"Please—let me stay here!"
After her performance, Liliana immediately bowed deeply to Hayashi Maki and the others and made her request in earnest.
She was a wandering bard. Her biggest dream was to become a hero's companion and write songs for that hero with her own hands—an epic that would be sung everywhere.
"No problem," Hayashi Maki said with a smile. "I agree. Liliana, you can stay here. We all welcome you."
Getting such a straightforward yes, Liliana lit up and hurriedly thanked everyone.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Hayashi Maki waved it off and said gently, "No need to be so formal. We really enjoyed listening to the songstress's performance."
"By the way… would you be interested in hearing some other songs too?"
"Other songs?" Liliana's eyes sparkled. "H-Hayashi Maki, are you a bard too?"
"Not exactly," Hayashi Maki said. "I just have a magic device that stores songs and poems from another world. Since we met, let's call it fate—take it as a welcome gift."
With that, he took out a phone, opened the music library, and played a track.
Liliana froze, staring like she'd been struck by lightning.
"That's incredible…!"
"Sound is coming out of it! And this melody—there are so many layers, and the instruments—so many harmonies!"
Modern music hit her like a tidal wave. She was instantly conquered.
"Here," Hayashi Maki said, handing it to her. "Play with it. If you don't know how to use it, let Beatrice teach you."
He figured that, as fellow "small" girls, Beatrice and Liliana would get along.
Liliana scratched her head, flustered, and glanced at him nervously.
"Something this valuable… you're really giving it to me?"
"Of course." Hayashi Maki's tone stayed sincere. "You're a talented bard, and I'm betting on you. Keep it. To me it's not that precious—where I come from, lots of people have one."
Liliana blushed and accepted it.
She couldn't resist. That device held countless songs in every style—an endless treasury to learn from. For a bard, it was basically a portable library of inspiration.
So Liliana stayed.
Bright, warm, and always singing—and with a voice that good—she quickly became friends with everyone. When they learned she'd been traveling alone for so long, Emilia and the others couldn't help feeling protective of her.
But Liliana waved it off, saying that was just how bards lived.
You moved hearts with your songs, earned your keep through performance, and kept walking—because that was what it meant to be a bard.
When she talked about herself, she also admitted a problem: where her "songstress" title came from, and the man who'd given it to her—the Muse Company heir, Kiritaka.
He claimed he was hopelessly in love with her and clung to her like glue. He even confessed outright.
Liliana didn't want to be tied down in Priestella (the Water Gate City). And after hearing about Hayashi Maki's exploits, she'd rushed all this way because she wanted to follow him and write songs about him.
Staying in one place for too long wasn't good for creation—that was another reason she'd left Priestella.
But Kiritaka wanted to keep her at his side.
He'd say things like, "A songstress's voice shouldn't belong to one person—it should be shared," and he'd spend money to host concerts for her, making her name echo throughout the Water Gate City.
Still, Liliana—who was still naïve about romance—instinctively wanted to escape that kind of pressure.
She'd left her parents and started wandering for one reason: to become a renowned bard. How could she spend her whole life stuck to one man, in one city?
Creation needed experience.
A bard had to grow, travel, and gather stories to write better songs.
Before anyone realized it, night had fallen.
After dinner, Aqua flopped onto her bed and fell asleep immediately, snoring without a care.
Beatrice, meanwhile, pulled Ryuzu Meyer and Liliana into a lively chat.
Three small girls chattering away, giggling and laughing—judging by the sounds, they were having a great time.
Beatrice was also teaching both of them how to use the "phone."
Echidna kept giving Liliana a strangely focused look—Hayashi Maki could tell she was intrigued by Liliana's ability to affect people's emotions through song.
That was just Echidna: the Witch of Greed was curious about anything unknown.
Still, she wouldn't do anything reckless—Liliana was under Hayashi Maki's protection now.
Emilia, on the other hand, looked conflicted. She tugged Hayashi Maki into her room, clenched her fists nervously, and stared at him.
"Hayashi Maki… what are you going to do?"
"About… me and you… and the future."
Then, as if the jealousy finally spilled over, she added in a small, wounded voice:
"Today you were so kind to Liliana too…"
Hayashi Maki blinked, then looked down at her flat stomach beneath her white nightgown.
"Future? Emilia—what are you talking about?"
Emilia's cheeks went red, but she forced herself to say it anyway, like she'd been holding it in for ages.
"Y-You're going to take responsibility, right? I… I thought… when people kiss… that means…"
Hayashi Maki froze for a beat—then couldn't help laughing.
He pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her hair.
"Of course I'm going to be responsible for you. I like you, Emilia. I've told you that."
"But kissing doesn't work like that. You're overthinking it."
"…It doesn't?" Emilia looked completely stunned.
"Definitely not," Hayashi Maki said, smiling down at her. "Who told you that kissing works that way?"
Emilia turned bright red. "P-Puck…"
Hayashi Maki sighed in disbelief. "Puck, seriously… teaching you the wrong things."
Then he softened again, voice warm.
"Okay. I'll teach you the correct stuff—properly, gently. And at your pace."
Emilia lay back against the soft bed, face burning, eyes wide and blinking like she couldn't process what was happening.
"H-How…?"
Hayashi Maki cupped her face and smiled.
"Leave it to me, Emilia."
And he leaned down to kiss her again—slowly, tenderly—until her trembling finally eased.
That night, their hearts settled into the same rhythm.