~ Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters on my Patreon
<><><><>
Alice stared blankly at the large hole in the chest of the special maid outfit, at the ample bosom that heaved with every breath, and slowly lowered her head, looking at her own, several-sizes-smaller, handful. Her face instantly darkened.
No girl was indifferent to the size of her chest. Even a witch like Alice was no exception. In fact, witches, with their more delicate emotions, were even more concerned about their figures.
"Huh?" Aoko followed Alice's gaze to her own figure, froze for a moment, then looked up, her gaze fixed on Alice, a malicious grin on her face. She deliberately jiggled.
Alice sighed softly, her expression calming, but the veins on the pale, slender arm holding the teacup bulged, betraying her inner turmoil.
"Jealous, Alice? Need me to order some milk for you?" Aoko said, a teasing look on her face. Normally, she might have considered their two-year friendship, but just now, Alice had casually added a twenty-fold debt to her name.
So, their friendship was over!!!
And since their friendship was over, it was time for some shameless mockery.
"This outfit suits you, Aoko. As expected of the compensated dating girl, Aoko-chan," Alice said, her voice a low whisper, her delicate, small face filled with a serious, admiring expression, as if she were genuinely praising her.
"You're also wearing a maid outfit?" Aoko's words trailed off, her gaze vacant.
Slender hands and feet were encased in a conservative, long-skirted maid outfit. Besides her face and hands, her entire body was covered, even her long legs beneath the skirt wrapped in a layer of warm stockings.
As if concerned the young woman would get cold, the maid outfit was exceptionally thick, making her normally slender, graceful figure a little more rounded. Though she'd lost her thin, fragile, skeletal beauty, it gave her a strange, playful cuteness.
Aoko looked down at her exceptionally revealing maid outfit, her heart filled with an extreme sense of imbalance.
"Why... is there such a big difference!!!" she gritted out.
Just as Alice was about to press her advantage, the air rippled faintly, and Haru's figure appeared beside her.
Haru crossed his legs, a look of disdain on his face as he looked at Aoko. "Are you stupid? Of course, good children and naughty children are treated differently."
"Did you know, while you were smashing vases, Miss Kuonji had already finished cleaning the entire west wing," Haru said with disgust.
Aoko's lip twitched. "That luxury villa's so big, how could she possibly be done so fast!!!" she said with disbelief.
"Magic! This mansion has special formulas and tools for cleaning. Otherwise, with only five people, how would we clean it?" Alice said, her tone nonchalant.
Aoko stared blankly at Alice, a look of joy on her face. She was about to say something.
Alice's merciless words reached her ears. "Of course, this requires a certain level of magical skill. And Aoko..."
Aoko knew what she was going to say. Something along the lines of, with her brain, she couldn't possibly learn such advanced techniques. Sorry for being a slacker!!!
"The study hasn't been cleaned yet. Get to it!!" Haru said, his tone flat as he barked at Aoko.
Alice looked at Aoko with an impassive expression, but the one being stared at could feel the girl's silent mockery.
Aoko gritted her teeth, looking at the two, who were now in cahoots. Under the force of the contract, she stomped off, her face filled with resentment, towards the study.
The next second, Haru's dark voice sounded. "The books in the study are more expensive than the antique vases."
Aoko froze, gritting her teeth, and said, one word at a time,
"I... know. I'll do a good job cleaning!"
——
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The heavy, angry footsteps of Aoko Aozaki faded away, and the once-boisterous living room fell silent.
From somewhere on her person, Alice Kuonji produced a brown-covered book. Tucked within its pages were several paper bookmarks, a clear sign of frequent use.
Alice's slender fingers traced a line to a bookmark and, with a soft rustle, she opened the book, her gaze falling upon the page where she'd left off.
Haru turned his head slightly, looking at Alice beside him. They sat at opposite ends of the sofa, the space between them large enough to accommodate two more adults.
It was this ample distance that allowed Alice to sit beside him so calmly, reading her book.
After all, no one enjoys sitting next to a monster who could snuff out their life at any moment. If not for the questions burning in her heart, she probably would have already fled his presence.
But even with her questions, Alice, somewhat shy by nature, didn't dare to initiate a conversation. Instead, she reverted to her usual habit, quietly reading her book.
She was waiting for Haru to speak first. From her observations, his intentions were as clear as day.
With her bewitching beauty, a gift of her witch's bloodline, Alice had no shortage of suitors. And Haru's specially-made maid outfit, designed to accommodate her sensitivity to the cold, had made his intentions perfectly clear.
After all, even as a reclusive witch, far removed from the mundane world, Alice still had to go out for groceries. And though her shopping trips were brief, a steady stream of moths, drawn to her flame, was a constant.
Though only sixteen, with no romantic experience to speak of, Alice was already immune to all sorts of advances.
After a glance at Alice, Haru silently turned back, leaned against the sofa, crossed his arms, and focused his gaze on the empty tea table.
As his vision sharpened, a scroll of brown parchment materialized on the table. Then, as if held by an invisible pen, magical characters began to appear on its surface.
Though he possessed all the magical data of the Mage's Association, unlike the knowledge forcibly instilled and understood through his cheat-like deductions, this vast amount of information was merely memorized.
To truly master it, he had to use his own mind to deduce and understand.
The reason he'd suddenly started studying magic was simple: in his view, it was the only common language he shared with Alice, the only topic they could discuss at length.
In the end, the high success rate of transmigrators in wooing cute girls was all due to their prescient understanding of the girls' personalities.
A complete stranger, constantly catering to your preferences, making choices that align perfectly with your own—of course your affection for them would skyrocket.
And as for whether this kind of cheating to gain affection was a bit unfair? To have the means to get closer to a cute girl and not use them... in Haru's eyes, only an idiot would do such a thing.
The desire to possess beautiful things was a common human failing, after all.
Haru sighed for a moment, then lowered his head, silently contemplating the principles of magic. On the parchment scroll, countless strange runes, imbued with a strange magical power, began to appear.
He knew that for Alice, who strictly adhered to the code of a magus, the allure of unknown magic was exceptionally strong.
After all, this was a world where the more people who knew a mystery, the weaker it became. The secrecy of magic was of paramount importance to all mages.
Like the knowledge control of the feudal era, magical data was worth its weight in gold. The few magical formulas he'd designed, which he'd long since discarded, had been patented at the Clock Tower and were now earning him tens of millions of pounds a year. That alone was proof of the value of magical data.
With these magical formulas, Haru was confident he could get Alice to speak first, rather than playing this... solo act.
With both of them waiting for the other to speak, the atmosphere plunged into a strange silence.
<><><><>
Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)