Meanwhile, in the Shinomiya residence, Kaguya was sitting in her room, looking at Hayasaka Ai with as the girl finally returned home.

  "Where have you been all day?" Kaguya asked, her brows furrowing with worry. She noticed the slight unsteadiness in Hayasaka's walk.

  "Are you feeling unwell?"

  "No, I'm fine," Ai said, attempting to sound nont. But inside, she was flicted. She had known sorcerers possessed great power, but she hadn't expected it to be this overwhelming.

  Of course, she had woken up much earlier but had deyed her return to familiarize herself with her newfound abilities. If she now had the power of a sorcerer, it only made seo learn how to trol it. Even though she had only had a short amount of time, Ai discovered that she was talented enough to already create basic objects using her newly acquired stru teique.

  However, her limited cursed energy prevented her from making much before she reached her limits. It was a start, but she was already doier than Zenin Mai, whled to even make a few bullets without exhausting herself.

  "Some things came up," Ai said, trying to sound casual.

  "Alright then," Kaguya replied, relieved. As long as Hayasaka was okay, that was enough for her. Kaguya returo fiddling with the smartphone she had retly acquired, trying to master its features. Despite her inexperience, Kaguya's natural intelligence allowed her to adapt quickly.

  "Oh, Hayasaka!" Kaguya said suddenly, her eyes lighting up with a question.

  "Yes, Miss?"

  "Do you think Ryuji would like someone like me?" she asked, her voice soft with anticipation.

  Ai blinked, momentarily taken aback. If this question had e up before today, she would have given an ao fort Kaguya without a sed thought. But now? Now that she knew Ryuji on a deeper level, the questio more plicated.

  "Hayasaka?" Kaguya asked again, noting her maid's silence.

  Ai cleared her throat, snapping out of her thoughts. "Miss Kaguya, you're beautiful. I'm sure Ryuji would find you appealing."

  Kaguya blushed a little, a rare sight. "But Ryuji's not the type to be drawn in just by looks. He's... toht for that."

  Upright? Ai struggled not to react. Ryuji? Upright? If only Kaguya khe reality.

  But as she watched the hopeful look on Kaguya's face, Ai's heart sank. Kaguya truly believed in Ryuji's noble character. Well, if that's what she wants to think... Ai thought, suppressing a sigh. In the end, she was just a maid, who was she to challenge her dy's beliefs?

  Besides, while she may have her reservations about Ryuji, there was ohing she was sure of: if Kaguya did end up with him, she wouldn't have to worry about being maniputed or used by the Shinomiya family ever again. With Ryuji by her side, Kaguya could live as she wanted, unafraid of the power struggles and schemes that surrounded her.

  "If it's you, Miss Kaguya, I have no doubt Ryuji would care for you," Ai said, and this time, she meant it.

  Kaguya's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. "It's not so certain as you make it sound," she said bashfully. Only with Ai did Kaguya let down her guard enough to show this side of herself.

  Ai noticed this a a pang of guilt. She had been sidering how best to fess her true role in Kaguya's life. inally, she was sent to report to Shinomiya Oko, Kaguya's scheming older brother. But now, after everything, after gaining power as a sorcerer, Ai wanted out. She wao be loyal to Kaguya and not be an unwilling pawn for the Shinomiya family's internal power pys.

  But seeing Kaguya's i and trusting face, Ai felt her resolve waver. She o tell Kaguya, little by little, so the shock would be easier to bear.

  Just then, her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts.

  Was it from Ryuji? A small smile crept onto Ai's face at the thought. She g Kaguya, who was still immersed in her phone, before taking out her own to check. Her heart sank when she saw the sender—Shinomiya Oko.

  The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She unlocked her phone ahe message:

  "Get to me immediately, no matter where you are. Now."

  Ai's eyes narrowed at the terse and. She had no iion of answering Oko's summons. Not now, not ever.

  Then another message came through, this oh a photo attached. Ai's face turned pale as she saw it. It was an image of Oko sitting in the mai at the Hayasaka family home, her parents positioned like subordinates across from him. His caption was brief but clear:

  "If you're not here in half an hour, you know the sequences."

  Oko put down his phone, smirking at the anxious gnces exged between Hayasaka Ai's parents.

  "Master Oko," Hayasaka's father begaantly, trying te the tension. "If we've failed in any lease—"

  "Enough," Oko snapped, cutting him off coldly. His smile was sharp, predatory. "Your daughter has proven... disappointing. But don't worry, I only want to have a chat with her."

  Hayasaka Ai's mother cast a worried g her husband, then stood up. "I'll fete tea," she said, needing a moment to think. She moved to the kit, pulling out her phone as soon as she was out of sight:

  "Don't e. Leave immediately, Ai. We saved some money for you. Get out of the city, out of Japan. Don't e back."

  ---

  Ai stared at her mother's desperate message, the weight of their sacrifice settling in her chest like a stone. "Mother..." she whispered, eyes hardening with determination.

  There was no way she'd let her parents face the sequences alone. Before, she might have felt powerless. But now? Now, she had choices.

  "Miss," Ai said, her voice cutting through the silence.

  Kaguya looked up, surprised by the iy in her voice. "What is it, Hayasaka?"

  "There's something I o tell you," Ai said, her heart pounding. This was it.

  Kaguya's eyes widened as Ai expined how she had beeo serve as Oko's spy. The room felt like it was closing in as Kaguya's face shifted from fusion to disbelief.

  "No... it 't be. You wouldn't betray me, Hayasaka," Kaguya said, her voice breaking.

  Ai's throat tightened, but she forced herself to tinue. "I never wao betray you. I've always done my best to protect you. I swear it. The only reason I'm telling you now is because... because Oko is threatening my parents. He wanted me to seduce Ryuji to keep you away from him, but I didn't. I couldn't. And now... he knows."

  Kaguya sat back, eyes hollow as she tried to process everything. The maid she trusted, who was like a sister to her, had been pnted by her own brother.

  ***

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