Seeing Master Sato, my spirits lifted momentarily, but soon they sank again.

I shook my head at Master Sato by the door.

Because before Master Naoya left, he instructed me to stay on the cushion and not to leave. If he came back and saw me wandering off, not only would I be punished, but Master Sato might also be implicated.

Master Sato saw through my concerns with just one glance, and he chuckled, “Master Naoya went to the curse association with the head of the family, won’t be back for a short while.”

I blinked.

He added, “He won’t be back for a while.”

With no more worries, I joyfully stood up from the cushion. I didn’t leave the tea room but knelt on the inner side of the tea room door.

Master Sato didn’t come in either but squatted on the outside of the tea room door.

He unwrapped the rice cake, revealing eight or nine pieces sprinkled with sweet osmanthus sauce. Seeing my eager eyes, he handed one to me and couldn’t help but chuckle, “Aichina really loves rice cakes.”

I took a bite of the rice cake, savoring it slowly, with a smile on my face. “Yes, thank you, Master Sato.”

Memories of my time with my mother and Aunt Xijiang had long faded into the monotony of work and hunger.

What was most memorable to me now was that New Year’s Eve when a woman in a light purple kimono handed me a platter of rice cakes. Despite later losing most of it, I still ate my fill that day.

It was the most memorable meal I had ever had, my stomach round and almost bursting, the food nearly choking me. Later, when I was locked in the cursed room and starved for three days and nights, it was thanks to that meal that I didn’t starve to death and lived to this day.

“No need to be polite, besides,” Master Sato reached out and brushed away the hair stuck to my lips. His fingertips were rough, and their touch made my lips slightly itchy, very noticeable. He stared at my lips, his gaze as gentle as ever. “When Aichina eats, it always feels like a blessing, and she smiles happily. I really like to see Aichina like this.”

My heart raced uncontrollably.

My cheeks were burning.

I lowered my head in a panic, feeling awkward and unsure for a few seconds. When I saw the rice cake sitting on my lap, my eyes lit up. I quickly picked up a piece and fed it to Master Sato’s mouth, nervously watching him.

He seemed surprised at first, not expecting me to do that. But soon, he smiled, very cheerfully. He ate the rice cake from my hand.

“Aichina is really cute.” He praised.

I hung my head, blushing so much that I couldn’t even eat the rice cake properly anymore, murmuring softly, “Yes.”

After finishing the rice cake.

Master Sato took the packaging paper and left. When he reached the corner of the corridor, he turned his head back.

Then our eyes met, me clinging to the door frame, reluctant to let go, and him looking back at me. I was shocked and wanted to hide, pretending I wasn’t looking at him, but my brain froze, leaving me stiff and awkward, maintaining the same posture as before, with only my cheeks burning red and my heart beating rapidly.

He raised the packaging paper and waved it at me. With his lips, he silently said, “I’ll bring you more rice cakes tomorrow.”

Then he left.

I covered my chest with my hands, and it took a long, long time, a really long time to calm down.

The sky had long turned completely dark, and Master Naoya still hadn’t returned.

The mansion was unlike the school.

Usually, after around nine in the evening, it would become completely quiet.

Having stayed here for over a decade, my body clock had adjusted accordingly. I struggled to stay awake until around eleven, the time when Master Naoya finished reading his manga and prepared for bed. But eventually, I couldn’t resist and dozed off.

I sat on the cushion, swaying drowsily.

Several times, I nearly toppled over but woke up just in time.

Until finally, I couldn’t even manage to stay awake, collapsing onto the floor. I briefly woke up from the pain but soon fell into a deep sleep again.

I didn’t know how long I slept.

Halfway through, something gently tickled my cheek, like a feather, but more like the tip of a brush. Before long, it changed to a warm hand, lightly caressing my cheek, and then pinching my nose.

“Ugh.”

I struggled to catch my breath, waking up.

Then I found myself locking eyes with Master Naoya’s golden eyes.

I was dazed, not fully awake yet.

He crouched beside my face, seeming to have been busy outside, with his kimono collar slightly dishevelled and a strong smell of sweat and blood. Perhaps seeing me dazed, he released my nose and instead lightly pinched my cheeks. When he saw me wincing in pain, he smirked as usual, teasingly asking, “Does it hurt?”

I nodded slightly, then quickly shook my head, “N-No, it doesn’t hurt.”

He pinched harder.

Tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down.

He eased up a bit, “I haven’t returned yet, and you dared to sleep early. Have I been spoiling you too much lately?”

I shook my head again, tears streaming down heavily.

He let go, no longer pinching me forcefully. Under his disheveled golden locks, his eyes were half-closed as he lazily rubbed the slightly swollen area on my cheek with the back of his hand. “I need to take a bath.”

Because Master Naoya had returned, the maids who had already fallen asleep were now awake, bustling around to prepare bathwater, clean clothes, and a late-night snack for him.

I didn’t know what I should do.

Because Master Naoya looked down on me, I never handled things like his clothes, bathing, or food in the past.

But Master Naoya specifically told me he wanted to take a bath before going to the study.

So I couldn’t rest and had to find something to do.

I helped boil water and iron clothes.

After about ten minutes, everything was ready, and Master Naoya came out of the study.

I was about to leave when he grabbed my collar and pulled me all the way to the bathroom. As for the maids who usually assisted Master Naoya in bathing, they were locked outside the door.

It was my first time entering Master Naoya’s bathroom, which was very spacious compared to the cramped bathing rooms where over a dozen maids would squeeze in together.

He didn’t immediately take a bath but dragged me to the low table filled with pastries before releasing me.

I was puzzled.

It wasn’t until he picked up an expensive-looking cream puff and fed it to me that I understood what Master Naoya wanted to do. I didn’t eat it right away but licked his fingers instead.

But he furrowed his brows, retracting his fingers.

I was filled with fear and quickly knelt down, trembling.

He wiped his fingers on the collar of my clothes with disgust and disdain, impatiently asking, “Did I tell you to lick them?”

I became even more panicked, “I-I’m sorry.”

He clicked his tongue, then fed me another pastry, saying impatiently, “Eat.”

I hurriedly bit into it, swallowing, but dared not touch his fingers again, even though it was just an inadvertent touch. He quickly offered another piece.

I ate it again.

By the time he offered the third piece, I slowed down. I had eaten a lot of rice cakes in the evening, so I wasn’t really hungry.

So when he offered the fourth piece, I hesitated and stuttered, “These were prepared for Master Naoya by the head maid. They’re all delicious. Aren’t you going to eat?”

He glanced at the exquisite pastries on the table, disdainful, not even bothering to respond to me.

Then he continued to feed me another piece.

I struggled to chew and swallow, my stomach almost bursting. It was a feeling of being extremely full that I rarely experienced, but I dared not say anything, afraid of revealing the fact that Sato brought me rice cakes. Master Naoya insisted on feeding me six pieces, the amount I used to eat for a meal, before stopping.

“Get out,” he said, brushing off the crumbs from his hands, satisfied. It seemed that he didn’t want me to serve him for bathing, as I initially thought, but simply wanted to feed me.

Why?

Did Master Naoya think I hadn’t eaten lunch and dinner?

I shook my head, not intending to dwell on it, rubbing my belly quietly as I exited.

The next morning, Master Naoya left again.

Not back to school.

But to perform exorcism tasks. There seemed to be many tasks, and a week passed without Master Naoya’s return.

I heard that it was because since the Star Nectar task ended, Wataru from the Gotou family had been traveling overseas for the past few months, resulting in a shortage of special-grade task performers, and the difficulty level of tasks within Japan had increased significantly.

Master Naoya didn’t ask me to accompany him, so I stayed at the mansion.

This week, I lived like in a dream.

Not only did I have meals every day, but I also ate my fill every time.

Moreover, I moved out of the storage room.

The head maid prepared a room for me, very spacious and clean, with only me living in it. The bed was soft, just like the one in Master Naoya’s bedroom. For some reason, the head maid never assigned me any tasks again. Whenever I tried to help with cleaning the floor, someone would immediately take the rag from my hand and push me into the room, arranging for someone to teach me something.

Things like playing the piano, flower arranging, and tea ceremony.

Every evening, someone would come to teach me how to dress up, including clothing matching, makeup, and selecting accessories.

Every day, I was overwhelmed with new things to learn.

Perhaps I really had talent; everyone who taught me would praise me for being very clever. But what I really wanted to learn was the textbook knowledge that Master Naoya studied at school.

I couldn’t forget the day I first left the mansion. On the tram, groups of high school girls in school uniforms, the same age as me, looked so bright and worldly compared to me.

Another half-week passed.

Master Naoya still hadn’t returned.

Master Sato didn’t accompany Master Naoya on his tasks; he was a member of the security team. He promised to bring me rice cakes again the next day, but he didn’t. However, four days later, he still brought me rice cakes in the evening. He knocked on my window, and when I opened it, he handed them to me through the window.

He said, “Because it seems like Aichina hasn’t been short of food lately, so I didn’t fulfil my promise. But later, I thought that promises must be kept.”

It was the first time I lied and deceived someone. I remember saying, “I still can’t eat enough.”

He was stunned for a moment, then smiled again and asked me what I wanted to eat tomorrow.

I said anything would do.

And then the next evening, he brought fried rice cakes.

It was my first time eating fried rice cakes, and I was very surprised by this new delicacy. Master Sato said it was because there was a temple fair outside today, and seeing them being sold, he thought that I might not have eaten such street snacks sold by vendors since I grew up in the mansion, so he bought them for me.

I asked what the temple fair was like.

Master Sato pondered for a moment and replied, “There are many people, everyone wearing yukata, many lanterns, many vendors, and fireworks. The fireworks are beautiful.”

I felt a bit of longing.

He then asked, “During the two months when you went to school with Master Naoys before, there seemed to have been a summer festival in Kyoto. Did you not go see it?”

I shook my head, “I’ve only been outside three times.”

Once was when I went from the mansion to school.

Once was when Master Naoya took me to buy clothes.

Once was when I was in the car, going back from school to the mansion.

Master Sato nodded understandingly, then after a moment, he seemed to recall something and asked me, “Do you want to try apple candy?”

I was curious, “Apple candy?”

“It’s a kind of dessert often sold at temple fairs. It’s an apple coated in sugar, very sweet.”

I was very curious about things I had never known before. After hesitating for a while, I asked in a low voice, “How sweet is it?”

He chuckled, “Well, then I’ll take you out to try it tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

I was stunned. Take me out?

“You haven’t really explored outside, right, Aichina? How about going out for some fun tomorrow night?”

“I probably can’t go out.” I thought about the barrier around the mansion. If I wasn’t allowed, I couldn’t go out freely.

“Aichina, you really don’t trust me.” Seeing me waving my head repeatedly, wanting to explain, he smiled mischievously, lifting his hand to gently pat my head, “With me, it’ll be okay.”