As Wise finished speaking, he reached out again, brushing her tail while his other hand found its way to her calf, wrapped in black stockings.
The delicate fabric shimmered faintly under the light, revealing tiny patterns, while the tightly wrapped calf looked full and alluring.
Unconsciously, Wise swallowed. Still, he gently touched Ellen's calf. The moment he made contact, he could clearly feel her body tense slightly.
Ellen could no longer maintain her composure. She tried her best to suppress the instinctive urge to hit him by continuing to pretend to be asleep, yet her excessive stillness only exposed her further.
Although she had been exposed long before, once Wise was certain that Ellen would not "wake up" anytime soon, he allowed himself to act more boldly.
His hand left her leg and slowly moved higher. Ellen felt it instantly, her heart in a mess as she struggled to decide whether to stop him or keep pretending.
'What should I do? Should I pretend to wake up now and stop him? But wouldn't that be too awkward? And if Wise realized I had been pretending to sleep the whole time, it would just make things worse...'
While Ellen was still wrestling with herself, Wise's hand had already touched her shoulder. In the end, she decided to just let it happen.
As long as he didn't cross the line, she'd let him do what he wanted. It wasn't like she'd lose anything, so she treated it as payback for all the care he'd given her.
However, what Ellen never expected was that Wise didn't do anything improper afterward. Instead, his hand slipped beneath her armpit.
"Pfft... Hah, haha!"
Ellen tried desperately to hold it in, but being tickled under the armpit left her no chance to resist, especially under these circumstances.
"Stop, stop! Please stop! I... hah, I can't breathe anymore..."
Only after Ellen pleaded several times did Wise finally stop and pull his hand away.
After a short while, Ellen managed to calm herself, but the redness on her cheeks stubbornly refused to disappear.
"You already knew I wasn't asleep, didn't you?!" Ellen spoke through clenched teeth, glaring at Wise with a hint of ferocity, though there was no real threat in her eyes.
"Of course. I noticed that whenever your tail is touched, the skin tenses up unnaturally, so I wanted to see what would happen if you were asleep. I tested it again," he replied calmly.
Wise looked at Ellen and saw that she was still somewhat angry, so he chose to make a compromise.
"Alright, my fault. I shouldn't have gone that far. To make up for it, I'll grant you one wish. As long as it's something I can do."
Ellen turned to face him upon hearing that.
"Anything?" she asked, and Wise nodded without hesitation.
"Anything. Even if you ask for my body, I can agree to that..."
"Who wants your body?!"
Ellen shouted in embarrassment, her face instantly turning crimson. The sudden outburst caught the attention of others nearby, yet only Corin rushed over.
"Miss Ellen, Wise, um... is something wrong?"
Corin looked at the two timidly. Even she could sense that the atmosphere between them felt a little strange.
"Nothing, just talking in my sleep."
Corin nodded innocently after hearing this. Once she'd reassured her, Ellen turned back to Wise.
Her meaning was clear: the condition would be saved for next time.
Seeing this, Wise could only nod in agreement.
Meanwhile, Corin watched them from the side with innocent curiosity, completely unaware of what had actually happened.
She even thought they had argued and was trying to figure out how to help them reconcile.
Not long after, Belle completed her preparations, and Wise shared his decision to personally enter the Hollow with everyone.
Lycaon and Rina were a little surprised, and Corin was completely stunned. Still, when she remembered how Wise could handle Rina's cooking, it suddenly made sense.
"I understand. Although I welcome the chance to work alongside you directly, we must carefully arrange our positions when entering the Hollow."
"Mr. Lycaon, there's no need to worry. My sister will take care of that. Her skills are no worse than mine," Wise said, pointing toward Eous, who had already synchronized her consciousness with Belle and was waving excitedly.
It had been a long while since she last operated Eous, and the familiar sensation felt just as amazing as she remembered.
Belle was still admiring the feeling when she suddenly found herself lifted into the air. She turned her head and saw her brother.
"Eh-ne?"
"Why are you talking like a Bangboo, Belle? Well, it doesn't really matter. You're probably wondering why I'm carrying you. I just figured it'd be hard for you to move, so I picked you up."
Once all preparations were finished, the group headed toward Ballet Twins.
At the same time, elsewhere in the city, Nicole was about to board the airship. She felt a bit uneasy at first, but when she saw Anby and the others arrive, clearly out of breath, that worry quickly faded into relief.
After all, if something went wrong at such a critical moment, the media would undoubtedly blow it out of proportion.
To make it on time, Billy had activated the anaerobic mode of his newly replaced breathing module. Unfortunately, the cheap components made it impossible for the system to switch back to intake mode.
Nicole and the others did not pay it much mind. Billy was a robot, after all, and breathing was hardly a necessity for him.
Noticing Anby standing nearby, lost in thought, Nicole sensed something was bothering her and asked, "What's wrong, Anby? You look preoccupied."
"I'm just wondering if it's really okay to entrust Phaethon to a group of strangers from a housekeeping company."
"Didn't you mention that Wise and Nekomata are familiar with the people there, and that the Ballet Twins are their master's property? So there probably won't be any problems."
Nicole wasn't worried about it, but Anby's next words caught her attention.
"No. I'm worried that once they team up with others, they'll notice the difference in service quality and stop coming to us."
Anby looked far more serious than usual. Meeting Ellen had triggered an unmistakable sense of danger.
A real threat. One that could shake her position.
Right now, Anby only considered herself below Belle. But if that girl joined, she might end up standing on equal ground.
Nicole didn't realize what Anby was thinking and quickly argued back.
Even as she confidently claimed it was "absolutely impossible," she secretly sent a message to Wise.
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