Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 188, Section 29: "A Sleepless Night on Miyako Island"

Masumi was taken aback by what she heard, and then blurted out her question:

"Were you also frightened by the ghost stories your senior told?"

Why say "also"?

The heiress, unaware of what was going on, tilted her head slightly and then nodded expressionlessly.

"A little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

Rinne nodded, her tone completely flat.

"There's only a little bit."

"Oh, I see. Then... do you need me to come with you?"

"need."

She answered without hesitation.

"..."

"I see."

Masumi couldn't help but smile.

The candlelight illuminated the blush on the girl's face. Rinne, her delicate face flushed with shyness, glared fiercely at him.

"Don't laugh so disgustingly."

Because of the lamplight, she only raised her leg and gently kicked Masumi.

The kick was weak; the soft toe tip bumped against the shinbone, and it didn't hurt at all, like being gently touched by a kitten's paw.

Masumi quickly explained, "I didn't mean to make fun of you."

"So what's the expression on your face right now?" she asked casually.

"It's nothing, I just feel that you..."

Masumi stopped halfway through her sentence.

What do you think of me?

"It's nothing," Masumi said with a smile, shaking her head. "Let's go to the restroom."

The heiress frowned slightly, and although she seemed concerned, upon seeing Masumi's somewhat frivolous smile, she ultimately hesitated and turned her face away.

The behavior was like that of a cat unwilling to be picked up.

"Let me get you the candles," Masumi said.

"Ah."

She didn't refuse, took the candle, and asked, "By the way, why did you come over with a lit candle?"

"The phone is out of battery."

Rinne explained calmly, then asked him as if she had just remembered.

"By the way, before me, did anyone else contact you?"

"Oh, no."

After a moment's thought, Masumi chose to keep it a secret—it was better to keep Chiai's secret.

"Yeah."

Rinne rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

"I think I heard something when I came out of the room just now."

"That's probably the sound of wind and rain outside," Masumi said casually.

"Um……"

She didn't dwell on it too much. The bathroom door was open; Qian Ai hadn't closed it earlier, and the heir walked straight in.

"Huh? Aren't you taking candles inside?"

"It's inconvenient to carry a candle, so I won't use it."

"Oh," Masumi replied nonchalantly, closing the door behind her.

"Wait a moment!"

Suddenly, resistance came from behind the door.

"what happened?"

Masumi looked at the fair, delicate face peeking out from the half-open door and asked.

"If you close the door, won't it be pitch black inside?"

"Huh?" Masumi asked in surprise, "Then I'll give you the candle?"

"Or I can go get my phone—"

"no!"

Rinne refused decisively.

"Ok?"

"Because...I couldn't hold back any longer..."

Her troubled voice was exceptionally clear in the darkness, her delicate face showed unease, and her legs involuntarily bent inward and pressed together.

Because her lips were slightly parted, a cute dimple appeared on her cheek.

"Oh, oh..."

Masumi doesn't want the same thing to happen again, like what happened to Kaigetsu.

"Then let's open the door a crack, and I'll stand next to you with a candle, is that alright?" Masumi suggested.

"Ah."

Rinne nodded slightly and uttered a short, clear "Thank you."

◇

The typhoon unfurled its curtain of rain in the pitch-black night.

The candlelight flickered, mirroring Masumi's fluctuating mood.

"If you're afraid of ghosts, why did you go and fool around with your seniors and Mami before?"

Those two people have incredibly strong hearts; they're the type who, after seeing a ghost, would immediately grab the other person and take an Instagram or TikTok post.

"At first, Mami-nee's pretentious act didn't seem like much of a problem, but after it was my turn, Miss Rugu, to tell the story..."

Her words abruptly stopped, and Rinne immediately changed her tune, saying, "Didn't I say I wasn't afraid?" with a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.

"Yes Yes Yes."

As a subordinate, saving face for one's superior is a workplace rule. Masumi, who is already a working professional, decided to agree without thinking twice.

"That's so perfunctory."

Even through the door, Masumi could imagine the helpless expression on her face.

"The Hanako in the toilet," he suddenly said.

"babble!"

A suppressed groan rose from the toilet, and the rhythm of the sound abruptly stopped.

"What did you suddenly say?!"

"I'm sorry, I know I was wrong!"

Unexpectedly, she reacted so strongly, and Masumi quickly lowered her head and admitted her mistake.

Seeing the heiress putting on a brave face, he suddenly had the urge to tease her, and the darkness of the night seemed to amplify his mischievous thoughts.

“Boring,” Rinne said coldly.

"You must have heard that ghost story on the sofa, right? Aren't you scared at all?"

"That's about right."

Actually, I was terrified at first, but after being tormented by Chiai and Rinne, I'm not bothered anymore.

"You have quite a big heart."

"Are you complimenting me?"

"Ah."

She gave a vague, ambiguous response, neither confirming nor explaining, and continued speaking.

"It was the same at the cultural festival at Taipei High School before; it made me feel... very at ease."

Rinne mumbled the last three words in a low voice.

“Ah, indeed.” Masumi nodded.

To be honest, the atmosphere of the haunted house in Taipei and Kaohsiung was quite good, but after accompanying four girls through it, I felt like I didn't care anymore, just like I do now.

Miss Heiress, the ease with which you're handling me now comes from the experience you've accumulated with other girls.

This statement seems a bit strange. Just as Masumi was considering adjectives to modify it, Rinne's voice rang out.

"But it's because his heart is so big that it can hold so many girls, right?" she said, implying something else entirely.

"Cough cough cough."

Masumi was taken aback by her words, and a smug murmur came from behind the door.

"They really are vindictive," Masumi said bitterly.

"This is called karmic retribution."

Masumi could picture the girl proudly raising her chin.

"Alright, alright, I have no intention of humiliating myself in front of the top students from Shenda University."

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a cat with sharp claws hidden in its paws.

Lately, dealing with the heiress has been a delightful experience, and I've completely forgotten her cold and aloof demeanor when we first met.

Masumi yawned after standing outside for quite a while, but Rinne still showed no sign of coming out and didn't make a sound.

The silence brought drowsiness back to his mind, and without thinking, he spoke:
"Stop chatting and actually go to the bathroom."

"Eh?"

Rinne sounded a little confused.

How did you know... I wasn't in the bathroom?

"Isn't that obvious? Just by the sound—"

Masumi suddenly snapped back to reality halfway through her sentence. "Vulgar! Unbelievable, that someone would actually listen to that kind of sound so closely!"

Rinne spoke loudly, her eagerness clearly masking her shyness. To conceal her fluster, her voice involuntarily rose into a high-pitched tone.

Feeling a chilly gust of air sweep through the crack in the door, Masumi quickly explained, "Um, listen to me, it's not like that—"

Before Masumi could finish speaking, the sound of a girl straightening her legs came from behind the door, and the next moment—

"Yeah!"

The heiress suddenly let out a mournful cry.

"Rinne?!"

The candlelight illuminated the crack in the door, and Masumi saw the heiress slumped to the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a worried expression.

"It's nothing, I just tripped and fell," Rinne said calmly.

"but……"

"I can't stand up."

Rinne spoke as if nothing was amiss, but to Masumi it sounded quite different. Boom—thunder roared outside.

"No way!? You fell and lost all feeling in your lower limbs?"

Masumi was terrified and almost burst through the door.

"It's so late, and it's during a typhoon, I don't know if we can get a doctor—"

"Stop! That's too much."

Rinne rubbed her temples and sighed, "It was your ghost story that made my legs weak."

"Eh?"

In the dim candlelight, Masumi's expression instantly shifted from tension to guilt, while Rinne slightly curled the corners of her lips.

"Just kidding, my legs are numb."

Masumi breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me."

Rinne frowned, her cold tone contrasting sharply with the helpless posture beneath her.

"Don't think everything's fine just because you heard that. Do you expect me to sit on the floor and talk to you like this forever?"

"Oh, I'll help you up right away."

Masumi put the candle aside and slowly opened the door.

"Huh? Why is there water stains all over the floor?"

“It has nothing to do with me!” Rinne immediately said, “I just slipped on this puddle.”

"Uh, I know."

Masumi stared at the floor, noticing two thin trails of water that seemed to have stretched all the way out of the toilet. He rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

What are you doing standing there?

Rinne narrowed her eyes defiantly and raised her arm toward him, as if to say, "Pull me up quickly."

"oh oh."

As Masumi spoke, she approached and walked around to her back.

"What are you doing?" Rinne tilted her head slightly, puzzled.

"I'll pick you up."

"Wait, why is it being carried?"

Rinne crossed her arms, her wariness blatantly obvious.

“You’re already like this, even lending you one arm wouldn’t be enough,” Masumi replied matter-of-factly.

"But……"

Rinne looked troubled. She wasn't against physical intimacy, but... such things should only happen when hearts are close and feelings naturally develop.

"No need for much trouble, my legs have regained some feeling—"

Her indifferent words were interrupted, and even her pretty face, which had been expressionless, twisted slightly.

"Well."

Masumi held Rinne horizontally in her arms. The heiress's body was much lighter than Mami's, and she could easily lift her up without Mami's cooperation.

Her delicate body nestled against the boy's broad chest, and her long, beautiful legs, peeking out from under her pajamas, caught his eye, causing a sudden flutter in his chest.

Keep a calm mind, keep a calm mind...

Masumi raised her gaze and saw a fair, pretty face flushed with an amorous blush.

A tear-like beauty mark appeared at the corner of her eye, which glistened with tears. The resistance in her eyes faded, and there was no trace of the previous coldness and frost. Instead, her eyes were filled with a hazy mist.

Although Rinne turned her face away to avoid the main point and tried to hide it, her adorable expression still radiated charm unabashedly in front of Masumi.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

“That’s not true,” Rinne said softly.

Was it just my imagination? Her voice sounded sweeter than usual.

"……poor."

Rinne muttered to herself in an almost inaudible voice.

He's probably talking about himself.

The stubborn heiress clearly couldn't accept the fact that she had so easily succumbed to temptation simply by being carried in a princess carry. Her thin lips forced back her gasps.

The area where the blood vessels are concentrated slowly heats up, and the brain gradually becomes numb, making me feel like I'm melting like hot cheese.

According to the encyclopedia, when people engage in emotional communication with their intimate partners, they secrete so-called "love hormones." The amount and effects vary from person to person. In my case, is it a little too obvious?
She could only shift her attention with immense shame, admiring Masumi's lowered eyes.

His eyelashes were long, and when he lowered his head, he appeared handsome and refined, with smooth and delicate facial features like a perfect work of art.

"Okay, put me down now."

After walking a short distance from the restroom, Rinne whispered to him.

"Hey, is this okay?"

"Yes, the blood flow is now normal."

Rinne pointed her toes, preparing her body for the subsequent stiffening and relaxation.

"How about I carry you to your room on the second floor?"

"No...please put me down..."

Seeing Rinne pleading with her wet eyes, how could Masumi refuse?

Masumi gently lowered her down, freeing Rinne's body.

Barefoot on the floor, the girl looked at Masumi and asked expressionlessly:
"You seem to be quite used to carrying girls in your arms. Have you carried other girls like this before?"

"Guuuuu!"

The incisive question left Masumi speechless.

I did hug Mami in Tokyo before, but will telling her make her unhappy? Masumi still doesn't understand one thing: the more you hate trouble, the more trouble you'll encounter.

However, Rinne seemed to have misunderstood his silence, letting out a soft sigh from her lips.

"Forget it, after all, you used to be a band member, and Tokyo is a very open and open city, so it's not surprising that you had a few people with whom you only had physical relationships..."

"Wait a minute, where did you hear this stereotype from?" Masumi interrupted her.

"Wikipedia".

"really."

As expected, Masumi wore a pained expression and was about to explain—

"Oh dear, I accidentally saw something I shouldn't have seen."

The voice coming from a third party sounded unusually loud in the quiet living room.

Masumi and Rinne both tensed up and looked toward the source of the sound.

I stood there with a smile, my tall, dignified, and beautiful figure exuding a strong sense of presence.

"Senior? You're here to use the restroom too?" Masumi's expression was strange.

"Going to the toilet? I just came to raid Masumi at night."

When I, like a thousand-year-old, spoke as if nothing had happened, Rinne immediately pursed her lips.

Seeing the heiress's tense and alarmed reaction, she chuckled and shook her head.

"Just kidding, I'm here to catch ghosts."

I grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.

"Meow~"

It's a tabby cat with slightly damp fur.

"The sliding window of the storage room was open, and this little guy took the opportunity to sneak in."

Masumi stared at the cat. So that's it. The rustling sounds she heard in the living room and the water stains in the toilet were all caused by it.

"I have finished answering my questions. Now it is my turn to ask you two questions."

My lips, like those of an ancient hero, outlined a smile with a unique meaning.

"I saw that sweet princess carry you just now. Masumi's nightlife is really something."

"...I'm going back to my room now."

After saying that, Rinne walked towards the stairs as if fleeing, giving him a "you figure it out" look before leaving.

She didn't even glance at her beloved cat, which speaks volumes about her inner turmoil.

My boss's unreasonable demands.

Masumi reluctantly spoke up, taking responsibility to explain to me, Ruko Chitose, "Well, it's not what you think, Senpai..."

"Oh, don't take it so seriously."

"But Ms. Kamishiro's self-proclaimed frankness, yet her stubbornness in many ways, is just too adorable; I can't help but want to tease her."

I casually tossed the topic aside, released the cat from my grasp, and then unceremoniously sat down on the sofa where Masumi had just slept.

Against the backdrop of the storm outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, she rested her chin on her hand and said with a smile:

"Can't sleep? Want to chat with your older sister?"

(End of this chapter)