The next day, clear skies.
The pleasant ringtone of an incoming call rang out like thunder, shattering the morning silence.
A slender white jade-like arm reached out from under the covers. The brown-haired girl who had toiled all night blinked her eyes in a daze, her delicate fingertips fumbling for quite a while on the bedside table before finally touching something hard.
She brought the phone to her face and unlocked the screen. The previously noisy ringtone had already faded, leaving only a striking notification on the message bar.
[Caller: Mortis]
'A call from Mortis?'
Nagasaki Soyo yawned lazily. The girl's fair face still carried a faint blush, her long lashes drooping, eyes misty like an elegant Ragdoll cat curled up on a sofa, dozing contentedly after a full meal.
She didn't call back immediately. Instead, she opened the chat window between them. Over forty unread messages sat there, displayed pathetically on the screen.
[Soyo, are you still there?]
[Are you busy? Or didn't see the messages?]
[Why aren't you replying?]
[Brother's phone isn't going through either! What exactly are you two doing?]
[Hey! At least reply to me!!!!!]
The tone at the beginning was still friendly, very much like chatting with a bestie.
But perhaps due to the lack of reply for too long, the girl on the other side of the screen seemed to be getting anxious.
The last message was sent at 2:30 a.m., consisting of three bright red, fuming soybean emojis, followed by a long row of exclamation marks. One could easily imagine the teeth-gritting mood she was in when typing them.
Nagasaki Soyo tried to recall what she had been doing at that time.
Oh right, she remembered.
She had been immersed in a sea of knowledge then, completely losing awareness of the outside world, focused to the point of self-forgetfulness.
Actually, Kaito had noticed the message alert and wanted to pause the tutoring session so she could respond. But the learning-addicted her had refused and instead urged him to continue the lesson.
'Gotta say, the feeling of having knowledge explode in your brain was pretty great.'
Soyo subconsciously rubbed her flat and firm lower abdomen. It was as if she could still feel that familiar warmth. A nostalgic expression flickered on her charming face.
She really hated having emotional distance with her lover, so she never used any kind of barrier devices, 'Last night has gone on for so long, could it be that… there might be a little baby?'
'But thinking it through, maybe that won't be so bad?'
At the very least, her mother would definitely be happy. She was dying to hold a grandson and nagged about it non-stop every day, making Soyo feel deeply troubled.
The only hassle would be having to take a year off from school, which would affect her studies a bit, but honestly, that wasn't a big deal.
For most people, going to school was just to find a good job in the future. But what the Nagasaki family lacked least was money. The wealth her mother had worked so hard to build was enough for both mother and daughter to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Bzzz~
Suddenly, the phone began to vibrate violently. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe Mortis had been watching the screen the whole time. The moment all the messages turned from "unread" to "read," the urgent ringtone followed right after.
"Good morning, Mortis."
People tend to be in a good mood after eating and resting well. Soyo was no exception. Anyone could hear the delight in her voice.
["I! Am! Not! Good! At! All!"]
According to the law of conservation of smiles, smiles never disappear, they only transfer. When someone shows a heartfelt smile, another person somewhere must be losing theirs.
Mortis was gnashing her teeth, asking though she already knew the answer, ["What were you doing last night? Why didn't you reply to my messages?"]
"Last night?"
Nagasaki Soyo thought for a moment and answered very seriously, "Sorry, my hands were full."
'What kind of lame excuse is that?'
Just thinking about how her brother was being drained dry by an outside bad woman, while she was like a foolish victim sending messages asking what they were doing, left on read the whole night, unable to sleep, Mortis felt a heavy weight pressing on her head, and her lungs were about to explode.
'She has horns! Horns, I tell you!'
'You naturally evil minotaur Soyo, I'll personally—'
Beep~ beep~ beep~
Before Mortis could vent her inner rage, a busy tone suddenly came from the earpiece.
She froze, and only then realized—
'The call… has been hung up?'
———
"Were you chatting?"
The tightly shut bedroom door was pushed open. The handsome boy in a pink cat apron walked in with the morning sun. Fried egg, sandwich, plus a small cup of hot cocoa milk. A plain-looking breakfast, but perfect for replenishing strength after a tiring morning.
"Mm, Mortis called just now. Seems like she wanted to chat with me a bit," Nagasaki Soyo nodded gently, tossing aside the surface-level sisterhood and looking eagerly at the tray in his hands, "Are those… all for me?"
Tap!
Kaito lightly tapped her forehead, "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to."
"Umu…", Nagasaki Soyo covered her little head but wasn't mad at all by his gesture. Her beautiful brows arched with delight.
She really enjoyed this simple yet intimate interaction with her boyfriend. It had a sense of happiness like an old married couple.
Now that she thought about it, it was really kind of embarrassing. Waking up early to prepare a bento for her husband was supposed to be the wife's responsibility, yet here she was, constantly reversing the roles.
Even though she had always dreamed of taking care of her boyfriend like a baby, hoping he would rely on her more. Now it seemed that… the one being taken care of was actually her, wasn't it?
This feeling was rare and made her especially greedy for more. That long-empty space in her heart seemed to be finally filled, peaceful and content.
"Hey, Kaito-kun, I'm hungry."
"Here, breakfast I made for you."
Kaito handed the tray over to her. If he hadn't been wearing that cute pink kitty apron right now and instead had on a black-and-white tailcoat, this scene would've looked just like a young, handsome butler serving his lady in a drama.
"But I don't want to eat this kind of food."
Nagasaki Soyo didn't even glance at the tray in front of her. Her starry eyes looked at a certain someone, glowing even brighter.
"Then what do you want to eat? I'll go make it now."
Kaito didn't think much about it. Most of the time, he was easy to talk to and didn't mind indulging his girlfriend's little wishes.
But this time, the girl didn't answer. She simply moved the tray to the cabinet nearby to avoid any collateral damage, then turned to look at her beloved boyfriend, and like a demoness from Journey to the West, she licked her lips.
The once-calm sea rose in waves again. The brave captain and the siren entangled once more, composing a ballad for heroes.
———
At the same time, temporarily blocked, unable to get through by phone, forced to keep spamming messages on social media, but receiving no reply and about to puff up like a pufferfish from rage, Mortis received another message from Soyo.
[Nagasaki Soyo: Sorry.]
[Nagasaki Soyo: My hands are full again.]
Mortis: "..."
Mortis: "FUCK!!!"
[🎉 Shoutout to LorasRimuru for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.