Rainbow clouds filled the sky, marking the end of another day.
“Huff, huff, huff—Meow!”
Stirring cement, mixing mortar, laying bricks and plastering walls—Anne worked nonstop from morning till night, cleaning up the aftermath of her battle with Li An.
This wasn’t a game.
There was no automatic reset when a player logged off after damaging the venue.
Only Anne stayed behind to fix everything in the mansion.
The last smear of mortar went onto the wall.
Perfect, meow!
Anne planted her hands on her hips, tilted her head up, and proudly looked at the fruits of her labor.
The wall that had been blown down was now rebuilt.
Though the new bricks didn’t quite match the old ones in color, at least the gap was filled.
As for why this otherworld had construction materials like concrete—well, civil engineering was an essential low-level code in the world’s framework.
It had been embedded when the world was modeled, and now it had naturally evolved.
The yard was neat and tidy, all thanks to her cleaning.
Even the iron gate, which had been knocked crooked, was bent back into shape by Anne’s bare hands.
It opened and closed smoothly.
Nothing to it—she was just strong.
She let out a sigh and raised an arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
“All done, meow…”
‘But I’m not really happy, meow.’
Anne turned around and couldn’t help but look down the main road leading to the mansion.
The breeze lifted her hair, but it couldn’t blow away the worry in her heart.
Unsurprisingly, no one was in sight.
A wave of loss washed over Anne.
‘Why hasn’t Master come back yet, meow?’
‘Damn you, Li An. Why did you have to invade me and Master’s life? Couldn’t you just stay a good Holy Maiden, meow?’
‘Did the two of them abandon me and elope, meow?’
For some reason, countless questions and complaints flooded Anne’s mind.
But no matter what, Li An would not make her back down even an inch.
Kidnapping Master.
If Li An dared to go that far, Anne would destroy the Goddess Church at any cost and force those two to come out.
Just as Anne was thinking this, her ears twitched sharply—a cat’s hearing was far better than a human’s.
The breeze carried footsteps from afar.
Anne looked back toward where the great sun was halfway set.
The evening glow silhouetted two figures returning home.
Seeing this, Anne bit her lip, her heart pounding wildly.
She felt as if it were breaking.
‘That damn thief Li An. The heroine of this scene should have been my place.’
In her imagination, Li An waved at her and said, “Anne, you’re the challenger.”
Li An’s hands were small, but she clutched them tightly, and she was strong.
‘How many strong girls is this now?’ Lauren couldn’t help but reflect. ‘Are the stats for anime girls set too high?’
She didn’t explain much.
She didn’t let go of Lauren.
Instead, she forcefully pulled him forward and ran.
“Damn, there’s even a grand escape into the sunset—except the one chasing is Li An’s mom🐴.”
Luckily, they were both young and not ordinary people.
They quickly shook off Li An’s mom🐴.
Li An took Lauren into a cornfield.
The tall stalks completely hid their figures.
The two successfully escaped.
“Why is your mom here?” Lauren asked in a low voice.
‘She doesn’t think I’m a kidnapper, does she?’ Lauren worried inwardly.
“My mom is just meddlesome, Lauren dear. You don’t need to worry about my family matters!”
What a filial daughter, that one☝.
Lauren glanced at her sideways and thought to himself.
Li An: “That’s right. I suffered all my last life—can’t I enjoy myself in this one? Let the music play, let the dance go on. I’ll do whatever I want!”
“Lauren dear, don’t worry either. At worst, she’ll think some blond-haired guy kidnapped me!” Li An suddenly spoke up to reassure him.
‘Blond-haired guy steals the good girl’—that phrase had a familiar ring to it.
But in reality, both of them had blond hair.
Li An was more like the blond-haired guy in this situation—forcefully kidnapping the wealthy young master Lauren.
‘Eh, whatever about her mom🐴,’ Lauren thought.
‘I’m going to take you away anyway, so it suits me fine.’
“It’s already come to this. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“I just didn’t expect to be found out like this,” Li An said, somewhat annoyed.
“I hope my mom doesn’t mess things up.”
“Ha, you were running through the village in a maid outfit. Who wouldn’t see you?”
Li An looked down at her clothes and was silent for a second.
“Actually, it’s not really a miscalculation. I expected this day would come. Anyway, they already know the outcome. I’ll explain later.”
Lauren couldn’t help but wipe his forehead.
This was a complete derailment of the plot.
He wondered what impact it would have later.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s go home first,” Lauren instructed.
“I’m going back to your house, Lauren dear.”
“Alright!”
“Anne’s not home today🎵~”
Humming a little tune, Li An walked hand in hand with Lauren back home.
Everything was going according to plan.
She was in a good mood.
Anne stood by the newly repaired wall, hands clasped tightly behind her back, her tail drooping low.
She watched the two figures draw closer in the distance.
Her heart pounded fast, and she felt bitter.
“Calm down, meow… Calm down, meow…” she whispered to herself.
‘I’m a maid. I have to be dignified. I can’t lose my composure… otherwise I’ll lose to that Li An…’
As the figures came nearer, Lauren walked in front, and Li An followed on his right, their hands linked.
‘If Master is happy, isn’t that fine too?’
‘Isn’t that fine?’ …Silence.
‘No, it’s not fine, meow! It’s definitely not fine, meow!’ Anne screamed in her heart.
‘How can I tolerate this, meow!’
‘But what should I do?’
‘Is there a love god who can tell me what to do, meow?’
‘Just punch her in the face right here, meow, Anne.’
A strange voice came from the bottom of her heart.
Without realizing it, her tightly clenched fingers had turned white.
Anne took a deep breath, forcing the corners of her mouth upward to show a lively appearance.
“Welcome back, meow~!” she called out, dragging the last syllable, her voice lacking energy.
Lauren looked up and saw her standing at the gate.
The sunset behind her spread out like a golden-red curtain, framing her like a painting.
He could tell something was off with the cat girl in front of him.
“Yeah, I’m back.”
Lauren responded and let go of Li An’s hand.
Now it was Li An’s turn to be unhappy.
‘Why did you let go for no reason!’
Li An moved to take his hand again.
Then she took Anne’s hand instead…!!!
What do you mean by that?
At the mansion entrance, Li An and Anne stared at each other.
Lauren raised both hands (ﾉ*･ω･)ﾉ and stepped aside.
‘Oh, oh, you two are starting again, aren’t you? Just don’t accidentally hit me.’
In an instant, Anne snapped back to reality.
She had already acted to stop it.
Facing Li An’s accusation, Anne naturally wouldn’t back down.
Since the moment had come, she had to step up.
“Li An, can’t you see that Master doesn’t want to hold your hand?”
“What business is it of yours?”
“I am Master’s personal maid.”
She emphasized her senior position.
‘Li An is just some stray cat from the roadside—how could she compare to a house cat like me?’ Anne thought.
“No one can force Master to do something he doesn’t want to. That is my duty as a personal maid!”
Anne aimed to use righteousness to force Li An to retreat.
Preferably, from now on, you’ll step back a hundred paces whenever you see me.