Shuangna stood there dazed as she approached the two.
Floxi was still lost in her own world, hugging Luwei tightly while muttering self-reproachful words.
“Wooo… Your Highness Luwei, it’s all my fault…”
However, Luwei, pinned beneath her, had a completely different reaction.
“Shuangna… help me…”
“She’s… she’s attacking me…!”
Luwei’s voice was weak as she pointed at Floxi.
This girl’s strength was simply too much; let alone breaking free, Luwei was being squeezed so hard she could barely breathe.
She desperately needed Shuangna to help move the emotionally unstable Floxi!
But facing her plea for help…
Luwei was shocked to find that Shuangna remained completely indifferent!
On the contrary, upon seeing Luwei’s pathetic state, the beast-girl’s behavior became somewhat strange.
Her tail began to wag excitedly, and she sniffed around the two of them, her eyes flashing with a peculiar light.
“So cute…” she murmured, a dangerous curve suddenly hooking her lips.
“Hey, as I thought, you really do prefer the proactive type, don’t you?”
Shuangna grinned, revealing two small canines.
“What do you… mean?”
Luwei’s thoughts were a mess; she had no idea what the girl was talking about.
Until a piece of clothing, still warm from a young girl’s body, fell over her face.
“Mmph, mmgh!”
‘These guys are definitely trying to take advantage of the chaos to get rid of me, aren’t they? I’m going to die by suffocation…!’
“Master, be a good girl… just leave it to me…”
“Leave what to you?”
Sniff, sniff.
“Your scent, of course!”
***
Half an hour later…
Floxi’s emotions seemed to have stabilized.
She sat clutching her clothes, staring blankly at the ceiling.
As for Luwei, her clothes were a mess, her silken shoulders partially exposed, and her long silver hair had been rubbed into a tangled puffball.
There were even several suspicious red marks on her neck.
If not for the blue-haired beast-girl supporting her from behind, she might have collapsed onto the floor.
“Master—”
Shuangna reached out, seemingly wanting to rub Luwei’s head again.
“You try touching me one more time!!”
Luwei was practically bristling.
Just now, she had wanted Shuangna to help pull Floxi away.
Who could have guessed that this girl would follow Floxi’s lead?
The result: one hugging her from the front, the other from the back.
Luwei had been sandwiched in the middle, unable to move.
‘Dammit! Do I look like some kind of body pillow?!’
‘Do these two have any sense of being servants? Since when do servants use their master as a body pillow when they’re in a bad mood??’
Worst of all was Shuangna behind her—she wouldn’t stay still, constantly sniffing and even using her teeth to nibble.
“Listen up, you must maintain a distance of three meters from me from now on!”
“If this happens again, your salary and bonuses are gone!!”
Yet, hearing Luwei’s words, Shuangna somehow looked even more eager to try again.
“No problem, Master!”
She licked her lips, her heart still reminiscing about Luwei’s tearful appearance from moments ago.
‘My usually serious, scary-faced Master can actually make an expression like that?’
Shuangna felt as if she had found the right switch.
Observe the pattern, verify the pattern, apply the pattern…
‘Hehe, if I just push her, she can’t resist!’
[Ding-dong!]
[“Shuangna” Strategy Progress has reached 60%, Extraction Count +1]
“…Huh?”
Staring at the notification box that suddenly popped up, Luwei fell into deep confusion.
‘Is it right for the Strategy bar to rise like this? Did I even do anything just now?’
Luwei looked at the visibly excited Shuangna, and a thick sense of bewilderment rose in her heart.
‘Could it be because she hugged me? So that means… I feel good to hold??’
Luwei realized she had reached a rather absurd conclusion.
She looked down at her own underdeveloped body.
‘Hey, wouldn’t I feel too bony to hold??’
Luwei paced back and forth in a state of inner conflict before finally turning her gaze toward Floxi, who was still faintly sobbing to the side.
A bold idea suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Observe the pattern, verify the pattern, apply the pattern…
As if possessed, Luwei leaned down and proactively hugged the silently weeping Floxi.
“!?”
She could clearly feel the body in her arms trembling uncontrollably.
However, this was different from the trembling caused by sadness.
Luwei felt that this was more like… excitement?
“…Your Highness??”
Floxi’s startled, uncertain voice sounded in her ear.
‘As expected, it’s weird for a Villainess Noble like me to do something like this, isn’t it?’
Luwei felt her face heating up, and she immediately regretted her decision.
‘Does this make me look like a clown? What kind of tyrannical young lady throws herself at a maid who has -78 Affection Level for her?’
But to her surprise, the next second—
[Ding-dong!]
[Ding-dong!]
[Ding-dong!]
The notification sound in her ear rang incessantly, as if the system had broken.
Simultaneously, windows began appearing before Luwei’s eyes.
[Love Support Options triggered, “Floxi” is looking forward to what happens next!]
[“Floxi” Strategy Progress has reached 10%]
[Love Support Options triggered…]
[…Progress has reached 20%]
[Ding-dong…]
“Waaah!”
Luwei gave a strange cry, immediately letting go and retreating several steps.
‘What is this?!’
Her eyes were wide, as if she had discovered something unbelievable.
A dazzling array of options spread out before her, leaving her unsure of what to choose.
[Strategy Progress has reached 50%, Extraction Count +1]
[Romance Quest (New) Unlocked]
[Task 4: Hold hands with “Floxi,” hand contact area no less than 60%, duration no less than 10 minutes (0/10)]
‘Is the panel malfunctioning? Or did I… accidentally find the right switch!?’
Luwei was completely stumped.
In her memory, Floxi’s Affection Level was supposed to be -78!
It was practically through the floor!
How could the Strategy Progress jump so much just from a brief hug?
In that moment, Luwei thought of many things, even considering the possibility that Floxi was a masochist.
She couldn’t figure it out… no matter how she thought, she couldn’t understand it.
In Luwei’s view, the only reason Floxi obeyed her was out of fear of her overbearing power!
For example, just now, Floxi had cried so miserably because she had failed her duties as a guard and feared a harsh punishment.
So, how could such an unwilling situation increase Strategy Progress?
“Your Highness, you’re…?”
Luwei raised her head stiffly, only then realizing that her actions seemed to have accidentally pacified Floxi.
Just one hug…
Then again, this girl was quite easy to coax; it was the same last time.
Thinking thus, Luwei looked Floxi over.
The maid’s face was flushed red, and her eyes were bright like a startled rabbit’s, her gaze constantly drifting back toward Luwei.
“It’s nothing,” Luwei explained with feigned indifference.
“I just wanted to see how you felt to the touch…”
Seeing Floxi’s expression freeze, she couldn’t help but add another remark.
“What? Sitting there like that, who are you trying to seduce? Am I not allowed to lay a hand on you?”
Yet, upon hearing Luwei’s teasing, Floxi surprisingly didn’t become too shy to speak.
“Of course you can touch me! If it’s you…”
She stood up, looking at Luwei’s face seriously.
“After all, you said we were lovers… right?”
“Ah…?”
Luwei was momentarily speechless.
She instinctively backed away a few steps, her gaze catching Shuangna off to the side, who looked like she was stifling a laugh.
‘No, no, no. Why has the situation spiraled out of control?’
Luwei’s gaze darted around before finally landing on the charred corpse of the Small Bat on the floor.
“I don’t care what you think…”
Like finding a lifesaver, she pointed at the bat.
“Look, I have to deal with this thing.”
“You two clean up the room. If anyone asks about the source of the Mana fluctuation… just say you were experimenting with new Magic.”
With that, Luwei picked up the dead bat and fled Floxi’s bedroom.
The two of them were left alone in the room.