Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

Ye Sizhen remained silent.

The rice in the dish was distinct, glistening as if coated with gold.

The ingredients are also plentiful: eggs go without saying, along with neatly diced cucumbers, carrots, and sausages, garnished with corn, green peas, and shrimp.

Shiro's fried rice was impeccable in appearance, ingredients, and aroma, which greatly surprised Ye Sizhen.

Although it was just the most ordinary fried rice, for some reason it looked like a golden treasure, and she even hesitated whether to eat it.

However, the saliva secreted in the mouth doesn't lie.

Ye Sizhen carefully scooped out a spoonful and put it in her mouth.

"………………tasty."

A wonderful taste, as if it were melting her body, spread across her tongue.

Perhaps relieved after hearing his own thoughts, Shirou began to savor his portion and nodded in satisfaction.

Ye Sizhen elegantly kept putting the fried rice into her mouth, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up.

Although she was very satisfied, a slight sense of frustration also arose in her heart.

My cooking skills are nowhere near as good as this child's...

Luckily, I didn't cook. If I had proudly brought out something unseemly (dish), my dignity as the eldest sister would have been ruined...!

"Is it not tasty?" Shirou asked.

"That's not true," Ye Sizhen said calmly.

"But you don't seem very happy."

"No such thing."

Ye Sizhen glared back fiercely, and Shirou snapped out of his daze and stopped talking.

"Hmm...right, you also have tea?"

Shirou said, "You would probably prefer green tea? Although this is black tea, it seems to be Da Hong Pao from China. Please try it."

"Ok."

Shirou was not lying.

This is indeed the highest grade of Da Hong Pao, and it's probably this year's new tea.

Its aroma and rich flavor fill one with a sense of happiness.

It's really delicious...it surpasses the taste of expensive black tea.

Ye Sizhen pondered seriously what kind of magic the child had cast inside.

The meal ended in a pleasant and satisfying atmosphere.

Shirou stacked the plates together, indicating that he would take them out to wash later.

Now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, it's time to get down to business.

"Sizhen, your injury..."

"Ah."

Ye Sizhen pressed her fingers between her full breasts: "I know that my injury is probably difficult to heal completely and will leave sequelae."

Last night, she took a direct hit from a weapon powerful enough to kill a mythical hero.

Although the "thought key" canceled out most of the damage, the heart still suffered a fatal blow.

Future magic research should not be affected, but as for combat... I'm afraid even slightly strenuous exercise will be impossible.

There's no way around it; even if I could use the divine arts of the Age of Gods, I'm still just a human.

We should be grateful that we are still alive now.

As a result, the plan to "hunt down Shirou Amamiya" had to be abandoned...

"No, it should be curable, right?" Shirou suddenly said.

"Why do you say that?" Ye Sizhen frowned slightly.

Shirou explained, "I checked it out last night, and the location of your injury is not your heart, but rather about three centimeters off-center."

So your heart and lungs were only impacted, but there are no signs of magical burning. The damage is not irreversible, and you should be able to heal with proper rest.

"Missed the mark...?"

Ye Sizhen remained calm, but was inwardly taken aback.

Did Tohsaka's attack miss?

No, how could you possibly miss in that situation...?

"Oh, I see," she suddenly realized. Rin Tohsaka probably never intended to kill her from the very beginning.

Even at that point, she still thought about deciding the outcome without taking the enemy's life. What an innocent and arrogant little girl!

"What are your plans next?" Shirou asked.

"We're considering it now," Ye Sizhen said.

"Okay, then you should get some rest and think about your future plans."

"...?"

Ye Sizhen watched as Shirou got up from the tatami mat.

He walked to the other side of the tatami room and opened the door to the room that Irisviel had originally used.

Ye Sizhen was surprised to find that there was another space of the same size there.

The two moved to the adjacent Japanese-style room.

"Sizhen, you can use this room from now on."

"..."

For the first time, a hint of panic appeared on Ye Sizhen's usually cold and aloof face: Wasn't he going to ask me what happened last night?!

After staring at Shirou for a long time, Ye Sizhen realized that he really didn't intend to ask anything.

"You don't need to worry about anything else, just focus on recovering from your injury."

Considering Irisviel and Illya in her womb, Shirou really didn't want to get involved in the foreign magic mafia's conflict, but he couldn't just leave the injured person alone.

Shirou said, "If there's any trouble, leave it to me. I'll take care of your safety."

"Leave the rest to me."

Ye Sizhen couldn't help but recall the gentle words she had heard in her half-awake state yesterday.

"...Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."

Ye Sizhen stole a glance at Shirou: Starting tonight, will I be living in the room next to this child, separated by only a wall...?

"And then... there's something else I'd like to discuss with you."

"Please don't be so polite. You're my savior. Please just say what you need to say, okay?"

Ye Sizhen said, "Just treat me as a friend of your age. Um... is there anything you need?"

Shirou scratched his cheek somewhat awkwardly: "Okay, then I'll tell you."

If it's convenient, could you stay within the area of ​​this room and my room only?

Seeing Ye Sizhen's confused expression, Shirou explained, "I didn't tell my family that I brought you back."

The clever magician immediately understood the boy's unspeakable secret.

"I see... I understand."

No problem, I'll cooperate as much as possible and definitely won't cause you any trouble.

Shirou said, "Thank you for your understanding. If you absolutely must go out, then take that invisibility charm with you."

"Yes, I'm not going anywhere."

Ye Sizhen absentmindedly echoed.

For some reason, her current situation reminded her of an idiom—"keeping a mistress in a golden house."

then,

“I think it’s beautiful.”

Hearing the boy say this so abruptly, Ye Sizhen suddenly raised her head.

She noticed the boy staring rudely at her breasts that were peeking out from under her shirt.

To be precise, it was the red spider lily tattoo on it that was being stared at.

"Is that really what you think?" Ye Sizhen asked.

Shirou nodded: "Yes, you carved that tattoo with your own magic, right..."

Exquisite and gorgeous, with no compromise on details, I can feel the effort you put into it, it's truly excellent.

"........."

Ye Sizhen stared blankly at the boy, and subconsciously extended an invitation:

"If there's a chance in the future, could you please visit my workshop?"

As soon as she said it, Ye Sizhen regretted it immensely.

This invitation is so abrupt! We've only known each other for less than two hours!

however--

"Okay."

Shirou agreed without hesitation.

"………………It's a deal."

Ye Sizhen pressed her hand to her chest and murmured from the bottom of her heart.

Her workshop is filled with folk items such as dolls and masks from all over the world, collected for personal interest and research purposes.

Even she herself understood that not everyone would understand this kind of hobby, but—

If it were him, he would definitely be able to forgive me...

Ye Sizhen, the talented woman of the Spiral Pavilion and the Pingyi Building—

Having devoted her entire life to the study of magic, she experienced the feeling of "love" for the first time when she was thirty years old.

-------------

Volume 4, Chapter 180: Keeping a mistress, huh? The real girlfriend is here!

"Shirou! Over here!"

As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, she saw the school's No. 2 beauty, Ayako Misaki, waving at her from not far away.

Since it was still during class time, there was no one at the school entrance except for Matou Sakura standing next to her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting?"

Ayako Misaki shook her head and said, "No, we just arrived too."

Shirou looked at the girl beside her: "Sakura, is everything alright with the class?"

"Yes, senior, I asked the teacher for leave properly."

"I see. Then let's set off."

As Shirou said this, he took a step toward the Mien River Bridge in the direction of Shinto.

"Just wait for me!"

Misaki Ayako angrily grabbed the red-haired boy's shoulder: "Amamiya! Aren't you going to ask me anything? Or do you think it's okay for me to skip class?!"

"Kidding."