Just then.

"Kong, darling has dealt with so much today, and is very tired. Why don't you go back to your room and rest first?" Standing on the side, Miyuki, who had been silent all along, gently stroked Kong's head and said.

"Well..."

Kong looked back and forth between Miyuki and Ryuto, feeling a bit at a loss.

"Alright alright, isn't Kong still supposed to take care of those people? It's rare that darling saved them, so Kong should take good care of them for darling."

"Got it."

"As for that answer, darling will naturally answer Kong after resting well, so Kong doesn't need to be so anxious, or rather, does Kong not trust darling?"

To this, Kong just shook his head and said slowly, word by word.

"No, Kong has always...trusted Ryuto."

"Is that so? Kong is really good. Well, you should go back now. Kong also doesn't want to disturb darling's rest, right?"

"Okay, then I'll go back first. Ryuto, goodbye."

"Yeah, goodbye."

So Miyuki sent Kong out of the room.

After that, silence once again enveloped the room.

But it couldn't continue like this forever, so Ryuto spoke up.

"Well..."

However, his mouth was quickly covered by a finger from Miyuki's left hand.

"I know, darling doesn't need to explain anything."

Miyuki just smiled slightly.

"Huh? Are you talking about pretending? After all, I didn't tell you at the beginning, so..."

To this, Miyuki just shook her head.

"No, it's everything! Alright alright, darling should go take a bath and relax first."

Saying that, Miyuki pushed Ryuto towards the bathroom.

"Huh? No, this...isn't it a bit too early..."

"Hehe, does darling want to take a bath with me? I don't mind, anyway, I happened to have that idea too. It would be perfect if darling wanted to do that, it's just a matter of time."

"No, I didn't...I mean, don't say strange things."

Ryuto couldn't help but retort.

To this,

"Mmm..."

Miyuki just closed her eyes tightly, hummed softly, and then said,

"Indeed, this is more like darling!"

With an inexplicable smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Alright alright, don't mind about these things, darling better go in quickly, otherwise, I might change my mind!"

"..."

After hearing the second half of the sentence, Ryuto didn't say anything else, as it seemed it would be unwise to refuse any further.

"Then I'll go in first."

So Ryuto decisively agreed, but...

"By the way, I haven't picked up the clothes I changed into yet."

Soon he realized this problem.

"Tsk...got caught, huh? I was planning to have an excuse to sneak in later."

Miyuki just frowned, looking resentful.

"Hey, hey, don't say such scary things. By the way, were you intentional just now?"

While Ryuto was cursing, he quickly grabbed his clothes and dashed into the bathroom.

After that, he quickly locked the door, wishing there were a few more locks here. He couldn't help but think that it wasn't reassuring enough to just rely on one lock.

As Ryuto thought this, outside the door, Miyuki didn't do as Ryuto had imagined. She did not approach the bathroom door, not even with her gaze...

She just walked to the window, lifted her head, gazed at the countless stars in the sky, then smiled faintly. However, this smile was different from her previous mocking smile, now it carried a hint of bitterness.