Shortly after, Philo entered Alte’s office carrying a basket of fruit.

The first thing she did was flip on the light and scan the room.

“Mmm~” She nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. I thought this place would be a mess again within a day.”

“Hey, your big bro *can* tidy up, okay?”

Alte wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Keep it up. At least now it’s presentable for guests.”

Philo moved to sit on Alte’s small bed—only to find it gone.

“Huh… Bro, where’s your bed?”

“We cleaned the storage room. I moved it in there. I’ll sleep there from now on.”

Unable to sit on the bed, Philo settled onto the sofa, glancing around.

“Much better. What *was* that previous dump? Making guests come to the vice-captain’s office? Ridiculous.”

“I didn’t have time to tidy up,” Alte sighed.

Still, he had no idea how to explain Favna’s presence. Telling the truth would only cause misunderstandings. With no solution, he chose avoidance. Thankfully, Favna was still asleep—if she’d appeared, all would be lost.

“By the way, bro, have you eaten lunch?”

“Not yet. Just about to.” He gestured to the bento box on his desk.

Philo’s eyes narrowed. “Why *two* servings again?”

“Skipped breakfast. Been dizzy from work. Figured I’d eat more.”

Alte broke into a cold sweat. *Huge slip-up.* He kept his tone casual—*please don’t suspect anything…*

“Is that so?” Philo nodded skeptically. Something felt off. *If he’s just eating more… why two boxes? One big, one small?*

But she held her tongue. Everyone deserves privacy—even her brother.

“I’ll leave the fruit here. Mind if I use the restroom?”

She stood and headed for the storage room door.

Alte blocked her instantly. “Hey—this is my bedroom now. Even you, sis, can’t go in.”

“Huh?” Philo blinked, bewildered. “I’ve been in your room tons of times. Hiding something shady?”

“I’m a normal guy. A little privacy isn’t weird, right?” Alte threw shame to the wind.

Philo’s eyes widened. “Wait—you’re *admitting* it? I thought you were gonna become a monk! What doujinshi is it? Let me see!”

She reached for the knob again, but Alte held firm.

“‘Little sister’ type? You *sure* you wanna see?”

Dignity? Screw it. Alte was all in.

Philo’s face flushed. “Scram! If you’ve got *that* fetish, I’m sending you straight to the psych ward!”

She didn’t mean it. Curiosity won. “A ‘little sister’ doujinshi that actually gets *you* worked up? Now I *have* to see!”

“No.”

*Thud!*

As Alte braced to hold his ground, a sound came from inside. Philo seized the chance, slipping past him into the bedroom.

She’d meant to hunt for doujinshi—but froze.

Under the dim light, a silver-haired, long-horned Dragonkin girl slept soundly in her brother’s bed.

The thud? A phone fallen from beside the pillow—hers.

Alte followed in, hand pressed to his forehead. *Game over. Totally screwed.*

If only he’d just admitted it earlier… Now he looked guilty as hell.

He glanced at Philo. The red-haired girl snapped out of shock, a bright, knowing grin spreading.

“Oho~ So you’ve got such a pretty girlfriend? Why hide her from your little sister?”

“She’s *not* my girlfriend,” Alte insisted.

But explanations rang hollow. Philo patted his shoulder. “Bro, no excuses. Which girl sleeps that peacefully, that *unguarded*, in a guy’s room?”

Alte had no rebuttal. *And… is Favna seriously still not waking up?!*

Watching Philo’s matchmaking smirk, his hope dimmed to despair.

What Alte didn’t know:

Favna had woken the moment they entered. Eyes shut tight.

*Pretending to be asleep.*

Faced with the misunderstanding, she buried her head in the sand—mind shut down.

*Explain?* Zero courage to talk to strangers!

*Please… just leave!*

Her silent scream went unheard.

“Wait… am I being a third wheel?” Philo realized, dragging the utterly defeated Alte out.

Once the door closed, Favna crept from bed. Crouching behind it, she peeked through a tiny crack.

Outside, Philo beamed. “Bro! What’s my *future* sister-in-law’s name?”

“She’s *not* your sister-in-law…” Alte’s head throbbed. “Her name’s Favna. Just a maid I hired to tidy up. Remember? *That* maid.”

“Oho~ A *bed-warming* maid? Bro, I didn’t know you had *game*.”

“Damn it… Do I look like that kind of pervert to you?”