房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

"...is that so..."

Patishi just tilted her head and didn\'t look at Teo at all - instead, she grabbed Zoemi\'s hand and pulled him deeper into the kitchen.

"Veo! Big brother Zoemi is here!"

"...!"

That was another surprise – at first, the black-haired boy thought that Patishi spoke about the older twin casually because she wasn\'t there, but as it turned out the younger girl was calling Veo without any honorifics!

"Sir Zoemi! Did you rest well?"

Veo wasn\'t even trying to keep the emotionless expression and smiled cutely.

"Of course – thank you for your concern. And you?"

"...! I...! I\'m good too... thanks..."

Zoemi responded with a warm smile that was so stunning that the short brown-haired girl in a maid\'s uniform blushed and lowered her head, bare able to mutter a few words, overwhelmed by the sight – out of the people around Zoemi, she was the one who had seen him the least and hence had the least amount of time to get used to his scarless appearance.

"H-hello, Veo."

"..."

And then Teo greeted her – and Veo\'s smile dimmed.

"..."

The older twin acted as if she hasn\'t heard a word.

Despite trying her hardest, she wavered but even then she didn\'t look at Teo at all.

"..."

Patishi reacted in a similar way though she was more animated than Veo - the younger girl clenched her fists and looked away with an angry frown, unable to keep a straight face.

"...umm...?"

Zoemi looked between the three of them confused and let out a confused sound but no one was keen on explaining anything to him...

|That is... not something that I expected to witness in the kitchen so early in the morning...|

The black-haired attendant thought to himself, looking around awkwardly – he was made aware beforehand that Teo and Veo are no longer staying in the same room because they had a big quarrel, but hearing about something and witnessing something first-hand, were two completely different things...

How should he act?

Should he try to patch up the sisterly relationship or stay away and let the twins resolve their issues at their own peace....?

|Decisions... decisions...|

He sighed – but even so, he chose to make the food first – he had his duties as an attendant to think about first, after all.

----

"Could you pass me that...?"

"..."

"Veo, can you help me with...?"

"..."

Teo tried to start a conversation with either her sister or Patishi multiple times but they both treated her like air – the girl in the butler\'s uniform even tried to block Patishi\'s way but the younger girl just ghosted her without making any remark or even sparing her a single glance.

|...alright – I am clearly missing some important details... I was told that they were angry at each other but isn\'t this way too over the top...? Straight up ignoring her existence...? Has Teo really done something so bad to deserve this treatment...?|

Zoemi thought to himself after witnessing every single instance of Teo versus Patishi and Veo encounters.

"Teo, do you want to...?"

"Indeed!"

The black-haired attendant didn\'t even finish asking the short girl whether she wanted to be the one to carry the tray or not when she just grabbed it and literally dashed out of the kitchen.

"Hey! Wait! See you two around, bye!"

Zoemi called after Teo and waved towards Veo and Patishi before leaving the kitchen, chasing after the girl.

"..."

Veo looked at the door they disappeared into and started sulking.

"...it\'s okay. Don\'t mind her – she acts like a victim even after all the awful things she said about you and refuses to apologize! She\'s the one who is in the wrong AND unfair!"

Patishi walked up to the other girl and grabbed her hand reassuringly.

"...yeah... I\'ll try..."

The Veo smiled at her weakly and nodded.

-------

Zoemi ran out of the kitchen and saw Teo already turning the corner so he hurriedly followed her.

He passed a few attendants and servants going either back or forth the kitchen a waved at them in a greeting – but then, he was stopped by someone just as he was turning the corner that the short girl in the butler\'s uniform turned at...

...the person that got in his way was the young-looking platinum-haired girl who he had already seen a few times before in the hallway – just like before she was wearing the Academy\'s uniform that was clearly too big for her and looked as if she secretly borrowed it form her older sister – surprisingly enough, the pin attached to the vest – a flower in full bloom – most definitely belonged to a third-year student...

The platinum-haired girl was sitting on the windowsill as if she was waiting for something and the moment she spotted the incoming black-haired attendant she jumped down and got in his way – making use of the other people walking around and essentially blocking the boy\'s way.

"Good morning – excuse me, my lady."

Zoemi wanted to get to the other attendant so he simply bowed her head politely and tried to squeeze past the confident-looking young girl...

"You have to keep an eye on the healer girl or things will go bad – I am scared, you know? He is getting stronger and stronger."

...but despite Zoemi\'s best effort, the girl blocked his way and spoke, looking up at him with such a serious expression as if she was sharing some profound knowledge with him.

"...wait, what...? What are you talking about?"

Zoemi took a step back and gazed down to have a better look at the girl\'s face.

She mentioned the healing girl, so she obviously meant the heroine – which instantly made her sound suspicious as it was uncanny how well it fit the current situation – but then what was it about her getting scared?

And who was getting stronger?

"..."

Interestingly enough – the more Zoemi was looking at her without saying a word trying to figure her out, the platinum-haired girl was looking up right back at him and her expression became much gentler as if she calmed down merely because of being near him.

At the same time, there was something very familiar about her, that the black-haired boy couldn\'t quite put his hand on – but his confusion and curiosity were also prolonging the silence.

"...do... do we know each other, my lady...?"

Zoemi finally managed to speak up, completely forgetting about his original objective of just following Teo...

"We do. But I don\'t think that you can recognize me, can you?"

"...!"

The girl spoke up in a surprisingly mature and sensual-sounding voice that didn\'t fit her tiny frame at all.

"I-I don\'t... Please, forgive me for that..."

The black-haired attendant didn\'t even realize, but he was already kneeling down on one knee as he was answering.

"It\'s alright. You have your life now – I don\'t want to interfere in it without a reason.... I don\'t think I could stop myself from playing with you again, Zoemi."