Chapter 33: That Night…

Su Wanli had barely shouted for two or three seconds when she immediately snapped back to her senses, instinctively covering her mouth.

Although she didn’t know exactly what had happened, there were only two things she could be absolutely sure of.

First, she was currently lying completely naked beside Meng Wange.

That was an undeniable fact.

Second, if she woke Meng Wange up right now, not only would her “Villainess Value” plummet, but her lifelong reputation would go down the drain with it!

‘But… why? How did I end up here?’

It couldn’t possibly be that Meng Wange had a sudden bout of beastly instinct in the middle of the night and hauled her, fast asleep, into her room.

‘Then… what other explanation could there be?’

‘Could it be that the system suddenly changed the world setting last night and opened a dimensional wormhole under my feet…’

[Negative…]

‘I don’t need you to explain! That’s obviously impossible no matter how you spin it!’

Su Wanli ran her fingers through her messy hair, forcing herself to calm down and recall what had happened yesterday.

Right, yesterday she had been reading her math textbook.

Halfway through, she went to take a bath.

After the bath, while drying her hair… there was a sudden power outage.

After that, she had fumbled her way back to her room in the dark, pulled the curtains shut, and happily went to bed.

She even remembered setting a 4 a.m. alarm…

Hiss…

Su Wanli lightly slapped her forehead with her palm.

That left only one possible explanation.

Last night, in the dark, she had walked into Meng Wange’s room by mistake.

And the bath towel that had been wrapped around her must’ve slipped off somewhere along the way, leaving her completely naked as she spent the night sleeping beside Meng Wange…

‘No, wait. That couldn’t be it either, right?’ Meng Wange wouldn’t just silently let her crawl into bed completely naked like that!

‘Unless Meng Wange had also been deeply asleep last night and didn’t even notice someone else climbing into her bed…’

At that thought, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Su Wanli.

‘Yes, yes! Calm down, Su Wanli. As long as no one finds out, this is nothing more than a harmless accident!’

Good. While the opportunity is still here, leave Meng Wange’s room immediately.

‘Come on, Su Wanli. If you’re fast enough, you can pretend this never happened!’

Su Wanli quietly swallowed and slowly lifted the blanket off herself, preparing to tiptoe off the bed.

But just as her toes touched the ground, she seemed to step on something soft and furry…

Good news: she had found last night’s missing bath towel.

Bad news: In her panic, Su Wanli accidentally stepped on it too forcefully, causing her foot to slip.

With a loud thud, she landed on the floor.

—The injury she managed to avoid in the bathroom last night finally came back to hit her in full force this morning.

‘It hurt. A lot.’

But there was no time to care about that now. If she scrambled out of the room right this second, she might still have a chance…

“…Hm?”

Just as Su Wanli tried to push herself up from the floor, a soft sigh came from the bed, followed by the rustling sound of fabric brushing against fabric.

Su Wanli instantly froze.

It was over.

Her career as a villainess had come to an end—thanks to a power outage.

In that instant, the only thing Su Wanli had time to do was grab the towel from the floor and hastily drape it back over herself.

And then, as if heralding her judgment, Meng Wange’s gentle and clear voice rang out behind her—

“…Oh? Miss Su, good morning.”

Meng Wange had just sat up in bed, stretching with a soft yawn.

She turned toward Su Wanli and offered a faint, relaxed smile.

The sunlight streaming through the gap in the curtains illuminated the hem of her shirt, casting a soft halo that made the entire scene feel almost unreal.

“…You, I…”

Clutching the towel to her chest, Su Wanli opened her mouth as she faced the brown-haired girl in front of her, trying to come up with one final excuse—yet she had no idea where to begin.

Meng Wange propped one hand behind her for support and rubbed the corner of her eye with the other, curving her lips into a slight smile.

“What’s wrong, Miss Su? You look all flustered. Did something happen?”

“S-Something…”

After a long silence, Su Wanli finally figured out what she should do.

“Right! That’s exactly what I was going to ask you, Meng Wange! What the hell happened here?!”

After all, she was a famously unreasonable villainess.

Even if she knew full well she had entered the wrong room, she could totally spin the blame onto someone else!

‘Exactly! Su Wanli, you’re a genius! This move is called: The Villainess’s Shameless Nonsense…’

Now all she had to do was throw out a few lines from her usual villainous repertoire, strut back to her own room, and start the day anew with her head held high.

“Hm…”

Meng Wange hesitated for a moment, resting her fingertip on her chin before tilting her head at Su Wanli.

“…Oh? Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten, Miss Su? What happened last night?”

“You dare answer me with a question? I’m the one asking right n—

“……..”

‘Wait, what did she just say?’

‘What happened last night?’

‘What could’ve happened last night?’

‘Don’t tell me…’

As if she had seen right through Su Wanli’s thoughts, Meng Wange blinked at her, her long lashes fluttering slightly.

“…I mean last night’s events. It wasn’t that long ago. Has Miss Su really forgotten already?”

Trying to process what Meng Wange had just said, Su Wanli suddenly felt like someone had grabbed her by the throat—her voice came out in broken stammers.

“You—you—you… What do you mean by that?!”

But Meng Wange didn’t respond right away this time.

She merely smiled, stretching lazily as the edge of her white shirt lifted, revealing her slender waist.

Sunlight gently bathed her exposed pale skin, and the atmosphere suddenly turned… ambiguous.

Looking closely, the clothes Meng Wange wore were noticeably wrinkled, and the pillow and bedsheets bore faint shadows…

‘No way. Could it be… last night…’

A deep blush instantly bloomed on Su Wanli’s ears and cheeks.

A strange heat filled her head, making her slightly dizzy.

“N-No way! Don’t spout nonsense! I was already in that state last night—what could I have possibly done…”

‘Wait. Could it be… she didn’t do anything to Meng Wange…’

But Meng Wange did something to her?

The shadow on the bed… that was definitely where she had fallen asleep.

Su Wanli, horrified, slowly raised her trembling index finger and pointed at Meng Wange’s nose.

“You—you—you…!”

Seeing her like this, Meng Wange finally couldn’t hold back and let out a soft laugh.

“Pfft. Sorry, Miss Su, I was just joking.”

“After all, power outages don’t happen often at the Su residence, do they? How could someone forget something like that after just one night?”

‘…A power outage?’

‘So… when Meng Wange said something happened last night, she was just talking about the blackout?’

Su Wanli’s dazed gaze finally regained focus.

“R-Right… It was just a power outage… No, wait! How dare you mess with me over something like that?! Who would forget a power outage?! You think I’m a three-year-old?!”

Meng Wange covered her smile with her fingers.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s all my fault. So… did you just finish your shower and come here to wake me up?”

“…Exactly. I came to wake you up.”

[Villainess Value dropped to 82]

“…Wake you up? Ha! I came to drag you out of bed! Do you even know what time it is?! Weren’t you supposed to help me reach the middle ranks of the class?! If you keep slacking off like this, then pack your bags and get out of the Su residence today!”

Watching Su Wanli regain her vigor and put on her usual haughty airs, Meng Wange simply smiled and nodded.

“—As you command, Miss Su.”