Working?

The studio fell silent for a second.

Then Ruby played cute, deliberately blinking her big sparkling eyes as she asked, "Teacher Griseo, how much is this painting?"

Griseo put away her brush and tilted her head in thought.

"Mm, originally, the painting plus music-listening service cost 100,000 Denny."

Her tone was very serious. She recalled how Sunna and Aria had discussed it before, imagining the fee standards for their future performances.

"But I quite like you sisters, so I'll give you a discount. Let's say 10,904.47113 Denny."

"How much? What did Teacher Griseo say?" Ruby staggered in fright, nearly losing her balance.

"Ruby, didn't she say? Just 10,905..." Rin repeated from beside her.

"Rin, of course I heard her clearly, but what's with the five decimal places?!"

"Fine, 10,906 Denny. Keep the change."

While Ruby was still unable to process it, Ellen walked up to Griseo with a lollipop in her mouth. She took out her phone and waved it, the successful transfer screen glowing brightly.

"Wait—" Ruby's eyes widened.

"Ellen, why did you pay already?! Don't you think that number is completely wrong?"

"Is it?" Ellen slipped her phone back into her pocket, looking innocent.

"Of course it is!!!"

"Alright, alright, Ruby, stop obsessing over it." Mona interrupted her friend's questioning, then turned to Ellen. "Ellen, send out a group payment request when we get back. We'll transfer you the money."

"No need. I'm not short on money. Consider it a gift for coming with me to study."

"Ughhh—"

Ruby covered her face with both hands and let out an envious groan.

"How I wish that one day, I could say the words 'I'm not short on money' as boldly as Ellen..."

"Ellen isn't short on money because she works part-time jobs all the time."

Mona nudged Ruby with her elbow, hinting for her to stop complaining.

But Ruby clearly didn't get Mona's meaning and spoke with a serious expression.

"I need to learn from Ellen. Starting tomorrow, I'll make a plan to get a job!"

Rin pushed up her glasses and spoke expressionlessly. "Ruby, there's absolutely no need. If you didn't buy scratch cards every day, you wouldn't have ended up like this."

"Hey, Rin! I've seriously thought about it. The odds of achieving financial freedom through my own hard work are way lower than the odds of winning a scratch card!"

Ellen: "..."

Rin: "..."

Mona: "..."

The three of them fell silent at the same time.

Because what Ruby said... actually seemed to make a lot of sense.

While the four of them were fooling around, Griseo had already carefully framed the painting and handed it to Ruby with both hands.

"Ruby."

"Hmm?"

Griseo raised her head and said, "Isn't making money pretty easy?"

The studio fell silent again. The lollipop in Ellen's mouth stopped moving, Rin's hand froze halfway through pushing up her glasses, and Mona opened her mouth...

All four of them looked at Griseo—the little girl who was basically a BUG. Though she appeared silent, her inner thoughts were:

ጿ ኈ ኈ ቼ ዽ ዽ ጿ ኈ ቼ ዽ ጿ ኈ ቼ ዽ ጿ ኈ ቼ ዽ ጿ ኈ ቼ ዽ ጿ.

After a long while, Ellen broke the silence. She pulled down her hood, turned, and headed downstairs. "Um, it's getting late. Time to go home."

"Hey, hey—Ellen, wait for us—!"

Ruby hugged the painting and chased after her, with Mona and Rin following behind. The footsteps of all four thudded down the stairs.

On the street, Ellen walked at the very front with her hands in her pockets, her tail swaying lazily behind her.

When she reached the corner, she suddenly paused.

She looked back toward the third floor of the video store. Behind the window, Griseo stood before her easel and waved at her.

Ellen took the lollipop out of her mouth and gave a small wave in reply.

In the third-floor studio, Griseo sat before the easel and made a light stroke on a fresh sheet of paper.

Eous gave a little "Mm-na" beside her, as if asking what she was painting.

Griseo didn't answer. She merely curved her lips into a faint smile.

On the canvas were four receding figures.

One was very tall, with a tail dragging along the ground.

One was very short, jumping up with a peace sign.

The other two were neither tall nor short. One had an arm draped over the other's shoulder, while the other walked quietly at the side.

When Belle came upstairs again, the new painting was already finished. She curiously leaned in for a look, then froze.

"Huh? Didn't Ellen and the others take the painting with them?"

Griseo shook her head. Belle looked at the canvas again, suddenly understanding something. "Then this is... a new harvest?"

"Yes, Sister Belle!" Griseo nodded, set down her brush, and said seriously.

"New colors—quiet white, passionate red, quiet blue, and also..."

Belle didn't press further. She bent down to help gather the scattered brushes and asked, "Are you hungry? If you are, we won't wait for my brother to wake up. Let's eat first."

Griseo jumped down from her chair and picked up Eous. "Okay."

Downstairs, Wise was still slumped over the counter, wrapped in the coat Belle had draped over him, muttering, "One equals two?"

Fairy's screen glowed quietly in the corner, like the most silent observer of that evening.

(Extra Scene—Ellen's Parent-Teacher Conference)

TOPS High School, the office of Ellen's homeroom teacher.

"Hello, Teacher. I am Ellen's guardian, Lycaon of Victoria Housekeeping."

Lycaon gave a gentlemanly bow to one of the female teachers in the office, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. It wasn't the previous homeroom teacher.

Ellen's father... was a Wolf Thiren?

The female teacher was stunned at first, but she didn't pursue it further. As long as he was her guardian, it was fine.

"Ellen's father, Ellen's attitude toward studying has been a serious problem lately. Her grades have plummeted!" The teacher took out Ellen's report card and handed it to Lycaon.

"What? That is truly terrible." Lycaon was startled and looked toward the teacher.

"Right? Even if she picked C for every question, she wouldn't have scored this low!" The teacher was about to continue criticizing Ellen's attitude toward studying when Lycaon interrupted her.

"This is terrible. I didn't expect the floor here to be so dirty!"

With that, under the teacher's shocked gaze, Lycaon took out a rag and wiped the floor beneath his feet clean.

Teacher: "Um, Ellen's father, we're discussing Ellen's grades..."

"Ah, my apologies, Teacher. Occupational habit." Lycaon apologized awkwardly and put away the rag.

"Ellen's father, what do you think Ellen will do with grades like this in the future? She came dead last in the class on this exam!" The teacher continued criticizing her, her eyes full of frustration at Ellen's failure to live up to expectations.

Lycaon: "Indeed, I truly cannot tolerate this..."

Teacher: "Exactly!"

Just when the teacher thought Lycaon had finally followed her point, the next second...

Lycaon took out a comb, gently lifted the teacher's tangled long hair like a gentleman, and said, "I truly cannot tolerate your appearance and attire. It is quite improper."

Teacher: "No, that's not—"

Lycaon raised a hand to interrupt the female teacher, then took out a bottle of perfume. "This is Victoria Housekeeping's exclusive perfume. Just a few sprays will make you exceptionally elegant."

After Lycaon sprayed the teacher's long hair a few times, a rich floral fragrance instantly filled the office, and the female teacher was immediately overjoyed.

Ten minutes later... the teacher came back to her senses and said, "Ellen's father, why did I ask you to come here?"

Lycaon: "Er, my apologies, Teacher. Occupational habit. Please continue."

"Ellen is actually very smart. She just doesn't apply it in the right places." The female teacher sighed and continued.

"If Ellen studied diligently, she could go from high school to university, then take her bachelor's degree to a master's, her master's to a doctorate, her doctorate to a teaching certificate, become a teacher and earn promotions, publish journals, become a dean... and finally be promoted to university president.

Ellen's father, look at what a perfect life that would be!"

Lycaon: "Um, Teacher, may I say something!"

Teacher: "I know, it's nothing more than quality education and not exhausting children too much... But, Ellen's father, an examination room is like a battlefield. A single point can defeat a thousand people..."

"Teacher, you are right, but..." Lycaon finally inserted himself into the conversation. "Thank you for using Victoria Housekeeping's trial package. The service fee is 15,000 Denny."

It turned out that while the teacher had been giving her speech, Lycaon had already cleaned up the dirty, messy office until it looked completely new.

Victoria Housekeeping Manor.

"And then?" Rina listened to Ellen's report with a kind smile.

Ellen continued awkwardly, "The teacher asked me to bring my mother to see her tomorrow. She doesn't want to see the boss anymore, so could you help pretend to be my mother?"

Hearing Ellen's request, Rina suppressed her anger and said, "Ellen, what do you think?"

The next day, it was still the teacher's office.

The teacher looked speechlessly at Ellen, then at the twin-tailed matcha cupcake behind her. "Ellen, you're saying this is your mother?"

Ellen: "Um, Teacher, my mom is a little young... But nobody ever said young people can't be mothers, right? Lots of people like calling lolis Mommy!!"

Teacher: "That makes sense, but Ellen, you really can't be this ridiculous!"

Corin: "Huh??? Sister Ellen, you saw through it before I even said anything?"