Lycaon remained silent, and at that moment, Rina spoke in an incredibly gentle voice.
"Thank you, Wise, for taking care of Corin for us. Could you ask her if she needs us to pick her up?"
As soon as Rina finished speaking, Corin, still flustered from Wise's passionate confession, quickly leaned toward the phone. Her fair face brushed softly against his shoulder.
"No need, Miss Rina. It's already late, and it wouldn't be convenient. I can just stay here and sleep with Wise."
Her response caused Rina, who had been about to persuade her, to pause slightly, her smile stiffening.
Since Corin had already made her decision, they couldn't force her to return. In the end, they had no choice but to give up.
"In that case, please take good care of Corin, Mr. Wise."
With that, Rina ended the call. At the same time, her curiosity about Wise deepened.
She understood both Corin and Ellen well, yet Wise had somehow won over both of them. That alone made her want to learn more about him.
'I should try to get to know him better later,' she thought.
Then, she glanced at Lycaon, who remained silent beside her. Noticing his grim expression, she stood up, intending to head to the kitchen to prepare some late-night snacks.
Before she could even take a step, Lycaon called out to her. Using the excuse of not wanting her to overwork, he told her to go back and rest.
Left with no choice, Rina agreed.
Meanwhile, Lycaon was already thinking about how to inform Ellen about this tomorrow.
No matter what Wise had done, as a companion, he felt obligated to tell her. The real issue was how to phrase it in a way she could accept.
That alone was a difficult problem.
And before he could even figure it out, Rina, who was supposed to be on his side, seemed ready to "poison" the situation further.
In the end, Lycaon gave up. He had no experience in matters like this and could only wait for Ellen's reaction before deciding what to do next.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after Wise hung up, Corin suddenly felt a wave of unease.
She nervously nestled into his arms like a startled fawn. In response, he gently stroked her head, offering quiet comfort.
At that moment, Wise felt a gaze from his left.
It was Rain who had been silently observing everything. Now that he looked her way, she finally spoke.
"I didn't expect Corin to stay overnight. This wasn't reported to Mr. Lycaon and the others. Be honest with me, what was your original intention when you brought her here? Was it to help take care of me, or was it for this?"
Her words left Wise feeling wronged.
This situation had been completely unexpected, though not entirely unreasonable.
At first, he hadn't even planned to meet Corin. Later, she had volunteered to help on her own. He had never intentionally led her into this.
Still, things ended up like this.
And honestly... it wasn't something he regretted.
<<>>
The next morning, Ellen called Wise, saying Lycaon had told her he had something important to discuss.
Wise immediately understood what had happened. Lycaon clearly didn't want to deal with the explanation himself and had passed it on.
It wasn't surprising. Wise had already planned to explain things anyway.
"Yes, it is important, and it should be explained properly. Come here, Corin."
"Hmm?" Ellen frowned, puzzled.
'Why is Corin at his place this early?'
Before she could think further, Corin's hesitant voice came through.
"Um... Miss Ellen, I... I'm sorry. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself..."
Ellen's frown deepened upon hearing this.
'What could she have done? She sounds so serious... but knowing her, it's probably nothing serious.'
With that in mind, she didn't dwell on it and responded casually.
"Ah, it's nothing, really. It's just a small matter, so you don't need to worry too much about it."
Ellen's calm words left Corin slightly stunned, but that feeling quickly turned into joy and relief.
She had been feeling guilty about what she had done, wondering how to apologize and explain everything.
Although Corin didn't regret it because she liked Wise, now that Ellen didn't care and wasn't even angry, this was undoubtedly the best outcome.
"Thank you for your generosity, Miss Ellen. I will never forget your kindness!"
"Huh? What kindness? Never mind, it's fine."
After saying that, Ellen hung up. Although she didn't quite understand what Corin meant, she had been woken up early by Lycaon's call.
Still half-asleep, her desire to go back to sleep was overwhelming, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
On the other side, seeing Ellen hang up, Corin let out a long breath, as if a huge weight had finally been lifted from her heart.
"Thank you, Wise, and Miss Rain."
As Corin said this, she bent down to bow, but halfway through, she let out a cry of pain. It seemed that last night's consequences of their passionate act were taking effect.
"Corin, you don't have to do that. You should rest well. Also, do you need me to take you home?"
Wise was exceptionally skilled at handling such situations. After helping Corin onto the sofa, he gently massaged her lower abdomen with his hand.
Though he couldn't directly touch the "wound," it at least made Corin feel at ease and had the effect of easing the pain.
At the same time, whether it was an illusion or not, Corin felt as if the "wound" had really begun to heal.
But the only thing that couldn't be restored was the blood that had accidentally stained the inside of her skirt, which had spilled during yesterday's battle.
Fortunately, it was on the inside of the skirt, so outsiders couldn't see it, and it wouldn't draw strange looks from others.
Corin felt Wise's care, and her heart was full of warmth, but she still raised her two delicate hands, spreading her five fingers and waving them.
"No need, Wise, I feel much better now, so I won't trouble you. I can go home by myself."
In truth, she also hoped that Wise could take her home, but she could also guess Lycaon's attitude at this moment.
If Wise were to accompany her back and then the two of them got into an argument over it, Corin would feel extremely awkward.
-+ + +-
-> To have access to more than 40 extra chapters, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
-> To make a don@tion go to:
[ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
-+ + +-
Novels Available:
-> Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street. (Translation)
-> Azur Lane: Don't Fight! You're All My Wives! (Translation)
-> Zenless Zone Zero: Death in White. (Original - Patreon Only Until It Reaches 30 Chapters)
-+ + +-