"Cai Ya wants to make an album, and Chu Chu wants to start serializing a manga. What about the rest of you?" Chu Lian released Chu Chu's chin, which she had been pinching, and let her body go limp as she sank back onto the bed.
Seeing her like that, Yaya leaned over and rubbed against her chest. She did not need anything right now. As long as she could feel Chu Lian's presence, that was enough.
She never wanted to experience those ten days of disappearance again. What Yaya feared was not being alone, but living in a world without Chu Lian.
The girl had originally descended into this world through the system's power, with her affection for Chu Lian innately maxed out. Yet now, was her dependence on Chu Lian still because of the system, or had it become something born from her own heart?
No one knew. Perhaps only in the future, when they could finally see their own hearts clearly, would they understand.
"Oh, right, Nana. When will you two be free? Would early July work? It's June tenth now, right? Mm, I'll recover my strength in half a month at most. After I make some preparations, I should be able to help you solve those problems at the beginning of July."
Seeing that everyone seemed reluctant to speak, Chu Lian took the initiative to start another topic.
She understood why. They probably did not know what to say. After all, she had only just woken up, yet she was already asking what everyone wanted to do next. Thinking about it, that really was a little strange, so it was only natural that they felt awkward about answering.
As for Cai Ya and Chu Chu, they had probably responded only because they wanted to say something and liven up the atmosphere.
"We'll both be free on July first. Our homes aren't around here anyway, so there isn't really anything we need to be busy with. We used to live together, but we've already canceled the lease and moved everything over here."
"We explained the situation clearly to our families too, so there's absolutely no problem." Ruriko Nana no longer tried to conceal her relationship with Lux.
Everyone here knew each other far too well. Any special relationship between them was obvious at a glance, so trying to hide it would only amount to deception.
There was nothing wrong with admitting it openly either. After all, this whole group of girls seemed even more excessive than they were.
"I see. Welcome, then." Chu Lian did not object to them moving in. There were far too many empty rooms in the house anyway. A few more people would not be a problem at all.
Besides, if they had been able to move in, that meant not only had their families agreed, but Li Mingxue had probably agreed as well.
Chu Lian did not fully understand what her mother was thinking, but she could more or less guess that Li Mingxue had done it for her sake.
Over the year they had spent together, which of the countless little things Li Mingxue had done had not been for her?
Besides, that dream during her last period of unconsciousness had already made things very clear. Her mother had even once fallen out with Chu Xiao because of her.
Those images and voices had been inadvertently recorded by her when she was still young. At that moment, they had unlocked everything from the past and shown her what had once happened.
With a mother like that, no matter what decision Li Mingxue made, Chu Lian would never believe it was meant to harm her.
Unless, of course, she was secretly weaving some earth-shaking conspiracy—though not to be rude, while Li Mingxue's strength was absurdly powerful, with that occasionally airheaded personality of hers, Chu Lian really could not imagine her orchestrating some vast conspiracy.
...That whole thought could be deleted.
Seriously, why did her thoughts always wander into bizarre places whenever she let her mind drift?
Was this habit of spacing out really beyond saving?
Chu Lian mocked herself internally but naturally did not say any of it aloud. Instead, she looked toward Lux, who had walked over carrying a small plate of cake, and asked, "Mm, everything's fine with your family, right?"
"You're a duke's daughter, and you're pretty famous in Britain too, aren't you? Do paparazzi or anything like that follow you around and pry into your life?"
Chu Lian herself was a celebrity and knew all too well what paparazzi were capable of, so she was worried Lux might have been troubled by the same thing.
"Those things? Big Sis, you have no idea how annoying paparazzi are." But Lux was far from the only person who had suffered from them.
Before the blonde girl could even answer, Chu Chu started complaining from the side. Her words immediately triggered a chain reaction.
Aside from Inori, who merely smiled faintly, everyone else present began denouncing paparazzi with obvious disgust.
"I think that profession ought to be wiped out entirely. It's disgusting. Once, I went out wearing a short skirt, and one of them actually tried to crouch down and photograph underneath it."
"He probably wanted headlines like 'Wardrobe Malfunction,' 'Teen Songstress Shows Off Beautiful Legs in Short Skirt,' or 'New-Generation Singer Dresses So Seductively—Heading to Some Private Banquet?' You know, the usual trash."
"If my bodyguards hadn't noticed in time, confiscated his camera, and beaten him up, I probably would've become infamous over that story."
Cai Ya sat on Chu Chu's bed, swinging her legs as she spoke with undisguised loathing. Clearly, that paparazzo's behavior had been outrageous enough to make her hate the entire profession.
To prevent anything like that from happening again, she had not started bringing more bodyguards with her whenever she went out.
Instead, she simply started wearing safety shorts under her skirts.
She did not even lengthen the hems. She continued wearing them however she liked, almost defiantly declaring her existence.
And surprisingly enough, once her fans learned about that slightly vengeful but adorable response, her popularity rose even further.
After all, the idea of a young lady becoming so adorably defiant was rather exciting.
The moment Cai Ya finished, Chu Chu began airing her own grievances. "Big Sis, they're awful. It's bad enough that they keep asking me about you, but the few who actually pay attention to me always ask why my figure developed so well."
"They ask whether it's hereditary, or whether I'm deliberately preparing to become famous young and make my debut later. Some of them even try to trick me into revealing negative information about Big Sis."
"They probably think I'm young and easy to fool, right? Those idiots. How could Chu Chu ever betray Big Sis?!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Blue-violet lightning even began flickering around her body.
"If they weren't all ordinary people, Chu Chu definitely wouldn't have let them off so easily! But even then, I followed them back to their newspaper office, memorized the place, and went back there at night."
"I completely trashed the place. They all thought a ghost had broken in."
"Exactly. The outside world has changed so much, yet instead of properly reporting on any of that, they insist on chasing public figures and celebrities just to write gossip."
"Entertainment reporters really are helpless. Don't they have even the slightest sense of shame?" Liu Yanran was not particularly famous herself.
Apart from fans within Chu Lian's circle knowing that she shared a close relationship with her, the general public mostly saw Liu Yanran as a classically beautiful woman who seemed to have stepped out of an ink painting.
They did not really consider her a celebrity.
That identity made her both happy and troubled, and sometimes caused her to overthink strange things.
She was happy because not many people bothered her. Even when someone did, she could easily dismiss them.
What troubled her was that if she remained unknown, then when she wanted to help Chu Lian with something later, it would be hard to create any real sensation.
That meant she would not be able to offer Chu Lian much assistance.
What she said now also reflected the thoughts of all the other girls.
If they had the chance, they probably would not stop at merely wrecking a newspaper office. They would want to thoroughly get even with them.
"These problems really are hard to solve, but it's not like there's no way. Mm, didn't Mom tell us not to go out recently? Then we'll stay home and try to finish polishing the game."
"After that, I'll act as the spokesperson and hold a game launch event. We'll invite every reporter except the outlets that try to use underhanded methods to get stories."
"As for what they think, that doesn't matter. The important thing is this: the moment any newspaper crosses the line, we'll never work with them again."
"We can release good material little by little... Wait, why am I talking about this? We're supposed to be discussing everyone else's issues. I'll talk about my ideas later..."
Chu Lian abruptly stopped there, whether intentionally or not, and dragged the conversation back on topic.
Fortunately, everyone had long since become completely familiar with Chu Lian's ability to veer wildly off-topic.
Hearing her say this, no one questioned her. In any case, sooner or later she would talk herself back around to whatever she wanted to say.
"The paparazzi problem hasn't been too bad for me. They don't dare act too recklessly in Huaxia. And because I'm a foreign noble, the local media are either uninterested or very polite."
"So far, I've only encountered a few mildly troublesome incidents. Most of them ask whether I think Huaxia is better than Britain, which is why I haven't gone back, or whether I plan to settle here permanently and never return to Britain."
"The worst was a British reporter who broke into my apartment while I was taking a bath."
"Fortunately, my bodyguards and Nana were there. He was subdued before he could photograph anything."
"I already had Father deal with him. He may not care very much about me, but this concerns the reputation of the Lyle family, so he had no choice but to act."
As Lux spoke, she gently cut off a small piece of cake and fed it to Chu Lian.
Beside her, Ruriko Nana's little head never stopped nodding as she chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. We welcome polite reporters asking reasonable questions."
"But the malicious kind, the ones who deliberately cause a scene and then run off with whatever so-called material they've obtained, are just awful."
"I think every country's laws should add a rule saying, 'Any private report disclosed without the subject's consent will be subject to legal punishment.'"
"Hmph. Then they'd finally behave themselves, right?"
"Mm..." Chu Lian swallowed the cake in her mouth and fanned her cheeks, seemingly feeling a little warm.
"Here..." Inori turned around, took a cup of water from the small refrigerator, and handed it to Chu Lian.
"I'm a little thirsty." Chu Lian accepted the water and drank before answering Nana.
"Eh, that probably isn't possible. In Europe and America, ordinary people have a recognized right to know about public figures."
"If you added a law like that, you'd have to revise the entire legal system along with it. I don't think those people would have the determination to do something like that."
"It would be far too troublesome."
"That's true. But paparazzi are still awful." Nana thought about it and had to admit that she had been a little too idealistic.
Losing interest, the girl bent down and lay back, leaning against Cai Ya, who was quietly staring at the ceiling.
It seemed she no longer felt like saying anything.
"Well, even if that's true, there are still ways to stop them. Mm, once my body recovers a little, I'll find something for you."
Chu Lian had thought of some equipment that could interfere with video signals, but now was not the right time to use it.
After the game was released and became popular, then they could start using such equipment.
That would be guaranteed to infuriate any malicious reporters trying to target them.
"Big Sis, are you planning to trade with those Spacetime Traveling Merchants? I'm really curious about what they sell."
"Do they have anything like mecha? Something like the form Big Sis transformed into on the rooftop last time would be the best."
"Sailor uniform, white stockings, high heels, and panties... Ow!"
Chu Lian could still tolerate the beginning of Chu Chu's rambling. But by the end, she was blatantly fantasizing about Chu Lian herself.
How could she possibly tolerate that?
She immediately brought a merciless fist down on Chu Chu's head, instantly "killing" her.
Chu Chu clutched her little head and no longer dared to say anything outrageous.
At least until Chu Lian's anger faded, she absolutely would not say anything else. Otherwise, she would really be in trouble.
"Chu Chu's comments may be unreliable, but her suggestion is something I've actually been thinking about lately."
"The problem is that doing it would consume far too many resources. I still don't have any way to prepare something like that for all of you."
"So it'll have to be shelved for quite a long time. Once I've prepared enough resources, it'll be possible."
"When that time comes, I'll give everyone a gift you'll be very satisfied with."
"I want mine to be gold! The weapons should use both light and wind, and it'd be best if the design looked like an angel. Can you do that?" Lux Lyle held the little plate in her hands and looked pitifully into Chu Lian's eyes as she made her request.
"Mm." How could Chu Lian refuse a girl's request? She gave a soft acknowledgment, indicating that she understood.
And then...
"I want mine black! The body should be as elegant as a black cat and as agile as a panther. Make it a close-combat unit, and don't equip it with too many firearms." That was Ruriko Nana's request.
"Big Sis, I want mine blue-violet. All the weapons have to be lightning-based, and it has to be the super-fast kind!"
Chu Chu immediately threw her previous thoughts to the back of her mind. She hugged one of Chu Lian's thighs and rubbed against it while acting spoiled.
"Lian, I want mine pinkish-purple." Inori tilted her head. Seeing everyone else making requests, she joined in as well.
Rather than truly wanting one, it was more that she did not want to be different from everyone else.
"I want blue! Its energy has to be water and ice, and its ultimate move absolutely has to be the kind that can freeze the entire world!"
It seemed that ever since she started cultivating, combined with playing too many games, even the normally aristocratic Cai Ya had developed a bit of a chuunibyou streak.
"Chu Lian, you can choose mine yourself. I trust that you'll definitely pick something suitable for me."
Liu Yanran did not make any specific requests, but those words only made Chu Lian feel even more troubled.
Finally, Kurosaki Satsuki said nothing.
Her eyes showed no fluctuation either, as though she had no interest in the matter at all.
But one sentence from Chu Lian made her hands unconsciously clench tightly.
Being cared about... being noticed... it feels so good...
"For Satsuki, let's make it a gray close-combat unit. That would suit her best..."