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If someone had to ask Noelle about the most mortifying moment of her life, her answer would undoubtedly be the time when she called her primary school teacher 'mama'.
But if someone were to mention the second most mortifying incident - the current moment would probably be it.
Even though Emilia didn't really make fun of her and even carefully cleaned her face with wet wipes in the car, the upward curve of her luscious lips made it no secret how pleased she was on getting that 'reaction'.
No matter how generous she usually was towards this willful little boss, Noelle couldn't help but gloomily think about getting her revenge.
She convinced herself that if she really let the younger girl go after all of this, wouldn't Emilia learn the bad habit of teasing people too much, and suffer worse consequences eventually? It would be better to just 'teach her a lesson', then.
Of course, Emilia soon noticed that they weren't heading back 'home', and their car was now on a completely unfamiliar road. "Where are we going?"
Noelle smirked. "Why, are you worried?"
The younger girl tilted her head with a smile. "No? I'm just curious."
Looking at her carefree and clean eyes, Noelle couldn't help but sneer. "Didn't you just say you'd be repaying me with your body? I'm obviously taking you back to my place."
Emilia grinned. "Really? That's great! I've always wondered what Noelle's home was like, you know?"
Noelle pursed her lips as she continued driving steadily, wondering how long the younger girl could keep up this 'facade'.
Meanwhile, Emilia kept chattering with a bright smile on her face. "Some people believe that one's living area is a reflection of their personality, and while I don't think that's necessarily true all the time, I think many people do put their heart and soul into their living space."
Noelle made the mistake of taking a sideways glance at the girl's shining expression, and immediately turned back to the road, her heart thumping in irritation. 'One of these days, I'm going to run over some poor soul because of this girl!'
The younger girl remained oblivious to her companion's dark thoughts, however. "Taking me back to your home is like letting me take a look at your heart, then. I didn't know Noelle would be so romantic on our first date, aaahh! I should have prepared a gift!"
They soon arrived in a quaint neighborhood with rows of individual, single-story houses, and Noelle parked in the driveway of one of the coziest homes in the area.
It was an old-style rambler with deep, overhanging eaves, a small garden that was full of carefully maintained lush grass, and a lovely flowerbed on the side - mostly lilies and roses.
The sun had already set a while ago, and Emilia was just a little surprised to discover that the lights were on, meaning there was likely someone already inside.
Recalling the 'cousin' mentioned by her older sister earlier, she already had a faint guess in her heart.
It was strange for an orphan girl to have relatives, after all. Moreover, Noelle was someone who was picked up by the White Deer very early on, so there wasn't even an 'adoptive family' to speak of other than their own. How many relatives could she have?
Of course, Emilia hadn't really investigated Noelle yet, so there was no way for her to be sure.
Noelle didn't ring the doorbell or anything, and simply twisted the knob to enter after a brief knock to announce their arrival.
The girl inside obviously didn't expect a guest to follow her 'cousin' in, and was lying on the sofa upside down, dressed in elephant pajamas, angrily smashing the buttons of her handheld console.
"Die you useless piece of garbage! I didn't feed you all those XP capsules so you can do 13 fucking damage! AHH! Screw this boss!"
Emilia smiled as she leaned in to whisper in Noelle's ear. "That's one thing you have in common, you both want to screw the boss~"
The gray-haired girl felt a vein throb in her temple as she grit her teeth in rage. "Nicole!"
The sloppy girl jumped when she was shouted at, falling down face first on the carpet with a squeak.
Just as she was about to whine about how she was wronged, however, her expression froze as she turned to look at Noelle's gloomy face, as well as their 'guest'.
"E-Eek?!"
Looking at the girl's terrified expression as she backed away, Emilia couldn't help but feel a little strange. Before she could wonder what was going on, though, the girl had already dashed off into what she presumed was her own room, leaving only the sound of a door slamming shut.
Noelle sighed when she felt the tug at her arm, and knew that Emilia must be making a 'pitiful' expression without even turning her head.
"Noelle~ A-Am I scary~?"
She was just about to roll her eyes and reply perfunctorily when Noelle recalled her quest for revenge.
Instead of responding to her question, Noelle dragged the girl directly to the now-empty sofa, 'domineeringly' pressing her down as she looked into her eyes. "You're not scary at all. If anything, you should be the one to be scared!"
The gray-haired girl tried her best to ignore how soft the nimble body beneath her felt as she pressed her little boss down, or how charming her twinkling eyes looked up close, but all her thoughts were broken the moment she felt a gentle kiss land on her chin.
Emilia's smile was now half-teasing and half-sincere. "Why would I be scared with Noelle by my side? I'm sure you'll protect me just like you did before."
At this point, Noelle could only sigh in defeat as she let the younger girl go to lean back against the sofa, closing her eyes tiredly. "I really can't win against you, can I? Had it been anyone else, you would have already been chewed up and spit out!"
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