"No no no, why did you suddenly bring that up?"
"Eh~? Because Zero-kun's attention has been totally focused on Yuuko, right? I wasn't wrong about that~"
"…?"
Now that she mentioned it, Zero realized he truly had been subconsciously watching Yuuko ever since they met. It was something he'd done completely without awareness.
Only after Rina pointed it out did Zero abruptly notice that he'd been unusually attentive to Yuuko.
As for why that happened…
…Because her smile is just way too adorable!
Not good. There was no way he could say something like that aloud. He instinctively knew speaking that line might put his life in danger!
"Haha, just kidding~ Anyway, let's go to my room~"
"So, you were just joking earlier?"
"Well, about thirty percent joking, maybe~?"
"…"
Not good. More than half of her was absolutely serious!
As usual, Hajime offered no input, playing her role as a plushie perfectly, allowing Rina to carry her back to the room without complaint.
Well, it was called a "room"... but in this resort-like villa complex, an entire villa was set aside just as Rina's personal "room."
Clearly, Rina's definition of a room differed dramatically from Zeru's concept of it…
Returning to her own "home," aside from the staff, Rina's family members weren't anywhere nearby, which Zero found slightly odd.
But judging by the setup, it seemed Rina's family members were probably busy people too, and their absence wasn't particularly surprising. Also, according to Rina, there would be a gathering held here tonight.
Not many would attend, since it was essentially a "private gathering"—though Yuuko would also be participating.
When Rina parted with Yuuko earlier, she'd mentioned that the atmosphere at the gathering would be far more formal compared to their casual outing earlier. Clearly, although termed a "private gathering," it would still involve some degree of "official business."
So, attendees couldn't afford to be overly casual. At its core, the so-called gathering was just a pretext; the people involved undoubtedly had important matters to discuss, not simply eat, drink, and have fun.
Yuuko would attend not as Rina's friend, but as a representative of the Kamishiro Group. Therefore, the atmosphere definitely wouldn't be particularly relaxing.
When powerful local families and a conglomerate like Kamishiro Group were involved, whatever they discussed would surely not be trivial. And the big matter recently concerning Kamishiro Group—ultimately, there was only one thing it could be.
"It's related to the EDEN System. I don't know the details myself, but apparently the EDEN project ran into some technological issues. So, they're seeking cooperation from outside. Our family is just serving as intermediaries this time, essentially just making introductions…"
In other words, the Shinomiya family wouldn't directly provide technological support; they'd merely facilitate the connection. The true technical support would come from elsewhere.
Hearing this, Zero partially understood. Kamishiro's EDEN System encountered technical difficulties, so they needed external assistance—was it a problem related to network architecture?
An instant suspicion formed in Zero's mind: Could these network issues be related to Digimon?
Normally, he wouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly, but considering they'd just returned from the Digital World—and especially since they encountered Kuramon at the arcade—such speculation immediately sprang to mind.
Rina, surprised by his words, lightly furrowed her brows.
"I honestly don't know anything about the technical side, but if it really is related to Digimon, we definitely can't just ignore it."
After all, they'd promised to save the Digital World. If this matter was truly connected to Digimon, it might be possible to resolve both at once.
Of course, they currently had no evidence whatsoever connecting Kamishiro's troubles to Digimon. It was purely speculation. Besides, since the Shinomiya family was only an intermediary in tonight's gathering, Rina couldn't directly raise the topic either.
Still, gathering information indirectly through Yuuko might be possible—after all, Yuuko had absolutely no defenses up when it came to Rina.
Which brought up another question…
…Since the Shinomiya family was only responsible for introducing parties, who exactly was the party providing Kamishiro's so-called "technical support"?
"Well, about that—"
Rina was just about to speak when she suddenly glanced at her phone and smiled.
"Haha~ looks like our guest has arrived~"
"?"
While Zero was still puzzled, Rina spoke up with a smile. "She's a friend of mine—a really adorable girl~ How convenient that she's arrived just as we were talking about her~"
Considering everything that happened earlier, Zero was now certain that this Real World had significant differences from the Digimon universes he knew. So, he had absolutely no idea who Kamishiro's partner might be.
Right now, he was simply watching with detached curiosity to see what kind of surprising development might occur next.
Yet, even though he'd mentally prepared himself, when Rina's "friend" actually appeared before his eyes, Zero was once again stunned speechless.
About ten minutes after Rina received the notice, while she was organizing the gifts sent by her sister, a servant escorted a girl and gently knocked on Rina's door.
"Ojou-sama…" Outside, the servant quietly indicated the guest had arrived.
"Mm, come in~"
At those words, the door opened, and a girl stepped gracefully inside.
She wore a pure-white, full-length dress, with beautiful, straight golden hair styled into two delicate braids hanging gently down either side. Her clear jade-green eyes held a bright, pure sparkle.
Before the girl could even speak, Rina eagerly jumped forward and hugged her tightly.
"It's been so long, Lillie~!"
When Zero first saw this girl, he'd merely felt she looked vaguely familiar, though he didn't dare draw conclusions—after all, blonde-haired girls wearing pure-white dresses were common enough to number thousands in 2D worlds.
But the instant that familiar name was spoken, Zero nearly burst into tears.
Lillie…?! Are you kidding me? This isn't the Pokémon set! You've definitely walked into the wrong franchise!
"It really has been a while, Rina… haha, though perhaps not quite that long?" Lillie said softly, fixing her skirt after Rina released her, then gracefully curtseyed.
At the same time, Zero was mentally clarifying the girl's identity—assuming she maintained the same background despite changing worlds, then this girl named Lillie was none other than the daughter of the Aether Foundation's director, undoubtedly another genuine Ojou-sama!
---
T/N: WAHHTIATIAHTIA also i think rina is acc aged up! phew thank god
lilie
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