Watching the girl crawl forward on her hands and knees with her rear end sticking up, Mike found it a bit amusing. He then averted his gaze and looked at the small iron gate in front of him.
It was about two meters high, not very tall.
So, Mike took a short run-up, placed one hand on the top of the iron gate, and with a handsome posture, easily entered through the small gate.
At this point, the girl had just barely squeezed through the gap.
She pushed aside the stray hairs blocking her eyes, looked back, but didn't see Mike.
Surprised, the girl looked around, and inadvertently met Mike's gaze from behind her.
"Hey, how did you get over here? I didn't see you?" Mia asked, calming her rapidly beating heart.
"Just like that…" Mike said with a smile, pointing to the top of the iron gate.
"Did you jump over? That's amazing!" Mia exclaimed, and then seemed to remember something: "Oh, right, I almost forgot, you're on the school's football team."
As she spoke, an expression of admiration appeared on the girl's face.
It should be known that the girl was initially attracted by Mike's heroic presence on the field, which is why she made such a big decision to join his support group.
"Alright, we're both in. Now let's go to your place…"
Mike's words brought the girl back to her senses.
Next, the two walked from the small path to the external staircase on the side of the old residential building.
This residential building had many units on each floor, and Mia's family lived on the top floor, the sixth floor.
Just as the two were about to climb the stairs, the girl's peripheral vision caught sight of a man hiding on the side of the staircase.
"Mr. Raymond, good afternoon. Are you out sketching again?" Mia greeted with a smile.
The man in the shadow of the staircase had a scruffy beard and looked quite downcast.
In front of him, there was a simple easel set up.
Hearing the sound, the man looked up, staring blankly at Mia and Mike, without speaking.
"Mr. Raymond is a painter. Don't let his reticence fool you, he's a very good person…" Mia explained to Mike, then picked out a large apple from his tote bag.
"I hope you have a pleasant day too."
The girl placed the apple on the stool next to the man, waved her hand, and then pulled Mike up the stairs.
Behind them, the man on the side of the staircase seemed to have a very long reaction time. Only after Mike and the girl had left did he open his mouth and quietly say, "Mia, good afternoon. And the young man next to you…"
He looked completely like someone with social anxiety.
However, then the man's eyes glinted, as if he had found inspiration. He quickly replaced the canvas on the easel and began to sketch on the new canvas.
Judging by the lines, it seemed to be a scene of a man and a woman walking side by side.
On the other side, Mia had already led Mike up to the sixth floor.
At this moment, the two stood side by side in front of an old wooden door.
"That's strange, my mom is usually home at this time…" Mia knocked on the door several times but received no response.
So the girl began to search for her keys in her shoulder bag.
Yes, even though she knew she was about to become a princess, Mia's habit of carrying a shoulder bag had not changed.
As the key turned, the door opened.
Immediately, a loud opera sound burst from the room, accompanied by a woman's hoarse singing voice.
"It seems my mom is home…" Mia gave an awkward smile, then ran into the living room.
In the small living room, a woman in a bathrobe, barefoot and with disheveled hair, was singing loudly.
Her uninhibited appearance looked very stress-relieving.
"Mom! What are you doing?" Mia called out, trying to get her mother's attention.
To be honest, having an outsider see her mother's crazy side made the girl feel very, very embarrassed.
Not to mention, that person was Mike.
Finally, after several attempts by the girl, her mother noticed someone had entered the room.
"Oh, baby! What did you say?" Helen turned to look at her daughter.
"I said, what are you doing?" Mia's voice gradually grew louder.
However, compared to the deafening opera music, her voice was clearly not loud enough.
"What did you say… I can't hear…" Helen cupped her hand to her ear, pretending to listen intently.
"I said, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Mia shouted at the top of her lungs.
It was at this moment that Helen went to the gramophone and turned off the background music.
As a result, the girl's shout became very abrupt.
"Baby, you really don't need to be so loud, Mom's ears aren't deaf yet…"
Perhaps seeing her daughter's embarrassed expression and fiery eyes, Helen changed the subject and said, "This gramophone your grandma gave me is really good quality… Is the boy next to you your boyfriend? He's very handsome!"
It must be said, the topic change was really abrupt.
But it was surprisingly effective for the girl.
Mia's expression was shy as she softly replied, "No, he's not. His name is Mike, he's my classmate, and he's helped me a lot. I've told you about him…"
"I understand, a hero saving the beauty… what a romantic development…" As expected of an artist, Mia's mother, Helen, had a head full of romantic notions.
"Hello, Mike. I'm Mia's mother, Helen Thermopolis, you can call me Aunt Helen…" Helen enthusiastically extended her hand, then turned and whispered to her daughter, "You have really good taste, he's really quite handsome~"
There were only three people in the room, so whispering was unnecessary.
However, from this, it could also be seen that Helen's personality was unrestrained, no wonder she couldn't get used to the strict rules of royalty.
At the same time, this mother was also very clear-headed; rather than having her daughter become a princess, or even a queen of a country, she preferred her daughter to live a happy life, with someone she loved by her side.
"Hello, Aunt Helen. My name is Mike, and this is a small gift I brought. Please accept it." Mike's words successfully rescued the girl beside him, who was suffering from an attack of embarrassment.
"Oh, it's apples…" Helen smiled as she took the bag, pulled out an apple, rubbed it on her clothes, and took a big bite.
"Very sweet."
Shortly after, Helen gave her evaluation, speaking indistinctly.
In fact, it could be seen that Helen had a very good foundation when she was young, otherwise she wouldn't have given birth to such a beautiful daughter as Mia.
At this moment, her boisterous and crude manner was not at all annoying.
Mike now understood who Mia's usual boisterous demeanor came from.
"Mike, do you like opera? I can teach you. Believe me, your appearance is very suitable for performing opera…" As expected of an artist, Helen, after finishing her apple, couldn't go three sentences without talking about her profession.
It could also be said that Queen Renaldi's financial support reawakened Helen's passion for art.
"Mom, Mike is visiting our house for the first time…" Mia was truly afraid that her mother's current demeanor would scare Mike away.
"Oh, right. I forgot to ask, are you bringing Mike here for a date? Do you need me to go out and give you some space?" Helen smiled playfully at her daughter, as if teasing her.
However, no matter how one looked at it, this mother's nerves were somewhat unrefined.
"No, you just stay here. I'm taking Mike to the attic…" Mia said stubbornly, turning and pulling Mike towards the stairs inside the room.
Because it was the top floor, the girl's house had a skylight, and there was also another small room above it.
"I hope you two have fun—"
Helen smiled and waved from behind.
The girl seemed eager to get away from her mother, so she quickly climbed the vertical ladder.
In an instant, a white skirt appeared before Mike's eyes.
The skirt was very white, and the hem was very straight.
Speaking of the attic on the top floor, it wasn't large but was just right for the girl's private room.
Mia didn't seem to have tidied the room beforehand; clothes, shoes, and socks were strewn everywhere, and Mike even saw black lace among them.
"I'm sorry, it's a bit messy here…" Mia threw herself onto the comforter, secretly hiding some personal items underneath it.
Then, with a red face, she greeted, "Please, make yourself at home."
However, the girl forgot that in this small room, there were clutter everywhere, with no place to even stand.
Of course, that wasn't the point.
With the atmosphere heating up like this, it would be worse than a beast not to do something.
"Mia, you look so beautiful today." Mike proactively put his arm around the girl's waist, then embraced her and sat down on the comforter.
As the enchanting atmosphere spread through the attic, a loud opera sound rang out again downstairs.
[Temperament +5]… [Flexibility +1]…
More than an hour later, Mia, dressed in loungewear, cuddled with Mike, and an album lay open before them.