Unknowingly, evening had already drawn near.
The orange-red sunlight filtered through the thin mist and passed through the windows of the Su residence, dyeing Meng Wange’s light brown hair with a dazzling golden hue.
Seeing Su Wanli standing there in a daze, Meng Wange chuckled softly and continued the motion she had left unfinished.
She gently tugged on the end of the bandage and tightened it with a bit of force.
Perhaps it was the lighting, or maybe the wound was still bleeding slightly, but the faint red on the bandage seemed more noticeable than before.
“No need to worry, Miss Su. It’s just a small injury. I’ve already taken care of the glass shards.”
Meng Wange winked at Su Wanli with her pale-colored eyes, her lips curving into a reassuring smile—like a boxer who had just won a hard-fought match, waving softly to a long-lost lover beneath the fading sunset…
‘Wait, what the hell was that thought?!’
Su Wanli shook her head vigorously, trying to get rid of the ridiculous image in her mind.
At the same time, she quickly hid the band-aids and iodine she had prepared behind her back.
Meng Wange had already finished wrapping the bandage herself.
That made all the little supplies Su Wanli had brought completely pointless.
If Meng Wange saw them now, not only would they be of no help, but her hard-maintained “evil woman” act would crumble into pieces!
Watching Su Wanli’s odd behavior, Meng Wange raised an eyebrow and lightly covered her lips with her fingers as she let out a small laugh.
“Could it be… I guessed right? You really came just because you were worried about me?”
“You…!”
Su Wanli’s cheeks instantly flushed red.
‘No, no! I can’t be flustered! An evil woman doesn’t get shy from just a couple of teasing remarks!’
Su Wanli rubbed her forehead forcefully and raised her voice, trying to pass her embarrassment off as anger.
“…W-what are you talking about!? Meng Wange, don’t get cocky! I only came to check if you were doing anything suspicious in our Su household!”
“Oh? I see.”
Meng Wange nodded in understanding, then turned to the side and made way for her.
“In that case, would you like to inspect my room?”
“…!”
‘Damn it, Meng Wange! Can’t you tell I just wanted a graceful exit? Why are you still pushing it!?’
‘Don’t think you can manipulate me with a little mind game like this! I’m aiming for that 12 billion inheritance—I’m not backing down so easily!’
Su Wanli gritted her teeth and shot Meng Wange a glare.
“Hmph, did you forget this is my house? But fine, let me see just how many spies you’ve planted here with all that cleaning you did earlier.”
“Be my guest,” Meng Wange replied in her usual gentle tone. “Though I must warn you, I didn’t have much time to tidy up. The room might be a bit messy. I hope you won’t mind.”
“That makes sense,” Su Wanli said coolly. “Then I’ll just…”
***
‘Wait, Su Wanli, are you being serious right now?’
Now that she’d calmed down and thought about it, if she stripped away all the layers—villain and heroine, landlord and tenant, woman and woman… all the titles and identities—wasn’t this…
‘…Wasn’t this her first time being invited into a girl’s room?’
‘T-this is kind of exciting…’
[……]
‘Hey! I’m warning you, whatever you are, just keep your thoughts to yourself. Don’t pop up with a bunch of ellipses just to make your presence known!’
With a slightly complicated feeling in her chest, Su Wanli took a deep breath and strode confidently into Meng Wange’s room.
Although she had come in earlier, it was pretty rushed at the time.
Her main goal had just been to ask Meng Wange for help with her makeup, so she hadn’t really taken the chance to look around properly.
‘Hehe, let’s just treat this as scouting enemy territory. If the system blames me later, I’ll at least have an excuse.’
‘You see, what if I get a mission where I need to cut a hole in Meng Wange’s schoolbag, glue her to her chair, or hide a cockroach in her pencil case? I’ve got to know what her stuff looks like first, right?’
Even though the layout of Meng Wange’s room was exactly the same as Su Wanli’s, the absence of Su Wanli’s usual pile of clutter made the whole space feel much more open.
Thanks to the fact that Meng Wange had just tidied up, the walls were bare except for two simple black-and-white floral prints.
Her desk only had a few scattered textbooks and school supplies, and even the ornate coat rack—identical in style to Su Wanli’s—looked plain with just a single school uniform hanging on it.
Su Wanli glanced around with a showy expression, letting out a silent sigh in her heart.
‘She survives with just this? Truly a protagonist from a novel. If it were me, I’d go insane from boredom living like this.’
If there had been some strange little item in the room, she could have used it as leverage in the future.
But at this point, it looked like she’d found nothing at all.
“Well? Has Miss Su finished her inspection?”
Meng Wange stood at the doorway, smiling sweetly.
“Hmph. What’s the rush? The surface is clean enough, but who knows what you might be hiding in secret?”
Su Wanli threw out a rather weak and meaningless threat.
But she knew full well she probably wasn’t going to find any real dirt on the female lead.
Still, she figured she could casually poke around a bit to maintain her villainess persona.
She sat down at Meng Wange’s desk and tugged at the drawer.
‘Hmm? It… doesn’t open?’
And just as her fingers brushed the edge of the drawer, she noticed Meng Wange’s body stiffen ever so slightly.
‘…Huh? Wait a second—could it be?’
Su Wanli, who hadn’t expected to find anything at all, suddenly perked up.
She pointed to the one locked drawer in the entire room.
“Meng Wange, what’s in here? Why’s it locked?”
Even though it was probably just because the room hadn’t been fully prepared yet and Meng Wange might not even have the key, interrogating the heroine over something like this was one of the true pleasures of playing the villainess.
However, Meng Wange didn’t respond right away.
She merely stood in silence for a moment, eyes fixed on Su Wanli.
Su Wanli felt a shiver run down her spine under that gaze.
“What are you staring at me for? Don’t tell me you really are hiding something shady in there—”
Meng Wange slowly shook her head.
“Miss Su, are you sure you want to see what’s inside?”
‘Eh? She’s being so serious? Could it actually be something important?’
[System, what should I do? Am I even allowed to look at this?]
[Ah, great. It’s gone silent mode.]
‘Well… for now, I’ll just stay in character.’
Su Wanli swallowed nervously and forced out a defiant reply.
“Quit talking and open it. I want to see what you’re hiding.”
Hearing Su Wanli’s firm answer, Meng Wange actually looked relieved.
“…Alright.”
She nodded softly, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a key.
Sliding it into the keyhole, she gave it a small turn, and the lock clicked open—