Chapter 17: I’m Pssed Off
Awhile later.
The lights flickered on in an ordinary building, which just happened to be where Yuri lived.
At this moment, a great Buddha descended upon this place that was once empty and tranquil—well, at least according to Yuri.
This was the first time in his two dozen or so years that he had ever encountered such a bizarre person.
And this oddity of a girl seemed immune to his special abilities.
Misleading her with empty words proved useless without any information on her part.
Brute force and even terror-inducing assassins like the Cursed Bird proved equally ineffective.
What was going on here?
If she was hostile, Yuri really didn’t know how he would handle her.
It was like a serious gamer encountering a cheater.
After the fiasco with his attempt at domination, Yuri reluctantly hid his inner resistance and pretended to show no hostility. Or at least, he wanted to hide it, but only he knew the truth.
Yuri was currently brewing tea for Night Star, who was sitting on one side, eying the cursed bird they had under control.
Heck, even the name “Cursed Bird” was strange. Did Yuri come up with that?
When Yuri had called out the name earlier, Night Star nearly missed the meaning behind it.
After some observation, Night Star eventually decided to ask out of curiosity.
“How do you manage to command this creature? Got any nifty tricks?”
“Not entirely sure, maybe she just has a soft spot for me.”
“Heck?”
Night Star puffed her cheeks, obviously displeased.
“You can’t keep lying to me. Knowing doesn’t mean I’d take her from you. I don’t need that kind of power anyway.”
“Old habits d*e hard. Sorry.”
“Just tell me then! I’m dying of curiosity!”
“It’s like newborn animals taking their first sights as parents.”
“Sigh… fine, don’t tell me.”
When Yuri hinted there might be more fibs, Night Star simply gave up.
At this point, Yuri had just prepared the tea and placed a cup before Night Star.
“Please.”
She looked skeptically at the cup.
“Did you poison it?”
“I’m not that despicable. Have some faith, please.”
Night Star thought about it, having been fed half-truths by Yuri already. That was okay though. She could deal with a bit of poisoning; after all, she had Life Blessing.
Figuring she had the antidote if needed, she sniffed the tea and took a small sip.
“Hmm, quite revolting.”
“Wow, you actually did drink it?”
“Gah! You did poison it?”
“No, no. Just thinking you’re incredibly naive, apparently.”
“Meh.”
Night Star pursed her lips, annoyed by Yuri’s half truths, half lies.
Putting down the teacup, she got down to business.
“Alright, we need to have a serious chat.”
Yuri stood still, mask hiding his face entirely.
Sometimes Night Star wished she could just rip it off.
But doing so probably wouldn’t make things better. No, scratch that, it would just stir trouble.
“It’s like this, after all the chit-chat, I fancy being closer to you and learning your ways with deceit.”
“I am always honest. Never lie.”
“No way. I don’t believe a poodle.”
“Me neither. Would you buy a poodle’s lies?”
Night Star’s eyes widened with anger.
“You dare speak to me like that?! I’m pssed!”
“Let’s stay mature please…”
Talk and she got upset.
And not just any upset either. An upset capable of beating her to a pulp!
Not even when he conned those nobles could things get so twisted.
“Fine,” she muttered grumpily, clearly reluctant.
They then spent a long time talking.
Night Star came up with various excuses to convince Yuri of her honesty without revealing too much about the Ballad Conductor.
Yuri believed part of it but not completely, yet he agreed to let Night Star tag along, albeit under her threatening demands.
Conditions included him not getting in the way, keeping her secrets, and lending a hand whenever necessary.
Night Star, predictably, agreed. It wasn’t like she was planning to do anything different anyway.
Being near Yuri was good enough for now.
As to whether this caught the attention of the hidden Ballad Conductor in the dark…
Only time would tell.
Meanwhile…
At the other end, Night Lan and Sharon headed home from the ball.
“Whoa! Your home is massive!”
Night Lan stared about, amazed at the grandiose structure.
No more pretensions tonight—she was done playing the lady.
Sharon saw through her facade, deciding it best to relax rather than pretend.
“Night Lan, want anything? I’ll get the servants to make something for you.”
“Naw, had plenty at the ball.”
During the ball, nobody asked her to dance when it all started—she was just a little loli anyway.
With so many grown-ups around, the threat of getting noticed didn’t concern her, so she enjoyed herself undisturbed.
Perfect.
Sharon watched Night Lan’s lively demeanor, smiling warmly.
This was far from the demure act she put on prior.
Night Lan was cuter this way.
She lounged on the comfy sofa, groaning softly, looking rather exhausted.
Probably thinking on how to slack off.
Sharon observed intently.
“You never mentioned your family.”
“Don’t mind. Totally alone and free!”
“Puts me on edge.”
Sharon began to brew coffee.
Night Lan didn’t react much.
“Feel free to ask, but I’ll only answer what isn’t a secret.”
“Interesting enough to figure out.”
Night Lan shrugged it off.
But hey, living in such luxury beat regular homes any day.
And Sharon was a real lady, not to mention harmless.
Friendship was on the cards, especially if it meant meeting Hughes later.
Poor Night Star might be left out though.
Wonder if she could crash this party.
Nah, she’d just sneak in easily.
“One room’s all I need. So sneaky.”
“If anyone noticed.”
“Right! Can I take a bath?”
“Sure, I’ll get someone to prepare it.”
“Sweet.”
