Luf's expression stiffened a little. From the looks of it, she hadn't co in as already-registered data—she must have entered to get registered.
But coming straight to the Hidden Floor and asking for Hoaquin? Sothing was off. At the very least, she had to know about both Hoaquin and the Hidden Floor for that to be possible.
She doesn't seem to have bad intentions… but she was from the Royal Family, which made her seem suspicious.
And not just anyone, but a Princess of Zahard. It made sense if a Princess ca to the Hidden Floor to look for Maschenny, but Hoaquin out of nowhere?
Countless doubts, scenarios, and worries swirled inside Luf's head, until the girl—finding the long silence strange—spoke again.
"Where is he? Ah, maybe you don't know who I an? His na should be Arie Hoaquin."
Luf kept his smile while cautiously asking back. Before jumping to conclusions, he wanted to check first.
"And what business do you have with him…?"
"It's related to my parents, so—no comnt."
The mont she answered, only one na flashed inside both Luf and Hwarang's minds.
Zahard!
This girl was a Princess of Zahard. If it was "related to her parents," it had to be about Zahard. And if she'd co here because of that, maybe she was after Hoaquin.
Zahard's data and Hoaquin didn't get along at all, so maybe she was hoping the outside Zahard had contacted him. Of course it was common sense that there was no way to contact the outside from here, but you never knew.
"What do you plan to do when you et him?" Luf's voice had hardened. If she was planning to investigate Hoaquin, they had to be wary.
After a long ti together, Hoaquin had already revealed to his friends that his real self outside was an Irregular—not an approved one—so if soone from the Royal Family was looking for him, suspicion was unavoidable.
Hadn't she explicitly said it was "about her parents"? If it involved Zahard and Hoaquin, it was unlikely to be anything good.
Of course, what Eurasia Enne Zahard ant by "parents" were Eurasia Blossom and Po Bidau Gustang, but Hwarang and Luf—who focused only on father and ignored mother—had no way of knowing.
All they knew was that she was a Princess of Zahard, so of course her "father" had to be Zahard himself.
Enne Zahard now realized these two were deliberately refusing to answer her.
They know I'm a Princess of Zahard; are they looking down on ?
"If you know, then answer. I'm in a hurry," she said, now thinking they were outright ignoring her.
As soone extrely proud of her status as a Princess of Zahard, she was irritated. As a small warning, she accelerated the flow of Shinsu around her.
Which of course—
—only made the misunderstanding worse.
Threatened, Hwarang and Luf saw it as intimidation. Their expressions hardened instantly.
Confird! She's an enemy!
Suspicion turned to certainty. Hwarang quietly rose from his seat, while Luf maintained a smile—hands twitching behind his back, ready to activate his Lighthouse.
They thought they were fully prepared, but against Enne Zahard it was laughably obvious.
"If either of you moves even a little, I'll count it as an attack."
"—!"
They expected her to be strong, but not that perceptive. Truly fitting for a Princess dispatched on a Royal mission. Terrifyingly competent.
Shiiing—
Enne drew Needles from her inventory.
All I did was ask a question and they react like this?
The barista boy's acting was so good that if he hadn't tried activating his Lighthouse, she would've assud he had no hostility at all. The Yeon kid didn't seem ordinary either.
Why were they so hostile? Could it be…?
FUG?!
She'd heard that 10 Family scions were more likely to join FUG. If these two were from FUG, everything made sense. From the mont they realized she was a Princess of Zahard, they'd branded her as an enemy. In that case, resolving things peacefully was pointless.
Enne Zahard lifted her Needles toward Luf and Hwarang. Her head was full of one conclusion—They're FUG.
"If you surrender now, I'll treat you humanely."
Her tone shifted to speaking down to them. Hwarang snorted and blue flas erupted from his hands. At the sa mont, Luf activated his Lighthouse that had been disguised as a water dispenser.
"Hah! As if we'd ever do what you people want! Even if I die, I'll never betray Hoaquin!"
"Sa goes for ."
Enne's eyes widened at their answer. Hwarang assud she was moved by their loyalty, but in reality—
Hoaquin-oppa is FUG too?!
If so, then the photo of them all smiling together made complete sense. The Khun girl, these two, and Hoaquin—all FUG!
"That…!"
She trembled with shock and betrayal.
So they were trying to lure in from the beginning. No wonder sothing felt off when he didn't show up! That villain must have planned everything the mont I revealed myself!
"You cowards. If you won't surrender, I'll execute you here."
Her threat didn't shake them.
Hwarang's blue flas burned hotter.
"We will never bow to you people!"
All three lunged at once—blue flas, Lighthouse beams, and gleaming Needles colliding.
"To think you'd even target the data of Regulars—how filthy you are, Zahard's dogs!"
"You vile FUG! Setting traps even in the Hidden Floor!"
But just as they were about to clash—
Stop.
All three froze, a sense of wrongness dawning.
"…FUG?" Hwarang frowned. Where did that co from?
"…Zahard's army?" Enne blinked. Technically Princesses are affiliated with Zahard's forces, but that sounds weird… I didn't co here as military anyway. Why is he treating like an execution squad?
What was even stranger was how baffled they looked at the word FUG.
They stared at each other.
…?
Their minds filled with question marks—
CLACK—
The café door swung open.
Imdiately all three flinched and prepared to attack again.
"So you coward—brought reinforcents!"
"As expected of FUG—lying in ambush!"
Hwarang and Luf assud her backup had arrived.
Enne assud FUG reinforcents had arrived.
But reality was far different—there were no such reinforcents. Neither Princesses nor FUG brought backup squads here.
Instead, soone very familiar to all three stepped inside.
"Hwarang! Soone told you were hanging out at Luf's café!"
With his usual cheeky grin, the Arie boy appeared.
Hearing that his friend, who used to wander everywhere, had been staying in one place for a while, Hoaquin had stopped by with Maschenny.
But then—
…?
What is this?
He found a red-haired girl he'd never seen facing off against his friends as if they were about to kill each other.
"…Uh? Who's that?"
A custor? Judging by the red three-eyed crest, she was from the Zahard Royal Family. Her red hair, classic attire—sothing felt familiar, but he'd never seen her before.
"Who are you?"
"..."
The girl didn't respond—she only trembled.
Hoaquin tilted his head. Very strange, but he asked again.
"What's your na?"
"I-I…"
Hm? I?
Suddenly the girl leapt to her feet.
"You swindler! Do you have any idea how much I trusted you?!"
"W-Wait—?!"
Hoaquin stumbled backward in panic, tripped on a chair, and lost his balance.
"Are you okay?"
Not knowing what had just happened, Maschenny worriedly touched the spot where I'd been hit. Once the pain was gone I sprang right up and stared at the girl who claid her na was Enne.
She flinched—at least she had enough awareness to feel guilty about hitting soone.
Her appearance felt familiar. Ah—Eurasia Enne Zahard, wasn't it? I'd t her on Floor 89. From what I'd heard, the on the outside had made so kind of promise with her.
Apparently, if she ca to the Hidden Floor, he promised she could see her parents—Gustang and Blossom—back when they were young.
Well, who wouldn't be curious about seeing the 10 Great Family heads in their childhood? And since I'd also made a promise to Eurasia Blossom long ago, it was convenient.
"You said your na was Eurasia Enne Zahard, right?"
"Y-Yes… Oppa…"
Her voice was the complete opposite of the sharp, intimidating tone from earlier—now weak and deflated.
"No matter what, we're all from the Ten Families. And you're even a Princess of Zahard. Calling us FUG was a bit much, don't you think?"
"Ugh…"
Hoaquin's blunt words skewered Enne right through the ego.
Once Hoaquin explained the situation and cleared up the misunderstanding, Enne turned bright red and bowed her head over and over.
Even so, she couldn't overco the embarrassnt. How could she have jumped to such an extre conclusion? Even she realized that accusing them of being FUG had been… well, not just a stretch—completely absurd. She had almost hurt Hoaquin-oppa's friends.
What if Hoaquin-oppa hates now and throws out? Noooo…
Deflated completely, Enne answered in a tiny voice. Too tiny, considering how fierce she'd been earlier.
Was she really worried I'd throw her out? I had no such intention—she'd already apologized, and besides, a promise is a promise. Even if the guy outside dumped all the work on , I had to handle it.
Though… the more I thought about it, the more annoying it was.
Last ti we escaped the Hidden Floor, I had to clean up the ss while he just bolted outside. Then he tells , "If Enne shows up, decide whether to tell her the future or not," and dumps that on too. Even this girl—just one "Go to the Hell Train" ssage, and the rest was dumped on . At this rate he'd probably dump Twenty-Fifth Baam on too.
"Haaa…"
My irritation slipped out as a sigh, and Enne's face suddenly darkened.
"S-So… I really should leave the Hidden Floor, right? After all, I almost hurt your friends… Goodbye everyone…"
…Huh?
No wait—what is she talking about again?
Annoying as that outside was for shoving everything onto , he at least did one useful thing—he managed to get Enne onto the Hell Train route. In the original story, she didn't ride it at all—so I'd been wondering how to steer her there. Thanks to him, I could finally fulfill my promise to Blossom.
I grabbed Enne before she could shuffle out like a sad rice cake.
"…Why?"
Thinking she was being kicked out, Enne looked up weakly.
"You made a promise, right? Then I have to take you there. Your mother misses you a lot."
Her eyes widened in shock and hope.
"...! Really?!"
Jeez, that emotional switch was fast.
"Annoying as that outside guy is, he's still . So I'll clean up after him. Co on, I'll show you the way."
Her expression instantly brightened. Her drooping shoulders straightened, and she smiled so brightly it made the room feel warm. So this is what 'gentle and kind' ans.
"Thank you, Hoaquin-oppa!"
"Haha…"
I literally just t you today, and you're calling oppa… Feels weird. Cute, but weird.
While watching her grin, I turned to Hwarang.
"Hwarang, sorry to leave right after seeing you, but I've got a promise to keep. Want to co with us? Luf too—would've been nice to travel together."
Hwarang shook his head with a wry smile.
Well, I guess hanging around data versions of the Ten Families might be stressful.
"Thanks, but I'm staying a bit longer. Still have places to explore. I'll co find you later, so don't worry too much."
"And I have to open the café soon," Luf added.
"Well, that's a sha but understandable. We'll get going then. Oh, Luf—two hot coffees? One L size."
"Of course."
Luf operated his machine and soon handed us two cups. Enne carefully stuck her straw in, sipped—
"…Whoa."
"How is it?" Luf asked.
"It tastes way better than anything my family made."
Well, considering he'd been brewing coffee for thousands of years, it made sense. Luf loved being a barista as much as he loved taking selfies—talent effort experience.
Maschenny and I had tried his coffee before, so we didn't show much on our faces. But the first ti, we'd both been equally impressed. I figured once Luf beca a Ranker, he'd probably run a café on the outside.
If he t Yu Hansung would they get along? Actually no—Hansung likes instant coffee.
After wandering through that pointless thought, I grabbed two spare straws and stood.
"Enne, ti to go. Thanks for the coffee, Luf."
"Co anyti."
"Farewell, Hoaquin. Maschenny."
We headed toward the exit, but Enne paused to bow to Luf and Hwarang.
"I'm sorry for misunderstanding earlier. And the coffee was really good."
Luf, stunned at being apologized to by a Princess of Zahard, eventually nodded calmly and told her to visit again.
Sure enough, Enne was different from normal Princesses.
But then I noticed Maschenny's gaze—it had chilled considerably.
"…Maschenny?"
"What."
"Sothing put you in a bad mood?"
"It did."
Really?
She pointed at soone—Enne.
"She hit you."
…Ah. So that was it?
Her icy glare stayed fixed on Enne and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
"Hahaha, worrying about ?"
"…A little."
I smiled and hugged her without warning.
Wahp—
"Huh? What's with you."
She complained but didn't pull away.
"Haha, I just really like you."
She was so loveable in her D-Rank Regular form—small enough to hug easily.
"Love you, Maschenny."
"..."
She turned her head, whispering quietly—probably thinking only she could hear it.
But I heard everything.
"You just said ' too,' didn't you?"
"No I didn't."
"Cute."
While I hugged her and stroked her hair, the others watched—each thinking sothing different.
"Those two are always such a cute pair," Luf remarked.
"Unbelievable. They got even worse since last ti. And now in public? Seriously…" Hwarang grumbled, tornted for no real reason.
Enne, anwhile, blushed hard and covered her face—with her fingers spread so she could watch everything anyway.
W-What is that?! In public?! Are they dating?!
Her maiden heart exploded when Hoaquin kissed Maschenny on the forehead.
Her face turned scarlet—an absolute peak shade of red.
Kyahhhhh! Hoaquin-oppa said her na was Maschenny, right? Then she's Maschenny Zahard-unnie? That must be it!
"Luf, bring my spear."
"Haha, calm down, Hwarang…"
While Enne paced in circles, Luf held Hwarang back, and Hwarang dug through his inventory burning with righteous fury, Hoaquin walked up to Enne.
"Ahem. Enne. Let's go. Ti to et Lady Blossom."
"Huh—? Ah! Y-Yes!"
As Hoaquin escorted Enne out, Hwarang seriously considered throwing his spear at Hoaquin's back. It wouldn't work anyway… but it was tempting.
"Hah. Well, at least he didn't go for the neck this ti."
He snorted, pulling out the spear most similar to a pike, then tossed it back into his inventory.
He watched Hoaquin, Maschenny, and Enne head toward the Hidden Stage.
She's going to have a rough ti with those two… he thought.
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