"Phew~"
"And Nino's little cakes, hurry and try them."
At the dinner table, Nakano Yu watched as Ichika and Yotsuba continuously placed dishes into Eucliwood's bowl, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
When he finished cooking, he noticed that Ichika and Yotsuba had already become incredibly close with Eucliwood, although it was mostly Ichika and Yotsuba's one-sided friendliness.
As for Eucliwood herself, because of the magical power within her, she still maintained a calm expression, like a deep lake, not daring to show her emotions.
Nino, who was quietly sitting beside Nakano Yu and eating, saw Yotsuba place a small cake in front of Eucliwood. She wanted to say that dessert should be eaten after dinner, but when she saw Eucliwood's pitiful ocean-blue eyes, she suddenly swallowed the words she wanted to say.
Nino pressed her lips together, picked up several warm cookies from the side, placed them into a box, and set it beside Eucliwood's hand, her voice gentler than ever before:
"Eucliwood, hurry and eat. Later I'll take you to bathe."
"Eh?! I want cookies too!"
Seeing this, before Eucliwood could take out her notebook and write words of thanks, Yotsuba beside her let out a jealous voice.
Hearing that, Nino angrily looked at Yotsuba beside her and said:
"Yotsuba, eat the food in your bowl first."
Because Nino treated her so differently, Yotsuba only felt as though she was not Nino's biological sister. Of course, that was just a joke; Yotsuba knew why Nino was doing this. Simply because, just like Nino, she felt sorry for Eucliwood.
Thinking about that, Yotsuba could not help but smile.
Although Nino usually appeared strong both inside and out, she was actually a kind-hearted girl with a soft side. Mm-hmm, she just had a little bit of a tsundere personality.
[Thank you, Nino.]
At that moment, Eucliwood also finished writing and handed the paper with her words of thanks to Nino.
Seeing that, Nino smiled lightly and said:
"Since you moved in, we're family now. If anyone bullies Eucliwood, you have to tell us. We're very strong!"
As she spoke, Nino sat back down in her seat and smiled at Eucliwood.
Nino felt that Eucliwood still was not very old. Once their Eucliwood solved the problem of not being able to speak, Nakano Reina would probably start thinking about sending Eucliwood to school.
Even if she was a necromancer, knowledge changes destiny!
If Nakano Yu knew Nino's thoughts at this moment, he would definitely burst into laughter. Eucliwood possessed an enormous amount of knowledge; after all, she was a mage. Human knowledge in front of Eucliwood was like a beginner's textbook for children, easily mastered all the way through high school education.
Looking at Nino, Eucliwood's eyes lit up. After a long moment, she expressionlessly nodded her head, then lowered her head and began eating.
The other four sisters at the table also ate, occasionally chatting.
Soon, dinner time passed. Today Nakano Yu was not responsible for washing the dishes; the task of cleaning the table and dishes was left to Itsuki and Miku.
After dinner, Nakano Yu wanted to bring Eucliwood upstairs to talk about the magical power in her body, but before he could speak, Eucliwood was dragged away by Nino to take a bath. Helpless, he could only wait for the two girls to come out of the bathroom.
Since they had moved, and the place where Nakano Yu and the Quintuplets now lived was a villa estate.
For a villa estate, the important part was not the villa, but the estate. From the very word "estate," one could tell how large the second home Nakano Maruo prepared for Nakano Yu and the Quintuplets was.
Because of that, the Nakano family bathroom was extremely large, even comparable to some smaller pools, and the water in the bath intelligently maintained its temperature throughout the entire day, allowing them to bathe or relax in warm water whenever they wanted.
At this moment, Nino had already changed into a bath towel and was relaxing in the bathtub. As for Eucliwood, she still wore the full armor called Silent Restraint, but the clothes underneath it had been replaced with a bath towel.
The warm water first gently touched her toes, then covered her calves, then her thighs, until Nino completely submerged herself in the water.
"Ah~ How comfortable!"
Lying in the water, Nino let out a long sigh of relief. Perhaps because of the steam in the bathroom, the girl's pale cheeks were covered with a blush, making her exceptionally attractive.
Turning her head to the side, Nino saw Eucliwood sitting expressionlessly in the bathtub, and could not help but think of a certain yokai.
"Eucliwood probably still doesn't know, but actually a yokai lives in this house."
Sitting in the bathtub, Nino completely relaxed her body and started talking with Eucliwood.
Hearing Nino's words, Eucliwood turned her head toward her, but did not show much confusion.
When she followed Nakano Yu into the villa, she sensed coldness. That coldness was not very strong, more like a trace someone had left behind, which was probably the yokai Nino was now talking about.
"Later I'll introduce Eucliwood to Tsurara. Hmm, she's not here right now. She said she went home to visit her family and see her mother."
Nino was not surprised by Eucliwood's reaction. Nakano Yu had already told the Quintuplets earlier that for some reason Eucliwood could not show emotions, so Eucliwood was always expressionless. Moreover, Nino knew that Eucliwood was a necromancer, so a yokai probably would not surprise her.
The reason Nino mentioned Tsurara now was because Eucliwood had not met Tsurara today, and partly because after soaking in the warm bath she suddenly remembered the little snow girl who could not tolerate hot water.
Nodding her head, Eucliwood made no further movement. Since she was bathing, Eucliwood had not brought her small notebook and pen with her, instead leaving them in the changing room. That meant she could not communicate with Nino right now, only listen to Nino's stories and occasionally give physical reactions.
Eucliwood treasured that small notebook and pen very much.
They were not anything valuable, and she had only gotten them about a week ago. However, they had been given to her by a girl, a very kind girl who was not afraid to approach her, completely different from those with bad intentions who treated her like a holy maiden or something similar.
"Speaking of that, that girl really is a snow woman, but her personality is pretty warm. Once Eucliwood gets better, you'll definitely become very good friends with her."
Nino said with a smile. As for Tsurara, Nino could tell that she was completely different from the snow women in stories; instead, she was a little naive. If Eucliwood became like Tsurara in personality, combined with her cute appearance, she would definitely be very lovable.
Eucliwood nodded her head, and a trace of longing flashed through her eyes.
To solve the problem of the magical power within her body, how much she desired that. Because of the magical power, she closed off her heart, cutting off all closeness with others. But did that make her happy?
No! It did not make her happy at all. Eucliwood felt only sadness and loneliness.
Suddenly, she remembered the young man who had forcibly brought her here, and an indescribable feeling appeared in Eucliwood's heart.
Was it gratitude?
Gratitude toward Nakano Yu for forcibly bringing her here, allowing her, a person cursed and tormented by loneliness, to feel the warmth of a home.
Was it resistance?
The habit of being alone, of protecting others, and because of that rejecting the closeness of others?
Or was it... fear?
What was she afraid of? She was afraid of hurting the Nakano family, afraid that those close to her would call her a monster like before, afraid... that all of this would disappear.
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