Country of All Stars, in the ground-floor living room of Rose's villa, Yaxiu and Igola were staring at a whiteboard.
"Demon Yinzhi, mortal of All Stars. Appearance: cute girl with long pinkish-purple hair. Affiliation: Omniscient Weaver. Note: Extended an invitation to Igola to become her follower."
"Amilo Kaishirui, Gospel Legendary Sorcerer, majors in the fist and claw faction. Appearance: white tiger beastman. Affiliation: Omniscient Weaver. Note: Disregards Igola."
"Demon Yejian, mortal of All Stars. Appearance: little black-haired boy. Affiliation: Blood Moon Ultimate Lord. Note: Extended a blood-kin invitation to Harvey; likes Harvey very much."
"Tiramisu Sundae, Blood Moon Legendary Sorcerer, majors in the necromancy faction. Appearance: tall, beautiful woman wearing an eyepatch and carrying a coffin. Affiliation: Blood Moon Ultimate Lord. Note: Bit Harvey, gave Harvey the key sorcery procedure for the Necro-Scourge, very interested in Harvey."
Yaxiu looked grave. "We're in trouble this time..."
"Indeed..." Igola murmured. "A bizarre situation we've never encountered before... What should we do?"
Rose walked over carrying a tray and set two drinks before them. "Caffè latte. Star Copa coffee beans, Eyes blend, low-fat milk, two sugar packets, sixty-five degrees."
Igola took his and sipped slowly. "Thank you."
"Iced honey five-flower tea."
Yaxiu took his, took a sip, and set it down. "Tastes awful. Anyone who likes this stuff has definitely lost their mind."
Rose sat down next to Yaxiu, her dark blue hair resting against his shoulder as her hands immediately went to inspect his body. "Yet when I was injured as a child, drinking this made me recover very quickly. Based on path dependence, I consider this beverage beneficial for wound healing."
"I'm actually mostly fine now. All the external wounds have healed, and what's left of the internal injuries will gradually recov—hey, checking me doesn't require stripping off my shirt!" Yaxiu clutched his shirt tightly, dodging Rose's small hands.
Rose widened her star-like, almost translucent eyes, staring quietly at her employer.
After a moment's contemplation, she brought out two black-and-blue crystal orbs. Inside them, miniature storms seemed trapped, shifting and morphing by the second. Moreover, white lightning crackled wherever fingers made contact with the surface. It was extraordinarily cool—a lethal temptation for any boy. Yaxiu couldn't tear his eyes away with just a single glance.
"Take one in each hand, hold them up, and try tapping them together," Rose said.
Yaxiu eagerly lifted the two crystal orbs, whereupon Rose effortlessly peeled up his shirt, feeling his ribs and abdominal muscles to inspect the areas injured the night before.
Noticing the priceless expression on Igola's face nearby, she explained, "I learned this in the hospital. Doctors and nurses use little tricks to make patients cooperate." Pausing briefly, she added, "Though it's generally applied to children under six."
"No wonder it worked." The swindler could barely hold back a laugh. "Just about the same, really."
Having had his fill of playing with them, Yaxiu put the two small orbs away and huffed, "This trick won't work on me next time."
"Next time, I will use a new trick." Rose pulled his shirt back down, then grasped his slender, well-defined hand. "You need your nails trimmed. Or do you plan on getting a manicure?"
"No, I usually wield a sword, so I can't keep long nails."
"All right." Like a spatial sorcerer, Rose pulled a nail clipper kit out of her pocket.
While being waited on hand and foot was nice, having Igola watch from the side made Yaxiu feel rather embarrassed. Besides, growing up, he had never been the one being pampered; if anything, he used to give his parents back rubs to earn pocket money. He tried to pull his hand back. "I'll have time to cut them myself today—"
His hand didn't budge.
Rose's strength was unexpectedly formidable. Gripping Yaxiu's wrist tightly, she raised her azure brows and said, "You are a patient."
"Didn't you just examine my injuries? I'm fine."
"What if you have a concussion? What if your kidneys are failing? What if there are countless complications?" Rose said in all seriousness. "You need proper rest. I don't want you dropping dead from overexertion while clipping your nails."
"Taking a shower takes way more effort than clipping nails, though! I can't just skip bathing, can I?"
"Who do you think washed the filthy grime and blood off your body last night?"
Yaxiu turned to look at Igola.
The swindler shook his head. "Last night I was too exhausted to even wash myself. Of course it was Rose who washed you... You got someone to help you bathe, what are you complaining about? Don't you like Rose?"
"Of course not." Yaxiu shook his head at once, his tone hesitant. "It's just, how do I put it... Right, Rose, aren't you usually very averse to physical contact? I was just afraid of giving you an unpleasant experience."
"However, you are my employer, and circumstances left no choice. We couldn't take you to a hospital either. In such a situation, my professionalism precedes my personal preferences," Rose said earnestly. "From my very first day on the job, I knew I would cross my bottom line. After all, my bottom line was not working at all."
"Furthermore, strictly speaking, it could hardly be called an unpleasant experience. Your physique aligns well with my aesthetic preferences, it was very comfortable to wash, and your limbs have a wide range of motion, making it quite intriguing to handle."
Yaxiu: "Your description sounds like you're talking about a toy."
"Because you are an injured patient, I will not permit you to bathe alone tonight," Rose said. "Since I have already crossed my bottom line once, I can continue washing you tonight—unless someone else washes you instead."
Yaxiu instantly pressed his hands together in a devout prayer, looking toward Igola. "This is the single wish of my entire life—bathe with me tonight, Igola!"
"That sounds disgusting." The swindler could barely hold back his laughter. "Still, I accept."
Yaxiu was inexplicably touched. "My dearest friend—"
"Except I won't 'wash you.' I'm not even willing to help you deceive Rose. So tonight, Yaxiu is still your trouble, Miss Rose."
Rose gave a slight nod. "I have grown accustomed to this troublesome employer."
Yaxiu's lips twitched. "Then why the hell did you agree, Igola?!"
Igola: "Purely to secure the best front-row seat, and conveniently gather some conversational material to chat with Sword Princess about in the future."
Yaxiu ground his teeth, yet dared not lose his temper. "My dearest friend..."
Rose collected his nail clippings into a small box and reminded him, "Switch to the left hand."
Yaxiu obeyed meekly, thinking to himself that he would simply stay elsewhere tonight. He turned his eyes back to the whiteboard and couldn't help letting out a long sigh.
Igola lost the mood to tease him as well, an expression of worry surfacing on his face.
"Though I am not very adept at reading facial expressions, you two seem quite troubled, yes?" Having finished trimming Yaxiu's nails, Rose produced a nail file to smooth them down. "Is there anything I can help with?"
"You won't be able to help."
"Is it a plot difficulty in that role-playing game of yours?"
"While that is plenty troublesome as well, there's another pressing crisis." Yaxiu sighed. "We suspect Harvey has been ambushed and plotted against, and his mind has been severely affected."
Rose thought for a moment. "I don't think so. Mr. Harvey seems just as eccentric as usual to me."
"The problem is, he said that after we got separated, he met two people, and both of them liked him very much. A tall, beautiful woman even bit his neck on her own initiative!" Yaxiu's expression was exceedingly conflicted. "Listen to that! Is that something a sane person would ever say?"
Igola: "Mainly, Harvey claimed he was popular. That..."
"Exactly, exactly! If it were Igola saying it, there'd at least be a shred of credibility, but Harvey? How could that possibly happen?" Yaxiu shook his head.
"I don't really understand, but it feels like you are saying very rude things," Rose remarked, gently blowing on Yaxiu's hand.
Igola mused, "Those two must want to use Harvey, so they didn't hesitate to humble themselves and feign great fondness toward him... Truly worthy of the Blood Moon team."
"Despicable," Yaxiu declared in pained indignation. "To stoop to such shameless, underhanded tricks against a freak like Harvey whom everyone steers clear of! That's practically lower than Igola!"
Rose rubbed the pad of Yaxiu's finger. "I believe my judgment was correct. You are indeed being very rude."
Chapter 844