Seele's Little Secret Under the Bed

Mei took another deep breath.

"Um... Brother Alliance Leader, are you busy?"

Mei tried to steady her breathing and looked at Liu Bai as usual.

"Hmm? Is there something you need?"

Liu Bai looked at Mei with some confusion.

"By the way, did you go play with Seele just now?"

"Hmm... I had a very interesting conversation with Seele."

Mei seemed surprised that Liu Bai would take the initiative so directly.

"An interesting topic? Well, it seems to have nothing to do with me... Shall we have some cake?"

Liu Bai cut a piece of cake and handed it to Mei.

"...Thanks."

No, what I really wanted wasn't the cake at all!

I was the one who asked the question first!

"Um... Brother Alliance Leader, do you have some time now?"

"Although I really want to answer yes... your father is looking at me like a murderer."

Liu Bai pointed with his fork at Mei's back.

"... Dad?"

Mei turned her head away with a stiff expression.

Raiden Ryoma, who had been staring intently in that direction, immediately lowered his head and continued to maintain order among the children, as if nothing had happened.

"..."

Mei sighed helplessly to herself, then turned her gaze back to Liu Bai.

"Although it was somewhat impolite, it was..."

"Mei- Mei- neechan!"

As Seele ran down the stairs, she loudly interrupted Mei was already halfway through her sentence, drawing everyone's attention.

"Mei! There's a big bug in the room!"

What... The crowd, who had initially thought something major had happened, turned their attention away in boredom.

"A big, big bug?"

Mei looked at Seele's panicked expression without suspecting anything... but the timing was just too coincidental, wasn't it?

Why did it have to happen right when I was about to ask Brother Liu Bai out?!

... No, you can't blame Seele for this, after all, she didn't know she was going to confess to Brother Liu Bai.

Seeing Seele's tearful plea for help, Mei couldn't bring herself to refuse.

Since they're asking for my help, I can't just pass the buck to someone else.

"Alright, Seele, I'll take care of the bugs for you right away."

It's okay, it's just a temporary setback. The birthday party is still going on...

Even if it doesn't work out, you can always come back tomorrow morning.

—Mei thought with a hint of frustration.

After all, it was courage I had painstakingly mustered up, and it just vanished in an instant...

"Thank you Mei!"

Seele grabbed Mei's arm as if she were grasping at a straw and pulled Mei back.

Anyone who sees this can only marvel at the pure sisterly bond—at least that's how it appears to those unaware of the situation.

"...elder brother."

Bronya, with cream smeared on her lips, walked over, a hesitant look on her face.

"That one instant..."

"Hmm... I guess they've changed people—and the guy over there, if you keep staring at me, I'll go dig up some potatoes."

Liu Bai responded in a low voice at first, but then angrily shoved his fork into the table.

"..."

Raiden Ryoma grinned sheepishly and immediately lowered his head, pretending he hadn't done anything.

Seeing the Raiden Ryoma's expression, Liu Bai twitched the corner of his mouth... This doting father's face changes faster than flipping through a book.

Liu Bai shook his head, deciding to ignore Ryoma's doting fatherly behavior, and asked Bronya in a slightly confused tone, "So... why did you change that girl?"

Liu Bai and Bronya both saw it clearly: when Seele turned around while holding Mei's arm, she clearly switched personalities, and the person in the account now was Dark Seele.

"Bronya doesn't know." Bronya shook her head very honestly. "However, although it's not nice to say it like this, Bronya thinks that the possibility of Seele causing trouble is far greater than the possibility of her being safe."

"... Although it's a prejudice, I agree with it."

Liu Bai also sensed something was wrong. "But why did she attack Mei?"

Mei Liu Bai knew Mei's personality quite well.

It's possible for him to pound the ground and yell "I can't do anything" after failing, but it's absolutely impossible for him to bully Seele.

Under these circumstances, Dark Seele had absolutely no reason to cause trouble for Mei, right?

After all, the only reason for Dark Seele to appear is that Seele is being bullied.

So... something's fishy about this!

"Shall we follow them and see?"

"...Um."

After all, Dark Seele has come out. If it really comes down to a fight... Mei, despite her martial arts training, is essentially no different from a weak girl in front of Dark Seele.

So it's really hard to put my mind at ease until I get to the bottom of this!

"Um... Seele? Where's the bug?"

Mei pushed open Seele's door, only to find that the lights in the room were already off.

For some reason, Mei suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

"Let's turn on the lights first... Seele, did you turn off the lights because you were scared?"

"Hmm... yes, right?"

Seele's voice has a slightly sinister quality.

However, Mei wasn't in the mood to care about such things right now—after all, the current atmosphere gave Mei a sense of crisis.

However, as Mei fumbled for the switch from memory, Seele beside her seemed to hug her even tighter.

"Xi- Seele? Can you loosen your grip a little? Don't be afraid, Mei is here."

(Ugh... Is this really a good idea?)

Seele was having second thoughts.

(Don't worry! I wouldn't really hurt Mei... Ugh, Mei, I'm just teaching her a lesson.)

Dark Seele responded inwardly, extremely annoyed.

Does she seem like such a tyrannical person?

What's more, the other party is her own sister... even though she really doesn't want to acknowledge her.

But then again... how can I teach Mei a lesson without hurting Mei?

... Never mind, let's scare them first!

"That... Seele?"

Mei received no response, finally realized something was wrong, but as she was about to leave, Mei suddenly found herself completely bound.

"... Never mind all that!"

At this moment, Seele, who was standing next to Mei, finally responded—this time, Mei finally heard the sinister feeling in Seele's voice.

"—In short, it's a complete mess and I don't know what to do. It's a trial for my treacherous, philandering sister Mei, whom I don't even recognize!"

Dark Seele said in a series of sentences.

"That's it!"

Chapter 160 The Little Secret Under Seele's Bed

"A fox... a vixen?" Seele could clearly hear Mei's slightly flustered voice, "And... and a philandering cat... Seele, what is all this about!"

"It means exactly what it says!"

Dark Seele turned on the lights in the room with a displeased look, staring at Mei, who was already entangled by her Honkai Energy tentacles.

"Making us call you 'older sister' just to get closer to my older brother... Mei, cough, Mei, you're too cunning."

"Can... can I explain?"

Although her body was bound by a bunch of unknown things, Mei was still able to remain calm when she looked at Seele in front of her.

"It's not that I had those kinds of thoughts from the beginning..."

"When was that?" Dark Seele stared at Mei with displeasure in his crimson pupils, which inexplicably made one feel a little scared.

Even so, Mei wasn't too afraid—mainly because they had spent so much time together. Looking at Seele's face, Mei only felt incredulous at Seele's drastic change in personality, and not much fear.

Hmm, there was no murderous aura or anything like that emanating from the other party.

"I just... I inexplicably fell in love with him..." Mei turned her head to the side, "One day, I was suddenly attracted to the leader of the Alliance Leader... maybe it's what they call personal charm?"

"... It's unbelievable that you could say such shameless things." Dark Seele smirked. "I think someone is just a shameless sucker for good looks."

"And Seele you, Seele?"

"... Isn't there also personality and such? After all, our older brother has always taken care of us."

Dark Seele's eyes darted around a bit. "Liking the soul doesn't contradict liking the face—in short, it's much more noble than you!"

"Seele, you're really being quite willful today," Mei remarked calmly. "So, in terms of reasons, we're actually about the same, right?"

"Who says we're evenly matched? Don't try to get close to me!" Dark Seele said, clearly annoyed. "Isn't someone in high school now? Why is he still fixated on my older brother? Is it possible that this woman is completely unpopular?"

"If that's welcome... does receiving enough love letters to fill a book every week count?" Mei pondered for a moment before answering.

"... Are the boys at your school so free?" Dark Seele was a little startled by the phrase "bound into a book."

"While I agree with that statement... it should just be a normal reaction during puberty."

Mei also quite helpless, "Besides, the comparison only highlights how outstanding my brother is. By the way Seele, have you met more than ten men in your life?"

"... It seems not."

Dark Seele flipped through her memories, then twitched the corner of her mouth.

She spends all her time in the orphanage; what kind of men could she possibly come into contact with?

Single digits are already pretty good!

"So I think I have more right to speak about my brother's excellence than you do—although I've hardly spoken to any men other than my father and teachers since I was little, I have still made a point of observing their behavior."

"What? Are you studying at a zoo?"

"No, it's just that I'm seen as aloof and have some difficulty integrating into the group."

Mei said with a look of wanting to complain.

"I don't know why, but it seems like everyone's impression of rich girls is that blondes must be tsundere or bad girls or something, and black-haired girls are cold and aloof... I'm just an ordinary student."

"... Are you the only normal person in your class?" Dark Seele couldn't help but chime in with Mei's words.