Chapter 228. Is Beautiful Girl Kaleidoscope Made by Old Thief Masato?
"Heh-heh-heh~~"
In the top-floor suite of a luxury hotel, Elysia lay on the wide bed in a pure-white nightgown, raising her right hand toward the warm ceiling light. On her slender middle finger, a delicate silver ring glittered. A pink gem sat at its center, refracting the light into a dreamy spray of color.
"You've been staring at it for a whole week already. Still not enough?"
Coming out of the bathroom, Xander Masato towel-dried his dripping hair and body. Seeing Elysia still giggling foolishly at the ring, he couldn't help but tease her.
"Not enough, never enough. This was given to me by Xander. It's my most, most, most—most precious treasure~"
She reached out to stroke it again, eyes full of love for the ring.
"Seeing you like this, I don't even know whether you like me or the ring more."
"Ya, are you jealous?"
Her playful tone made Xander roll his eyes. "Why would I be jealous of a ring?"
As he spoke, he touched the middle finger of his left hand. There, he wore a ring similar to Elysia's, set with a sapphire. Pink and blue—perfectly a pair.
"You've already sent it to everyone we know. It's been admired enough."
On that topic, Xander could only feel helpless. After he gave Elysia the ring, she practically posted to her Moments eight times a day, subtly showing off what she wore on her finger. As a result, the girls back home had almost bombed his phone these past few days.
The first ring had been snatched by Elysia—how could the girls not be upset?
He sighed and silently recited in his heart: Sorry, Seele. Sorry, Bronya. Sorry, Kaguya. Sorry, Kiana. Sorry, Griseo…
Wait, how did Griseo get mixed in there?
Forget it. Too many to think about.
He felt for the phone on the table and unlocked it. There were a few more unread messages in the chat app.
Bronya: "When you come back, I want to see a ring."
Kiana: "Rings, huh? It's not like I really want one that badly. After all, it's just an accessory. But, well, it does have some… (eight hundred words omitted below)"
Kaguya (wife): "This one is curious about rings too~"
Dearest Seele: "Brother, look at this moon—doesn't it look like a ring? FullMoon.jpg"
Griseo: "Sir Knight, I…"
Hold on—Griseo is really in here?!
Xander froze, then hurried to open Griseo's chat window.
"Oh, it's the Clannad project progress…"
He mocked his own hypersensitivity, feeling relieved and yet a little disappointed. Tsk, how cheap of me.
"Don't worry. Xander, don't forget there's still one place you haven't shared yet~ Come on, give me your hand."
Elysia rolled across the bed, and before he could answer, she pulled his hand over. Two ringed hands intertwined; pink and blue gems reflected one another. Elysia took out her phone, found a flattering angle, and snapped a pretty photo.
"These past few days you only shared it to Moments. It's about time to share it with the fans too~"
Before going to St. Freya, Elysia had already amassed tens of millions of followers on her blog as a travel and relationship blogger. After she began sharing her intimate daily life with Xander, her follower count dropped for a while. What could she do? Although most fans followed her for travel copywriting, relationship analysis, and photos of scenery and food, her exceptional looks had naturally attracted some followers for… other reasons. If that group left, so be it—Elysia didn't care much. But as she posted more daily updates, her follower count not only rebounded but doubled compared to before.
What can you say—Old Thief Masato's pull on the internet was just too strong. As the only outlet for day-to-day news about Old Thief Masato, Elysia's follower numbers shot up fast.
Ding-dong.
A push notification for Elysia's freshly edited post popped up on the phone, and Xander tapped in.
"Hi, it's been half a month—did you miss me? You definitely missed me, right? After all, I'm your cute and charming fairy lady~ I missed you all too. I haven't updated because something happened that made this fairy lady very, very happy. But if you want me to write it out, I'm a little too shy to say it. You'd better just look at the picture~ —Your fairy lady who loves you"
Below it was the photo Elysia had just taken. The comments were already in the hundreds. Xander couldn't be bothered to open them; he could tell without even looking what they'd say. They'd definitely be cursing him—he knew his fanbase's temperament all too well.
The kind that pities their bro's suffering yet balks when their bro pulls up in a Range Rover.
"Ha-ha-ha~"
Scrolling through the replies, Elysia couldn't stop laughing.
"Xander, Xander, everyone's denouncing you~"
"Elysia, listen to yourself. Aren't you even more mischievous?"
"Ah-ya-ya, cute girls do get a few privileges, you know~"
She tossed her phone aside and pounced against Xander's back. Her warm, soft body pressed to his spine, and her small hands roamed all over him. Xander had just dried off and couldn't be bothered to get dressed. With the heat on, he didn't fear the cold, so he sat there stark naked, letting Elysia enjoy a handful to her heart's content until it felt like she was rubbing enough to charge his abs with static.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The service bell at the door rang. Xander threw on a bathrobe and said to Elysia, "That should be breakfast. I'll get it. You go take your shower."
The top hotel's dining was pretty good. Not as good as Kalpas, but still tasty. He didn't let the server in; Xander pulled the dining cart inside himself, set the breakfast plates out on the table one by one, and then wheeled the cart back out into the hall.
Hearing the shower still running, Xander slipped off his bathrobe and looked idly around. He had already swept the room with an Anti-Entropy detector—no hidden cameras. The curtains were pulled tight. Even if he went streaking, no one would see.
He wandered to the window and lifted a sliver of the curtain. The view made him pause.
"It's snowing."
Flakes were dressing the city in pure white. Looking at the world outside, he couldn't help growing sentimental. Maybe Elysia's post had rubbed off on him, but he felt an urge to post something too.
He snapped a shot of the snowy view and drafted a post: "It's that White Album season again." He attached the photo, then hesitated, deleted it, and replaced it with that classic White Album composition from the airport—the shot where Setsuna watches Haruki and Touma kissing.
Just as he hit send, the bathroom door handle turned.
"Xander, I'm hungry~"
The smell of breakfast filled the room, and Elysia's slightly sticky, spoiled tone drifted out.
"If you're hungry, come eat."
"Okay~"
Answering casually, Xander sat down at the dining table. Elysia sauntered over, lazily towel-drying her wet hair, making no attempt to hide the fairy lady's natural beauty from Xander.
"Smells so good. I think my tummy's even hungrier now~~"
She patted her soft little belly, producing a crisp, bright sound.
"Mm, I'm hungry too," Xander said—though his gaze wasn't anywhere near the food on the table.
"Elysia, could you come here for a moment?"
"Hm? What is it, Xander?"
Trusting, she walked right up to him. Her soft fullness swayed with her movements, teasing his heart. Without answering, he took her by the arm and pulled her down onto his lap.
"Let's eat right here."
Skin pressed together with no barrier at all. Elysia blinked, then her cheeks turned pink.
"Hee-hee, do you like Elysia that much? You even want to stick together while eating. But… clingy Xander is my favorite too~"
Feeling Xander's infatuation, Elysia grew even happier and picked up a fork to take a bite.
"Want big sister to—mmph!!!!"
Just as she reached out her hand, her body went rigid. The fork nearly slipped from her fingers.
Bodies long accustomed to each other smoothly connected as one.
She hurriedly braced one hand on the table and turned her head. Her crystal eyes were already misted over, and a charming blush colored her face.
"Xander, I'm hungry. Can we eat first, please?"
Seeing the pleading in her eyes, Xander smiled with a meaning she couldn't read.
"But I'm hungry too. Don't mind me—everything on the table is prepared just for you~"
Then he began to have his "breakfast."
"Eh?"
...
Online, Old Thief Masato's first blog post in a month naturally drew a swarm of attention from fans. Anyone who caught the reference couldn't help but grin when they saw what he posted.
"Hard not to crack. Even you, Old Thief—thick brows and all—turn out to be a White Album guy."
"Guys, Touma is just not it, right? This was clearly his problem…"
"Take that upstairs back to your forum to wage faction wars. This isn't the place to fight!!"
"Seconding upstairs. By the way, it feels like Teacher Xander hasn't released a new game in a while. Someone who can make something like White Album—please don't let that talent go to waste!"
"Hold on. Old Thief Masato's real name is Xander Masato, and the designer called 'Masato' plus 'Teacher Xander'—isn't that exactly Old Thief Masato's real name? Is there—like, is there a chance these two are the same person?"
"Here's a joke: Beautiful Girl Kaleidoscope is by Old Thief Masato."
"Give me a break. If Old Thief Masato were actually Teacher Xander, I'll do a handstand and lick a five-speed electric fan!"
"Upstairs, noted."
"Lol~"
The topic quickly drifted off course. It was just a for-fun thread, and few took it seriously. But just then, a reporter browsing the comments narrowed his eyes.
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