Hidden Management Department garrison.
Third-floor reception room.
"Just some humble tea, please enjoy."
Megumi Kato calmly brewed a cup of Luo Shu's prized Da Hong Pao and gently placed it on the glass coffee table.
Witnessing this, a silver-haired girl with shoulder-length hair, clear blue eyes and an angelic smile quickly expressed her gratitude:
"No, it's we who should be thanking you for the tea."
Hearing this exchange, Natsuki Minamiya - sitting on a single sofa to the right - crossed her legs while calmly reading a magazine:
"Kanon, there's no need to be so formal. Treat this place as your own home."
"But..." Kanon Kanase hesitated at Natsuki's words.
"What an adorable child~"
Haruno Yukinoshita leaned over the back of Natsuki's sofa, studying Kanon Kanase with interest:
"And with this appearance - completely like a princess, no, an angel~"
"Absolutely adorable~ Hmm, second only to Yukino in my heart."
As she spoke, Haruno Yukinoshita stole a glance at Yukino, seemingly hoping to see her flustered reaction to the praise.
However...
"Meow~"
At some point, Ms. Yukino Yukinoshita, now wearing black cat ears, was cradling a calico cat on her lap while mimicking its meows.
The calico had been brought over by Kanon Kanase from an Aldegian orphanage - apparently the only companion she'd had there, hence being packed along when she was adopted.
However, after the cat arrived at the garrison, Kanon temporarily entrusted it to Yukino Yukinoshita.
The longing in the girl's eyes upon seeing the feline had been too obvious for Kanon to refuse.
Witnessing Yukino's behaviour, Ms. Haruno remarked with feeling:
"Wow, her very soul's been stolen by that cat."
Not only that, Yukino noticed a hand holding a cat teaser emerging from the shadows, constantly enticing the calico.
Judging by the black-and-red frilled sleeve, this was unmistakably Kurumi Tokisaki's doing.
Seeing Yukino and Kurumi competing for the cat's attention, a jealous Haruno Yukinoshita abandoned Kanon to hover before her sister, hoping to divert Yukino's gaze from feline to sibling.
After all, losing to a cat would be too pathetic.
Although freed from Haruno's interference, the heavyweight troublemaker, Nia Honjo, remained present.
Currently clutching a canned beer and reeking of alcohol, Nia slapped Natsuki Minamiya's shoulder while grinning mischievously:
"Even the adoption paperwork got processed within half an hour? As expected of Natsuki-chan, having connections even in Aldegia~"
"Stop slapping my shoulder, drunkard!"
Natsuki brushed her shoulder disdainfully before frowning:
"How many bottles have you drunk?"
"Not many - just six since morning."
Nia chuckled as she plopped down beside Kanon Kanase, then said slyly:
"Since Kanon-chan accepted the adoption, you must know why we're adopting you, right?"
"Huh?" Kanon blinked in confusion. "Natsuki-sensei never mentioned the reason..."
"Oh? Taking someone away without explanation... Ah, I nearly forgot - the orphanage director was apparently informed, being Natsuki-chan's friend. So they got the message."
"Royal family disputes, hmm... Just as I suspected. They wanted to entrust you to a friend's protection."
Nia suddenly smacked her own forehead and grinned:
"But that's not important. The real reason for adopting Kanon-chan..."
After gulping down a mouthful of beer and exhaling contentedly, she continued:
"Well, our Director's reached marriageable age. For his physical and mental well-being, and to prevent him from encountering seductresses, I had Natsuki adopt you."
"That's right, Kanon-chan~ You've entered this household as a child bride!!"
Hearing Nia's nonsense, Kanon regarded her with mild surprise before hesitantly responding:
"I may not live up to your expectations, but I'll do my best."
Seeing Kanon Kanase bow earnestly and modestly before her, Nia Honjo couldn't help but let out a strange cackle.
However, before she could laugh for long, two hands reached out from behind and grabbed her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, hey, we should dispose of this drunken, non-recyclable trash early."
Megumi Kato and Haruno Yukinoshita each took one side, forcibly dragging Nia Honjo away from the sofa.
Haruno sighed helplessly: "Ah, watching a bad person deceive an innocent child... If we don't do something, I feel terribly guilty."
"Same here." Megumi nodded faintly before suggesting, "So, should we try cremating her directly?"
"Eh? No! Anything but that! I don't have resurrection abilities!!"
Nia flailed wildly but couldn't break free from Megumi and Haruno's hold.
Then Megumi spoke softly: "Just to be safe, let's have Senior Kurumi handle this."
As she spoke, shadows suddenly pooled at Nia's feet, from which numerous slender arms emerged, firmly grasping her before dragging her into the darkness.
Just before completely disappearing, Nia flailed and screamed:
"Nooo! I was wrong~~ Someone, anyone, save me... glug glug glug!"
After Nia's disappearance, Haruno sat beside Kanon and pointed at where the "criminal" had been erased:
"Kanon-chan? Is it okay to call you that?"
Kanon nodded, watching Haruno expectantly.
Smiling, Haruno continued:
"Don't mind that idiot earlier. Although our Director sometimes makes dirty jokes, he's actually a good person. He definitely doesn't have any intentions of raising a child bride like she said."
"As for why he's adopting you... Actually, our Director knows your family and your circumstances. This decision was made after discussing it with them."
"This might sound complicated, so let me put it simply."
"You can think of the Director adopting you as him wanting to become family with you."
"Fa...mily..."
Having grown up in an orphanage, Kanon's eyes seemed to brighten at the mention of this word.
Noticing this, Haruno felt slightly surprised.
'This child... could she be secretly longing for a family? For someone to be with her?'
'With how innocent she seems, I feel like Luo Shu could win her over in minutes...'
'Am I imagining things?'
Just as Haruno was thinking this, the door creaked open.
Luo Shu entered the room and, seeing everyone, exclaimed in surprise:
"Ah, everyone's here!"