Xiaoxi’s eyes widened, feeling as though the sun had risen from the west.
After all, she had rarely heard Xiao Keke take the initiative to apologize to her since they were children.
However, thinking about it carefully, most of the conflicts in the past had been started by Xiaoxi over the matter of Eternal Star.
It seemed Xiao Keke didn’t actually have much to apologize for.
Xiaoxi couldn’t help but feel a hint of awkwardness and shame at the thought.
‘Actually, it was also wrong of me to hide my identity from Keke this time… but why did this child suddenly apologize?’
“Because I realized… I might have misunderstood you, Sister.”
Xiao Keke sighed. To be honest, her first reaction upon learning her sister was a Magical Girl was—’She must have chosen to become a Magical Girl just for the generous salary!’
It wasn’t her fault for having such a strong prejudice against Xiaoxi. After all, the attitude Xiaoxi had always displayed toward Magical Girls in front of her had never been particularly good.
Xiao Keke had always dreamed of becoming a Magical Girl, partly to prove to her sister that she was right.
Children always yearn to prove themselves to their guardians once they grow up.
Although whether her sister counted as a guardian was still debatable; they said an elder brother was like a father, but unfortunately, her elder brother had grown into an elder sister.
But after today’s events, Xiao Keke belatedly realized that even during a Magical Girl mission, she still seemed to subconsciously rely on her sister.
When the alarm sounded, she had lost her cool. It was her sister who made the decisive judgment.
That included when her sister talked back to that Archbishop of the Six Seats… Xiao Keke asked herself honestly: if it were her, she probably wouldn’t have dared to talk back to such a powerful figure.
But the most important thing was what her sister said at the time… that she wouldn’t ignore human lives for the sake of an order from the Six Seats.
Xiao Keke’s heart had stirred then. ‘Maybe I really did misunderstand Sister. Maybe she really is a competent Magical Girl.’
However, Xiao Keke was very worried that her sister would face retaliation from the Six Seats afterward.
That was the Six Seats, after all. A minor Magical Girl like her sister probably had no power to resist them.
“I’m sorry. If only I could have stood up and said something to help you back then.”
“What are you talking about? Apologizing for such a small thing… it’s fine.”
Xiaoxi didn’t take the matter to heart at all. She wasn’t worried about the Church retaliating against her over this.
But seeing Xiao Keke’s worried expression, Xiaoxi wrapped an arm around her shoulder and patted her to offer comfort.
Besides, her little sister being so sensible today actually made her feel a bit out of place.
“Oh, what a coincidence. To think both of you would be here.”
The unexpected greeting made both sisters stand up instinctively.
“Mom!”
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
“There’s a tour event today, so I came to look around. It’s quite lonely staying at home by myself every day. I didn’t expect to run into the two of you here. Didn’t Keke used to hate going out with her sister?”
Su Yuening spoke with a smile, her hair still styled in that “dangerous” way. She looked the two sisters up and down, nodding in satisfaction.
“It seems the relationship between you two is much better than before. Back at home, you used to argue every other day. It looks like my two children have grown up. I can rest easy seeing you getting along so well~”
“We are not getting along… oh, forget it.”
Xiao Keke’s face flushed as she grumbled awkwardly, but in the end, she didn’t refute her mother.
……
Xiao Keke ultimately didn’t let Xiaoxi see her off. After parting with her sister and returning home, Xiaoxi spoke toward the living room as usual.
“I’m home!”
Unexpectedly, there was no response. In the past, Ye Xinglan would always rush over the moment the door opened… ‘Strange. Has the little rich girl not come home yet? But she and Silver Bell should have returned earlier than me, right?’
“Xinglan?”
Xiaoxi called out tentatively again. This time, a muffled voice came from the direction of the bedroom.
“I’m going to die, I’m going to die… run, run!”
A bad premonition rose in Xiaoxi’s heart.
She rushed forward in three steps and yanked the bedroom door open… only to see Ye Xinglan and Silver Bell intensely focused on a game.
The health bar of the character Ye Xinglan was controlling was nearly empty, and she was running in circles around a boss.
The two were sitting cross-legged together wearing large headphones, playing feverishly on a game console brought over from Silver Bell’s house. They didn’t even notice Xiaoxi walking in at first.
“Ah… um, hello. Sorry to intrude…”
“Oh, you’re back, Xiaoxi! We were so into the game we didn’t hear you. Sooorry!~”
Upon seeing Xiaoxi, Silver Bell, who had been relaxed and natural while gaming, suddenly became tense and stiff.
Xiaoxi let out a sigh of relief. ‘But when did these two get so close? Silver Bell actually dared to come over to our house to play games?!’
After Silver Bell left, Xiaoxi raised the question. Ye Xinglan tilted her head and thought for a moment.
“Hmm… maybe it’s because our hobbies overlap a lot. We just naturally became friends. When we were coming home together earlier, I asked if she wanted to come over and play games, and she agreed very readily.”
Xiaoxi shook her head. If the fans of the Silverflame Dragon Princess knew that Silver Bell was this close with the Blood Moon Witch, their hearts would probably shatter, wouldn’t they?
No, just letting people know that Silver Bell was such a small girl would be enough to shatter their perceptions.
Ye Xinglan giggled and hugged her. “What’s wrong? Are you jealous again?”
“I am not! I just feel like your relationship is progressing faster than I expected.”
“That’s exactly what being jealous means. Don’t be jealous, baby~”
Seeing Ye Xinglan about to get frisky, Xiaoxi rolled her eyes and dodged the tentacles that tried to wrap around her.
“I told you I’m not! What I mean is, since your relationship is moving so fast, maybe the task the Astrologer gave us can be finished sooner.”
Xiaoxi had originally thought that befriending someone like Silver Bell would be a slow process.
She hadn’t expected her little girlfriend’s social skills to be so strong. As a result, the previous plan was no longer necessary.
Coincidentally, the Astrologer had revealed the follow-up of her conversation with the Archbishop today.
The Astrologer had tried to use the recent events as an excuse to suggest that the Church store items the Divine Summon Order might be targeting at the Association for safekeeping, but the Archbishop had once again refused with his old excuses.
No matter how she thought about it, it was strange. The Archbishop clearly cared deeply about the Church’s treasures, yet even after the Divine Summon Order had literally broken into his home today, he still insisted on keeping them himself?
If Xiaoxi could prove Silver Bell’s innocence as soon as possible, then the Astrologer should be able to take action against the Church, right?
“Xinglan, can you invite Silver Bell over for dinner tomorrow? I’ve already figured out a way to finish the task the Astrologer gave us.”
“Eh? Sure~ are we moving that quickly?”