Chapter 61: A Scheme

"Did you know that my house only has two rooms?"

Evan glared at the two people standing in front of him, his patience already wearing thin. Lumi stood a few steps away, looking between them with complete confusion, as though she still couldn’t understand how her quiet night had somehow turned into this.

"That’s what I don’t get. Why did you stay here? You have another—"

Reeta’s words were instantly cut off when Evan widened his eyes at her in warning. She stopped mid-sentence.

"Ah..." Reeta quickly changed her expression, pretending she had never intended to say anything at all.

"Two rooms are perfectly fine for a house like this," she said innocently, blinking at him. "But I still need one room for myself since I’m going to be a live-in tutor."

Evan closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply.

"And what the hell are you doing here?" His gaze shifted toward Leon, who had been standing there silently ever since he arrived with Reeta.

"Sending her here, for safety reasons..." Leon’s voice remained calm and casual, as though nothing unusual was happening at all.

Reeta nodded enthusiastically beside him. "Exactly."

Evan’s eyebrow twitched. "You should have brought her to your place instead. It’s empty."

"That’s the reason she couldn’t stay there." Leon glanced toward Reeta before calmly continuing, "It’s empty, and she would be alone."

Evan stared at him.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Lumi slowly looked from Leon to Reeta, then back to Evan. She was beginning to suspect that the two people standing in front of them had already planned everything before they even arrived.

And judging from Evan’s expression, he had just realized the same thing.

Lumi raised her hand hesitantly, trying to say something. "Hm... it’s okay. I can share the room with Miss Bellamy—"

"Ack, no, no..." Reeta immediately waved her finger, shaking her head. "Just for your information, I’m quite restless when I sleep. I’m afraid I might kick you out of the bed."

Lumi blinked.

Evan’s expression turned even darker.

"No. You can’t take her room. Sleep on the sofa."

Reeta covered her mouth, looking dramatically hurt. "How could you treat your wife’s tutor like this...?"

Lumi, who had heard the word wife, instantly blushed.

Evan was already rubbing his temple, feeling a headache coming on. "Just get lost. Bring your girl out of my house. I’ll find another tutor."

Reeta’s expression immediately changed. "Another tutor?"

"Yes."

"But you already have the best S-Rank Guide in the Empire standing right in front of you."

"I said I’ll find another tutor."

Reeta pointed at herself with an exaggeratedly offended expression. "You’re rejecting an S-Rank Guide who personally came all the way back early just to help you?"

"Just... get out..." Evan’s voice was low, but there was a clear hint of annoyance in it.

Lumi looked at the two of them, feeling rather caught in the middle, so she quickly spoke up. "It’s all right, really." She reached for Evan’s sleeve hesitantly and gave it a small tug. "I can sleep on the sofa."

"No!" Evan immediately objected.

"Yes—no!" Reeta also replied a second later, apparently unable to decide whether she was agreeing or disagreeing with him. "You should just sleep in Evan’s room. It’s big enough that you could probably play football there."

A slow, deep sigh escaped Evan’s mouth.

He narrowed his eyes at Reeta, the patience in his expression wearing dangerously thin. "I know what you’re trying to do, but you’re definitely crossing the line and making her uncomfortable."

Reeta blinked at him.

Then she glanced at Lumi, who was still holding onto Evan’s sleeve.

"Oh..." For once, her teasing expression softened.

"Sorry, cutiepie." She raised both hands in surrender. "I was only joking."

Lumi quickly shook her head. "It’s okay. I’m not uncomfortable."

But the moment those words left her mouth, all three of them looked at her at the same time.

"So you’re okay with sleeping in Evan’s room?" Reeta immediately asked.

"Yes—sorry?" Lumi blinked in panic. "I—I mean... no."

Her face turned red as she hurriedly tried to correct herself.

"I mean, I’m not saying I want to sleep in his room! I just meant that I’m not uncomfortable with what you said. That’s all!"

Reeta’s lips slowly curled upward.

Evan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Leon, meanwhile, quietly looked away, though the faint amusement in his eyes was impossible to miss.

Lumi wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.

"I think," Evan finally said, his voice unusually calm, "we should stop talking about where everyone is sleeping before this gets even more confusing."

Reeta nodded solemnly.

"Agreed." She paused, then added, "Although, for the record, I still think your room is big enough for two."

"Reeta." Evan looked completely done with her.

"Okay, okay. I’m leaving." Reeta rolled her eyes before turning toward the door, only to stop after taking two steps and looking down at the four heavy suitcases beside her.

She grabbed the handles and tried to pull two of them at once.

"Oww... oww..." Her face immediately scrunched up. "Leon... this is too heavy."

Leon glanced at the suitcases, then at her. He pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly knowing what she was trying to do.

"I will pull two... you two..." he said, already secretly amused by Reeta’s behaviour.

"Hmm... thank you, my dear Fated Sentinel, the most stunning, superb and spectacular SSS-rank Sentinel..." Reeta smiled sweetly before glaring at Evan and sneering, "Unlike someone else..."

She attempted to drag the suitcases again, but they only moved a few inches across the floor with a loud scraping sound.

"Oww... I don’t think I can drag this..."

Lumi looked at Reeta struggling with the heavy suitcases, and a small sense of guilt began to creep into her heart.

She had always been soft-hearted, especially when someone seemed to be having trouble because of her. Seeing Reeta struggling with those suitcases made Lumi feel as though she were the one making things difficult for her.

Her gaze fell to the suitcases again.

They really did look heavy. And it was already late at night.

Lumi hesitated before finally speaking. "Miss Bellamy..."

Reeta immediately turned her head toward her. "Yes, cutiepie?"

Lumi glanced at Evan, then back at Reeta.

"Since it’s already late at night... you should just sleep here tonight."