Ashford, going to school so early?”
“Sonata, have you been out of school for so long that you’ve forgotten how early it starts?”
“Ah… sorry, I’ve been playing a bit too wildly.”
“Haha, alright, just stay home. I’ll be back tonight.”
After Ashford finished dressing and left the house, Sonata looked at the closed door, feeling very dejected.
“Hey! Adagio, I’m starting to regret setting myself up as the childhood friend who doesn’t go to school.”
“That was your own choice, regret is useless now. I advise you not to think about using magic to change Ashford’s memories of you. If any more trouble arises, our situation will be dire.”
Adagio, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, immediately shut down Sonata’s idea after hearing her sister’s complaint.
Aria wouldn’t do such a thing, but if no one reminded that little dummy Sonata, she really might.
“Honestly, with Shangguan Jingxing not at home, no one is here to appreciate my beautiful clothes.”
“Sonata, I think your character setup was wrong from the start.”
“Huh? Why?”
While Sonata was still feeling bored, Aria suddenly said her character setup was wrong.
Sonata thought about it carefully but didn’t feel like she had done anything wrong.
“Sonata, the role you gave Ashford is childhood friend, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And now you want to wear nice clothes so he’ll praise you, right?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s the problem.”
Aria got up from the sofa and looked at Sonata.
At this moment, Aria was watching some anime on her phone, likely a teen romance series.
“Sonata, you set Ashford’s role as a childhood friend, but that status means you and he are extremely familiar—so familiar that you grew up together since you were infants.”
“In such a close relationship, you don’t really change much in Ashford’s eyes, no matter how gorgeous the clothes you wear are.”
“So, he praises you because of your good relationship, not because you’re inherently beautiful. In other words, you’ve been wasting your time.”
“…Huh?”
Aria pushed up non-existent glasses on her face, revealing the truth like a great detective.
But Sonata tilted her head and pointed a finger at her mouth, not understanding what Aria was babbling about.
With Sonata’s little brain, she couldn’t understand what Aria meant in such a short time; after all, she didn’t watch anime.
Seeing Sonata’s foolish expression, Aria sighed helplessly.
If she and Adagio weren’t around, this little dummy would have been sold off long ago without even knowing it.
“Sonata, anyway, you just need to understand one thing. No matter what you do now, Ashford isn’t praising your beauty as a man.”
“Huh? Ashford isn’t a man?”
Sonata was shocked.
Although she hadn’t seen all of Ashford, through their time together, she had always assumed Shangguan Jingqing was a man.
And now Aria was telling her he wasn’t?
Aria lost her temper seeing Sonata’s foolish look.
“No, Ashford is a man, but he’s not praising your beauty as a man; he’s praising your looks as a friend.”
“Oh~ I see. Then how can I get Ashford to praise me as a man?”
Sonata nodded half-comprehendingly and then asked Aria.
Hearing this, Aria immediately offered her solution as if she had anticipated the question.
“It’s simple. You just need to wear those ●★ clothes in front of him.”
“But what are ●★ clothes?”
Sonata rubbed her head, not knowing what those ●★ clothes Aria mentioned were.
Aria took out her phone to search and was about to show Sonata when she was sent flying by a spatula from Adagio, who was washing dishes in the kitchen.
“Aria! Get as far away from me as possible!”
Sonata was too scared to move as she watched Adagio, who had appeared out of nowhere.
After the strike, Adagio said nothing and returned to the kitchen to continue washing dishes.
“Did Adagio… just slide over?”
No one could answer Sonata’s question.
Time passed until evening.
Adagio brought the last dish to the table and waited for Ashford’s arrival.
Everyone was chatting and laughing while enjoying dinner, but a single sentence from Shangguan Jingxing left The Three Siren Sisters stunned.
“I feel like this kind of life is pretty good. I hope we can keep living like this.”
After Ashford said this, The Three Siren Sisters all stopped their cutlery.
Ashford didn’t notice their odd behavior and returned to his bedroom after finishing the meal.
“Adagio, we…”
“Adagio, that…”
Aria and Sonata looked cautiously at their eldest sister, but Adagio’s face was dark, and she said nothing.
Unsurprisingly, Adagio was angry.
Only now did they realize the absurdity of the recent period.
As Sirens, they were actually living with a human.
That was one thing, but they had even naturally accepted the roles they had magically assigned to Ashford.
Since entering this home, The Three Siren Sisters had never gone out to use magic or create emotional chaos to strengthen their magic.
“Aria, Sonata, I’ve had enough of this life. Think about our days in Equestria—we did whatever we wanted, with no responsibilities or pressure.”
“But now? We are actually playing the part of Ashford’s family and living with him.”
“Where is our perspective as Sirens? Where is our dignity? Didn’t we swear to obtain powerful magic and go back to take revenge on that old geezer Lord Tirek?”
Adagio put down her utensils and slammed her palm on the table.
This sudden action made Aria and Sonata flinch.
Aria didn’t really care; she’d just follow her big sister.
But Sonata’s emotions were very complicated because she had truly started to enjoy this human life.
“Aria, Sonata, we’ll have to leave here sooner or later. So from now on, while Shangguan Jingxing is at school, we need to go out and find ways to increase our strength.”
“At worst, when we leave, we’ll just lift the magic on Ashford and leave him some money. Who would turn down money?”
After Adagio finished speaking, she got up to clear the table.
Aria shrugged and lay back down on the sofa to scroll through short videos, while only Sonata remained silent.