I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

"..."

"In that case, I think it's okay if I go with them, right? I get bored staying in the house by myself anyway."

And so, without Mio being able to offer any opinion, tomorrow's schedule was finalized.

Seeing this, Ba Chi stopped dwelling on the matter. Since she had already finished dinner, why not take a nice hot bath and go back to her bedroom to rest?

Thinking of this, she turned her gaze back to Xi Ling and asked softly.

"Mio, want to go for a bath together?"

"Okay~"

a long time.

In the bedroom, Xi Ling, who had already taken a shower, was sitting on her soft bed in her pajamas, drying her wet, light blonde hair with a towel.

Although Sister Baqi didn't say anything to him while she was taking a bath, he still took the initiative to suggest that he help her relax.

To this, Hachiko showed no intention of refusing... or rather, she was just waiting for Himo to bring it up herself.

It was like Pandora's box; once he tasted that warm, fragrant, and tender feeling, he could never give it up, even though he knew he shouldn't do it this way...

Ximiao lay down on her bed with a helpless expression, covering her eyes with her hand, trying to forget what had just happened.

But those scenes kept flashing through his mind, and at that moment, his body also began to change in a rather uncooperative way.

"How cunning... This kind of thing, where only Hachi-nee is comfortable, is so uncomfortable..."

After rolling around on the soft bed for a long time, he finally seemed to have made up his mind, so he suddenly got up and deliberately reached out to tear open the collar of his pajamas, wanting to make himself look more... alluring.

All I saw was Xi Ling opening the door, walking into the dimly lit corridor, and following the route she remembered, arriving at the door of another room and gently knocking.

After a while, he heard footsteps coming from inside.

As the door opened, a tall figure appeared in front of her. Arisa looked at Himo standing in front of her room with some surprise and curiosity. What did he want to do so late at night?

But when Hio raised her head and looked directly into Arisa's beautiful, wine-red eyes that seemed to see right through people and belonged to a devil, the girl instantly understood what Hio wanted to do.

A meaningful smile immediately appeared on her fair and pretty face. She stepped aside to make room for Xi Ling to enter the room.

Then she closed the door again, as if nothing had happened.

Inside the room, Xi Ling had already taken off all her clothes and was getting straight to the point.

"Do you want to be tougher, or do you want me to take action?"

Arisa seemed to be seeking Nozomi's opinion, but at the same time, she was also unbuttoning her shirt, looking somewhat impatient.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for the energetic Nozomi.

The next day.

Having not slept all night, Ximiao brushed her teeth and washed up as dawn broke, then went downstairs, yawning as she walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Just as he took out breakfast ingredients such as eggs and bacon from the refrigerator and put them on the stove, Ximiao was about to heat up the pan.

It was at this moment that a pair of delicate hands quietly wrapped around his waist from behind, and a pleasant scent instantly filled Xi Ling's nose.

He knew who it was without even turning around, and couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.

"What's wrong, Arisa? Didn't you say you wanted to take a nap? Why did you suddenly come down here?"

"It's all because you suddenly left. The bed was empty, how could I possibly sleep, you bastard..."

Perhaps because the events of last night were still fresh in her mind, Arisa looked like a young girl in love, making Nozomi feel somewhat at a loss.

However, after asking Nozomi for a good morning kiss, Arisa left the kitchen so as not to disturb Nozomi's breakfast preparation.

They didn't know how much time had passed when they heard the noise of several other people coming down the stairs.

When she saw that Nozomi had already prepared breakfast, Yashiro, who felt that she had gotten up quite early, couldn't help but be taken aback.

She asked with a hint of doubt, "Mio, what time did you get up?"

"Huh? It's probably around six o'clock. What's wrong?"

Without even blinking, Xi Ling chatted idly with Hachi-nee, showing no intention of revealing what happened last night.

However, what made him a little uncomfortable was that Fanxia, ​​who hadn't said a word since earlier, was staring straight at him with her light blue eyes, which were similar to his own.

It was as if she knew that she had gone to see Arisa in the middle of the night yesterday, which made Himiko feel inexplicably guilty.

then.

He mustered his courage and asked Fanxia, ​​"Is there something you need, Fanxia?"

"Ah? No, it's nothing. I just noticed that your complexion seems much rosier than before, and I was wondering if you were feeling unwell."

As she said this, she placed her hand on Ximiao's forehead, pretending to be worried about him, perfectly fooling Aunt Ami and Sister Hachi.

Then it was time for everyone to sit around the dining table and have breakfast, while the morning news was still playing on the television.

But all they can report are news stories about the summer holidays and the surge in tourist numbers, which they're already tired of hearing. They feel that watching cartoons on children's programs is more interesting.

"It seems that those students have already taken care of the braised pork with rattan cane, and the whole family is happily out having fun."

Asa said with a hint of schadenfreude, her beautiful wine-red eyes glancing at Arisa intentionally or unintentionally, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Soon, after breakfast, there was still plenty of time before the social gathering at noon.

Because she had to mind the shop, Sister Ba led the way to the entrance, changed her shoes, and went out the door.

For a moment, the living room fell silent. The group stared at each other, seemingly waiting for the other to leave first.

In the end, it was because Aunt Ami wanted to go back to her room to do her makeup properly that she left first. For some reason, Honoka and Arisa, who had started to hold a grudge against each other, also went back to their rooms to prepare.

"...Wait, why is everyone so tense? It's just a social gathering, why are you all so nervous?"

Nozomi muttered to herself, completely baffled as to why the ladies were being so serious.

Clearly, Nozomi, who hadn't participated in many of these events, didn't quite understand what kind of battlefield these occasions were for the ladies.

then.

Nozomi, who was really doing nothing, sat on the cushion, watching the morning program on TV with a bored expression.

Perhaps because she hadn't slept much the night before, it wasn't long before Ximiao started yawning, quietly slumped onto the table, and began to doze off.

Meanwhile, on her way to the shop, Hachi was also wondering whether she should attend the social gathering at noon to see how it went.

Although it's unclear why, Arisa offered to accompany Nozomi as her bodyguard, and even brought two other people with her.

But Ba Zi had a gut feeling that if she didn't go along to take a look at the place at noon, she would lose a hundred million.

As for her lunch, the shop was quite close to the coffee shop, so closing it for a short while wouldn't take too long, she thought.

However, just like Nozomi, Yasuki, who had also rarely participated in such activities, did not understand the seriousness of the matter.

It's likely that only the two of them would be completely unprepared to appear at this social gathering.

Inside the mansion, the rooms of several ladies were filled with a pungent perfume smell. Since arriving, they had barely opened their suitcases except for clothes and sunscreen, which were carelessly left on the floor.

In front of the dressing table, Fanxia was applying foundation evenly to her face. Perhaps because she hadn't worn makeup for a long time, her skills had become a bit rusty.

But if you could see her beautiful eyes in the mirror, you would definitely notice that her pupils, which were already quite cold in color, were now as if frozen, making them feel icy cold.

"Stealing food...all you ever do is steal food...Mio, why don't you come find me?"

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Position of the Empress

"The social gathering is about to start, why hasn't Ximiao arrived yet? Could it be that our plan has failed?"

Inside the coffee shop, the girls, who had already found suitable seats, looked at the clock hanging on the wall and couldn't help but start to worry.

As the start time of the social gathering drew closer, the girls who kept glancing at the coffee shop entrance felt increasingly conflicted, lost in their own thoughts.

Just as they turned around, somewhat dejected, thinking that their flawless plan was about to fail, they suddenly heard the sound of a bell ringing.

The girls looked in that direction and saw a boy with light blonde hair and pale blue eyes being reluctantly pushed by several girls behind him into the coffee shop.

"Sister Baqi...why did you come along? Weren't you supposed to be watching the shop?"

Looking at the Eight Sister who suddenly appeared in front of them halfway, Xi Ling asked with great confusion. He felt that the trouble had escalated again.

After hearing Ximiao ask her this question, she only thought about it for a moment before answering.

"This coffee shop is nearby, it's quite a walk away, so I was thinking, should I come over and freeload? Every little bit helps!"

After a brief chat with Xi Ling, Ya Zi turned her attention to the group of beautifully dressed women and other young women in the coffee shop, and was momentarily stunned.

Although she herself doesn't usually wear much makeup, she still has a keen eye and can tell that their faces are practically fully made up.

Even the least attractive women wore lipstick, vying for attention among the crowd of women; the scene was undeniably spectacular.

"So... is that why the three of you spent hours in your room putting on makeup before you went out?"

Nozomi couldn't help but whisper this to Honoka and Arisa behind her.

"Otherwise what? Show up in this kind of place without makeup? People will look down on you."

Arisa explained to the boy in an annoyed tone, her eyes seemingly blaming him for not understanding women's hearts.

Soon after finishing their chat, the group looked around, looking for a place to sit down. As a result, Xi Ling noticed that a group of young girls were sitting there, and their eyes were fixed on her.

However, perhaps because of the people following him, Arisa and Fanxia didn't dare to openly greet him and were still observing.

Just as Hiyo found an empty spot and was about to walk towards it, she was grabbed by Arisa from behind.

"Why?"

He looked at Arisa behind him with some confusion, not quite understanding what she meant.

Arisa looked at the table of girls that Hio had noticed earlier and said softly.

"Since they invited us over, how can we not go and talk to them? You agree, right, Mio?"

"..."

"As for Mom and Miss Hachiko, please sit on the other side for a while. We'll be there in a bit."

After saying that, she led Ximio and Fanxia, ​​who was standing to the side and didn't know what she was going to do, toward the seat where the girl named Nishiyama Kyoko was sitting.

What is she trying to do?