It took about an hour.
Riding in Elysia's pink car, the four of them returned from the airport to Eden's miniature version of the Golden Courtyard built in Nagazora City.
Throughout the journey, Mobius, who sat in the back seat with Griseo, would cover her mouth and chuckle from time to time.
Even after arriving at the Golden Courtyard, Mobius still had the corners of her mouth curved up, her emerald snake eyes full of amusement.
"Mobius, you've been laughing at me and haven't stopped."
Elysia pouted her small mouth as she walked out of the kitchen, placing a pot of freshly brewed hot tea in front of Mobius.
"You've misunderstood, Elysia."
Mobius first poured a cup of tea for Griseo, then tried to put on a sincere tone, "I just thought of something happy."
"What happy thing?"
"Klein doesn't have to work overtime today."
Mobius said matter-of-factly.
Pfft!
Another sound of barely suppressed laughter rang out.
Elysia narrowed her beautiful eyes and suddenly turned around, scanning the young man sitting on the side sofa with a sharp gaze.
"Haru, what are you laughing about now?"
"Cough cough, I also thought of something happy."
Haru sat up straight, tensing his facial muscles to make himself look as serious as stone, "I don't have to work overtime today either."
"Are you and Klein the same person?"
Elysia asked eerily.
Haru instinctively nodded, then realized what he'd done and quickly changed to shaking his head.
"We're not the same person, just happen to have the same day off."
"You... forget it. Miss Pink Elf rarely makes a fool of herself, so laugh if you want to."
Elysia had originally wanted to put on an angry expression, but seeing Haru and Mobius's appearances, she couldn't help but laugh herself.
The living room was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
After laughing enough, Elysia plopped down next to Haru and lightly bumped him with her shoulder.
"Really, Haru, since when did your relationship with Griseo become better than with Miss Pink Elf?"
"Uh... are you getting jealous of a little kid?"
Haru turned his head slightly and asked with a light laugh.
"What's wrong with that? Making little Griseo choose to hug you first - such obvious preferential treatment would make even me sad."
Elysia pouted her cherry lips, her pink-blue beautiful eyes flickering with a dim light.
If Mobius and Griseo weren't present, she might have already used this as an excuse to pin Haru down and lightly bite the man's neck with her teeth.
"Griseo and I are both artists, we have common topics to talk about. It makes perfect sense that our relationship developed quickly."
Haru shrugged, speaking matter-of-factly.
"Is that really the case?"
Mobius, who had been quietly sipping tea on the side, suddenly questioned.
Having single-handedly established the World Serpent laboratory and standing at the pinnacle of academia, Mobius could be said to be among the smartest people in the world. Moreover, she had watched Griseo grow up and understood the girl's personality all too well...
It was precisely because of this that Mobius keenly sensed something was off.
"Griseo has met quite a few artists, including master-level figures, but I've never seen any of them get along with Griseo as well as you do."
Mobius frowned slightly, looking at Haru with scrutinizing eyes.
Apart from Griseo's father Ato, Haru was the first male to have Griseo actively throw herself into his arms... even Kosma, who was the same age, didn't receive this treatment.
So how exactly did Haru manage this?!
Mobius was truly curious about this.
Meeting Mobius's gaze, Haru was somewhat sweating profusely.
He couldn't very well say that Griseo had discovered him drawing doujinshi, and then the girl had secretly been drawing embarrassing shoujo manga plots herself, and to hide this secret that absolutely couldn't be exposed, they'd started covering for each other and eventually developed a deep comradeship, could he?
That way, both he and little Griseo would die of embarrassment!
Haru's brain raced as he drew on the acting skills he'd learned from Otto in past loops, speaking in a tone that was calm but carried a hint of narcissism.
"Ahaha, perhaps it's because I have quite a bit of personal charm and am popular with children..."
"Yes, yes."
Griseo, who was holding her teacup and taking small sips, also sensed the crisis and nodded repeatedly, helping Haru cover, "Big brother Haru is very handsome and speaks nicely. Griseo likes painting with big brother Haru."
Mobius still had some doubts in her heart.
But sometimes children's reasons for liking someone were just that simple. Moreover...
Mobius looked at Haru with his clean, sunny temperament, examined his considerable good looks, then thought about the other males in the Golden Courtyard.
Kevin, who had become somewhat uncle-like from being a corporate slave for so long; Su, who always kept his eyes closed pretending to be a sage; Kalpas, who was hot-tempered and never removed his mask; and Kosma, who was taciturn but at the peak of his chuunibyou phase.
With this comparison...
It seemed perfectly normal that the utterly normal Haru would be closest to Griseo.
Mobius was gradually convinced.
Elysia didn't think as much as Mobius but poked Haru's cheek with her finger, her tone somewhat jealous.
"Well then, I never thought you'd be so good with little girls, Haru. Even I haven't been praised by Griseo like that."
"This is called having common ground. You can only play with Griseo, but I can not only play with her but also paint with her. It's normal that Griseo rates me higher."
Haru confidently raised an eyebrow, then observed Mobius's expression from the corner of his eye.
Seeing that Mobius didn't question his words but instead nodded thoughtfully, Haru knew he'd successfully fooled her.
And this was thanks to Griseo's tacit cooperation...
Haru thought to himself, his gaze meeting Griseo's purple crystal-like beautiful eyes, then inconspicuously giving her a meaningful look.
Griseo understood, put down her teacup, and said in an innocent, cute voice, "Big brother Haru, I want to see your recent works and paint together with you. Is that okay?"
"No problem, of course!"
Haru stood up with a whoosh, his expression very natural as he said, "Elysia, you chat with Mobius here. I'll take Griseo to my room to play for a while."
After saying this, he walked over to Griseo, and then hand-in-hand, the two artists quickly slipped upstairs like thieves with guilty consciences.
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