"Bronya… how did you know?!" Li Xuan asked curiously. Since he'd been caught, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
"Bronya has seen… a Familiar Egg before," Bronya Zaychik stated matter-of-factly, her expression unchanging.
"..." My god, I thought I was the only one with a Familiar Egg. Are there others out there?!
Li Xuan had always thought the items from the Gate of Vows were one-of-a-kind, but it seemed that wasn't the case…
"Ahem… Bronya, where did you see it?" Li Xuan pressed.
"Bronya saw it…" Just as Bronya Zaychik was about to tell him, a voice from upstairs interrupted their conversation.
"Bronya!… Come help me for a second!" It was clearly Raiden Mei, who was preparing lunch.
"Yes, Mei-oneesama…" Bronya Zaychik immediately replied and started running up the stairs… She seemed to remember something and stopped midway, turning to the bewildered Li Xuan behind her. "Sorry, I'll tell you later, Brother Li Xuan…" Then she turned back expressionlessly and ran upstairs.
"..." Is a Familiar Egg less important than lunch?! Leaving things half-finished is so frustrating…
Li Xuan's curiosity was about to burst, but he had no choice but to hold it in…
So sad, so want to cry…
"Wow! We're having curry rice today!" Kiana exclaimed, looking at the food on the table. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had curry rice. Now, with a fragrant and delicious bowl right in front of her, she couldn't stop herself from drooling.
"Mm, we're having curry rice today, thanks to Li Xuan-kun for finding the right ingredients," Raiden Mei said gracefully, sitting at the table with a spoon in her hand.
"Oh? Nice job, Li Xuan," Kiana said, giving him a rare compliment, motivated by the delicious food.
"..." But Li Xuan seemed to be spacing out and didn't respond to Miss Kiana's praise. His mind was still preoccupied with where Bronya Zaychik could have seen a Familiar Egg…
"Hey, hey!~ Li Xuan, what are you thinking about?" Kiana leaned in close, waving her hand in front of his face.
"...Huh?!" Liv, the dutiful maid, secretly poked him in the back, finally snapping him out of it.
"By the way, Brother Li Xuan…" A voice cut in just as Kiana was about to throw a tantrum to punish Li Xuan for ignoring her. "Bronya almost forgot to tell you about the question you asked earlier…" Bronya Zaychik said, putting down her spoon with a deadpan expression.
She had been too busy helping Mei-oneesama with lunch. After all, Bronya was not like a certain lazy, gluttonous white-haired dango~ Bronya thought to herself.
"Achoo!~" Kiana suddenly sneezed. Huh? Am I catching a cold?!
"It's like this… Bronya, Mei-oneesama, and Kiana met two Familiars before meeting you, Brother Li Xuan…" Bronya Zaychik began, unlocking a buried memory for Raiden Mei and Kiana…
"Those two Familiars were named… Wings of Mercury and Star of Emerald!" Bronya Zaychik said, reminiscing. "And that's when Bronya saw the Familiar Egg…"
"Because those two Familiars hatched from Familiar Eggs!…" Bronya Zaychik revealed a secret that shook Li Xuan to his core, her expression still blank.
"And to hatch a Familiar from a Familiar Egg, you seem to need one thing, and that is…"
"A Familiar Core!"
The afternoon sun shone down, illuminating the faces of everyone present…
(End of Chapter)