An hour later, Leo and Yuuki Asuna, having finished dinner, emerged from the Okura Hotel together and got into the stretch limousine.
The driver, a Retainer, silently started the engine, pressed the accelerator, and drove Leo and Yuuki Asuna towards the manor.
Yuuki Asuna turned her head, looking at the receding Okura Hotel, a hint of melancholy appearing in her eyes for some reason.
"Already missing your family?"
Leo's voice came from beside her, rousing Yuuki Asuna.
"If you really don't want to stay here, you can go back to Tokyo," Leo said, not looking at Yuuki Asuna, but merely crossing his arms and leaning against the back of the limousine's seat, as if resting his eyes. "As long as you come to the manor in the evening and finish what needs to be done, I won't force you or require you to stay."
Indeed, he personally preferred his Retainers to stay with him, but he wouldn't particularly insist.
If Yuuki Asuna truly didn't want to stay at the manor, then she could go back; he wasn't an autistic person, there was no need to forcibly keep her.
Yuuki Asuna didn't know if she perceived this, but she sighed and composed herself.
"No, this is a rare opportunity, and I want to try a new life," Yuuki Asuna said, looking ahead. "Besides, it's not that I miss them; I just feel like something has officially come to an end, so my feelings are a bit complicated."
Recalling her family, who had accepted her becoming someone else's Retainer-servant, feeling helpless but not angry about it, Yuuki Asuna even wondered for a moment if she was completely unimportant in their hearts.
Especially her mother, Kyoko Yuuki; her eyes only showed displeasure at her plans for her children's lives being disrupted, with no concern whatsoever. Yuuki Asuna truly began to doubt if she was her biological daughter in her mother's eyes.
Look at Yukinoshita Yukino; she always seemed to feel unappreciated at home, a substitute for her older sister, and she had always shown signs of being isolated at home, not at all as favored as her sister. Yet, after what happened today, her family kept her, surely wanting to say many important things to her.
And what about herself?
Although her father would thank her master for saving her, and her brother blamed himself for not looking after her, they ultimately didn't choose to keep her, simply letting her go with Leo... She was about to embark on a different life; didn't they have anything to say to her?
Yuuki Asuna, inevitably having such thoughts, was clearly a bit down.
"Snap!"
Suddenly, a hand reached out and flicked Yuuki Asuna's forehead.
"Ah!"
Yuuki Asuna let out a gasp, whether from fright or pain.
"What complicated things are you thinking about?" Leo, the instigator, withdrew his hand without a hint of guilt and said leisurely, "Although you're at a sentimental age, seeing you look so abandoned still makes me a little unhappy."
"...Mr. Leo is only one year older than me, isn't he?"
Yuuki Asuna covered her forehead, muttering softly.
"But the way you make me feel, it's like I'm taking care of a daughter," Leo chuckled, pouting. "I wouldn't mind fast-forwarding to having a little cotton jacket, but unfortunately, you're a bit old. Raising you isn't as good as waiting for you to pick up some AI little girl."
"AI little girl?" Yuuki Asuna was momentarily stunned, asking blankly, "Do you mean artificial intelligence? Can such a thing be picked up?"
"Who knows?" Leo laughed carelessly. "Although I don't think it's possible in this world, one must have dreams, right?"
"...I don't understand what you're saying." Yuuki Asuna frowned, thinking hard for a while, but finally gave up trying to figure it out, saying helplessly, "Mr. Leo is always like this, saying strange things from time to time, and doing astonishing things from time to time."
"That's how it stays interesting," Leo said, looking at Yuuki Asuna's delicate profile. "Perhaps I lived too ordinary and repressed a life before. Now, I'm somewhat letting myself go, prioritizing whatever feels most comfortable."
"That truly fits the Demon Lord style of living," Yuuki Asuna seemed to feel Leo's gaze, and somewhat shyly smoothed her hair. "But it's very enviable."
"No need to be envious, you can do it too," Leo patted Yuuki Asuna's shoulder. "From now on, you can live however you want; there will be nothing to restrain you anymore."
"Really?" Yuuki Asuna's mood seemed to have improved somewhat, as she even joked, "But aren't you my master, Mr. Leo? Won't you restrain me either?"
"That depends on whether you're obedient," Leo said earnestly. "If you're not obedient, then I'll tie you up and spank you."
"...Pervert," Yuuki Asuna's face flushed slightly, and she cursed softly. "I won't give Mr. Leo the chance to bully me."
"Then I'll be looking forward to it," Leo said, seeing Yuuki Asuna's mood had completely brightened. "Please take care of me from now on, Asuna."
Yuuki Asuna froze for a moment, then nodded heavily, smiling.
The limousine soon arrived at the manor, drove into the garden, and stopped in front of the mansion's main entrance.
Leo and Yuuki Asuna said goodbye to each other on the first floor and returned to their respective rooms.
However, before returning to her room, Yuuki Asuna's phone received a text message.
"Remember to take care of yourself. — Kyoko Yuuki."
Looking at the content of the message, Yuuki Asuna's eyes welled up... On the other side, after returning to his room, Leo also took out his phone and checked the new messages he had received.
"Tomorrow, my sister and mom will take me to school. We'll meet at school. — Yukinoshita Yukino."
"How is it? Have you already dealt with Miss Musashi? — Sona Sitri."
"Perverted Demon Lord, I've finished a new chapter. This time it's definitely good. I've sent it to your computer. Go read it and give me your thoughts. — Kasumigaoka Utaha."
Besides messages from these acquaintances, there were also some timed contact letters from his connections, reporting various matters to him.
Leo read through them one by one, then replied to each, leaving only Kasumigaoka Utaha's message unread.
"Already new content?"
Leo raised an eyebrow, got up directly, and took the laptop from the bedside table.
Opening the computer and then his email, Leo quickly saw the email from someone named "Kasumi Shiko."
He opened it and read it, then immediately replied.
"Isn't this just old wine in new bottles? It's still just sweet interactions between the male and female leads, sweet from beginning to end. To some extent, it does make one smile knowingly, but it's still the same old story: it lacks anticipation and the appeal of the first volume. Out of ten points, I'll give you three: one for your elegant writing, senpai, one for the charming female protagonist, and the remaining one is a pity from a fan's filter. You still need to work harder~~~"
After writing and clicking send, Leo tossed the laptop onto the bed and went to the bathroom to shower.
Unbeknownst to him, at this moment, a certain rising light novel author was fuming...
"What do you mean, a pity from a fan's filter...?! "
In an apartment in Chiba City, Kasumigaoka Utaha, upon receiving the reply email, was trembling with rage, almost throwing the laptop in her hand.
At this time, Kasumigaoka Utaha was in her room, and it seemed she had just finished showering.
The evidence was that the girl's hair was still wet, and a warm steam emanated from her body, which was only wrapped in a bath towel, exposing her shoulders, arms, thighs, and other areas to the air, a sight extremely pleasing to the eye.
"That perverted Demon Lord, how dare he say such outrageous things..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha, almost unclothed, gritted her teeth, her chest heaving, causing the knot of her bath towel to loosen slightly, revealing quite a bit of scenery.
"And I was so looking forward to that guy's evaluation. I should have known better than to send it."
Kasumigaoka Utaha was truly furious. She grabbed the pillow from the bed and started pounding it wildly, as if it were someone's face.
After venting sufficiently, Kasumigaoka Utaha, with an unhappy expression, picked up the laptop, re-read the new content she had written, and then let out a long sigh.
"Is it really that bad?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered to herself, looking somewhat dejected.
She had never shown this side of herself to others; only when she was alone in her room like this would she inevitably reveal it.
"Can it be that I really can't write a second volume? Am I going to watch love metronome get axed?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha was troubled, her worried expression truly heartbreaking.
"Is there any way..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha paced around her room, ignoring the clothes she had thrown on the floor, even kicking them further away.
"Hmm?"
Just then, Kasumigaoka Utaha discovered a retro parchment scroll that had fallen out of the pocket of the kicked clothes.
Kasumigaoka Utaha remembered the origin of this paper.
"This is a very effective amulet, you know. When you're troubled, it might be able to give you some help."
The image of the young man handing it to her with a brilliant smile was still vivid in her mind. Kasumigaoka Utaha felt annoyed, yet she picked it up.
"If you can really help me, then hurry up and do it," Kasumigaoka Utaha snorted. "Help me finish the second volume, don't let love metronome get axed."
The moment Kasumigaoka Utaha uttered these words—
"Zheng—"
On the parchment, the simple Magic Circle lit up.