At last, with an “Excellent” stamped on my sheet, the magic test ended, the curtain falling like dusk over the field.

Faya had promised a live-combat exam, but Hill left the grounds a wreck, like waves after a storm.

So we had to wait till afternoon, after the arena was mended like a garden.

“Very good, everyone did great in this magic test,” Stellar Rosa said, her delicate face blooming like spring.

“Alright, dismissed! No morning classes—rest up, tune yourselves to peak, and we start the combat exam this afternoon,” she added, voice crisp as a bell in clear air.

With that, Stellar Rosa waved us off, her gesture light as a breeze through bamboo.

“Eh? Another test this afternoon? That’s exhausting,” someone groaned, like a cat under the noon sun.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to fight those fierce-looking demonic beasts,” another muttered, face pale as chalk.

“Quit whining; let’s get food—my stomach’s drumming,” a third said, hunger beating like rain on drums.

Dismissed, no one lingered; the crowd scattered like sparrows lifting from a tree.

They traded goodbyes with us and Stellar Rosa, then drifted off in clusters, chatter flowing like a stream about the combat exam.

“Servant, let’s go,” Xinuo said, pinching my cheek, her tone cool as moonlight on water.

“Oh, fine,” I answered, yielding like grass in a breeze.

“Boss, boss! Your humble underling’s belly is empty—let’s hit the café for sweets!” Hill pleaded, rubbing her round tummy like a drum.

“We burned a lot back there, Yumigawa, let’s eat and rest a bit,” Eastern Moon Aixue said, stroking Hill’s silvery hair like silk.

“Agreed!” Faya chimed in, relief gliding in like a breeze after heat.

“Servant, I’ve no objections,” Xinuo added, calm as still water.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said, steps light as new leaves.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Moon Empire, inside Proud Moon Palace, a room sat quiet in a courtyard, shadows pooled like ink.

“Littlesky, I’ve had a question for a long time,” Elyar said, glancing at Yumigawa Nozomi sprawled on the bed with manga like a cat in sunlight.

“Hm? Elyar, what is it?” A big question mark rose above Yumigawa Nozomi’s cute head like a balloon.

“Littlesky, your brother studies at Egisia Academy, right?” Elyar asked, words tight as a drawn bow.

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s just… Egisia Academy is a girls’ school, and your brother is a boy,” she said, logic stiff as a rule carved in stone.

“He is a boy, but—”

Nozomi sprang up from the bed, patted her flat chest like a drum, and declared with a smile bright as fireworks:

“Once my brother puts on girls’ clothes, he’s a top-tier beauty.”

“A mere girls’ school is no big deal!”

“Huh?” The claim struck Elyar like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, leaving her stunned, mind blank as snow.

“...Littlesky,” Elyar said after a long beat, ripples in her voice refusing to settle.

“I’ve heard your brother is cute, but it doesn’t change that he’s a boy.”

“Heh heh! Elyar, you’re too naive,” Yumigawa Nozomi laughed, mischief twinkling like starlight.

“Cross-dressing boys going to girls’ schools—this is practically a law of the world.”

“No, no… even the existence of cross-dressers is odd, and which world’s law are you talking about?!” Elyar blurted, words sparking like flint.

“Ugh, Elyar, you’re such a handful,” Nozomi waved her hand like swatting a fly.

“You’re the one saying the strange stuff!”

“Fine, I’ll show you reality,” Nozomi said, pulling a photo from her skirt pocket like drawing a talisman, then handed it over with the swagger of a general.

“Uh… what’s this?!” Elyar took the photo, confusion clouding like mist.

In the photo stood a maid, so cute she could melt snow; a top-shelf beauty by any frame.

If Nozomi showed it, that could only mean…

“...Don’t tell me this maid-like creature is your brother?” Elyar asked, disbelief perched like a bird on a twig.

“Mm-hmm! Of course. My brother—she’s gorgeous, right? Gorgeous enough to be a law of this world!” Nozomi beamed, pride rising like incense smoke.

“He is indeed gorgeous, but are you sure that’s your brother, not your sister?” Elyar insisted, logic clinging like ivy.

“Oh, a photo of Sumeragi? Let me see,” Yumigawa Senki said, stepping in like a breeze through the door.

She took the photo and held it before her eyes, gaze sharp as a blade.

“Blond hair and wine-red eyes—yeah, that’s Sumeragi,” she said, then raised her brows like two drawn bows, “but—”

“I’m happy Sumeragi looks this graceful, but I remember he’s a boy. How’d he turn into a girl?”

“Qianji Sister, you idiot!” Nozomi whipped out a paper fan from nowhere and popped Senki on the head, the sound crisp as bamboo.

“This is obviously my brother in girls’ clothing! Don’t you know the rule: so cute, it’s gotta be a boy?!”

“No way! Anyone would see a blond beauty in that shot,” Elyar retorted, words flying like arrows.

Senki stared at the photo a moment, then clapped her hands like sparrows’ wings.

“Right! I saw Sumeragi in girls’ clothes as a kid. He was so cute it should’ve been a crime, and now he’s even cuter.”

“Exactly! My brother is super cute,” Nozomi chimed, glee shining like sunlight on water.

“Littlesky, got more of Sumeragi in girl mode? Lemme see,” Senki asked, eyes sparkling like stars.

“Of course. I’ve got plenty in my collection,” Nozomi said, pride unfurling like a banner.

They sat on the bed together, flipping through Yumigawa Sumeragi’s cross-dressing photos, page after page like drifting petals.

“Whoa! He’s a born stunner. Any guy seeing these would get a nosebleed,” Senki laughed, voice ringing like chimes.

“Naturally. One time, Dad saw my brother in a maid outfit and started drooling, then Mom punished him hard,” Nozomi said, thunder cracking behind her words.

“Ha, that lech never changes,” Senki snorted, like a fox shaking snow from its fur.

“Can’t blame Dad; it’s my brother’s fault for being too cute...” Nozomi sighed, sweet as honey and shameless as a cat.

Elyar fell silent, her expression flat as a lake, first time seeing sisters ogle their own brother’s girl-mode photos with such relish.

After a moment, she sighed, the sound long as wind through pines.

“Yumigawa Sumeragi… I haven’t met you, but I can’t help feeling sorry for you, saddled with a sister and little sister like this,” she murmured, pity pooling like rain.

Egisia Academy, a campus café.

“Achoo!” I sneezed, the sound sharp as a sparrow’s chirp.

“Servant, what’s wrong—did you catch a cold?” Xinuo turned to me, her gaze cool as moonlight.

“Nothing, just a chill down my spine,” I said, shoulders hunching like a turtle retreating.

I shook my head and tucked my chin in, as if a draft had crept in like winter.

“Oh,” she replied, voice calm as still water in a bowl.