The sun outside was still vicious, and the streets of Jade City were far quieter than they usually were around alti.
Most of those on the road were ordinary pedestrians, while the wolfish patrols of guards seen days earlier had thinned out considerably. They had probably given up on the search. Or perhaps there was simply no longer any need to continue it.
The guards now stationed around the area were rely the usual on-duty personnel. Seeing these familiar faces at last put people sowhat at ease. They no longer had to live in constant fear as they had over the past few days.
Inside Irene’s room, Yae-hi stood rigid, her nerves taut and her heartbeat racing. Because outside the door stood a powerful presence.
**Knock, knock, knock.**
Suddenly, that powerful presence knocked heavily on the door. Even though it was clearly a casual knock, the aura it carried was still deeply intimidating.
Yae-hi forcibly cald herself and suppressed her presence to the absolute minimum. For soone who possessed basic spatial power, concealing her aura and sense of existence was not particularly difficult.
The knocking abruptly stopped. After standing outside for a mont, the person turned and left Irene’s room. Yae-hi did not move at all, as though she had rged completely with the surrounding space.
With a sharp swish, the figure that had just left suddenly reappeared in front of the door.
“Strange. Could I have sensed it wrong?” the man murmured in a low voice.
Under the sunlight, his face was finally revealed. It was Gurant, the bishop of the Southern Grand Church. As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left. This ti, he truly departed.
Inside the room, Yae-hi finally let out a breath of relief. “Phew… That terrifying aura must be the bishop Irene ntioned. The helper Richard brought in is no ordinary figure.” She tilted her head toward the door and spoke softly.
The opponent’s strength was clearly far beyond what she had initially expected.
“He’s probably about on par with Lili.” Without having truly crossed hands with him, Yae-hi could not determine just how high Gurant’s upper limit was. She could only make a rough estimate.
“That guy doesn’t seem like he ca specifically to see Irene.” Staring at the door, Yae-hi spoke with a puzzled expression. If he truly had business with Irene, how could he have left so easily?
“He was probably just passing by and acted on a whim.” With no further information, she could not infer Gurant’s true intentions at all.
“Uuu… mm…” At that mont, Irene, who was lying on the bed, let out a lazy, sleepy sound. She then slowly opened her eyes.
“You’re awake.” Yae-hi looked over and smiled.
“… ” Irene blinked, her rusted brain finally starting to turn. Within a few seconds, she grasped the situation. So she had fallen asleep without realizing it.
‘She actually stayed by my side the whole ti. That bad girl is unexpectedly considerate.’ Thinking this, she could not help but smile happily.
“Are you hungry?” Yae-hi asked while reaching out to tidy Irene’s ssy hair.
Hearing that, Irene felt as though her heart were about to lt.
‘So considerate! Is this bad girl really the bad girl I knew?’ She could not help but doubt it.
“Not hungry?” Yae-hi asked again. Her voice was as gentle as flowing water.
“I am.” Irene nodded, a faint blush blooming across her cheeks.
“I’ll co—” Yae-hi started to say, then suddenly rembered that there was no kitchen in Irene’s room.
“Co?” Irene asked, sounding slightly confused.
“No, I an, next ti we get the chance, I’ll personally cook you a bowl of noodles.” Yae-hi said.
“I see.”
“Mm. For now, let’s just keep it simple. That said, could you let go of my hand?” Yae-hi lowered her head and looked at her own arm as she spoke. On it was a fair, delicate little hand.
“How strange. Why am I holding your hand?” Irene said in surprise. She had been holding it so naturally that she had not sensed anything amiss.
“You kept holding onto my hand the whole ti after you fell asleep,” Yae-hi said irritably. ‘Did she seriously have no self-awareness at all?’
“Ah!” Irene hurriedly let go, an embarrassed expression instantly creeping onto her small face. “I… I didn’t do it on purpose…” She lowered her voice, speaking with a hint of awkwardness.
“It’s fine.” Yae-hi shook her head lightly. She then took out a large assortnt of pastries from her spatial ring, along with a teapot of rather unusual structure.
“Wait a mont. I’ll brew a pot of tea.” As she spoke, Yae-hi took out another item from the spatial ring and handed it to Irene. It was a beautifully made book.
“This is!?” Seeing the familiar cover and the familiar text, Irene could not help but exclaim.
“The second half. You’ve been waiting a long ti for it, haven’t you?” Yae-hi said with a calm smile. The book in her hands was none other than the brand-new masterpiece by Alicia that she and Irene had enjoyed together before.
“Wuuah, I missed you so much!” Irene excitedly snatched the lewd novel from Yae-hi’s hands and hugged it tightly to her chest. She felt as if she had not read a lewd novel for half a lifeti, and the hunger in her heart was almost unbearable.
At the sa ti, a wave of emotion surged up from deep within her. ‘Today, that bad girl is being so gentle and considerate. If only she were like this every day!’
Watching Yae-hi busy herself at the small dining table, the warmth in Irene’s heart grew even stronger.
Fifteen minutes later. Yae-hi had finished brewing a pot of fine black tea. The delicious pastries were neatly arranged on plates, looking tempting enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
Reluctantly, Irene set the lewd novel aside and enjoyed afternoon tea together with Yae-hi. A cozy, gentle atmosphere spread throughout the room. Monts like these always passed far too quickly.
After finishing the last sip of fragrant tea, Irene returned to the bed in satisfaction, ready to continue reading her lewd novel. However, before she could even open the book, Yae-hi pressed it down with one hand.
“You slept well, ate well, drank well, and were taken care of. Today, I already fulfilled four of your wishes in one go.”
“Huh?” Hearing this, Irene tilted her head in confusion.
“Irene, we’re good friends, right?” Yae-hi did not explain further and instead looked straight at her.
“Y-yes! We are, good friends!” Stared at by those captivating eyes, Irene imdiately beca flustered.
“Good friends should help each other, shouldn’t they?” Yae-hi said gently.
“Yes.” Irene nodded.
“Was I good to you today?”
“Mhm!” Irene nodded again.
“Good. Now it’s your turn to be good to .”
Before the words finished leaving her mouth, Yae-hi took four fragnts out of her spatial ring and placed them in front of Irene. The mont Irene saw the fragnts, her eyes and the corners of her mouth twitched faintly.
Then she reached out with both hands, firmly grabbing Yae-hi by the shoulders as she roared, “Didn’t I tell you to use them sparingly!?”
“Ahahaha, I ran into so trouble, so I ended up using up all the energy,” Yae-hi said awkwardly.
“Ugh, bad girl, I hate you!” Irene puffed out her cheeks slightly as she spoke. How could she not understand now? All that earlier gentleness and consideration had just been currying favor.
‘Give back my feelings!’
“Please,” Yae-hi said earnestly, gently patting her head.
“Hmph, only this once!” Irene snorted, clearly having vented much of her anger.
“Mm. I’ll be more careful next ti,” Yae-hi promised.
‘If that’s even possible… Well, her promise was completely unreliable anyway.’
“Wait, why is there an extra one!?” After counting the fragnts on the bed, Irene exclaid in surprise.
“It’s like this…” Yae-hi hurriedly explained the origin of the fourth fragnt.
After listening, Irene glanced again at the jet-black fragnt, which was clearly larger than the other three, and said in a low voice, “Maybe I should just quietly slip it away.”
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