Cui Ciyou woke in a warm atmosphere filled with a mingling of scents.
The cushion beneath the back of his head was impossibly soft, and an indescribable yet oddly familiar scent lingered around his nose.
He instinctively nuzzled against it, thinking groggily, Why does this pillow have body heat?
Then he opened his eyes and saw a curtain of red hair.
Alice's face, still bearing traces of girlish innocence, looked down at him from above.
Her jaw was taut, her cheeks slightly puffed out. She looked just like a cat whose fish had been stolen-a distinctly unhappy cat.
She sat cross-legged on the floor, and Cui Ciyou's head rested on her thighs.
A lap pillow.
The legendary, genuine article: a lap pillow from Alice.
"Awake?" Alice's voice was icy.
Cui Ciyou blinked. What's going on?
Then he caught sight of two other faces out of the corner of his eye.
On his left, Sylphiette crouched on the floor, her lips pressed into a thin line. The cowlick atop her head swayed gently with a remarkably rhythmic motion-a telltale sign that she was in a bad mood.
On his right, Roxy Migurdia stood with her arms folded across her chest, her long blue hair hanging down. Her petite stature forced her to rise slightly onto her toes to bring her gaze level with Cui Ciyou as he lay on the floor. Her expression was comparatively calm, but her brows were still faintly furrowed.
Three women, six eyes, all fixed on him.
Only then did Cui Ciyou realize he was lying on the floor-the study floor.
A thin blanket had also been draped over him by someone.
"...Good morning?" Seeing that all three women looked rather unhappy, Cui Ciyou ventured a greeting.
"Good morning, my ass." Alice was the first to explode.