, what are we going to do about it?" Fearless asked.
"I think we should bring it with us." Happy answered, grinning.
"T-t-to school?" Spineless stammered, twisting about with worry, "What if others find it?"
"Why would we bring it with us?" The Chairwoman asked, warily.
"To show Mary, Maria, and Sophia of course!" Happy said cheerily.
Spineless was left speechless, while the others stared at Happy. Fearless recovered quickly and she smiled, "Yeah!"
Studious again adjusted her glasses, even though they were no more clear than before, "It... would potentially help explain it to them."
"More like show them..." Spineless muttered.
"Either way," Studious continued, ignoring Spineless's interruption, "it... will clearly convey what we want."
The Chairwoman nodded, "Then we are all in agreement that we should bring the book with us to show them?"
"No objections!"
Rarely had Katarina been so glad that class came to an end. She was never overly fond of school, but today had dragged on for seemingly forever. It didn't help that she kept catching Mary, Sophia, and Maria looking at her anxiously during her classes. She hadn't felt right telling any of them about her idea until they were all together. Thankfully, they hadn't pushed her for an answer, and she'd gotten each of them to agree to meet her on the roof again for another meeting of their romance reading group.
She was glad to greet them when she arrived, all three having beaten her to the roof. She sat down, accepting a cup of tea from Mary and some cookies from Maria, but then she saw the look on Sophia's face and put both down. It was a beautiful day, but the air felt heavy as all three of her friends waited with bated breath. Katarina could tell that they weren't really interested in reading another romance novel, which could make this difficult, but she didn't know how to explain it herself, so it was still her best option.
"I know I told you that I would give you an answer today, and I will, but I'd still like to have our normal book reading first." She pulled Anne's precious gift out of her bag and handed it to Sophia. Her white-haired friend blushed as she accepted, while Mary and Maria glanced between her and Sophia anxiously. Katarina smiled, waving them towards Sophia and more importantly the book, "I read it last night, so you three should read it together. I hope you enjoy it." They both hesitated but scooched closer to Sophia and the book.
"The Peasant and the Princess..." Sophia stopped, rereading the title to herself before looking up, brow uncharacteristically furrowed. "The Peasant and the Princess and her Handmaidens? I thought I had all of The Peasant and the Princess books. Katarina, where did you get this?"
Katarina grinned, "Anne gave it to me."
The three girls looked between each other before Mary shrugged, which seemed to end the unspoken conversation. Sophia finally opened the book and the trio began to read. The pages began to turn, all three growing engrossed in the novel, seemingly in spite of their desire not to be. Then they turned to a specific page and saw that fateful picture. Sophia's cheeks went incandescent and barely managed to avoid having the book snatched out of her hands by Mary. Maria leaned around to get a better view of the book that was suddenly closer but at an odd angle. The scramble was short-lived, Mary backed down just so she could see it again, and Sophia put the book back down between them.
Reading quickly devolved into looking at the pictures, and the pages turned far too fast to read, and then they began skipping over pages that only had words, but they lingered on the pages with illustrations. Sophia kept control over the book, but when she finished studying one of the images, she'd move it to either girl so they could get a better look.
A few moments later, the last page was turned. All three of her friends stared at her, and Katarina felt herself blushing, "I... I spent last night trying to think of a way to choose between you. I even asked Keith for help, but I couldn't choose. And then Anne gave me that book and... I didn't even think of that as an option until I read it."
"Are... are you asking us to be like them?" Mary asked, pointing to the closed book.
Katarina took a breath and then nodded, "You didn't really read it. There's more than just the pictures. The handmaidens are in love with the princess and the peasant and each other... and the peasant and the princess love them back. They all love each other." She felt her cheeks burning, "Do you... do you think you could feel the same way?"
Author's notes: Insert lines about taking too long. Shakes fist at time. Oh well. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I went back and fixed the previous chapters so Katarina is consistent instead of swapping between Katarina and Catarina.
I am adding more to this story. There are chapters that would be needed to flesh out since I changed this from Harem to Polyamory. It feels more natural for this story.
Here's an omake (cut content that didn't quite fit with what I was going for):
"I don't know how you can be so calm?" Mary said as she paced. She and Sophia had been waiting outside Katarina's dorm for longer than usual, barely been able to sleep through, Mary couldn't help but worry about every delay.
Sophia smiled serenely despite her own concern, "I'm sure she'll be down soon."
"Do you think she already left to see Maria?" Mary persisted, biting on her thumb, "What if she already went? Should we try to find Keith or Anne?"
Sophia placed a hand on Mary's shoulder, stopping her friend, "I don't think Katarina would run off like that. If... if she chooses Maria, I'm sure she'd tell us." She gave Maria as comforting a smile as she could, "I'm sure she just overslept, just try to relax."
Mary stared at her for a long moment before letting out a sigh, "You're right. She wouldn't just run away." Then she placed her head in her hands, "And all my plans revolved around doing just that. I can't believe I didn't think of it."
Sophia opened her mouth to offer more words of support, but then Mary's words seemed to reach her, "Wait, what was that about plans—"
"Good morning!" Katarina said, putting a premature end to the conversation.