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nMiriette rolled on her back and made a vulgar gesture with her fingers towards the door that closed behind Ehmi.

n”Oof… I knew you didn’t like her but…”

n”But what?”

nBurushi took a deep breath and muttered – but if she didn’t want to actually get Miriete’s attention, her volume was not low enough.

n”I… well, you see – I don’t feel comfortable with taking sides in this conflict if that’s okay…? I kind of like both of you so…”

nThe blond-haired girl flinched and mumbled with her head down doing her best to not make accidental eye contact with the angry dark-haired girl while trying to diffuse the situation even a little bit.

n”…”

nBut once again, despite Burushi’s worries, Miriette showed a surprising amount of self restrain and did not pursue the subject, only sighing with annoyance and looking up at the ceiling.

n”Yeah, sure, that’s fair – but I would not put too much trust in the busty senior of ours if I was in your place. She is the kind of girl who hangs around people she considers inferior to make herself look better.”

nMiriette frowned while pushing out her lower jaw in annoyance while talking about the crimson-haired girl.

n”I’ve seen maids in our house act just like her. All the facade is gone the moment the supposed inferior friend is getting more attention than the superior one, and things can turn ugly.”

nShe advised with a grim expression, still looking at the ceiling.

n”…ah, I’ve seen others act in that way too, actually…”

nBurushi muttered in realization and furrowed her brows.

nShe herself had never been in that kind of situation before but she certainly did see that kind of behavior back in her previous life.

nA rare privilege of a loner – not getting involved in drama, simply because a group activity cannot involve you if you are not a part of the group in the first place.

nStill, now that might have turned against her, as she could not recognize whether she really got herself in the spot of the ugly friend or was that only the grumpy villainess’s attempt of keeping her away from Ehmi she did not like.

n”Leaving that aside – since when Arisu is taking part in the tournament?”

n”…eh…?”

nThen, out of nowhere, Miriette sat up and asked, looking at Burushi with concern – causing the blond girl to let out a confused voice.

n”He is not…? Not only personally, but the Lazaram family altogether isn’t represented at all. I know because I overhear some of my patients talk about it.”

nBurushi answered tilting her head and looking Miriette straight in the face.

n”What…? But then who is the white-haired man that I heard others gush about? Supposedly he finished every single fight in one hit, just like Zoemi did with Letro. You also don’t know about him?”

nThe dark-haired girl asked, taken aback by the blond girl’s answer.

n”No…? Wait… there was something odd going on – I do remember hearing the judge signal the start of the duel and call the winner almost immediately – but I always thought that the other fighter conceded because I never got a patient afterward.”

nBurushi furrowed her brows and bit her lip in concern doing her best to recall.

n”…I see… I wonder whether Zoemi knows about him, then…?”

nMiriette made a concerned expression and glanced towards the door.

n”There should be no problem with me visiting him and discussing the subject, wouldn’t you say? If someone comes by and asks about me say I went for a walk.”

nShe added with a faint smile appearing on her face and stood up.

n”…”

nBurushi raised her brow but said nothing about the fact that Miriette – a transcended wind magician – would not even try to contact someone else via the message spell before going through the trouble of sneaking through the hallways in the mansion of another noble family.

n”Sure, it’s not like that would be a lie. Oh, but I suppose that Ehmi must have told him about that other guy already – all in all, she doesn’t want to get married so would share the intel about the potential opponents. Anyway, have fun and don’t get caught.”

nThe blond heroine shrugged her shoulders and waved Miriette goodbye.

n——–

nMiriette ended up sneaking into Zoemi’s room getting past everyone thanks to the same detection spell she developed the previous time.

nAs for the room itself – well, one of her air emperors – the compact one, had simply snuck underneath the door and unlocked it for her.

n”…uuuu….”

nThe dark-haired girl muttered to herself seeing the empty bed, Zoemi must have either gone to get something to eat or simply hasn’t returned from his usual training.

nStill – that wasn’t all bad, she could wait for him and surprise him with the gift of her presence when he would return.

n”Hmhmhm~!”

n*click*

nMiriette hummed to herself, locking the door and walking towards the bed…

n”Eh…? Hold on – the key was on the inside…”

nSuddenly she flinched and looked around, realizing that if the boy really went out, the bedroom would not be locked from the inside…

n*click*

n”Hmhmhm hmm hm hmm… huh…?”

nThe confirmation of her realization soon arrived as the door to the joint bathroom opened and the black-haired boy walked out humming, with a bath towel wrapped around his waist as he was drying off his hair with a smaller one.

n”…”

n”…”

nZoemi looked up and once he met Miriette’s gaze the two of them just stared at each other for a couple of seconds…

n”…please, continue…”

nMiriette went ahead and politely sat on the bed before blushing and looking up at the frozen boy with sparkling eyes.

nMy, my, my. Isn’t she a bold one? Still, isn’t she the one who told you before that you shouldn’t do anything questionable while in the Victureo mansion?

nAs for Zoemi, the first voice that broke through the dead silence of his shocked brain was the voice of Ludier’s unique shadow.

n*WHOOSH*

n*thump*

n”Uwa-nyah?!”

nAs if prompted by those words, Zoemi ended up panicking and threw the small tower he was using to dry his hair straight at Miriette’s face, causing her to fall back on the bad she sat on with a muffled gasp, while he jumped toward the closet and started hurriedly dressing up.

n”What was that for?!”

nThe dark-haired girl stood back up and took off the towel about to throw it back, but ended up stopping herself at the last moment and instead folded it up and held on to it while leaning to the side, trying to peek at the changing boy without making too much noise or changing her position.

n”Zoemi, listen I came here to…”

n”Miri.”

nShe was about to tell him about the convenient reason she found out to visit him, but as the black-haired boy in casual clothes walked up to her with the most grateful smile she had ever seen she immediately closed her mouth and waited for him to make a move.

n”I am soo happy that you showed up. I swear that I will not do anything improper but… is it okay with you if… if I… will be a bit clingy with you…? I will make sure that no one will walk in on us… Once again – I swear that…”

n”IT’S OKAY!”

nAs soon as Miriette comprehended the meaning of Zoemi’s words her brain almost exploded, and all of her priorities for the evening shifted.

nAt the same time after her initial overly enthusiastic agreement, she realized that she might have been too quick and tempered her expectations.

nAfter all, it was the dense Zoemi standing in front of her.

nWho knew – for him being clingy might have meant just sitting next to each other, or leaning against each other, or holding hands…

n…of which all were very welcomed…

n…but it probably not included all the activities encompassed by Miriette’s wild imagination of the dark-haired girl…

n*hug*

n*thump*

nBut then Zoemi did indeed sit next to Miriette who closed her eyes trying to hold back a disappointed sigh – right before she felt the boy’s arms wrapping around her stomach as he pulled her down on the mattress before snuggling up to her neck.

n”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

nThe little spoon’s heart almost jumped out of her chest.

nIt turned out that Zoemi’s definition of being a bit clingy was very much within an average person’s standards, at least for the physical closeness – and Miriette had never felt happier about being wrong.

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