Contrary to what Noelle expected, the members of the ‘Crimson Rose Sisters’ didn’t actually mock or harass her for hurting Emilia. In fact, both Dixie and Crystal seemed to either be unaware of what happened, or didn’t seem to care for it much.
It didn’t bring Noelle any relief, however. The fact that they didn’t know about it now didn’t mean that they wouldn’t discover everything later, given Sam was also a part of their group, and she knew everything very well.
It was also possible that they knew everything but pretended not to know about it, but the gray-haired girl had no way of making sure anyway without asking, and that… Noelle didn’t dare to do at all.
She didn’t even feel comfortable talking in the group chat except for responding to their initial queries and greetings, and only silently observed their conversations from time to time.
The two younger girls seemed to take the group chat as a place where they could archive all the adorable moments they had together with Emilia, from the cuteness of the muffins she baked three days ago to the adorable shield hairpin she carved out from wood, they gushed about anything and everything in great detail.
They didn’t even hesitate to share the crimson-haired beauty’s candid photos!
Even though she knew Emilia probably wouldn’t mind being photographed by them and maybe even knew all about it, Noelle still couldn’t help but feel a little angry. After typing out a long and serious admonishment letter, however, she still couldn’t press that send button.
The guilt in her heart kept her from saying what she wanted, and Noelle could only sigh and put her phone away for the rest of the day.
Thankfully, she was able to get busy with some crucial matters soon enough, so the time till she got off work passed smoothly.
As the gray-haired girl drove back home and was able to gather her thoughts again, however, the strange feeling in her heart came rushing back.
Noelle couldn’t help but frown. “This has got to be the longest I’ve gone without receiving even a single message from Emilia since the day we started talking…”
Although most of their conversations at the beginning had been about things that the crimson-haired beauty wanted her to do, sometimes mixed with teasing and mischief, Emilia’s intimate tone never allowed her to consider it ‘work’ in her heart, making dissociation impossible.
No matter how she tried to convince herself that Emilia was probably busy with preparations for the annual events week, or something else, Noelle couldn’t really make herself believe it. The fact that such a strange thing happened right after she snubbed the girl’s invitation couldn’t be a coincidence, right?
It hadn’t been just a day or two since she knew Emilia, and Noelle felt like she had a pretty good grasp of her nature.
Noelle knew that although she was mischievous and naughty on the outside, the little beauty was actually quite warm and soft on the inside.
She kept those she didn’t like at arm’s length, protecting herself with a tough, thick wall filled with spikes of caution and wariness, but for those she liked… her soft, fragile heart was left fully exposed.
Noelle’s knuckles kept turning whiter and whiter as her grip on the steering wheel tightened on her way home, but the girl herself remained completely unaware of her abnormality. It was only when she heard a ‘crack’ that she snapped out of her thoughts, startled.
Thankfully, the steering wheel hadn’t completely shattered, and she could still drive home safely.
Noelle couldn’t only sigh as she pulled into her driveway, her expression cloudy and dark. ‘I… I’ll tell her I’m sorry… tomorrow…’
The gray-haired girl made her way over to the door in a daze, but just as she was about to knock, she couldn’t help but pause in shock.
The giggles she heard from inside… why were they so familiar?!
Nicole’s tone was already quite familiar to her, having lived with her for quite a while, but the other voice she heard… there was no mistaking it.
For a moment, Noelle couldn’t help but panic. ‘W-Why did she not tell me she was coming over?!’
The thought of turning around to escape crossed her mind, but Noelle quickly shook it off. Even if she could make appropriate excuses to escape this time… wouldn’t it make things worse?
Since she wanted to apologize to begin with, this was as good an opportunity as any!
Noelle steeled her heart and boldly knocked on the door, her ears twitching as she paid close attention to the sounds inside.
There was a round of squealing shortly followed by the rapid pitter-patter of footsteps coming her way, and Noelle couldn’t help but gulp as she wondered which one of them would open the door.
To both her relief and disappointment, it turned out to be her ‘little sister’.
The previously excited expression on Nicole’s face almost collapsed when she looked at the gloomy and obviously disappointed appearance of her ‘big sister’, but she quickly regained her spirit when she thought about the previous events again. “Noelle! You won’t believe it, but—!”
Noelle rushed past her without listening to or responding to her words at all, making the younger girl’s mind turn blank for a moment before she stomped her feet angrily and followed after her unreasonable ‘older sibling’.
Unfortunately, even though she had clearly not dallied at all, by the time Nicole got back to the living room, what awaited her was only the sight of Noelle’s bedroom door slamming shut, with her ‘idol’ nowhere to be seen.
Thinking about how she had been laughing and joking with the crimson-haired beauty just moments before, she almost exploded from rage on the spot. “I shouldn’t have opened that door at all!”
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Noelle didn’t know what happened to her the moment she saw Emilia, but before she realized it, she had already firmly grasped the girl’s soft hand and dragged her all the way to the bedroom before slamming the door shut.
There was a hint of inexplicable panic in her heart after having analyzed her previous behavior, and the gray-haired girl realized that she had subconsciously wanted to drag Emilia to a more intimate location so that she couldn’t alienate herself further.
But once she had really done so, Noelle didn’t even have the courage to turn around and look into Emilia’s eyes.
Noelle couldn’t help but bite her lip nervously. ‘Doing things like this… it would be a wonder if she didn’t think I was a pervert!’
The soft giggle of the younger girl made Noelle stiffen unconsciously, and her mind momentarily turned blank when she saw Emilia walk past her and towards the bed.
She couldn’t help but have an absurd thought in her mind. ‘Even if she thinks I’m a pervert… since she can be okay with Sam, wouldn’t she be fine with me as well?’
The excitement she felt when the crimson-haired beauty leaned into her bed made Noelle feel both guilty and ashamed, but she still couldn’t deny what she wanted to do next. ‘M-Maybe it would be less awkward if we reconciled physically first… r-right!’
Just as she had taken a few steps forward to embrace Emilia from behind, however, the girl turned around with a teasing grin on her face, a pair of very familiar purple lingerie hanging from her right index finger.
”I knew I ‘forgot’ them here, but what were they doing on your bed, I wonder?”
The glinting eyes and teasing smile from the younger girl made Noelle want to subconsciously deny any involvement with what had happened, and she quickly shook her head in denial. “I-It’s not what you think!”
Emilia tilted her head with a mischievous smile. “Oh? What is it, then?”
The adorable appearance of the younger girl made Noelle’s heart skip a beat, and she almost admitted the truth before denying it before it could escape her mouth in a panic. “I-I definitely wasn’t using them for anything perverted!”
The gray-haired girl felt her mind turn blank the moment the words escaped her lips, and she almost couldn’t believe that she had put her foot into her mouth once again. ‘Even if she wasn’t sure I was a pervert before… there’s no way she thinks otherwise now!’
Noelle knew that not only had it been far too long since Emilia left for that kind of excuse to fly, even the bedsheets had been changed! The only explanation for Emilia’s lingerie to be on her bed was for someone to have put them there on purpose.
When she first confiscated them from the unconscious Nicole, the gray-haired girl really hadn’t intended to use them like that, although she couldn’t deny that she might have wanted to keep them as a souvenir.
But after what happened between them before, Noelle had subconsciously taken them out of her closet and decided to take comfort in their soft fabric as a proxy for Emilia’s presence, which allowed her to relax just enough for her to fall asleep.
Naturally, no one would come barging into her bedroom without her permission, and even if they did, who would recognize that this particular set wasn’t her own?
As for Emilia… the gray-haired girl had assumed that she would be lucky if it took her a few weeks to make it up to the younger girl for what she did before, and for the little beauty to come to her bed before then would just be wishful thinking.
Noelle couldn’t help but regret being so careless now. ‘If I knew things were going to turn out like this… No, I definitely should have kept them in the locker anyway!’
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