The carriage came to a smooth stop in the Crinwell family courtyard.
Liya stepped down first, opening the door for the two.
“Miss, we’re home.”
Weiluoya felt like Charlotte’s gaze had been on her the entire ride, making her terribly uncomfortable.
Finally home, she closed the detective novel in her hands, lifted her skirt, and hurried inside at a near-run.
Charlotte followed unhurriedly behind her, watching that small figure, her smile never fading.
Liya walked at the rear, observing her mistress’s clearly evasive steps, then glancing at Miss Charlotte’s triumphant expression.
She let out a silent sigh.
She felt that her naive little bunny of a mistress would probably be carried off to the wolf’s den tonight.
Entering the living room, Liya gave a slight bow.
“Miss, Miss Charlotte, if you have no other instructions, I’ll take my leave.”
Without waiting for Weiluoya’s response, she turned and disappeared into the corridor leading to the servants’ quarters, her movements swift and decisive.
The living room was suddenly left with only Weiluoya and Charlotte.
Weiluoya stood still, staring blankly at Liya’s retreating figure.
She turned to face Charlotte’s smiling eyes, and finally realized a problem.
“Wait,” Weiluoya spoke, her emerald eyes filled with confusion.
“Didn’t we agree to live separately after marriage, without interfering with each other?”
“That’s right.”
Charlotte nodded, settling gracefully onto the living room sofa, even crossing her legs elegantly.
“The agreement makes that very clear.”
“Then why did you follow me home?”
Weiluoya stared at her like she was a woman breaking their promise.
Charlotte’s face took on an exaggerated expression of surprise.
“Home?”
She repeated the word, then said with absolute理所当然:
“Weiluoya, we’re already legal lovers. Your home is naturally my home.”
Weiluoya was dizzy from this twisted logic.
“But the agreement…”
“The agreement was about after marriage. We’re still in the pre-marriage phase.”
Charlotte interrupted her, her confident smile unassailable.
“As your lover, before the formal marriage takes effect, I should naturally live with you to better cultivate our feelings, don’t you think?”
Weiluoya frowned.
It sounded somewhat reasonable, yet somehow wrong.
She pondered for a moment, then decided to skip this logical trap.
“Then go back to your own home now.”
Weiluoya pointed toward the door, her tone calm.
“My carriage can take you.”
Charlotte’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of disbelief.
She stood, walked over to Weiluoya, and lowered her head slightly.
Her dark eyes glistened with moisture, looking terribly aggrieved.
“Ah, Weiluoya… are you driving me away?”
Her voice trembled.
“It’s so late. Can you bear to let a girl like me walk alone through the cold night?”
Weiluoya looked at her, the next words she’d prepared getting stuck in her throat.
She gazed at Charlotte’s unfairly beautiful face and the moisture in her eyes, and somewhere in her heart, something inexplicably softened.
She remembered lying on her hospital bed before her transmigration, longing for someone to be with her.
Forget it.
It really wouldn’t be right to send her back alone.
“I’ll have Liya prepare a guest room for you.”
Weiluoya averted her gaze, making the concession.
She turned to call for Liya, but her wrist was caught.
Charlotte’s fingers were cold, tracing gentle circles against her skin.
“Guest room?”
Charlotte’s voice sounded even more wronged.
She gently shook Weiluoya’s hand.
“Aren’t we lovers?”
“Why sleep separately?”
Weiluoya blinked.
“Do lovers have to sleep together?”
She turned her head, looking at Charlotte in confusion.
“Of course,” Charlotte nodded, her tone unwavering.
“That’s how it’s written in all the books I’ve read.”
“Lovers hold each other, share the same pillow and blanket, and fall asleep to the sound of each other’s breathing.”
As she spoke, she fixed Weiluoya with a pitiful gaze, her longing and hope practically overflowing.
Weiluoya felt her brain struggling to keep up.
Holding each other?
The same pillow?
How close would they have to be?
Just imagining the scene made her cheeks uncontrollably hot.
“System!”
She called out urgently in her mind.
[I’m here, Host. What is it this time?]
The system sounded oddly excited.
“Do lovers have to sleep together?”
Weiluoya asked, her expression very serious.
[Umm…]
The system glanced at the tangerine-flavored manga in its hands before explaining.
[Most romance novels and影视works do have this trope…]
“We’re both girls.”
Weiluoya added, as if emphasizing something.
[So what? Girls cuddling is even better!]
[Ahem… I mean, there’s no physiological barrier, and it can deepen feelings, which helps with the mission…]
The system’s voice trailed off, finally going silent.
You know, it always liked shipping these kinds of things.
It didn’t know why Yeying was getting close to its host, but this was good news!
Even though it couldn’t tell its host that Charlotte was Yeying because of the Blocking Protocol.
But at this rate, with its host being so strong, if she just stepped up once, she could complete the mission.
The system took a bite of potato chips, thoroughly satisfied with how the plot was developing.
Mmm, the bromance was flourishing!
Weiluoya stood there, her mind engaged in a fierce internal battle.
Charlotte, seeing her prolonged silence, lowered her head, her ears reddening.
She knew the timing was right.
She released Weiluoya’s wrist, instead gently taking her hand, tracing patterns on her palm with her fingertips.
“Weiluoya.”
She softened her voice, as if coaxing a frightened little animal.
“Just tonight, please? I’m scared to sleep alone.”
Scared?
Weiluoya looked up at this woman who was considerably taller than her.
She didn’t look like someone who would be scared at all.
But the other’s gaze was sincere, and the ticklish sensation in her palm made it hard to refuse.
“…Fine.”
Weiluoya bit her lip, finally nodding in agreement.
Charlotte’s eyes instantly lit up with victory, but she maintained her fragile, pitiful expression.
“Great.”
She said happily, pulling Weiluoya toward the stairs.
“Let’s go wash up quickly.”
Weiluoya was half-dragged up to the second floor, her mind still a mess.
She looked at the tall figure ahead of her, smelling the faint fragrance from the other woman.
An uncontrollable thought popped into her head.
‘Did I just get played?’
Weiluoya held onto this thought all the way until Charlotte led her into the spacious bathroom of the room.
The marble floor was polished like a mirror.
In the center was a circular bath large enough for three or four people, with brass pipes extending from the wall shaped like an elegant swan.
“Weiluoya, want to go together?”
Charlotte leaned against the doorframe, unbuttoning her suit jacket, and winked at her.
Weiluoya looked at that face that screamed “I’m innocent,” then at the giant bathtub, and her cheeks flushed instantly.
She walked over quickly, and before Charlotte could remove her jacket, she reached out, shoved her out of the bathroom, slammed the door, and locked it from the inside.
“No.”
Weiluoya leaned against the door, her heart beating a little fast.
She heard a light laugh from outside the door, followed by footsteps fading away.
Weiluoya finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She clumsily took off her dress and stepped into the bath.
The warm water quickly enveloped her, driving away the night’s chill, but failing to cool her burning cheeks.
After washing, Weiluoya only found a large bath towel.
She wrapped herself up tightly, wiping her still-dripping hair, and opened the bathroom door.
Charlotte was sitting in a single armchair by her bed, holding a detective novel she hadn’t finished reading before.
When she saw Weiluoya emerge, she raised her head, her gaze landing on her.
That gaze was very invasive, sliding from her still-flushed cheeks to her exposed clavicle, then down to the curves of her body hidden beneath the towel.
Weiluoya felt like a gem stripped naked and placed on an appraisal table.
“What are you looking at?”
She felt uncomfortable all over, instinctively pulling the towel tighter.
“At you.”
Charlotte closed the book, stood up, and walked toward her.
“You’re very cute.”
Weiluoya, under her gaze, took a step back, pointing at the bathroom.
“Hurry up and wash.”
Charlotte smiled, didn’t press further, and turned to enter the bathroom.
Hearing the sound of water inside, Weiluoya finally relaxed completely.
She walked to the wardrobe, facing away from the bathroom, and loosened the towel around her.
A click came from the bathroom door as it suddenly opened.
Weiluoya froze, and instinctively looked up.
Through the misty steam, Charlotte’s figure burst into Weiluoya’s sight without any warning.
She stood in the doorway, her chest and the pink tips bouncing slightly with her movement.
At that moment, the towel slipped from Weiluoya’s body.
She instinctively looked up, meeting Charlotte’s deep eyes, slightly widened in surprise.
Weiluoya felt a little dazed.