~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon
~ Bonus Chapter every 200 Powerstones!
<><><><><>
"La Folia, what are you..." Bokue's mouth twitched as he instinctively spoke up.
"Ah, Bokue-kun, you're here!"
Before the young man finished speaking, La Folia—who hadn't turned around once—dropped what she was doing the moment she heard his voice, as if by conditioned reflex. She turned around excitedly.
"See? I'm making rock sugar pear~"
"I... see that."
Bokue couldn't exactly say to her face that the process was wrong, just asking in confusion.
"So why are you making this, La Folia? Plus, if you wanted rock sugar pear, aren't there ready-made drinks at the supermarket?"
"Eh, those all have additives. Besides, the nutrition definitely isn't as good as making it yourself."
The silver-haired princess wagged her finger with a knowing expression.
"Though mainly it's because the supermarket ones don't work well enough. They don't soothe the throat at all."
"Soothe the throat?"
A large question mark appeared above Bokue's head.
What was this—autumn approaching so drinking rock sugar pear to prevent sore throats from dry weather? Being proactive?
La Folia raised an eyebrow: "Yeah, has Bokue-kun already forgotten? Last night you kept pouring into mine and Sayaka's throats... hmm? Right? Made both of us wake up this morning with our throat passages feeling somewhat sore..."
"??"
The question mark above Bokue's head became two.
Meaning he'd gone too hard and made them swell? Well... that wasn't impossible. After all, most people who'd drunk his milk so far weren't ordinary humans—weren't even human.
Like Nagisa, though he often went straight to her stomach, she was still a Primogenitor vampire. She didn't care about muscle strain—probably healed automatically before even feeling discomfort.
As for Yukina, since she didn't like that method, she'd never let him try from the start.
But La Folia and Sayaka were different. They were just ordinary mortals yet endured such intensity last night—having some discomfort was reasonable.
Just as Bokue was about to fall into thought, the silver-haired princess's laughter suddenly recalled his attention.
Following the sound, he saw La Folia covering her mouth with a somewhat amused expression.
"Alright, alright, I'm joking~ We don't have swollen throats. I just wanted to make it myself, so I bought ingredients to try... oh right, rather than this, you'd better go check on Sayaka first. She woke up this morning to find you gone and got pretty sad."
"Sad?"
Bokue was caught somewhat off-guard by this sudden shift. He was about to ask for details, but before speaking, sounds of a door opening came from the bedroom direction.
The next second, a certain Sword Shaman girl still wearing pajamas walked out from the room into the living room.
She seemed about to say something to La Folia but inadvertently glimpsed Bokue appearing in the living room. She froze in place, looking somewhat incredulous.
"Eh? Bokue, you... you came back?"
"Yeah."
Though feeling like that "you came back" somehow carried inexplicable resentment, Bokue still nodded.
The next second, Sayaka rushed before the young man with lightning speed, suddenly embracing him tightly. She buried her head forcefully into his chest, making muffled sounds.
"Why did you suddenly disappear this morning? Where... where did you even go? When I woke up I couldn't find you anywhere. I thought..."
"Huh? Didn't I say I had other business this morning?"
Ignoring the playful look the certain silver-haired princess messing with rock sugar pear was casting over, Bokue somewhat helplessly raised his hand to rub the Sword Shaman girl's chestnut hair.
"We were sitting on the living room sofa here. I told you I'd probably be back in the afternoon, then we'd go to Yukina's place together. Didn't I explain it clearly?"
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Sayaka immediately stopped.
She fell silent for five or six seconds, then cautiously lifted her head from Bokue's embrace like some small animal, revealing just her eyes.
"Was... was that a thing?"
"Yes, yes it was."
Bokue emphasized repeatedly.
"Otherwise what did you think happened, Sayaka? That I'd do it and not take responsibility, just run? Where would I even run to? Plus, would I need to run?"
"Ngh..."
The barrage of questions completely froze the Sword Shaman girl whose brain was already somewhat overloaded.
This time she took a full thirty seconds to sort through her thoughts and realize she'd misunderstood something. Her cheeks rapidly flushed.
But Sayaka didn't tsundere-ishly make excuses to hide her embarrassment. Ultimately, she just pursed her lips with a flushed face, muttering quietly.
"Could've at least woken us up to say something before leaving. We wouldn't have blamed you..."
"Got it. Will do next time."
Bokue cleared his throat lightly.
"Rather than this, since you remember now that we're supposed to see Yukina today, Sayaka, shouldn't we leave now?"
"Eh? Leave right now..."
Sayaka first froze, then showed some thoughtful expression.
"Well, I guess that's right. The timing works out. Before visiting, we should buy some gifts first. So for gifts, we'll buy..."
What, even gifts now? It's just meeting a friend—being so formal made it seem like meeting parents... Bokue thought while mentally facepalming.
Looked like this Sword Shaman girl still hadn't recovered from her overloaded brain state.
Thinking this, Bokue ignored her protests and wordlessly lifted Sayaka in his arms right there. He made a "be right back" gesture to La Folia, then vanished with the Sword Shaman girl from the suite's living room in a flash.
❁❁❁❁
The next second, when Bokue and Sayaka reappeared, they were already inside the familiar apartment building.
Because of the two-units-per-floor design, only Nagisa and Yukina lived on the entire floor, so the corridor was completely quiet with apartment doors tightly closed.
But the next second, this silence was broken.
The apartment door next door at Nagisa's place suddenly opened. The Primogenitor girl carrying a trash bag emerged, apparently about to go downstairs to throw out garbage.
Seeing Bokue and Sayaka who'd just appeared in the corridor outside, she seemed slightly surprised.
"Oniisan and Sayaka-san, you're here! Oh right, right—Yukina-chan told me you were coming today. She just went out to buy groceries and gave me her house key. Told me if I saw you arrive to let you in first. You two can go inside first to do... sit for a bit."
Bokue: "..."
Nagisa, did you just almost say "do it for a bit"?
<><><><><>
~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><>
Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!