After Ryn and Kallen left, the two who had been feigning sleep—mortified by Kallen's sudden appearance that morning—immediately woke up.
They instinctively huddled together. Sparkle pressed Sabayou against Mei's head, while Mei held a kitchen knife to Sparkle's throat.
"Forget about last night!" they said in unison.
After a moment of silence, they spoke again in perfect unison.
"Stop copying me!"
"..."
They stared at each other, unsure what to say. Finally, Sparkle spoke first.
"Raiden Mei, I hope our next moment of perfect synchronization happens on the battlefield, not in a situation like this..."
"I feel the same way, Mr. Sparkle," Mei replied, retracting the knife and crossing her arms.
Sparkle put away Sabayou, sneered, then lunged forward, grabbing Mei's hands and squeezing the two prominent lumps jutting out from her chest.
"Damn it, Mei! I didn't realize our relationship was so fragile!!"
"You were the one who pressed Sabayou against my head first!"
Mei retaliated by squeezing back, but it was clear Sparkle's were smaller than hers.
After a brief scuffle, they calmed down and sat on the sofa. Mei peeled fruit for Sparkle, who lay lazily with her head in Mei's lap.
Mei cut off a small piece of fruit and fed it to Sparkle.
"Fat Sparkle, if you keep lying around like this, you're really going to get fat."
"Shut up! If you call me fat again, I'm really going to shoot you!" Sparkle replied, her cheeks stuffed full.
Mei stared into Sparkle's eyes, then suddenly asked, "Sparkle, do you like Ryn or Kiana?"
"Before you ask others, you should answer first!" Sparkle avoided Mei's gaze, turning her head away and burying it between Mei's thighs.
"I like both Kiana and Ryn equally~ What about you?"
"I... I like Ryn," Sparkle mumbled in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.
Slap!
Mei smacked Sparkle's upturned butt with all her might, causing her to jump up and clutch her rear end.
"I can't hear you! Speak up!"
"Damn it, Mei! I like Ryn, okay?!" Sparkle shouted through gritted teeth.
Mei narrowed her eyes and smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. She pointed behind Sparkle.
Sparkle immediately had a bad feeling. Click, click, she mechanically turned her head to see Kallen watching Cortana fiddle with a phone in curiosity. Cortana had started recording...
Standing beside them, Ryn and Sparkle stared blankly at their takeout.
Ryn had never known what a Steam Maiden was like before, but today she had witnessed it firsthand. Sparkle's face instantly flushed crimson, as if blood were about to drip from it, and her ears turned bright red. Her eyes spun in circles like electric mosquito coils, and smoke billowed from her head—she looked like a mosquito coil spirit come to life!
"R-R-Ryn... you... you..." Sparkle stammered, but before she could finish, she fainted from embarrassment.
"You silly girl..." Ryn quickly caught Sparkle and laid her on the sofa.
"I really like Ryn, you know~" Mei's voice suddenly chimed in.
Mei's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't said anything!
"This circle is truly chaotic~"
Cortana smirked mischievously as she placed her phone in Kallen's hands and vanished from sight.
The words had been a recording of Mei's earlier statement, edited and synthesized by Cortana.
Now, with Cortana gone, Mei was left standing before Kallen and Ryn, transformed into a Steam Maiden under their watchful gaze.
"This circle is truly chaotic..."
Even Kallen couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the two Steam Maidens and Ryn, who had been glued to Kiana's side from night until noon.
"Aba aba..." Ryn didn't know what to say. Playing dumb was the right move here. Luckily, Kiana wasn't around, or Ryn would have completely cracked.
"Wait! Where's Cortana?" Ryn suddenly remembered something and rushed toward Kiana's room.
He opened the door to find Kiana already awake, sitting on the edge of her bed and listening to Cortana's embellished nonsense.
Cortana immediately tried to flee when she saw Ryn, but he was prepared. He trapped her with a pseudo-black hole.
Kiana looked radiant, all traces of yesterday's exhaustion completely gone. After all, the Queen hadn't given her a hard time this time, and Ryn's life energy was indeed incredibly restorative.
"Care to explain?" Kiana asked with a smile, holding up her phone, which was playing the video of Mei and Sparkle from earlier.
Clutching the USB-sized core of Cortana in his hand, Ryn couldn't meet Kiana's eyes.
He could only say that Cortana truly lived up to her reputation. In the video Kiana was watching, Ryn was already surrounded by women on both sides.
Damn Cortana! Mad! My fists are clenched.
Ryn dropped to his knees before Kiana, speaking cautiously, "Actually, Cortana just edited that together. I had no idea..."
"Mhm, mhm, and then what?" Kiana nodded, still smiling with her eyes narrowed.
"Don't do that... I'm scared. I really didn't do anything..."
Ryn knelt before Kiana, unsure why he was kneeling or why he felt like he was being put on trial when he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Haha, silly Ryn, come help me up." Kiana couldn't help but burst out laughing. She gently tapped Ryn's head and then held out her hand.
Ryn took Kiana's hand and gently helped her to her feet.
"Aren't you angry?" he asked curiously.
"Why would I be angry? At you, Cortana, or Mei and Sparkle?" Kiana tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, then leaned against Ryn's chest.
Listening to his heartbeat, she whispered, "Cortana told me from the start that it was fake. She just wanted to tease me and mend the rift between us."
"Besides, you're all talk and no action, Ryn~ I trust you completely." Kiana said, kissing Ryn on the forehead. "Let me count your friends: Otto Amber, the fried chicken shop owner, the owner's wife, Class Monitor Fu Hua, Aunt Theresa, Aunt Himeko, the History Teacher, and then our family, right? Sparkle, Mei, Bronya, and me!"
"And Seele..." Ryn blurted out instinctively, then immediately wanted to slap himself twice. He should have just kept his mouth shut...
Kiana's eyes, which had just opened, immediately narrowed again. But seeing Ryn sitting upright and looking serious, she burst into laughter.
"You big idiot... I don't mind at all~
Everyone clearly likes each other, so why suppress your feelings?
I hate goodbyes... Rather than letting Mei and Sparkle leave us later, why not have them stay with us forever?"
"Uh..."