“That light skipped away too fast. I don’t know exactly where it went, but I saw her flying toward Penelope’s place.”
Xia Shuangshuang rested her finger against her chin, recalling the glowing speck she had seen.
If she wasn’t mistaken, that light seemed to be carrying a humanoid figure in its arms…
Does that mean that person is a magical girl too?!
“I see. Thanks for the tip, Miss Xia~”
“No problem, but is that really enough? You still don’t know her specific location, do you?”
“It’s fine. This is plenty.”
For Penelope, as long as she knew the general direction of the light, she could leave the rest to Qin Qixin.
“Uwah~ It’s getting late. I’m starting to get sleepy.”
After playing board games for a while longer, Su Mengdie could hardly keep her eyes open.
Unlike the Young Lady and the others, her work as a maid had conditioned her to an early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine; pulling an all-nighter was something she only did during the Lunar New Year.
“Eh~? Little Pu, you’re going to bed this early today?”
Xia Shuangshuang glanced at her wristwatch, a look of surprise on her face.
Based on her knowledge of the Young Lady, she was someone who never slept before the early hours of the morning.
She often saw the Young Lady’s gaming account online well past midnight.
Going to bed this early was truly out of character.
“Yeah, I played games for too long during the day, so I’m a bit tired. Shuangshuang, where’s the room?”
Su Mengdie rubbed her eyes and stood up unsteadily.
She had been sitting for so long that her legs felt numb, momentarily losing all sensation.
Seeing this, Xia Shuangshuang immediately supported Su Mengdie to let her steady herself.
“The room is just across the hall. You’ll be sharing with Xiao Die, and Can’er is right next door to me.”
The Xia residence was quite large; Xia Shuangshuang arranged it this way to prevent them from getting lost.
Furthermore, with everyone staying close together, she could reach them quickly if anything happened during the night.
“Thanks. I’ll head to bed first then. You guys keep playing. Goodnight~”
“It is getting quite late, I think I’ll head in too. Miss Xia, thank you for the hospitality. Goodnight for now~”
Jin Can’er stretched and prepared to leave as well.
“Mm, goodnight~ So… Xiao Die, shall we?”
Xia Shuangshuang tilted her head toward Penelope, a hint of anticipation in her expression.
She wasn’t really feeling sleepy at this hour.
“Miss Xia, I need to go back and stay with the Young Lady. How about we call it a night?”
Penelope had played enough for one day.
Rather than staying here with Xia Shuangshuang, she preferred to be by Su Mengdie’s side.
“Alright. I’m also worried that Little Pu might not be used to staying alone. Sweet dreams then, goodnight~”
Though a bit disappointed, Xia Shuangshuang respected their choice.
After exchanging goodnights in the hallway, Su Mengdie and Jin Can’er entered their respective rooms.
As soon as she opened the door, Su Mengdie’s expression turned awkward.
“Why is there only one double bed!?”
This guest room wasn’t much smaller than Xia Shuangshuang’s bedroom, yet it only had one large bed.
Did Miss Xia think they slept together every night?
While that was technically true, their situation was unique—Xia Shuangshuang shouldn’t have known about that.
What should she do?
At home, she could explain away sharing a bed as the maid “warming the bed,” but at a friend’s house, it was hard to justify—especially since she, the “Young Lady,” was the one going to sleep first…
Just as Su Mengdie was wondering what to do, she heard a click as the door opened behind her.
“Xiao Die, I’m back~”
“Young Lady!? Why are you back so soon?”
Su Mengdie had assumed Penelope would stay with Shuangshuang for a while longer.
“Hm? Everyone else left. Wouldn’t it be awkward if it was just me and Shuangshuang alone?”
A maid staying in a room alone with the daughter of the Xia family in the dead of night would indeed be a bit awkward.
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you tired? Why aren’t you in bed yet?”
Penelope took a few steps toward the large bed, turning back to find Su Mengdie still frozen in place.
“Young Lady… it’s not appropriate for us to share a bed at a friend’s house, is it? How about I sleep on the floor?”
“Are you joking?! Are you saying I, the maid, should sleep in the big bed while you, the Young Lady, sleep on the floor? What if Shuangshuang sees!”
“Then… should we swap?”
Hearing Su Mengdie’s suggestion, Penelope couldn’t help but sigh and walked straight toward her.
“Xiao Die, just get in! We’ll do exactly what we do at home. Your overthinking will only lead to unnecessary trouble.”
Penelope grabbed her hand, pulled her toward the bed, and tossed her onto the soft mattress with a firm shove.
Before Su Mengdie could react, Penelope pinned her down and pointed a finger at her, speaking in an incredibly stern tone.
“Don’t go anywhere tonight. Stay right here!”
“Oh…”
Su Mengdie replied timidly.
Couldn’t she just say it nicely? Why did she have to use force?
“Young Lady, please be gentler next time you do this. This is your own body, after all.”
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Sleep~”
Unsurprisingly, Penelope treated her like a body pillow again.
This time, she didn’t just wrap her arm around Su Mengdie’s slender waist; she even hooked her leg over her.
This is so uncomfortable, how am I supposed to sleep!
However, while Su Mengdie couldn’t drift off, Penelope’s sleep quality was extraordinary—the moment her head hit the pillow, she was in dreamland.
“Young Lady? Young Lady… can you move a bit?”
“Mmm… Xiao Die, don’t fuss…”
Realizing her calls only elicited a few murmurs, Su Mengdie gave up entirely.
As a result, she remained awake well into the second half of the night.
Click—
Hm!?
Su Mengdie, who had her eyes closed trying to force herself to sleep, suddenly heard the sound of a door opening.
Someone came in?
The Xia family’s security was tight, so she could rule out an outside intruder.
At this hour, could it be Shuangshuang…?
Just as Su Mengdie lifted her heavy eyelids to see who it was, Penelope, who had been holding her, leaped up from the bed.
“Who’s there!?”
!?
Almost at the exact moment Penelope jumped up, a dark shadow flashed across the room and darted out the door.
Seeing Penelope spring into action, Su Mengdie quickly dragged her exhausted body into a sitting position as well.
By then, the shadow had vanished without a trace, leaving only the door slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of light from the hallway.
“Young Lady, you weren’t asleep?”
Could her reaction be a case of “killing in one’s sleep”?
However, Su Mengdie had still underestimated Penelope.
“Uwah~… I was, but I suddenly felt a stranger sneaking in, so I woke up.”
A stranger?
Wasn’t the Xia family’s security supposed to be impenetrable?!
Hearing the Young Lady say this, Su Mengdie was now even less likely to fall asleep.
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t see clearly, but I feel like they were after you… But don’t worry, Xiao Die. As long as I’m here, no one can take you away. So, stay right by my side tonight!”
Penelope’s voice grew softer and softer until, without warning, she collapsed back onto the pillow with Su Mengdie in her arms and fell right back to sleep.
“No way… She can fall asleep even after that!?”
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