At his words, the two cat-eared maidens responded with a playful murmur. Hand in hand, they shared a quick kiss before strolling away.
“I’m just passing through.”
Silvia frowned slightly, taking a step back as he warily observed the purple-haired youth.
Despite the man radiating goodwill, Silvia felt a subtle resistance, a peculiar sense of déjà vu, as if… he had been ‘marked.’
Come to think of it, this was his first time facing… a man!
‘Seriously, are all men this strange? I can understand women loving women, but this… I’m a man too, right!?’
“Haha, no need to be so tense~”
The purple-haired youth waved a hand, chuckling, his gaze returning to Silvia. A distinct ‘probing’ glint was in his eyes, and he licked his thin lips.
“Your temperament and appearance, young man, remind me of some rather interesting things.”
“I’ve encountered all sorts of people in this mansion, but someone as unique as you is truly rare.”
Xia Naxin sensed Silvia’s unease and subtly moved closer. She was capable of crushing the youth’s skull with her telekinesis at any moment.
However, his actions hadn’t yet crossed her line. After all, she had promised Silvia she wouldn’t commit evil.
She waited to see just how far this youth dared to push his luck.
Silvia gazed at the purple-haired youth, a strange revulsion rising within him, yet he was curious about the man’s intentions.
Despite the ‘goodwill’ emanating from him, Silvia felt profoundly uncomfortable.
Suppressing his discomfort, Silvia responded.
“I’m merely a passerby, nothing special. We’re not acquainted, are we?”
“Hahaha, so aloof~ But with a face like yours, you look like a fallen noble stepping straight out of a painting.”
With a boisterous laugh, the purple-haired youth deliberately tore open his shirt, exposing more of his chest.
The sound of his Adam’s apple bobbing was distinctly audible.
“How about we become friends? In this icy, snowy Duchy of Anyu, friends… are quite important.”
Before Silvia could reply, Xia Naxin stepped in front of him, a flicker of displeasure in her eyes. She stated coldly,
“If you harbor any further inappropriate thoughts about him, you’d best just die.”
As her words fell, Xia Naxin’s fingertips subtly moved. An invisible surge of telekinetic power pierced the purple-haired youth’s ear.
Suddenly, the youth let out a shriek, stumbling back several steps.
A strand of purple hair fluttered from his ear, inexplicably turning to ash!
That surge of telekinetic power had not only precisely severed his hair but also created a violent tremor within his ear canal.
The youth clutched his ear, collapsing to his knees. The ringing in his ears blurred all surrounding sounds into a dull hum, and his vision swam with black spots.
“Consider that a small lesson.”
Xia Naxin looked down at him.
“Next time, it won’t be as simple as losing a strand of hair. I will… twist your head off.”
With that, she pulled Silvia away, indicating it was time to enter the mansion.
Yet, at that moment, the purple-haired youth, still clutching his ear, swayed to his feet. His hair was disheveled, but a frivolous smile still played on his lips as he called out to them.
“Wait…”
“Young man, my hot spring room is on the third floor of the eastern annex… if you encounter any difficulties—”
His voice trailed off, long and drawn out. As his tongue flicked across the corner of his mouth, it carried a hint of desire.
“Do come find me, hmm~ My silk sheets will be very warm and comfortable, I promise…”
Having said his piece, he strode away.
Simultaneously, orange-red magic surged around Xia Naxin, twisting the air into ripples. She gritted her teeth.
“He has a death wish!”
However, just as she prepared to raise her hand and crush the man from afar—
Silvia quickly pressed down on her wrist. He felt the warmth radiating from Naxin’s palm, laced with fury and possessiveness.
“Forget it… don’t kill him.”
Silvia pleaded softly, his silver hair falling to obscure the complex emotions in his eyes.
He watched the youth’s retreating back, a trace of helplessness welling up in his heart.
“Oh, you’re just too kind.”
Xia Naxin puffed out her cheeks, then gently pinched and rubbed Silvia’s cheek.
“Even when you’re not a woman anymore, you still manage to pique men’s ‘interest’…”
But seeing Silvia’s helpless and wronged expression, the anger in her heart softened into a tender ache.
Hearing this, Silvia sighed softly, a reminiscent look flashing across his face.
“I used to be a magical girl, you know~ It’s inevitable to be admired… Ugh, even though I’m not one now, I believe I will be again soon.”
As he spoke, Silvia glanced down at… his own flat chest, a sudden wave of melancholy washing over him.
Suddenly, Xia Naxin chuckled, cupping Silvia’s face in her hands.
“I don’t care.”
She leaned closer to Silvia, her warm breath caressing his reddened earlobe.
“You hurry up and turn back into a woman, so I can properly…”
At this, Xia Naxin paused. She raised two fingers and formed a heart shape before Silvia’s eyes.
“Make up for all the lost time.”
****
Stepping into the mansion’s ground floor, they found the main hall vast, nearly thirty meters high. Giant ice-sculpted chandeliers hung from above, while silent attendants polished the towering pillars.
It was still morning, so the number of guests was relatively sparse.
In the distance, behind a row of towering sofas, occasional glimpses of moving figures appeared and vanished—the slicked hair of men, the elegant hairpins of women.
Suddenly.
A flash of snowy-white cat ears rose from the other side of a sofa, followed by the lace hem of a maid’s uniform. It was a cat-eared maid.
The figure half-bowed, then stood, then crouched, only to disappear completely again. It was quite a while before she reappeared.
‘She must be doing squats,’ Silvia thought. But why would she be doing proper squats behind a sofa? It was as if she didn’t want to be seen.
‘Strange…’
Near the hall’s pillars, dog-eared maids in short skirts were tiptoeing to wipe windows, their fluffy tails unconsciously swaying.
When a man in a sharp suit snapped his fingers—
The dog-eared maid, who had been high up, froze. A guest had another request.
She dared not delay, putting down her window-cleaning tools. She wiped her hands on her apron and repeatedly pressed her lips together, ensuring they were clean.
Only then did she jog over.
By the sofa, as the man settled into his seat, he casually tugged her tail. The maiden stumbled, falling onto the front of the sofa, her once fluffy dog ears drooping softly.
The dog-eared maid vanished from sight.
“They are merely low-level demon beasts,” Xia Naxin stated, standing beside Silvia and looking towards the back of the sofa with a knowing expression.
“They possess a rudimentary shapeshifting technique. While they adopt human forms, they retain some beastly features, such as ears and tails… Well, at least they’re visually appealing and don’t have hairy faces.”
Her gaze swept over the cat-eared and dog-eared maids weaving through the guests.
“However, in the eyes of some, these ‘imperfections’… actually become delightful embellishments for their amusement.”
“So that’s it. I think I understand a little now. Over there… hmm~ they’re doing something strange, aren’t they?”
As he spoke, Silvia noticed the dog-eared maid, who had vanished beneath the sofa, resurface once more, only to be quickly pushed back down by the man.
Seeing this, Silvia felt that it was improper to stare, yet curiosity compelled him. Just a few more steps to the side, and he could see!
‘There’s no harm in just a peek, right?’
Silvia moved to the side, only to glimpse what was behind the sofa.
“This is…”
He froze, just as a clear bell sound chimed from the sofa. The dog-eared maid knelt on a soft cushion, her head tilted, allowing the man to gently comb the fur on her tail.
In the man’s lap, a ragdoll cat lay contentedly, stretching its body. With one hand, he stroked its chin in the direction of its fur.
Instantly, the fluffy cat ears twitched gently along with the cat’s satisfied purrs.
“What, didn’t see what you were hoping to see~”
Ling Cheyin had appeared beside him at some point, her dark eyes sparkling as she shook her phone.
“I just checked the mansion handbook. These shapeshifting demon beasts, or rather, the maids, possess a unique transcendent ability to share emotional fluctuations, giving guests a double sense of healing.”
“But your expression just now, it looked like you thought they were doing something inappropriate… Heh, so even the Magical Girl Zhennu Yibai has such thoughts in his head?”
“Cough… I…”
Silvia cleared his throat, turning his face away and covering it with his hand. Feeling the heat on his cheeks, he wondered what was wrong with him.
This was a feeling he had never experienced when he was a woman.
At that moment, several elegantly dressed guests happened to pass by.
The man leading them, wearing rimless glasses, paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Silvia.
“Oh~ What a handsome young man.”
The heavily made-up noblewoman beside him almost let out a gasp of admiration. She covered her mouth, chuckling, particularly fond of keeping handsome, slightly delicate ‘toy boys.’
However, feeling the gaze of her companion beside her—
The noblewoman had no choice but to suppress her impulse, reluctantly withdrawing her gaze and deciding not to approach him.
Xia Naxin, barely managing to hold back her laughter, walked over and gently tugged Silvia’s sleeve, then poked his flushed earlobe.
“Alright, alright, let’s not just stand here~”