In the evening, Ashford pushed open the door to his home.
Upon entering, he smelled a very fragrant dinner.
In the kitchen, Adagio was busy cooking, wielding her spatula with vigor as the flames leaped high.
The food would surely be delicious, provided she didn’t burn the kitchen down.
“Ashford? You’re back? It’s so good to see you.”
Sonata suddenly appeared before Ashford wearing a very beautiful short skirt.
With her single ponytail paired with the cute skirt, she looked like a lovely girl full of youthful vitality.
However, due to the Sirens’ Magic, Ashford’s perception was distorted.
Thus, in his eyes, Sonata’s cute appearance was like looking at a rock on the side of the road, not affecting his emotions in the slightest.
This brings us to the backstories the Sirens set for themselves while using Magic to alter Ashford’s perception.
Adagio’s self-appointed role was a friend of Ashford’s parents—someone who could shine in the parlor and the kitchen, was skilled in both the arts and martial arts, possessed extraordinary talents, and was a close friend of his mother despite their age difference.
To take good care of Ashford’s daily life, Adagio had volunteered to come along.
As for Adagio’s sister, Aria, she gave herself the identity of the younger sister, but added the persona of an extreme shut-in who avoided the light.
According to Aria’s explanation, she really didn’t want to wander around looking for a place to stay anymore and was deeply addicted to things like phones.
She said online that this persona suited her well, so she arranged it that way.
Sonata’s setting for herself was Ashford’s childhood friend, but for some reason, she didn’t want to go to school and had been on a leave of absence.
In Ashford’s eyes, her desire to wear beautiful new clothes every day was to cheer herself up; for someone in a poor mental state, there was nothing wrong with trying to find happiness.
Because Sonata had fallen in love with these beautiful clothes and also wanted to understand human aesthetics, she kept changing outfits over and over again.
But the awkward part was right there: as childhood friends who grew up together, they were already as close as could be.
So now, no matter how Sonata dressed up, she was just like a rock on the side of the road to Shangguan Jingxing, unable to stir any emotion.
“I’m glad to see you too, Sonata. Uh… where’s Aria?”
“Aria? She’s been lying on the sofa scrolling through her phone all day. I think she’s addicted.”
Sonata pointed her finger at Aria on the sofa.
Due to the angle, Shangguan Jingxing couldn’t see what videos Aria was watching, but from the faint sounds coming out, the content seemed to be some kind of fighting scene.
Various sounds of clashing blades, hammer strikes, and combat drifted over from the sofa.
“Anyway, never mind her. She’s already become one of those ‘die-in-the-light’ Vampires.”
“Huh? But we’re not Vampires, we’re Sirens.”
“Sirens? What’s that now? Some weird cosplay roleplay?”
Shangguan Jingxing didn’t quite understand what Sonata was talking about, but since she liked wearing beautiful clothes so much, it seemed normal for her to cosplay some anime characters.
“Alright, let’s not talk about that. Is it time to eat?”
Shangguan Jingxing didn’t want to dwell on the matter; he was very hungry and just wanted to eat.
“Ashford, dinner will be ready in one more dish.”
Adagio’s voice drifted over.
Even though she had worked all day, she didn’t seem tired at all.
“Also, take off the clothes you’re wearing right now and throw them in the washing machine. Don’t leave them lying around again.”
“But I’ve only worn these clothes for a day.”
“They still need washing.”
“Okaaaay… Sister Adagio… I really don’t understand. Since you and my mom call each other sisters, why do you make me call you’Sister’ too?”
“Because I don’t like being called ‘Auntie.’ It’s that simple. Alright, let’s eat.”
At the dinner table, as Ashford was eating happily, Adagio suddenly asked him a question.
“Ashford, how was school today?”
“Huh? It was okay.”
“Did anything interesting happen at your school?”
“Interesting things?”
“Right. Doesn’t that school hold some kind of Welcome Party?”
Ashford looked at Adagio, not understanding why this “sister” of his was starting to ask such things.
He vaguely remembered that only his mother would ask things like this when he was in primary school.
“Actually, I didn’t go to the party.”
“Why? Don’t you want to make friends?”
“At parties, it’s always groups of friends hanging out together. If I were to just sit there awkwardly by myself eating cake, I can’t imagine how embarrassing that would be.”
“Is that so? Understandable. But if possible, I hope you can help me keep an eye out for some things at school.”
“What kind of things?”
Ashford agreed without a second thought.
After a moment of contemplation, Adagio spoke about what he should look for.
“Just any magical things that might happen in school, for example… Magic.”
After Adagio said this, the three people eating at the table all stopped their cutlery.
Ashford raised his head upon hearing this.
At this moment, his gaze was very serious.
Not only were Aria and Sonata filled with tension, but even Adagio’s breathing hitched for a second.
“W-what’s wrong? Why so serious all of a sudden?”
“Sister Adagio, you…”
Adagio suddenly swallowed hard, not understanding why Shangguan Jingxing was looking at her with such a serious expression.
Aria was so frightened she could barely hold her fork.
Having scrolled through her phone all day, she knew all too well that while there was no Magic in this world, people had all sorts of imaginations about it.
Had Ashford noticed something?
“Uh… Big Sis, Magic simply can’t exist. Why would you ask Ashford to look for those things? Aren’t you making things difficult for him? Right? Haha.”
Aria hurriedly tried to smooth things over for Adagio.
At this moment, Adagio also suddenly realized that her behavior was indeed a bit strange.
Just as Adagio was about to use Magic to resolve the issue, Ashford suddenly burst out laughing.
“Exactly, Sister Adagio. Your behavior right now is just like when I was a kid and became obsessed with aliens after reading books about them.”
“I bet you’ve been reading a lot of books about Magic, haven’t you, Sister Adagio?”
“Uh… haha, yes, exactly. That’s it.”
Adagio went along with Ashford’s explanation, feeling relieved by this world’s fantasies about Magic.
Otherwise, she would have had to use Magic again to alter his memories or thoughts.