Knock— knock—
"Lord Cao Ye—"
A knocking sound echoed outside the door. However, after waiting for quite a while, there was still no response.
Creak—
The golden-haired fox girl gently pushed the door open.
With practiced familiarity, she placed the prepared breakfast on the table and then walked toward the inner workshop. The whole process was completely natural.
When she pushed open the door, she indeed saw a man lying face-down on the desk, fast asleep.
Around him were gemstones of all kinds.
Not only that, there were also many broken gemstone fragments scattered across the desk, making one wonder what exactly had happened here.
Seeing this scene, Haruhime let out a small sigh.
Once again… it was like this.
After joining the Freya Familia, Haruhime's life had changed quite a lot.
Because of her special ability, Freya valued her greatly and even allowed her to live in Babel Tower.
Her main duties were handling small chores and accompanying Freya most of the time. Now she had essentially become Freya's little attendant.
As for Cao Ye, Haruhime always held a deep sense of gratitude toward him.
From the goddess, she had learned that it was Cao Ye's plan that brought her into the Freya Familia.
For someone who had long since despaired about her own life, this made her feel endless gratitude toward him.
So she voluntarily took responsibility for many of Cao Ye's daily matters—washing clothes, cleaning floors, and handling various chores.
"Lord Cao Ye, wake up… it's morning already~~~"
Looking at the sleeping Cao Ye, Haruhime stepped forward and called out softly, her voice incredibly gentle—almost like a wife waking her husband.
Cao Ye was naturally a light sleeper, so he quickly woke up.
However, since he hadn't slept very well, he still looked a bit groggy.
"Haruhime… what time is it now?"
"It's already morning. Did you stay up late again last night, Lord Cao Ye?"
"I was almost finished with the final step, so I stayed up a bit longer."
"Breakfast is ready."
"Mm~"
He stood up and stretched his body.
Sleeping on a work desk really wasn't comfortable.
Cao Ye then went to wash up, while Haruhime began tidying the messy worktable.
Tools, metal pieces, gemstones, and fragments were scattered everywhere.
But among them, Haruhime suddenly noticed a beautifully crafted ring.
The silver-white band held an orange gemstone. Under the morning light, the gem reflected a unique brilliance.
"So beautiful…"
She unconsciously picked up the ring and examined it carefully in her palm.
Then, a fantasy began to form in her mind.
A couple deeply in love…
The man presents a ring just like this to the woman.
The woman shyly accepts it.
The two slowly move closer…
The scene gradually becomes more and more romantic.
And slowly, the faces of the man and woman in her imagination begin to change…
Until they finally become herself and Cao Ye.
"Ah—!"
In an instant, Haruhime's face turned bright red.
She covered her blushing cheeks, her expression filled with embarrassment and anticipation.
"Lord Cao Ye… my dear…"
In her dreamy murmuring, those words slipped out.
Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Cao Ye happened to return, wiping his face with a towel.
The sight of the blushing fox girl was fully visible to him.
"Uh… Haruhime, what's wrong with you?"
"Ah! Lord Cao Ye!"
Being caught while fantasizing about someone like that instantly made Haruhime freeze.
It felt like dying of embarrassment on the spot.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah… I was just looking at this ring. Did you make it, Lord Cao Ye?"
"Yes. It's the final result of my research."
He looked at the ring in her hand.
"Though it still has many flaws. It can only be considered a semi-finished product."
It was a spatial ring.
With the help of various buffs and skills, Cao Ye had finally succeeded in developing it.
By storing magic power inside the gemstone and using it as a foundation, he managed to create a microscopic imaginary space.
After destroying countless gemstones and exhausting huge amounts of magic power, he finally succeeded.
However, the ring only had a space of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm, which was just 0.001 cubic meters.
Technically successful, but far from practical.
"You call this flawed? I think it's very beautiful!"
"If you like it, then I'll give it to you."
Cao Ye said casually.
Although it was his first successful product, he wasn't satisfied with it. Since Haruhime liked it, he didn't mind giving it away.
"Huh? Give it… to me?"
Haruhime froze for a moment.
Then the fantasy she had just imagined suddenly replayed in her mind.
"Well, if it weren't for you helping these past few days, I don't know what state I'd be in right now. Just take it as my thanks."
That was what Cao Ye meant.
But Haruhime—now deep in her own imagination—heard something completely different.
"This is proof of my love for you. Will you accept it?"
In her imagination, "Cao Ye" looked at her affectionately while holding out the ring.
"I accept—!"
The words slipped out of Haruhime's mouth instinctively.
But the moment she said it, reality shattered the fantasy.
Everything she imagined vanished.
Cao Ye stared at her in confusion.
Accept what? What did I say?
"Ahhhh!!!"
Under Cao Ye's puzzled gaze, Haruhime suddenly screamed, covered her face, and ran out of the room.
Earlier she had nearly died of embarrassment.
Now she had completely died of embarrassment.
"She said she accepts… and she was blushing earlier. Was she fantasizing about me?"
Cao Ye had grown up in the modern era with an explosion of information.
Although he was confused at first, after thinking about it for a moment, he roughly understood what had happened.
And honestly, it wasn't arrogance.
Compared to before he transmigrated, he now believed he looked far better than those idol-type celebrities.
Having a few admirers wasn't strange.
"I remember that in the original story, Haruhime had a slightly 'perverted' side…"
"After all, she came from the Istar Familia—a fox girl who combines both shyness and lewd curiosity."
Thinking about that, Cao Ye began to have some ideas.
After all, with Freya around, he had been suppressing quite a bit of "frustration."
And now there happened to be a flirtatious fox girl nearby.
It was practically like someone handing him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.
(PS: Haruhime is still pure. Every time she had to receive a client, she would faint just from seeing a half-naked man, causing the customers to lose interest. Aisha would usually take her place, and Haruhime herself never realized it—so she is still a virgin.)
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