Chapter 53. Pull a Huge Stunt?
Back at the villa, the four in the living room were deep in battle.
Kiana and Sirin already had their faces covered with strips.
Mei had fewer.
Seele had the least—only two strips hanging from her cheeks.
Noticing the two of them return, Seele immediately put down her hand and ran over in slippers.
Tap—tap—.
Seeing this, Kiana quickly tossed her hand into the pile and said happily, "Not playing, not playing, this is boring."
"Tsk." Sirin smacked her lips and also threw her cards.
This round should have ended with Kiana losing.
Since the two of them were like that, Mei could only smile helplessly and throw in her great hand as well.
"Brother, Bronya, where did you just go?
Seele looked for you for a long time and couldn't find you."
Seeing how close the two were standing, Seele's cute brows knit slightly.
"Nothing special.
We were idle, so I took Bronya for a walk along the beach."
On hearing this, Bronya glanced at Xander, paused, and said nothing.
"A walk on the beach?
That's so nice."
A trace of longing flashed in Seele's eyes, but it was too late to go out now.
It was already a bit cold at night, so Xander and Bronya put on the prepared jackets soon after returning to the villa.
They didn't chat for long before it was time to rest.
After a hot shower, Xander returned to his room and lay comfortably on the soft, large bed.
The only blemish was that Seele hadn't come over.
Maybe with Mei and Kiana around, the thin-skinned Seele was a little shy.
Without his hugging pillow, he felt a bit empty, but Xander wasn't about to rush it tonight.
He turned over, took out the phone he hadn't touched all day, and figured he'd check messages before sleeping.
As the saying goes: if you don't look, you don't know; the moment you look, you're startled.
The instant he lit up the screen, the notification badges made his heart stop.
Ninety-nine-plus message notifications was one thing, but there were also over a dozen missed calls.
With tense fingers he slid open the screen.
Seeing that the message notifications in the app all came from a certain pink fairy, Xander's vision went black.
Bad.
This could be big trouble.
At this point, he also remembered the thing he'd forgotten in the morning.
Before boarding, he'd planned to send his location to Elysia and give her a surprise.
But after getting airsick and then napping, he forgot the whole thing.
Scrolling through the chat with Elysia, just reading line after line, Xander could practically see her expressions.
From the joy of expecting a chat, to confusion when he didn't reply, and then to deep resentment later on—especially when he noticed those dozen-plus missed calls were all from Elysia—sweat poured down Xander's back.
The messages stopped in the late morning, and Elysia stayed silent the rest of the day.
If it were only that, Xander might not have panicked so much.
But when he saw a message from Cocolia saying she'd already told Elysia his location, his heart skipped a beat.
Xander hurriedly replied, explaining his situation.
Now that he and Elysia were in the same city, he genuinely feared that, in a fit of anger, she'd come gank him and pull a huge stunt.
Physically it might not be a big deal, but socially it could make him want to dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.
To this day, he still couldn't guess what exactly was going on in Elysia's whimsical little head.
Unfortunately, the message sank like a stone into the sea.
He waited a long time without a response.
Xander comforted himself that it was late and Elysia might already be asleep, then drifted into uneasy slumber.
At dawn the next day, he opened his eyes early.
He picked up his phone and glanced at the chat window—still no movement—sighed, and quietly got dressed.
She's probably still asleep, he told himself again.
Downstairs, the early-rising Seele and Mei were already making breakfast for everyone.
After breakfast, Seele came over with concern and lifted a small hand to feel Xander's forehead.
"What's wrong?" Xander asked.
"Brother doesn't have a fever."
Seele muttered softly, then looked at him, worried.
"It just looks like Brother's not in great spirits.
Did you not sleep well last night?"
Xander hadn't expected her observation to be so sharp.
He froze, then smiled.
"Yeah, I didn't sleep well.
Missing a soft, cuddly body pillow makes it hard to sleep."
"Eh?"
Meeting her brother's teasing gaze, Seele puffed her cheeks and gave him a light smack.
"Brother, don't joke!"
"I'm not.
I'm telling the truth."
With Seele there, his sleep quality really did improve a lot.
Feeling her gentle embrace at night, Xander even had the urge to turn into Char.
"R-really?"
Seele was tempted.
She glanced at her expectant brother and had just about nodded when Kiana's voice sounded from behind, and she quickly shook her head.
"Brother, hold on a few more days."
With that, Seele turned and ran to Bronya—perhaps out of shyness.
Xander also let out a breath, stepped back a few paces to a quiet spot, and dialed Elysia.
The pleasant ringtone had barely rung for two seconds when—click—the other side hung up.
"Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is busy.
Please try again later…"
All right, confirmed.
Elysia is definitely going to pull a huge stunt.
With that certainty, Xander suddenly felt less anxious.
The known isn't as scary as the unknown.
He still didn't know what Elysia would do, but when soldiers come, the generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it~
Just then, Kiana's shout drew his attention.
In the living room, Kiana was lying on the sofa, asking Sirin to help apply sunscreen on her back.
Thinking they were sisters under one roof, Sirin warmed the lotion in her hands, patted it onto Kiana's back, and gently rubbed it in.
She expected thanks, but Kiana turned her head, frowned, and said, "Why so little strength?
Sirin, don't be perfunctory."
Sirin: "?"
"You want me to use more strength?"
"Yeah."
"How much?"
"The more the better!"
"!!!"
All right then—your words.
A delighted smile crept onto Sirin's face.
She looked at Kiana's back, her eyes turning mischievous.
Very soon, Kiana's screams echoed through the whole house again.
Xander silently walked over to Bronya, patted her shoulder, and said, "See?
Your sin."
"..."
Bronya was a bit stunned as well.
After hesitating for a moment, she said slowly, "It seems I still somewhat underestimated Kiana."
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