Chapter 32: Delicious Spell, Meow?

A Hasty Arrival at Nightingale Café

Twenty minutes later, inside Nightingale Café on South Street.

Ye Xinglan sat by the window with her legs crossed, watching Xiao Xi rush out from behind the counter in her maid outfit. She spoke with clear dissatisfaction.

“You’re half an hour late, Xiao Xi. Don’t you have any sense of time? Late for work? So unmotivated!”

Looking at Ye Xinglan, who sat as comfortably as if she were at home, Xiao Xi felt a bit helpless.

“What do you mean? Why are you here again?”

The last person she wanted to hear about being unmotivated was Ye Xinglan, this idle rich girl! If you counted her magical girl duties, Xiao Xi was juggling three jobs a day—an ultimate workhorse!

“What do you mean? It’s not like I’m not paying! I got here more punctually than you, and you, the late one, have the nerve to call me out?”

“It’s fine, everyone has emergencies sometimes,” Su Ying, leisurely making coffee nearby, said with a smile. “No worries, Xiao Xi. It’s not busy at this hour anyway.”

“Sorry, Manager. I won’t be late again.”

A wave of warmth washed over Xiao Xi. Miss Su Ying was just too kind.

“Come have afternoon tea with me!” Ye Xinglan patted the seat beside her. “I just bought half an hour of your maid service.”

Xiao Xi sighed, slowly bringing over Ye Xinglan’s order and sitting down.

Ever since Ye Xinglan learned she worked at the café, she’d been showing up almost every afternoon. Xiao Xi had come to realize just how much free time a rich girl who didn’t need to work had… enough to come watch her work every day!

“Sit closer. Why are you so far away? Closer!”

Only when Xiao Xi was pressed right up against her did Ye Xinglan relent, casually looping her arm through Xiao Xi’s and humming happily.

Ye Xinglan now felt that since Xiao Xi knew Eternal Star, getting close to her was a step in her revenge plan. If their relationship grew strong enough, maybe Xiao Xi would share info about Eternal Star.

Yup, that’s why she came to the café every day to book Xiao Xi’s maid service—not because she hated seeing Xiao Xi chat and eat with others, nope.

For Xiao Xi, though, she had a new life goal: earn enough money to pay off her rent, then move far, far away from Ye Xinglan!

These past few days, Ye Xinglan kept pestering her about Eternal Star. Xiao Xi could only mumble vague responses like “not close” or “don’t know” to brush her off, sometimes throwing in trivial details when pushed.

Though Xiao Xi had made it clear she didn’t know Eternal Star’s true identity, Ye Xinglan wouldn’t give up. Xiao Xi felt that if this continued, she’d slip up and reveal her identity to Ye Xinglan one day!

To avoid being chased by romantic debts… tears soaked her pork rice, swearing to earn a million!

An Unexpected Visitor

Just then, the chime of the door’s windbell made Xiao Xi stand instinctively, flashing a professional smile.

“Welcome… Keke? Why are you here?”

Xiao Xi froze. Were they all coming to mess with her now?

Xiao Keke, standing at the entrance, didn’t look much happier. Seeing Xiao Xi, she slapped her forehead, her voice nearly a wail.

“Sis! It’s really you… Oh, Xinglan’s here too. Afternoon, Xinglan!”

…

Moments later, Xiao Xi finally pieced together what happened. Apparently, Keke had seen a video of the café a couple of days ago and noticed a server who looked like her sister, so she came to check it out today when she had time.

“I can’t believe it’s actually you…”

Xiao Keke covered her eyes, feeling her worldview collapse.

Her sister did look adorable in the maid outfit, pleasing to the eye, but that’s exactly why she couldn’t accept it!

It was like reconnecting with a childhood friend you used to climb trees and catch rabbits with, only to find out years later they’re a 30-year-old divorcee with two kids.

When did her sister become so cute, so full of magical girl vibes?

Still, she hadn’t expected Xinglan to be here while her sister worked. Their relationship must be really close.

Xiao Keke glanced at the two girls clinging to each other, suddenly regretting wasting her precious break time to come get fed this dog food.

The Embarrassing Spell

A moment later, while Xiao Xi was serving coffee to other customers, Ye Xinglan flashed a mischievous grin and winked at Xiao Keke. “Keke, first time here? Let me recommend something.”

Ye Xinglan picked up the menu and pointed to the Heart-Pounding ♡ Love-Love ♡ Katsu Omelette Rice (with Delicious Spell).

“Sounds good,” Xiao Keke nodded, taking the menu. “I’ve never been to a maid café before. What’s this Delicious Spell thing?”

Ye Xinglan smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see.”

Soon after, they saw Xiao Xi approach with a dark expression, carrying a plate of katsu omelette rice.

“Here’s your Heart-Pounding Love-Love Katsu Omelette Rice. Enjoy.”

Xiao Xi set down the dish and turned to leave, but Ye Xinglan, anticipating this, grabbed the hem of her maid skirt.

Hmph, trying to escape?

“Isn’t this dish supposed to come with the Delicious Spell? You didn’t forget, did you, Xiao Xi?”

Xiao Xi’s body froze, followed by a long sigh.

“Remember to smile~”

Ye Xinglan smirked, nudging Xiao Keke to ready her camera to capture the moment.

Then Xiao Keke watched her sister turn around, make a heart shape with her hands, and flash a sweet but slightly stiff smile.

“Heart-Pounding ♡ Love-Love ♡ Floaty~ Soft~”

“Cute-Cute Omelette Rice~ Become Delicious~”

By the final step, as Xiao Xi squeezed ketchup into a heart shape on the omelette, Xiao Keke’s phone camera was shaking uncontrollably… because she was trying so hard not to laugh.

How to put it… If it were any other pretty girl performing like this, she might’ve found it adorable. But sadly, this was her sister.

As Xiao Keke stifled her laughter and watched Xiao Xi squeeze the ketchup, she suddenly noticed something.

“Hey, Sis, your arm’s hurt. You okay?”

Xiao Keke set down her phone and leaned in with concern. There was a scratch on Xiao Xi’s arm, about three or four centimeters long. It seemed to have stopped bleeding.

Xiao Keke frowned. For some reason, the wound looked familiar… like the one Sirius had gotten on her arm while protecting her?

Xiao Xi’s heart sank. She’d been in such a rush to get to work that she hadn’t treated the wound. And she hadn’t expected her little sister to show up out of nowhere today!