Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 275, Section 10: "Why did things turn out like this?!"

Seeing Chiai's stunned and confused look, Masumi spoke again:
"Um, Qian'ai—"

"Seriously—!!"

Suddenly, a sharp, angry voice burst forth from that slender, snow-white body.

With a sharp gaze, the childhood sweetheart glared at him fiercely, her shoulders trembling.

Huh?
Masumi was taken aback; it was the first time he had ever seen such a fierce side in Chiai.

Before this, it was less like she was throwing a tantrum and more like she was being difficult or being affectionate.

In a fit of anger, Aome grabbed Masumi's head tightly, pulling him toward her like she was grabbing a watermelon on a summer beach.

"Even though we're alone together, Masumi-nii is always thinking about other girls. He's awful!!"

"Eh, no, because of that..."

The situation is really urgent.

Although Masumi immediately retracted the message after realizing the misunderstanding, Mio, who is always watching her closely, would definitely not have missed it...

"I don't want to hear any explanations at all!"

Chiai frowned unhappily and sat down on the bed. The force of her sitting down caused Masumi to kneel down in front of the bed.

What filled my field of vision were the slender waist and snow-white thighs of the childhood sweetheart.

"Right now, the only thing Masumi-nii needs to do is keep a close eye on me!"

Qian Ai abandoned her usual gentle demeanor and made a domineering announcement.

"Oh, oh... but all I can see right now is Chiai's belly and thighs."

"What do you think?"

"Eh?"

"Brother Masumi, please compliment my body too."

Qian Ai pouted and acted sullenly.

"...Yes, very healthy, very good."

"Where? Where is it nice?"

Qian Ai pressed for answers, asking questions relentlessly.

Not only that, she was still holding Masumi's head, unconsciously leaning it against her.

As a result, skin color is taking up an increasingly larger proportion of our field of vision.

"The fat and definition in my thighs are healthy and good. My waist is slim and good."

The lines that Masumi squeezed out of her throat at the last second, accompanied by her hot breath, were gently sprayed onto the girl's skin.

"Ugh."

A soft groan came from above.

"Qian Ai?"

Masumi tried to look up, but Aome pressed his head down firmly. All Masumi could see was the girl's snow-white skin, which flushed red like a boiled shrimp.

"I'm very shy right now, so please don't look up, Masumi-nii."

Her tone returned to its usual weak and submissive manner.

"okay."

Masumi's breath hit Chiai's long, narrow navel again, causing the girl to bite her lip and let out a soft "Ooh!"

"Masumi-nii...would you like to touch it?"

"Ok?"

Masumi was stunned.

"You have to touch the fabric of clothes to understand it, right? So, the same goes for the human body!"

No! It's not the same.

Judging from Qian Ai's trembling and flustered tone, she must be so shy that steam is rising from her head, and the lines that came out of her mouth were completely thoughtless.

Correction means thinking in a way that is beneficial to the current line of thought.

"Okay, okay, Masumi-nii, stop being so slow!"

"ok, I get it."

Now, this level of touch was no longer enough to sway Masumi; he slowly reached out his hand—

"Woo!"

Masumi's smooth, soft skin instantly clung to her fingers. The fingertips pressing against her abdomen gave her an almost melting sensation.

So hot.

The intense heat on his skin made him suspect that he would get burned after a while.

is that OK?

Masumi reflexively tried to lift her head, but Chiai used too much force.

The girl exerted almost all her strength, and Masumi was not only unable to lift her head, but was instead pressed down.

"Qian Ai, mmm!"

Masumi almost suffocated.

"Masaki-nii!? Are you alright?"

Qian Ai was immediately thrown into a state of panic.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"fine."

Masumi calmly shook her head, her gaze shifting upwards until she finally saw Aoi, whose face was flushed red.

"Speaking of which, Qian Ai's face is so red."

"Eh, well, it's probably because it's winter..."

"It's probably because the heating is too hot."

"Oh, really!? So it's very hot, huh? Haha, I see."

Qian Ai let out an awkward, dry laugh.

Masumi sighed, realizing that her childhood friend had completely lost touch with reality and was oblivious to the situation.

"Qian'ai's body temperature is so high, is she alright?"

"No, no problem!"

"My face is flushed," Qian Ai said.

"It's all the heating's fault."

"Is this a brand of heating system that doesn't work very well?"

Seeing that Qingmei's sweat was flowing down her lower abdomen, easily outlining her beautiful figure, Masumi secretly pinched a handful of sticky sweat in her palm.

"Hmm... I'm going to calm myself down. Masumi-nii, don't go back yet!"

"Oh."

◇

Awful!

In the bathroom, Qian'ai soaked in the bathtub, looking up at the ceiling where water droplets had condensed, and let out a deep breath.

She clearly wanted to make Masumi blush, but her own reaction was so exaggerated that she didn't have time to pay attention to Masumi's expression at all.

Did Masumi blush when he looked at me just now?
Even if there were any, their defeat would be too swift and likely wouldn't cause much of a stir.
Is this all the result of mustering up courage?! Feelings of resentment spread through Qian'ai's heart, and she slapped the water hard with her curled-up legs.

Hua Hua Hua——

"Qian'ai? Are you alright?"

Suddenly, a familiar male voice rang out from the bathroom doorway.

"Masaki-nii!? You were listening to me taking a shower!?"

Even though she knew Masumi wouldn't come in, Chiai still shyly submerged her shoulders underwater.

Come to think of it, we've been to hot springs together more than once before, so I don't think I need to do this again...

"I don't have that kind of perverted interest."

A sound like a sigh came from outside the door.

"I just noticed that Aunt Stefanie didn't lock the door when she left, and I wanted to ask where the key is."

"This, like this."

Hearing Masumi's answer, Chiai felt somewhat disappointed for some reason.

"Anyway, there are people at home, so it should be fine."

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll lock the door after I finish showering and go out. Oh, and Masumi-nii, you absolutely can't go back first!"

Qian'ai emphasized, still feeling uneasy.

"understood."

After taking a thorough shower and calming her body, Chiai dried herself off, wrapped her naked body in a towel, and rolled the edges tightly inside. Just as she was about to take out a hairdryer to dry her hair—

"..."

Wait, this might be a good opportunity.

Although Chiai, being a girl, doesn't really like going makeup-free, boys seem to be particularly attracted to girls who have just come out of the bath, whether it's the TV dramas her mother likes to watch or the anime that Asami likes to watch.

In other words... we can take advantage of this!
Thinking of this, Qian'ai gripped the knot on the bath towel tightly.

Even so, if it were just to embarrass Masumi-nii, I would only be wearing a bath towel to seduce him...

No! It's quite normal.

I'm dressed like this in my own home, what's there to be ashamed of?

Besides, I've been to mixed-gender hot springs with Masumi-san and everyone else before, so it's fine.

Qianai convinced herself of this and decided to use this do-or-die spirit to completely shatter Masumi's fake, calm face.

“…Okay.” Having made up her mind, Qian Ai walked out of the bathroom.

She walked back to the living room barefoot.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Masumi-nii, I'm done washing up."

"Yes, Chi-Ai!"

When Masumi saw Chiai, a dumbfounded expression immediately appeared on her face.

It was a reaction that completely exceeded my expectations.

Qian Ai lowered her head, hiding the expression that almost made her laugh.

"Chiai... why did you come out wearing only a bath towel? You're not the same type as Asami, are you?"

The next sentence was also unexpected.

"Huh? Has Masumi-nii ever seen Asami-nee dressed only in a bath towel?"

Qian Ai was dumbfounded.

"Yes, I've met them a few times."

I should say it many times.

"Alas!"

Qian Ai's smile froze.

"Don't misunderstand," Masumi quickly explained. "It was just an accidental bump, and we've been to the hot springs together before, haven't we? Besides, the towel's fabric area is actually quite large for that guy."

"Well, that's right."

Chiai was a little discouraged. If Masumi-san was already used to Mami-nee, would her outfit still be any more offensive?
Unlike herself, who is short and has no breasts, Asami is quite voluptuous. Every time she moves her arms, they sway gently and tremble. She's practically a monster!

Even Rinne and Umizuki, who are already far beyond the level of ordinary girls, cannot compare to her.

"Qian Ai?"

Masumi stared blankly at the absent-minded Oome.

"Ah, it's okay."

Chiai tried to answer in a nonchalant tone and sat down diagonally opposite Masumi on the L-shaped sofa.

"Because the heating is very hot, I wanted to cool off."

"You're still thinking about the heating issue?"

"Don't get me wrong, Masumi-nii. There's nothing strange about me dressing like this in my own home."

"I haven't said anything yet."

Masumi sighed helplessly.

He remained calm and composed, showing no sign of being tempted by the plum blossoms' fair skin exposed to the air.

Qian Ai puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

She even went to such lengths to do something so incredibly embarrassing, how come Masumi-nii didn't react at all! She wasn't this slow on the uptake when facing Rinne and the others before!
Masumi-san's defenses are indeed not so easy to break through.

So, what about this?

The girl crossed her right leg over her left leg.

Although she couldn't compete with the women at the coffee shop in terms of sheer size, she was actually quite confident in her thighs.

Well, thanks to this position, the top of her snow-white thighs is faintly visible under the hem of her yukata.

Incidentally, there was nothing under the towel... which was understandable given the need to cut off any escape route.

Masumi-nii, look... isn't it about to expose you? You're concerned, aren't you? You can't just ignore it, right?
Chiai nervously stole glances at Masumi's reaction.

"...Ahem."

Masumi cleared her throat meaninglessly, turned her face in a completely different direction, but her eyes couldn't help but wander.

"...!"

Masumi-nii looked at me!

Even though she turned her face away, her gaze kept sneaking peeks at him.

Here comes Masumi's fake serious side.

It seems this tactic is very effective, but it's a bit of a double whammy, hurting both sides.

However, you must not lose heart at times like this.

"I feel like the heating is still a bit too high."

Chiai fanned her face with her palms, pretending to reach for the air conditioner remote, while trying to show Masumi a little bit of her chest.

As the distance closed, the snow-white body, wrapped only in a bath towel, became completely defenseless.

"..."

Masumi's eyes widened, and then Chiai saw his ears turn red. His wide eyes darted around, stealing glances at the gaps revealed by the slightly lowered towel.

Hehehe, that's it, Masumi-nii's attention was completely drawn to me.

Chiai pretended to be just getting something, but she was actually paying attention to the direction of Masumi's gaze.

He had probably glanced at her chest and thighs four or five times already. Although each time it was just a quick glance before he looked away, he would immediately start the next sneaky glance.

It's fair to say that the more you remind yourself not to look in that direction, the more obvious it becomes.

Is this what is meant by self-awareness as a woman?
Qian Ai felt that her self-esteem had been satisfied to the highest degree.

She has to work very hard now to prevent the corners of her mouth from turning up.

The results were surprisingly good.

Masumi-nii used to always act so serious and calm in front of me, but now he's staring at me so intently.

Since that's the case... let's go all the way!
Qianai loosened the knot on the bath towel a little.

She didn't mean to take it off, really! ...She just loosened it a little bit, just a little bit, to make it look like it had naturally become messy.

Masumi's reaction was as expected.

Chiai enjoyed the pleasure of making Masumi blush. To cool down her overheated mind, she pressed the remote control and turned the air conditioner down a few degrees.

however--

As the cold wind blew, her mind gradually calmed down.

Reason, which had been suppressed by passion, regained its advantage in my mind.

An emotion called "embarrassment" begins to ferment in the ventricle.

Because Masumi looked at her more passionately than she had imagined, she would accidentally expose herself in inappropriate places if she wasn't careful.

—What am I doing right now?
Senai, having regained her senses, thought this way.

She looks like nothing more than a slut trying to seduce men!

Qian Ai wanted to pull the towel up to cover her chest, but that would reduce the defense of her thighs.

Moving around carelessly could lead to irreversible and terrible consequences, so the childhood sweetheart had no choice but to remain frozen in place.

But this couldn't go on forever, so she forced a sound out of her throat:
"Masumi-san..."

"Ok?"

When Chiai called him, Masumi responded.

"Could you help me dry my hair?"

"Huh? I've never blow-dried a girl's hair before, I don't know if I can satisfy Qian Ai."

"I'd be angry if I did."

Qian Ai muttered softly.

"What did Qian Ai say?"

"It's nothing! Um, I have short hair, so Masumi-nii doesn't need to go to any special trouble. Just blow-dry your hair like you would your own."

"Oh fine."

Masumi nodded.

Where is the hair dryer?

"Ah! It's in the bathroom, I'll go get it!"

As if eager to escape the shameful situation, Qian'ai hurriedly stood up.

The more flustered you are, the more you need to stay calm. Qian Ai had completely forgotten about this, and in her current situation, she should not let her guard down, especially since she had just loosened the knot on her bath towel.

then……

The fluffy, soft, white bath towel slipped away in an instant.

"what?"

The fabric fell softly onto the carpet beside the sofa.

Time stood still.

Qian'ai's brain instantly shut down.

Unfortunately, Masumi didn't know how to thoughtfully look away.

The slender fingers dug into the tender flesh, flattening the arm, and the gap between the tightly closed thighs.

I didn't see anything.

It's as if I saw everything.

Last time at the coffee shop, Chiai screamed like in a manga because she was ashamed of being seen in her underwear, but this time she remained silent.

The awkward atmosphere caused by an even bigger problem made her break out in a cold sweat.

Ah, if I had known Masumi-nii had brought up the topic of locking the door earlier, I should have told him where the key was.

It is worth noting that Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which had the impregnable Theodosian Walls and the natural defenses of the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn, fell because a small gate was left open during the siege.

This is the second time today that Qian'ai has suffered the consequences of ignoring the principle of "constant preparedness".

A beautiful woman with long, honey-gold hair stood at the entrance to the living room, coldly watching the two of them.

"The door wasn't locked... so I just came in..."

(End of this chapter)