While the meat roasted in the kitchen, everyone in the front hall continued chatting among themselves.
Whether it was Esdeath with Iskandar and the others, or Lucoa with Wendy and the others, several small conversational circles had naturally formed.
They did not disturb one another.
Occasionally, their conversations would intersect, but most of the time, each group focused on topics they had in common.
Kings and generals naturally discussed matters of the battlefield.
Lucoa, Kanna, and Wendy spoke about little interesting moments from daily life.
As for Ainz and the others, they were enthusiastically discussing the game.
Since Yuto had nothing to do for the moment, he took out his phone.
Regarding Utaha's earlier problem, since he had already promised to solve it, he still had to give it some proper attention.
Yuto only casually searched for information about Fujikawa Bunko, yet he soon noticed something interesting.
The company behind Fujikawa Bunko was a large publishing house.
And the main investment group behind that publishing house was the Shinomiya Group...
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Yuto's mouth.
He had originally been considering using some "other" methods to deal with this matter.
Now, it seemed there was no need.
...
It was already close to midnight, but the Shinomiya estate was still brightly lit.
Kaguya, who had just finished handling some "trivial matters," leaned against the sofa and stretched lazily.
Her loose black hair fell across her body like the finest silk.
Kaguya-sama's entire body rested on the sofa, making her look like a quiet cat.
By chance, her magnificent red eyes turned toward the maid beside her.
The maid she was looking at seemed to be staring blankly into space, lost in thought.
This was a rare sight from Hayasaka, who was usually calm and efficient.
"Hayasaka?"
Kaguya's concerned call made the maid's expression change slightly in panic.
Although that change lasted only an instant, it was still caught by the sharp-eyed Kaguya.
A faint flicker passed through Kaguya's eyes.
She did not choose to ask about it.
Her face merely remained unchanged, showing only a faint smile.
"Mm? Is something wrong, Kaguya-sama?"
Hayasaka Ai's expression looked as calm as usual.
The corner of Kaguya's mouth curved slightly.
"No, nothing."
"Mm."
Hayasaka Ai nodded quietly.
"About the deal we reached with my elder brother earlier, do you have anything you want to say?" Kaguya asked with a peaceful smile.
The subordinate of Shinomiya Oko whom Tohru had caught in the restaurant that afternoon had truly helped Kaguya a great deal.
She had used that person to make a rather significant deal with Shinomiya Oko.
For her, the gains were considerable.
At the same time, she had also caused Shinomiya Oko a certain amount of loss.
That made Kaguya very happy.
The "trivial matters" she had handled just now were related to this.
"No. I don't have anything to say. I think Kaguya-sama handled it extremely well." Hayasaka Ai spoke with approval and praise in her tone.
Kaguya sighed in slight relief.
A faint curve appeared at the corner of her glistening lips.
"This is all thanks to Kamisaka-kun. If it weren't for him, how could we have gotten such an opportunity?"
There was gratitude and ease in Kaguya's words.
That afternoon, she had almost been unable to hold back her laughter.
Only her upbringing had allowed her to control her emotions.
However, that excitement and surprise could not be faked no matter what.
Hayasaka Ai looked at the young lady before her, who made no attempt to hide her happiness. A trace of conflict and pain faintly flashed through her eyes.
There was no joy in her heart, only endless fear and worry.
The development of events had already gone completely beyond everyone's expectations.
That hidden secret...
How much longer could it really remain hidden?
Hayasaka Ai did not know.
Her heart trembled with panic, yet on the surface, she could only pretend to be calm.
This was torture!
And as time passed, the torment in her heart would only become more severe.
Eventually, it would form a vortex—one that swallowed everything.
Buzz—
The vibration of a phone sounded.
Kaguya and Hayasaka both turned their eyes toward the phone on the tea table.
It was Hayasaka's phone.
The phone screen lit up with a message notification, then quickly dimmed again.
The maid's expression instantly became somewhat tense.
If it had been any other day, she would not have reacted like this.
But today was special.
She was worried that the message had come from that person.
And right now, she was standing in front of her young lady.
If it really was as she imagined...
Then...
"Hayasaka, aren't you going to look?" Kaguya looked at Hayasaka with some confusion and asked.
"It's fine." Hayasaka Ai smiled faintly.
If someone carefully observed the girl at this moment, they would notice that the corner of her mouth was trembling.
That was a sign of unease.
A thin layer of moisture had already appeared on the girl's forehead.
It was the reflection of light against fine beads of cold sweat.
Behind the girl's ears, a small portion of her hair had also begun to cling together because of the sweat.
Naturally, Kaguya noticed her maid's nervousness.
As doubt rose in her heart, something stirred in her mind.
Then her gaze fell on the phone on the tea table.
A thought appeared in Kaguya's heart.
'Could it be because of that phone?'
Kaguya became curious as she suddenly wanted to see her maid's phone.
Kaguya quietly lowered her feet from the sofa.
She was not wearing socks, so stepping on the floor made no sound.
Kaguya watched Hayasaka Ai, her expression like a feline predator preparing to hunt.
Alert, cautious, and radiating an indescribable beauty.
Finally, she moved suddenly!
Her little hand instantly reached toward the phone on the tea table.
Hayasaka Ai felt anxious, but it was already too late.
This was an action Kaguya had planned in advance, catching her completely off guard.
Click.
Kaguya pressed the home button, and the screen lit up.
At the same time, Hayasaka's attempt to snatch it back arrived.
She directly took the phone back from Kaguya's hand.
"Kaguya-sama! Don't you know personal privacy is protected?!" She spoke to Kaguya with considerable resentment.
Only, at this moment, Kaguya had no time to worry about the tone of her maid's voice.
Her mood was terrible right now!
Although Hayasaka had snatched the phone back, Kaguya had still seen the person who sent the message.
[Boss]
That was the contact name Hayasaka had given him.
Kaguya instantly turned her gaze toward Hayasaka.
Under that gaze, Hayasaka also became somewhat panicked.
'Oh no, oh no.'
Had she been discovered?
While her heart was tense, Kaguya spoke.
"Hayasaka, didn't you say before that you had nothing to do with Kamisaka-kun?"
Hayasaka froze and she subconsciously nodded.
Kaguya's gaze became even sharper, like a little lion!
"Then why is Kamisaka-kun privately messaging you at this hour?!"
Hayasaka was stunned and she hurriedly opened her phone.
When she saw the name, she immediately let out a breath of relief.
'Thank goodness.'
'Thank goodness...'
...
Yuto naturally had no idea what had happened on the other end of the phone.
He had originally planned to send a message to Kaguya.
However, considering how late it was, he assumed she had probably gone to sleep already.
Generally speaking, people from major families like that were supposed to pay great attention to maintaining a regular daily routine.
With that thought in mind, he sent the message to Hayasaka Ai instead.
The last time, she had chatted with him very late into the night.
Yuto felt that she was probably not the type to sleep early, so he sent her the message.
After receiving her affirmative reply, Yuto ended the conversation with her.
This had nothing to do with whether anyone owed anyone else a favor.
It was merely a small matter between friends.
If they really wanted to carefully calculate things in terms of favors, then Kaguya owed Yuto far too much.
That box of jewels, the matter from this afternoon...
Those were favors that could be easily explained. Behind them, there were even more favors hidden out of sight.
Just the fact that Yuto allowed Kaguya to come to the restaurant was already a favor she could not repay.
But, Yuto disliked handling things according to this so-called "favor" logic.
Living that way would make it very difficult to be happy.
Yuto put his phone back into his pocket, and at that moment, Wendy and the others in front of him were also preparing to leave.
Wendy was still worried about the guild.
After all, the guild master had come to the restaurant with her this time.
If a guild's master was away for too long, something would surely happen.
That was what the girl was worried about.
However, compared to Wendy, Roubaul was very calm.
He was clearly the guild master, yet he did not seem to care that much about the guild.
There was even that same faint, peaceful smile at the corner of his mouth.
As for Carla... she wanted to leave as well.
After all, while staying here, she could always feel that faint dragon aura.
Although that aura was weak, it was still very uncomfortable for her.
"Boss, Lucoa-onee-san, Kanna-onee-san, Tohru-onee-san... goodbye."
Wendy stood up and bowed very politely to everyone in the restaurant.
Carla sat on her shoulder, leaning against Wendy's little head.
"Mm."
Yuto smiled and nodded.
Lucoa hugged Wendy and rubbed her cheek against hers, her face filled with reluctance, but she also knew she could not force the little girl to stay.
Then Lucoa seemed to think of something.
She gently touched Wendy's forehead with one finger as a soft green light shimmered at her fingertip.
Wendy did not know what Lucoa was doing.
She raised her head and looked at Lucoa, her large eyes filled with confusion.
A small green serpent-shaped pattern engraved itself onto Wendy's forehead, then quickly disappeared.
Lucoa moved her finger away and smiled as she patted Wendy's head.
"Wendy-chan, that was a mark I gave you. If there is a dragon's aura near you, it will remind you. That way, you might be able to find Grandeeney a little faster."
Surprise and gratitude appeared in Wendy's eyes.
She looked at Lucoa, her emotions stirred for a moment.
"Thank you, Lucoa-onee-san!"
"It's only a small thing. Wendy, you mustn't give up! You will definitely find Grandeeney!"
Lucoa half-crouched in front of Wendy and raised her fist to cheer her on like a child.
Then she patted Wendy's little head again.
She truly doted on Wendy very much!
Roubaul watched this scene and revealed a kind, gentle smile.
Then he looked at Yuto.
Within those aged eyes was a trace of gratitude and relief.
Although Yuto did not quite understand why the old man looked at him that way, he did not say anything.
Since Roubaul kept silent and only communicated through his gaze, there must have been a reason for it.
After that, Wendy, Roubaul, and Carla left together.
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