Nono's voice, along with that sweet form of address... Ah... it was his little cutie—Griseo.
Opening the door, he saw the little princess of the Golden Courtyard standing outside, hugging a gigantic Homu plushie. Her eyes blinked repeatedly, beautiful as the stars.
"What is it, Griseo? It's so late. Is something wrong?"
"What could Little Griseo possibly want with you?~~"
Xu Qi: ???
The scene before him was bizarre beyond words. Griseo was indeed moving her mouth, but the voice coming out of it did not belong to her at all. And this voice... wasn't it...
"Of course, I'm the one who came to see you!~~"
Elysia suddenly leaped out from behind Griseo! She had been absolutely certain she would startle Xu Qi, but all she received was a pair of dead-fish eyes staring back at her.
"Um... huh? I spent ages learning this trick from Vil-V!" Elysia tapped her chin with one hand, looking puzzled. "Griseo, did you fail to cooperate with me?"
"No? Sister Elysia, I cooperated very well just now."
"Ah..." Covering one cheek with one hand, Xu Qi let out a despairing "ah"—the sort of sound made by someone dying of thirst who finally saw a waxberry, only to die of thirst from overexcitement.
Why... Why did I have to live in a place like this and meet so many inexplicable people?!
Someone tugged at the hem of his clothes.
Xu Qi lowered his hand and looked at Griseo in confusion.
"Actually, I was the one who wanted to come see Brother Xu Qi, but I was afraid of disturbing you, so I asked Sister Elysia to come with me... Brother Xu Qi, don't blame Sister Elysia, okay?"
It felt as though his soul had been purified. As expected, elementary schoolers... Ahem! Cough, cough!
After letting out a long breath, Xu Qi walked out of the room and sat down on the sofa in the living room. He patted the seat beside him, signaling for Griseo to come over as well.
Only when Elysia also came over lightly did Xu Qi give her an eye roll.
Xu Qi lay down on the sofa and turned onto his side so that Griseo could snuggle into his arms.
Elysia lay down beside Griseo. Watching the tenderness in Xu Qi's eyes, she couldn't help but smile until her eyes narrowed.
It was just like a family...
"What is it, Griseo? Why did you come looking for me?"
"I want to hear Brother Xu Qi tell a story... It's been so long since I last heard one, ever since you were hospitalized..."
"Tell a story?" Elysia froze, then pouted and looked at Xu Qi as if complaining. "How come I didn't know you had this talent? You've never told me a story before."
"Get lost."
"You're being mean to me..."
"Um..."
To be honest, although he knew perfectly well that Elysia was only pretending to be upset, Xu Qi's heart still tightened instinctively, and he couldn't help wanting to comfort her.
Did this woman have any idea how charming she was?
He sighed.
He reached out and rubbed Elysia's brilliant pink hair, saying gently, "All right, it's my fault. Then I'll tell you two a story tonight, okay? Little Griseo?"
Griseo looked at Xu Qi, then at Elysia, and suddenly covered her eyes.
"Griseo, what are you doing?"
"Mother Aponia said that when adults are lovey-dovey, children aren't allowed to look."
Silence sometimes descended that suddenly.
Xu Qi took several deep breaths, completely at a loss for words.
Elysia's cheeks flushed in an instant. She sneaked a glance at Xu Qi, then couldn't help lightly patting Griseo on the head as she laughed.
"Honestly, how can you tell that we're... that we're being lovey-dovey, Little Griseo? You have to study hard, okay?~~"
"Oh... I understand, Sister Elysia."
"Ahem!" To hide his embarrassment, Xu Qi decided it would be best to change the subject quickly.
He gently patted Little Griseo's back and began to tell the story.
"On the battlefield, Kira once again met his close friend Aslan. Only this time, they might never be able to restore their former friendship..."
······
On the city expressway, a silver-white streak was speeding along at the astonishing speed of 130 miles per hour!
Come on... This was a city expressway!
And because it was night, people could usually only see a beam of light flash past them. They could tell that it was a motorcycle so cool it defied description.
But beyond that, nothing else could be discerned.
On the motorcycle, a woman leaned forward. Her long silver-white hair streamed behind her, like the wake the motorcycle carved through the air.
Even though her exquisite, alluring features were concealed beneath her helmet, her proud, curvaceous figure was still enough to jolt anyone's spirit awake.
Seeing such a beautiful sight in the middle of the night would leave anyone completely wide awake...
"At the current speed, five minutes remain until the destination."
"Mm... Time to accelerate! Heavy Bunny!"
"Understood. Understood."
······
"Kira killed Nicol, and he also killed Aslan's friend. That single sword strike had completely shattered his past with Aslan. Along with it, their deep friendship had also fallen apart..."
"Ugh!... Sniff! Uuuh..."
Curled up in Xu Qi's arms, Griseo sobbed softly. "Why... Why did it have to turn out like this... Mr. Kira and Mr. Aslan were such good friends."
"Yes... Why, indeed? But that's war."
"Then... why does war have to exist?" Griseo's voice was thick with tears, but a faint smile had already appeared at the corners of Xu Qi's lips.
"Yes... Why do humans have to keep fighting each other?"
A cool sensation passed over the back of Xu Qi's hand. When he looked over, he saw Elysia, her eyes reddened as well, holding the back of his hand.
"I had no idea... you were so good at telling stories."
Perhaps the atmosphere was simply too warm. Xu Qi turned his hand over and held Elysia's small hand, smiling. "There's still a lot you don't know about me."
"Xu Qi..."
"Hmm?"
"I..."
"Ding-dong!~~ Ding-dong!~~"
The sudden doorbell jolted Elysia and Griseo out of the story. It also pulled Xu Qi out of that atmosphere.
He noticed that he was still holding Elysia's hand.
After hesitating for a long time, he chose to let go.
He stood up, patted Griseo on the head, and said, "All right, Griseo, it's already ten o'clock. Hurry back to bed, okay?"
"Mm!" Griseo nodded firmly. "Good night, Brother Xu Qi."
"Good night."
After watching Griseo go upstairs, Xu Qi nodded toward Elysia.
"I'll go open the door and see who it is."
"Mm... Go ahead."
For some reason, Elysia's expression... seemed a little lonely.
Xu Qi took a deep breath. A heavy sense of guilt suddenly coiled around his heart, even making it difficult to breathe.
But he didn't dare think too deeply about it. After all, how could a girl like Elysia possibly fall for him?
Shaking his head, Xu Qi walked to the door.
Who could it be? Who would come over this late at night...
16, Bronya: Come on! Come inside with me!
The instant the door opened, Xu Qi almost couldn't believe his eyes—Bronya... Bronya Zaychik!
And his instincts told him that something seemed off about her condition.
"Miss Bronya? What are you..."
Outside the door, Bronya took several deep breaths, seemingly trying to calm herself down...
But she failed.
Bronya grabbed Xu Qi by the arm! She leaned her entire body forward, almost pressing herself against him.
What kind of grand scenes had Xu Qi never witnessed? But, sorry, he had never seen anything like this... Mainly because this Bronya was dressed like a professional career woman. With her leaning into him like this, all Xu Qi had to do was lower his head slightly...
The magnificent sight before her chest entered his view without any concealment—what kind of joke was this...? Were they testing a cadre with this? Which cadre could withstand such a test?
"You... have to take responsibility for me!"
Elysia had just begun moving over to ask what was going on when she heard... such a bold declaration.
This!... This!... This!...
Could it be...?!
Elysia's face flushed bright red as she pointed at Xu Qi. "...Shameless! You already have Mei and me!"
What did she mean, "I already had Mei and you"!? Elysia, explain yourself!
Xu Qi felt his brain trembling!
The key was that Bronya in front of him still had the look of a lovestruck woman, refusing to let go of his arm! No, wait, big sister, what exactly was going on? Explain yourself!
"Where's your room?"
Xu Qi blankly pointed in a direction without thinking.
"Come on! Come inside with me!"
Xu Qi: !!??
Elysia: ??!!
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait a second!" Elysia's face flushed red as she blocked the two of them, waving both hands wildly. "You can't... You absolutely can't do this!"
Bronya looked at Elysia with what little reason she had left, then at Xu Qi, whom she was dragging along. She seemed to realize something.
Then she reached out again and grabbed Elysia by the arm.
"Come on! Let's go inside together!"
Xu Qi: Huh?
Elysia: Eh!?
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut. Bronya dragged them both into the room by the arm, one on each side.
Meanwhile, in the pitch-black living room, Kevin, who had originally been feeling his way up to get some water, happened to witness the entire scene...
Only after the door had slammed shut did he take a sip of water to calm himself. Then he gave his evaluation—"COOL."
Shaking his head, Kevin couldn't help sighing.
"Young people these days really know how to have fun."
After pondering on the spot for a while, Kevin took out his phone.
Eden's Golden House
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