From the beginning, it was all part of Rudy's plan. He wanted Rize to stand up for herself and stop being her parent's slave. He wanted her to save herself, so he could save her from her evil parents.
It wasn't about Rize's answer to Rudy's confession, it was about the message, and the courage Rudy was trying to convey to Rize.
Rudy wanted Rize to speak for herself and be honest without being scared of her parents. That's why he hadn't told her anything about the harem yet. Because even if he had, Rize still wouldn't have answered.
She was sacrificing her love for Rudy for Rudy's well-being. She wanted Rudy to live a happy life instead of getting him involved in her matters.
"Just say the word, Rize. You know what you have to say. You know what you want. Just say it, and I will commence it."
Rize hugged Rudy tightly and muttered, "Save… me. I love you. I love you so so much. So save me. Give me an opportunity to love you. I will cherish you and never let you go away. So please… hold me tight and don't let them take me away."
"Your wish has been granted."
Rudy knew from the start what Rize's answer to his confession was. When he asked her in the classroom, he was holding her hand, and he could hear all the thoughts going through her mind.
Even before that, he was already aware of her feelings. After all, Rize had loved him in his past life, too, so even if he hadn't made moves on her, she would have fallen in love with him.
All Rudy did by making moves on Rize was just to speed up the process and make her fall in love with him at the earliest. And now that Rize had become honest and given her answer to Rudy, he no longer had to hide anything from her.
"Rize, I have something to tell you."
"You can do that later."
Rize kissed Rudy on the lips and started taking off his shirt, which she had unbuttoned.
"Wait, wait, wait." Rudy stopped her.
"What is it now? I even confessed my love to you!" Rize hissed, seemingly frustrated.
"Someone is coming."
"Huh?"
"Hide."
Rize had no time to react, and the person had entered the infirmary and moved the curtains to Rudy's bed.
The person was none other than Alice.
"Th-This is not what it looks like! I was just checking his heartbeat!"
Rize tried to get off Rudy, but her legs had gone numb after sitting in an awkward position.
When Rize had asked Rudy to close his eyes behind the stairs, and he didn't open his eyes again, Rize panicked and didn't know what to do. At the same time, she saw Alice and Janet passing by, while in truth, they had seen Rudy entering the school building after getting off the stage, and they followed him.
They were looking for Rudy in the school building and were headed towards their classroom since they assumed Rudy must have gone to take his bag as it wasn't with him when he left the stage.
On their way, they heard a faint voice calling Rudy's name, so they walked to the end of the hallway towards the stairway and saw Rudy and Rize under the stairs.
Alice realized what was going on, but Janet was furious and went to confront them, only to realize Rudy had passed out. At first, she even thought Rudy was pretending as if they were caught, but after realizing she was wrong, they all carried him to the infirmary.
The nurse was at the playground with a medical team, as it was natural for the students to get injured during sports tournaments.
Rize and Janet were panicking, but Alice wasn't as worried as the two as she was well aware that nothing could hurt Rudy. Then, they decided to get something to drink for Rudy, but the nearest vending machine was empty, so Rize sent Alice and Janet to search for juice in the other vending machine of the school.
Rize returned to the infirmary when Rudy called out her name, and then they shared a moment, which ended when Alice returned.
Alice knew that Rudy wanted to add Rize to his harem. Although she didn't want that to happen, she wasn't against it.
"Janet was right behind me, so she should be here at any given minute. Unless you have an explanation for what you two are doing, I suggest you get off the bed," Alice asserted with a straight face.
Rudy helped Rize get off the bed and buttoned his shirt.
A few seconds later, Janet returned with four juice cans in her hands, each having a different flavor. When she saw Rudy was awake, she rushed to him and asked:
"Are you okay?!"
Rudy lowered his gaze with a gloomy expression on his face and shook his head.
"I am not. I was trying to hide it because I didn't want to make anyone worry, but I guess it's time."
"Wha…t? What are you talking about?!" Janet panicked.
"He is lying." Alice placed her hand on Janet's shoulder and said, "He is okay and everything is fine."
"But… he said…" Janet stopped when she saw Rudy grinning at her.
"I can't believe you just did that to her," Rize scolded.
"He is always like this! I don't know why, but he always teases me like this!" Janet stated.
"You know why I do that."
Janet handed the juice can to everyone while glaring at Rudy.
"Huh? I don't like this flavor," Rudy said after looking at his can.
"But, I do. And it's one of my favorites."
Janet was holding Rudy's favorite flavor, so he said, "Then why do you have my favorite, and you gave me your favorite?"
"Because you don't like that flavor, and I want you to suffer while you drink every sip from it!"
"..."
'And then she wonders why I tease her.'
After drinking the juice, Rudy, Alice, and Janet left the school as they had nothing else to do on that day, and participating in the sports tournament wasn't compulsory.
Rize had to stay there until the school hours ended as she was a teacher. And Rudy told her to tell the school that he wouldn't be participating in the advanced sprint race because he wasn't feeling good.
