Chapter 23 : You schemed against me
The next morning.
“Aaah (º﹃º)”
When Qianya left Zero’s room, her face was the face of someone who had just gained forbidden wisdom. She never expected mana replenishment to be mutual. Her magic level had clearly broken through, though because her current body was too low-level, she didn’t feel much of the upgrade ( )
The gates to a new world had opened. Right now Qianya looked dazed, soft, and ridiculously cute.
When she had first woken up, Zero had said this to her:
“This is a secret. You’re not allowed to tell anyone, or else ( ᗜ ˰ ᗜ ).”
Then, with complete seriousness, she added that if Qianya ever spilled, she would huff.
“I-I got it, wuu (つ﹏⊂)”
At the time Qianya could only nod with a burning face. She had been completely out of it.
What made her want to cry even more was the matter of removing the slave mark…
“I’ll think about it. Anyway, when I’m hungry, you have to cooperate properly with mana replenishment.”
That was exactly how Zero had put it ↑
Qianya: Zero is way too thirsty (´-﹏-`；)
Although Zero had once said that all the little cheeseburgers she fed Qianya came with a price… Qianya really hadn’t expected the price to be this.
But… maybe it was just her imagination?
“Why does the pattern feel kinda weird, wuu?”
Qianya lifted her shirt and looked at the little cat-paw mark on her tummy. It seemed… a tiny bit bigger?
“Sigh… whatever, too much trouble. Not thinking about it.”
Qianya sighed, shook off those thoughts, and continued down the stairs.
Then… at the staircase landing…
“Yo? You idiot actually woke up pretty early today.”
Qianya looked up and ran straight into Iris, who was carrying a tray.
Iris was wearing a light green dress. On the tray were two sandwiches, four or five cookies, a glass of warm milk, and a small dish of jam.
“Hm? Why does your face look so weird?” Iris raised a brow, her gaze sweeping over Qianya’s flushed cheeks. A trace of suspicion flickered in her eyes.
Qianya covered her face: “Wuu… can we not talk about it ≧﹏≦”
Iris didn’t press further and just pointed downstairs. “There’re sandwiches for you in the kitchen too. Hurry and eat.”
“Oh… not just bread slices anymore?” Qianya blinked.
Iris had gotten nicer.
Iris: “You can have plain bread if you want (￣～￣)”
Qianya: “No no no (“▔□▔)”
As she started walking down, Qianya’s eyes landed on Iris’s tray.
“Iris, whose is that tray for…?” Qianya asked.
“It’s for Luko.” Iris answered.
“Luko? She’s not coming down to eat?” Qianya was stunned.
Iris sighed, her voice dropping. “Sigh, Luko told me about Pandora yesterday… She feels like she got you hurt because of her. She’s in a really bad mood. When she woke up she locked herself in her room and said she doesn’t want to see anyone.”
She paused, then gritted her teeth. “That damn bounty hunter and whoever hired her—if I ever run into them—”
Iris’s expression turned downright terrifying.
Then she carried the tray toward Luko’s room.
Qianya stood there, emotions swirling in her eyes…
“Luko…”
No way… she had to go check on Luko and talk to her properly.
It really wasn’t her fault.
Who could have predicted a bounty hunter would suddenly show up in the capital to catch dragon girls (angry)
Qianya turned and headed to the kitchen, her steps quicker than before.
The kitchen still smelled of sandwiches. Qianya grabbed a plate from the cupboard, put two sandwiches on it, and specially poured a cup of hot milk tea.
Carrying the plate, she went back upstairs toward Luko’s room, already thinking about how to comfort her.
But when she passed Vivian’s door…
Click. The door suddenly opened.
“Yaya, where are you rushing off to~?”
Vivian stood there in a black-and-purple lace nightdress, fluffy white hair spilling over her shoulders, red eyes full of amusement.
She blocked Qianya’s path.
“Vivian? Uh, whatever it is can wait—hey?!”
Before Qianya could finish, the vampire girl reached out. One hand snatched the breakfast plate, the other grabbed Qianya’s wrist and yanked her inside.
“W-What are you doing… aaah!” Qianya struggled to break free.
But she was dragged into the room anyway.
“I really don’t have time! Luko’s still upset in her room. I need to go see her!” Qianya told Vivian.
“A little slave raising her voice at her master? Heh.” After putting the breakfast plate on the table, Vivian locked the door and leaned against it with arms crossed.
“No rush, Yaya. Luko’s fine. Going or not won’t make a difference.”
“What do you mean it won’t make a difference!” Qianya was starting to get angry.
Luko’s heart was super fragile—Qianya knew that better than anyone.
“Yesterday she was caught by a bounty hunter and stuffed into a magic bottle. She almost got… Something that dangerous—how could she possibly be fine!”
With that, Qianya grabbed the plate again, wanting to leave quickly and find Luko.
“Pfft—hahaha… Yaya, you look so cute when you’re anxious.” Vivian couldn’t help laughing at the sight of Qianya’s red-rimmed eyes.
But she still didn’t move out of the way.
“Don’t worry. Even if big sister Zero hadn’t shown up yesterday, Pandora would have brought Luko back to the café exactly as I wanted. So there’s nothing to worry about~”
“…What does that mean?”
Vivian walked over, her fingertip lightly tracing Qianya’s cheek. Those red eyes were filled with mischief.
“Let me tell you, Yaya. Actually, even if Zero hadn’t saved you two yesterday, Pandora would have delivered Luko right back here—on my orders~”
“…Eh (O_O)?”
What was this girl saying?
Qianya was completely dumbfounded.
“You really are slow, Yaya~ Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
She paused, watching Qianya’s expression grow more and more shocked, then spelled it out word by word:
“The one who hired Pandora to attack you two… was me~♡”
Qianya: “…?!”
The plate in Qianya’s hands clattered to the floor. Milk tea splashed everywhere.