Carmilla pulled her hand over, clasping Yuriko’s hand with both of hers and pressing it against her own chest.
‘Ruri, you really are so gentle. If you’re too good to me, I might start clinging to you without any sense of boundaries. You might even grow tired of me.’
With her arm buried in Carmilla’s embrace, Yuriko felt as if her entire limb no longer belonged to her.
She remained stiff, not daring to move an inch.
“Carmilla is so cute, I’d never get tired of her…”
She mumbled softly.
Though her voice was low, the room was silent, allowing Yuriko’s words to drift clearly into Carmilla’s ears.
“So, Yuriko thinks I’m cute? Even though I have such a lewd body that doesn’t suit “cute” at all? Where is the cuteness in that?”
Regardless, Carmilla’s heart fluttered with a small spark of joy.
Both girls kept their heads lowered.
After a long pause, Carmilla took the initiative to ask, “After the exam tomorrow, can I come over to your house to hang out as a friend?”
“Of course, you’re welcome anytime…”
Yuriko stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly remembered the state of her home.
Setting aside how remote the location was, the entire building was crawling with members of the Mafia.
A sheltered girl like Carmilla would probably be eaten alive the moment she stepped inside.
Of course, that was impossible.
At least on Yuriko’s turf, Carmilla would—at worst—be shooed away.
No one would dare do anything excessive to her, nor would she be kidnapped because of her looks to be broken and turned into some toy.
“You’re welcome anytime!”
“Wonderful! I’m already starting to look forward to tomorrow~”
Yuriko gave her word, thinking that she would have to give her subordinates a thorough talking-to once she got back so they wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag.
She decided she might as well tell them that if anyone said the wrong thing, she’d break their legs.
While the girls were chatting, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
Carmilla’s father stood in the doorway, shouting at her.
“We’re out of soy sauce. Go buy some, and stop by the market for some shrimp while you’re at it. Your brother wants oil-braised prawns.”
“But Dad, my friend is still here. Could someone else…”
“Could someone else go?”
Carmilla didn’t finish the sentence.
Under the oppressive weight of her father’s gaze, her hands involuntarily tightened.
Ultimately, she relented.
“I understand. I’ll go right away.”
After interrupting his daughter’s conversation with her friend to assign her a series of trivial chores, Carmilla’s father left.
Even though Yuriko had barely interacted with the man, she gained a profound understanding of Carmilla’s situation at home in that single moment.
His daughter had brought a friend home for the first time, yet he interrupted their time together just because his son wanted prawns, driving his daughter out to run tedious errands.
He was clearly idle himself but refused to go, which proved that his daughter’s feelings were worth less to him than a short walk.
“I’m so sorry. I have to head out for a bit. Ruri, stay here for a while; I’ll be back soon,” Carmilla said to Yuriko apologetically.
“It’s fine. I was actually planning on heading out anyway.”
Yuriko stood up and straightened her handbag.
“Let’s go.”
She left the house with Carmilla.
After Carmilla walked her a short distance, the two went their separate ways.
‘I really hate Carmilla’s dad. He doesn’t care about her feelings at all.’
Yuriko walked down the street feeling gloomy, unable to comprehend how someone could treat their daughter that way.
If Yuriko had a daughter who was that obedient, kind, and smart, she’d wake up laughing from her dreams.
‘The world is full of complications. Things like this are all too common in the mortal realm, meow.’
‘Hmph. If my dad ever dared to treat me like that, I’d kick him so hard he’d fly!’
‘While it’s true you don’t have a father, you do have an older sister.’
‘Never mind that. I really can’t win against her.’
Though she had never traded blows with her sister, Yun Jianlan possessed a dangerous aura that made Yuriko flinch.
Phantom told her it was an instinct honed through countless crises—something Yuriko could only sense because she was sharp enough.
‘Besides, Big Sis isn’t bad to me. She’d never treat me like that.’
As Yuriko thought this, a sudden realization hit her: if Yun Jianlan ever found out that the current Yuriko wasn’t the original one, how would she react?
Would she give her the cold shoulder like Carmilla’s father, feel enraged that an impostor had stolen her sister’s place, or simply kill her outright?
Any of those felt possible.
Yuriko couldn’t quite grasp her sister’s temperament; the woman always looked so indifferent that it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Back at home, Yuriko kicked the front door open and shouted to the lackeys inside, “Boys, we’ve got work to do tonight!”
The men sitting in the living room chatting and playing cards all looked over in unison.
Recently, Yuriko had issued strict orders for them not to cause trouble, which had caused the surrounding gangs to become restless.
If they didn’t push back now, those thugs might be bold enough to challenge their turf by tomorrow.
The fourth brother began rubbing his hands together.
He had been suppressed for too long; today was finally the day to let loose.
“Big Sister, who are we hitting today?”
Yuriko walked to the center of the room, sat down, and propped her legs up on the table.
“Can you stop thinking about fighting all the time? Didn’t I tell you we’re going straight from now on?”
“But Big Sister, we’ve been cooped up here lately. The gangs in the other districts think we’ve gone soft. Some guys have already teamed up to cause trouble; they almost trashed our shop.”
“Oh, please, it’s not that big a deal. Your boss has backing now. If they want to cause trouble, I’ll just have them hauled off to the station. Let’s see if they dare mess with us then!”
As the only mafia presence in the North District, the Bone Crusher Gang’s primary source of income wasn’t extortion, but protection fees and their restaurant business.
The shop spoke for itself, and while “protection fees” sounded like hooliganism, they actually did the work once they took the money.
The gangs that used to occupy this area were far worse.
Ever since the Bone Crusher Gang took over the North District, public security had improved significantly.
Some shop owners even rushed to pay their fees, and if Yuriko’s side forgot, the owners would turn over the money voluntarily.
However, the protection fee route was coming to an end.
Once the gangs in Pilgrim City were wiped out, there would be no need to worry about being robbed by thugs anymore.
Yuriko pulled up the shop’s surveillance footage and found the clip of the troublemakers.
“Yes, that’s them. They were so arrogant. They were obviously testing the waters. If we don’t show them some color, they’ll definitely get worse!”
Yuriko took a screenshot of the surveillance and sent it to Yun Jianlan.
Yuriko: ‘Big Sis, some people are causing trouble at my shop. Can you arrest them all?’
Yun Jianlan received the file almost instantly and replied with a single word.
‘Okay.’
“Short and efficient, as always.”