Over the next few days, Cao Ye was no longer short on funds, so he purchased a large number of materials.
Besides gemstones used to make spatial rings, he also bought materials for creating cursed puppets. He had never forgotten about studying puppet manipulation, and he continued working on it whenever he could.
Under these circumstances, the spatial rings he crafted gradually gained larger storage capacities.
At the same time, he also created some simpler cursed puppets. With more practice—and with the bonuses from Item Creation and the Mystery development ability—his puppet-making skills steadily improved.
Everything progressed steadily.
Cao Ye's life became incredibly fulfilling.
Buzz—
A faint glow flickered.
Looking at the ring in front of him, Cao Ye's face filled with joy.
This was his first attempt using a magic stone.
Just as he expected, using this high-quality magical material allowed a much larger imaginary space to form.
"20 cubic meters… that's twenty times the improvement."
"As expected—expensive materials have their advantages."
With ordinary gemstones, even as his skill improved, the maximum capacity had reached around 1 cubic meter.
But with this magic stone, his very first attempt produced a space of 20 cubic meters, and there was still room for improvement.
Beside his desk sat a box filled with rings.
All of them were his creations, each with different storage capacities.
They were essentially a record of his progress over the past few days.
Creak—
"Lord Cao Ye~"
"Hm? Haruhime—you're finally here. I'm starving."
Because he spent so much time researching, Cao Ye often forgot about eating or sleeping.
If Haruhime didn't bring meals regularly, who knew what condition he would end up in.
"That's because you always forget the time, Lord Cao Ye."
"Well, what's the point of remembering time when I have such a considerate little beauty bringing me meals?"
"I—I'm not some 'little beauty'!"
Haruhime's cheeks immediately turned red.
Ever since the previous embarrassing incident, Cao Ye had realized that this mischievous fox girl definitely had special feelings for him.
Since that was the case, he didn't intend to act like those overly passive protagonists who ignored obvious affection.
With mutual feelings and curiosity between them, their relationship had gradually grown closer.
"Hm? Haruhime… where are the white stockings I gave you earlier? Why aren't you wearing them?"
Today Haruhime wore her maid outfit, but the white stockings he liked so much were missing.
A maid outfit paired with white stockings—combined with her shy fox-girl personality—was the perfect combination in his mind.
"I—I refuse to wear them!"
"Every time I wear them, Lord Cao Ye starts touching my legs."
As she said this, Haruhime's expression changed slightly.
Actually, Cao Ye seemed even more interested in Freya's black stockings.
Sometimes his hands rested on Haruhime's legs while his eyes drifted toward Freya's legs.
That gave Haruhime a tiny bit of resentment.
"That's not 'touching around.' That's just friendly interaction."
"Lord Cao Ye… I used to be a courtesan, you know."
That single sentence left Cao Ye speechless.
Although Haruhime was technically still pure, she had been trained in the Istar Familia—learning how to please men and understand their desires.
"Ahem… well…"
Now Cao Ye truly didn't know what to say.
Being exposed for taking advantage of her was quite embarrassing.
"Hmph."
Seeing him fall silent, Haruhime stopped pressing the issue and began laying out the food from the lunch box.
"Haruhime… there's actually something I've never told you."
"Hm?"
His sudden serious tone caught her off guard.
"W-What is it?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
Deep in her heart, Haruhime always carried a thorn.
Her past.
Even if she remained physically pure, she still saw herself as someone from the Pleasure Quarter.
Just being allowed to stay beside Cao Ye already made her feel fortunate.
Sometimes she would act playful like this, but deep down she carried a sense of inferiority.
Was someone like her truly worthy of staying by his side?
The more time she spent with him, the more she felt that Cao Ye resembled the heroic figures from legends.
And she… was simply someone who had been rescued.
"Actually, whether you wear white stockings or not doesn't matter."
"To be honest, I like these legs just as they are."
As he spoke, Cao Ye casually slid his hand under the hem of her skirt toward her thigh.
"Ah!"
Smack—
Haruhime reacted like she had been shocked by electricity.
The moment his hand touched her thigh, a tingling sensation ran through her body.
Out of instinctive embarrassment, she swung her hand.
Unfortunately—
Her palm landed directly on Cao Ye's face.
"…Uh."
Cao Ye froze.
He had done far worse before, yet she hadn't reacted so strongly.
Why was she suddenly so sensitive?
Meanwhile, Haruhime panicked.
How could she hit him?
And hit Lord Cao Ye of all people?
"Lord Cao Ye, are you alright?"
She hurried over anxiously.
In Orario, a man being slapped by a woman could easily be seen as humiliating.
"Haruhime… you've deeply wounded me."
Seeing her panic, Cao Ye couldn't resist teasing her a little.
"Huh? Please don't be angry!"
"I didn't mean it!"
"If you're upset, you can slap me back—I really didn't do it on purpose!"
His fake dissatisfaction immediately frightened Haruhime.
Her voice trembled, and tears even started to form.
Only then did Cao Ye realize he had gone too far.
"Haruhime, don't cry. I'm not angry. I was just joking."
"Really?"
Her misty eyes looked up at him with fragile hope.
"Really."
"If anyone was wrong, it was me—not my Haruhime."
"W-Who said I'm yours…"
In an instant, her mood flipped completely.
Tears still clung to her eyelashes, yet her face flushed with shy happiness.
In that moment, the fox girl perfectly demonstrated how quickly emotions could change.
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