"Mm, thank you both."
Caesar looked at the brother and sister in front of her, deeply moved. Then, as if recalling something important, she hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
"Um, I want to be honest with you. I'm sorry for lying earlier. This manga wasn't for a friend. I wanted to read it myself."
She said it with a hint of embarrassment, expecting strange looks, but Wise and Belle seemed completely unfazed.
"That's perfectly normal. A girl your age enjoying shoujo manga has nothing to be ashamed of. My sister likes them too, right?"
"Eh? R-Really…?"
Caesar stiffened briefly at Wise's words, then gradually understood that her concerns had been unnecessary.
Right now, in front of Wise and the others, she wasn't the head of the Sons of Calydon, but merely a normal girl from the Outer Ring.
The realization filled her with happiness. Overcome with excitement, Caesar bowed to Wise once more, inadvertently showing her deep cleavage again.
'Wait… Is she seriously not wearing a bra?'
Wise chose not to focus on it and calmly explained that they still had matters to attend to at the Public Security.
Since Caesar also needed to head back early after finishing her shopping, they split up there. Before leaving, she exchanged contact info with Wise.
She mentioned that if he ever had the chance, he should come visit the Outer Ring, and she would definitely treat him well.
"Whoa… I just checked, and this limited edition manga costs a fortune now."
Belle looked at the resale price on her phone in shock.
Wise noticed and smiled before intentionally saying, "True, but it's already been given away. There's no chance we're getting it back."
"Hmph, Brother, what are you talking about? I never wanted it back in the first place. You're the real problem. I didn't want to bring it up with Caesar around, but I left for just a bit and you'd already gotten close to another pretty girl. I really can't lower my guard around you."
She finished her words with a light smack to his arm.
Wise was slightly embarrassed by Belle's comment, though he really couldn't be blamed. Meeting Caesar had been nothing more than a coincidence.
Sometimes, it felt like some kind of mysterious force was pulling beautiful girls his way[1]. In any case, explaining himself now would be useless—Belle wouldn't buy it.
In the end, Wise tried to make up for it by suggesting they eat out tonight and letting Belle decide where to go. She immediately perked up.
"Yay! I'll check what good places are nearby."
She grabbed her phone and started searching for restaurants, but the screen stubbornly stayed on 'loading.'
"Huh? Is the signal bad around here?"
Belle lifted her phone while walking toward the sidewalk outside. At the same time, Wise frowned a little.
He caught the deafening roar of an engine, followed by the harsh sound of tires grinding against the sidewalk as it rapidly closed in.
'The sidewalk…?!'
"Belle, watch out!" Wise yelled as he dashed forward without hesitation.
"Eh? What's—ah!" Belle was too stunned to react, her mind still blank.
When she finally saw the out-of-control car rushing straight at her, she was instantly startled. At that distance, dodging it alone was impossible.
"Look out!"
As Wise lunged forward and seized Belle's arm, pulling her back, a sharp female voice echoed from the other side, followed by the sound of someone rushing closer.
Wise tried moving away but couldn't. The timing was almost the same, and they collided.
The sudden hit made Wise lose his balance, and both of them ended up falling into his arms. A loud crash rang out right after.
He glimpsed a green-haired girl with pigtails using a long, staff-like weapon to forcibly halt the runaway car.
"I'm sorry about that. Are you two alright?"
The Officer who had fallen against them quickly regained her footing and offered a hand.
"I'm fine. Thank you very much, Miss Officer."
Belle looked at the Officer with black hair pulled into a ponytail, red highlights faintly visible, and voiced her thanks. The save just now had been far too close.
The Officer gave a small shake of her head, then shifted her attention to Wise.
"You're welcome. I'm Zhu Yuan. To be honest, even without me stepping in, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
- Zhu Yuan[2] -
Zhu Yuan was talking about Wise's actions earlier. His movements were clearly too sharp for a normal person, but that by itself didn't prove much.
"Zhu Yuan, I've already arrested the person. How's it on your side? Anyone hurt?"
"Ah, Senior Qingyi, no one was injured."
- Qingyi[3] -
The person Zhu Yuan addressed as Senior Qingyi was the girl with twin pigtails who had just stopped the car.
"Mm-hmm, that's good."
Qingyi nodded lightly. After a short exchange of introductions, Wise and Belle chose to head back with them.
They needed to sort out their driver's licenses, and at the same time, it was the perfect chance to provide a statement about the incident.
But during the statements, Qingyi noticed something off. Zhu Yuan kept prying into Wise's personal details, even tossing out questions that didn't really belong there.
Once it was all over, Qingyi leaned in close, clearly amused.
"What's up? You looks pretty interested in that guy Wise, huh? Well, that's no surprise. You've reached the age for marriage, so it's only natural to want a boyfriend. And that young man named Wise is excellent in every aspect. He's quite a match for you."
Qingyi nodded with a look of firm conviction, but Zhu Yuan was anything but calm after hearing this.
"Senior Qingyi, what nonsense are you talking about! I don't have thoughts like that at all! I'm just..."
"Just what? Trying to understand the other person's preferences first so you can nurture some feelings?"
"That's not it at all!"
Left with no choice, Zhu Yuan explained her original intentions to Qingyi and firmly insisted that she only wanted to confirm that single point.
"Alright, alright, then I misunderstood you. Still, what a shame. I really thought someone had finally piqued your interest, Zhu Yuan. You know, you can't devote yourself to work all the time, so... Hey! What are you doing? Don't just walk away!"
"Senior, Wise and Belle should be done by now. I'll go see them off."
Unable to endure Qingyi's endless teasing any longer, Zhu Yuan seized the chance to excuse herself.
Qingyi could only follow along, clearly unwilling.
- - - -
To gain access to more than 30+ chapters and an exclusive novel written by me, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
To make a don@tion go to [ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
- - - -
[1] Yes, it's the author.
[2] IMAGE
[3] IMAGE