Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

Hearing this word, the blonde girl's eyes became unusually uncertain.

"It's so sad. Humans are creatures that cannot be loved unless they wear a mask. If they don't rely on acting to cover up their weaknesses and ugliness, no one will love them."

There is really no point in seeking truth in hypocrisy.

"........."

Xingjian, who noticed her micro-expression, blinked and no longer showed his nonchalant expression because he thought of something.

——For others, the mask may just be an indispensable tool for them to deal with different scenes and different people.

But for Hayasaka Ai, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Hoshimi put aside her previous prejudice against Hayasaka and thought about it carefully from beginning to end.

For Hayasaka Ai, "mask" is actually a survival skill used to maintain a balance in life.

The fashionable chick in school, the silent maid of the Shinomiya family, the gentle older sister in front of Haru, the innocent student now, and various other modes besides these——

These are the things she relies on to survive.

The Hayasaka family has served the Shinomiya family for generations. Shinomiya Kaguya is the daughter of the Shinomiya family just like her brothers. Hayasaka Ai has been arranged to be her maid since she was a child, taking care of everything in her life.

Living in the Shinomiya family, where there are all kinds of conflicts and struggles within the family, it is actually normal and understandable that she needs to arm herself with different masks.

So it makes sense that she uses these multiple masks to deal with this strange family member who suddenly appeared from outside the family's sphere of influence.

Everyone is just trying to protect themselves.

Finally, thinking of this, Xingjian didn't want to go into it any further and just sighed softly.

“…There’s a saying that if you wear a mask for too long, you can’t take it off, but if you don’t wear it, you can’t hide your true self.”

He tried to express his thoughts in a calm tone.

"But... I sometimes wonder. There are times when all the masks a person wears add up to reveal their true self."

But in this case, her life must be very difficult.

"So, whether or not you take off your mask actually doesn't have much to do with whether or not you can be loved. And..."

Having said that, Xingjian cleared his throat and looked at the blonde girl in front of him with a rare gentle look.

"I think no matter what kind of mask it is, as long as it's that person, they are worthy of love."

Because Hayasaka showed kindness to her, Hoshimi also honestly expressed her true thoughts at the moment.

I don’t know if my words of comfort made her feel a little relieved as she always wore a mask.

"------"

This time, Hayasaka Ai has a slightly dull expression and a light flashing in her eyes. I wonder if this is another look tailor-made for her character setting.

In short, after chatting at the door for nearly ten minutes, Hoshimi watched Hayasaka slowly leave and turned around to close the door.

——Then what comes next is the most troublesome thing.

"………well."

He looked at the little girl with long golden hair who was sitting on his bed and looking around suspiciously, and rubbed his temples as if he was troubled.

"Don't look at me with that expression that seems like you have a million questions. After all, I don't know the principle and cause of the symptoms of puberty syndrome."

When he found the shrunken Eriri in the alley, he took her back home without a second thought.

Now that I think about it, I was too skilled.

"If you haven't calmed down yet, wait until you've calmed down."

"…I've been feeling depressed for a long time now, and it's about time I face reality. Losing my temper won't solve anything anyway."

When Eriri said the word "this lady" in her childhood, there was no sense of arrogance at all. Instead, there was a strange contrast of cuteness. What's going on?

"...Is there really no way I can recover to my original state for the time being?"

The blonde girl stretched out her hands and looked at her palms, which were much smaller than usual and looked particularly tender.

"As long as we're sure this isn't a dream, there's no way to restore it to its original state for the time being."

Xingjian curled his lips in disapproval and sat on the clean tatami beside him.

“Unless we can find the cause of this syndrome and eradicate it completely—just like curing a disease.”

The specific process that Futaba told him was correct, but since he himself had never succeeded, this solution still needs to be verified.

"In short—you probably won't be able to attend the course. Prepare to find an excuse to take a leave of absence. Tomorrow I'll take you to see an expert in this field and hear her opinions. Of course, if something like this happens, I suggest you carefully consider what to do next."

"—"

For some reason, Eriri didn't say anything, but just stared at Hoshimi who was carefully analyzing the situation.

"What, is there something on my face?"

"...No, nothing. Speaking of which, Haru, you're quite skilled."

"After all, I've been through it before, so I understand the general aftermath."

He took out his cell phone and handed it to Eriri, who was wrapped in the quilt.

"You should be able to remember your family's phone number, right?"

“…My family always uses the short family number.”

"........."

Eriri's cell phone was in her own pocket, but unfortunately it was destroyed along with her wet clothes during the heavy rain today.

"Besides, Dad is still in the UK on official business. I don't know when he will be back. Mom is also traveling abroad..."

"........."

Why is there no reliable person in this family?

"Besides, I can't just go home like this... The servants at home will definitely be scared if they see me."

“…Hey, hey, could it be…”

Ying Lili took the phone silently but remained silent for a moment, looking like she was struggling with her self-awareness.

"...Besides, I don't want to look for Tomoya."

----

----

Recently, there have been a lot of accounts that have been maliciously provoking conflicts in the book review area. Considering that the current performance of this book is not bad, I will manage it according to my own wishes and not vent my anger on everyone here. Everyone, just read the book with peace of mind (hehe)

I basically won't leave comments in the comment section. If you have any important questions, please send me a private message. If you add fuel to the fire in the comment section, I will just gag you. I don't mind that (whispering)

By the way, tomorrow is the first day of August. If you can't remember the rules for adding more chapters, I will open another chapter tomorrow when I wake up and repeat the coding.

Sawamura Eriri's Body Can't Shrink: Chapter 1 Even if Her Body Shrinks, She's Still a Famous Painter! (Part 3)

Her low mumbling made Xingjian stunned for a moment, but his expression finally returned to calm.

After what happened during the day, it seems that Eriri really suffered a big blow.

Could this have something to do with her sudden onset of puberty syndrome?

As Xingjian does not have much knowledge in this area, he can only hastily put forward such a conjecture and classify it as a problem that "needs to be verified".

“…I said, Qing.”

While Hoshimi was still thinking about how to solve this sudden incident, Eriri poked her little head out from under the quilt and faced him with her childish face.

"...wouldn't it be better if you just threw me away?"

Hoshimi, who originally thought that Eriri would make some unreasonable demands, blinked, somewhat unable to believe what she had just heard.

"My body has shrunk now. It must be because I've been so willful all this time... So I guess God is punishing me."

The petite Eriri wrapped herself in the quilt, as if only in this way could she gain some fragmented sense of security.

She recalled what Bai Tianlun had also said.

When Renye was playing galgame with Kato, Haru was there too.

He was not on his side from the beginning to the end, but he still forced himself to instill in him the idea that "you should assist me". Even after hearing the news, he began to feel "betrayed" and ran away in embarrassment, leaving everyone present behind.

"After my body shrank, I was really scared... I was worried that I wouldn't be able to return to my original state, and that no one would be able to help me..."

However, it was the boy who thought she had "betrayed" him, who took her home without saying a word, and until just now, he had been thinking hard about how to restore her to her original state.

He gave her an unparalleled sense of security at the first moment, but she had previously thought that she was "betrayed" by him.

After coming to my senses and thinking about it carefully, it was really bad.

Who do you think you are?

Even though Aki Tomoya has never shown any feelings of love towards her, she still wishfully believes that perseverance will lead to victory.

Ming Ming saw that Qing was not his partner from the beginning to the end, but he still wishfully dragged him to do things, wishfully hoping that he could help him, and wishfully felt betrayed after the truth was revealed - even though the other party had clearly extended a helping hand to him when he was at his lowest point.

Eriri Sawamura has never felt so childish and bad.

However, the matter has been settled, and no matter how much you regret it, it will be of no use.

She looks like a homeless puppy now.

"So, don't bother me anymore."

Leaving her alone to perish in self-condemnation and numbness - perhaps this is the escape she most wants to make now that she is depressed.

"Wow... If I really can't recover, Qing, please tell Mom and Dad that I still love them... Kashiwagi Eri, the illustrator, will probably retire soon. After all, I won't be able to go to book signings or comic conventions anymore... Just leave Baboon 14's game account to me..."

"…………"

Xingjian didn't say anything, but just slowed down his pace and walked slowly in front of Eriri——

"Well--!!"

Then he reached out and flicked her hard on the forehead.

"What are you doing!!"

Eriri put her little hands up to cover her forehead. Xingjian's unexpected attack caught her off guard.

"Eri, you really don't have any ulterior motives. Saying something like this at a time like this makes it impossible for people to stay out of it."

Xingjian shook his head helplessly, but his attitude was easy-going and clear, as if he had already accepted the reality.

If Eriri really argued unreasonably or continued to be arrogant, he might really let Eriri solve her own problems.

But now seeing her looking so pitiful and reflecting on her own problems, Xingjian couldn't really shut her out.

"...I used to treat you like a lackey, just a tool for running errands and doing dungeons. Aren't you angry?"

Eriri held her little head and raised it carefully to ask this question - this expression made her even more endearing.

"Honestly, I'd be mad if you didn't realize that."

Xingjian curled his lips indifferently, and then added the last sentence nonchalantly.

“… Of course, if you continue to do this even after realizing this, it will only make people more angry.”

Obviously, the last sentence is not about Eriri.

Of course, Hoshimi did not tell her the deeper reason for helping Eriri.

When I was suffering from that damn adolescent syndrome, no one came to help me.

If someone had come to save me at that time... maybe everything would be very different now.

Seeing that Eriri is now isolated and helpless, just like he was back then, how could he possibly have the heart to abandon her?

At eight o'clock in the evening, after dinner.

"...If this is what you looked like when you were a child, Eriri, then you haven't changed much since you were a child."

Sitting at the table, Xingjian held his chin with his hand, looking closely at the blonde girl who was sitting on his bed like the owner of the room, eating the potato chips that Xingjian had just bought when he went downstairs to take his lunch box. He couldn't help but sigh.

"Ever since she was little, she's been as delicate as a porcelain doll. I guess she's been living a life of adoration."

"Humph, my face is pure natural with no additives."

The little blonde girl seemed not to notice the potato chip residue at the corner of her mouth. She just raised her chin proudly and continued to eat potato chips while watching the variety show on TV.

Tomorrow is the first day of Golden Week. In addition to reporting on the Japanese team's decisive victory in a match during the World Football Tournament, the news also reported on some traffic control matters that need to be paid attention to when traveling during the holiday.