"Am I really meeting your girlfriend?!" Veena exclaimed panickily, wearing the same anxious and scared expression despite asking the same question for the eighteenth time and receiving the same response for the seventeenth, which Jeff was about to say again.

"Once again… yes, you will meet Jess." Jeff sighed before finally deciding to break the loop and ask Veena in return.

"Don't you want to meet her, Vee?"

Veena, of course, would like to meet Jess. Or rather, she had to if she wanted to be part of what she referred to as Jeff's harem and be with her beloved senpai. However, like Nubia, that didn't mean she was ready to.

That thought made Veena realize why Nubia wasn't with them.

"Nubia-senpai, you meanie!" she lashed out, thrashing while being carried by Jeff over his right shoulder, her sling bag hanging from his left arm along with his backpack as they came down from their apartment and waited for a taxi in front of the building.

---

While riding the taxi toward the PoruMerc store downtown, Jeff talked about the celebration for Veena's 18th birthday.

"Are you really okay celebrating your birthday at our home, Vee?"

Jeff was prepared to go beyond what was reasonable just to stop Veena from celebrating her birthday at her mother's house to complete Quest 23. Whether he needed to be mean to her and say she wouldn't be with him if she did go meet her mother—he was even ready to lock her in his apartment.

He was prepared to do anything from mean to worse. Luckily, Veena easily agreed to his suggestion—or rather, his invitation.

Still, Jeff couldn't help but wonder why exactly. He at least knew that Veena wanted to be with him, considering she depended on him more than anyone else—even more than her own mother—but of course she still wanted the attention of her parent.

Seeing Jeff's worried look, Veena stopped her tantrum and honestly answered him to ease his worries.

"It's fine, Jeff-senpai..." she said, leaning her head on his chest and clinging to him again before continuing, "Mother said she has work to do… so she won't be able to celebrate… my birthday with me."

Her mumbling voice, along with her sad expression, showed how painful the meaning of her words was.

Jeff himself couldn't help but feel sympathetic toward her, and she was sure that even Jess—and especially Nubia—would be as well.

Trying to ease her mind from her sad thoughts, while pampering her with an embrace and patting her head, Jeff asked a different question—partly out of curiosity.

"Then who would be celebrating with you at your mother's house?"

"Mother said that my stepfather and stepbrothers had prepared a party for me," Veena answered, as if she wasn't sure of her own words.

Wait, don't tell me… Jeff thought, making a guess about the reason why the Returner Fantasy System had given a quest to prevent Veena from going to the party prepared by her stepfather and stepbrothers.

"How exactly were they to you, Vee?" he asked, trying to get more information to support his assumption.

Veena pondered for a bit, tilting her head back and forth, her eyes closed, and her arms crossed under her ample breasts.

"They're nice… but sometimes, I feel scared of them… especially my stepfather."

Hearing Veena mumbling her words, Jeff was now confident in his assumption:

Veena's stepbrothers were probably touching themselves while thinking about Veena. And Veena's stepfather was an even worse shit bastard.

Even if she changed her mind, there's no way I'm letting her go there, Jeff thought, tightening his embrace around Veena, making her cling to him even more—to the point that they almost looked like they were making love in the eyes of the old taxi driver.

Good job, kid. Your girlfriend would surely get assaulted if you let her go there, thought the taxi driver, overhearing Jeff and Veena's conversation.

---

After arriving at the PoruMerc store, even before they could enter through the front door and head to the women's section, Veena began panicking again.

"It's your girlfriend, Jeff-senpai!"

"Yes she is, Vee. She is my girlfriend, and I'm her boyfriend," Jeff said loudly with a proud, smug grin—making sure all the guys walking on the street, stopping in front of the PoruMerc store to look at Jess's photo flashing on the advertisement screen above the store or the poster on the glass wall, would hear what he said.

And to boast even more, he put his hand over Veena's shoulders and pulled her closer, as if to say she was his as well.

"Let's go inside, Vee."

"Is she here?... Is your girlfriend inside, Jeff-senpai?"

"You won't know unless we enter, right?"

"Ehh?!"

Despite resisting as much as she could, nervous that Jess might actually be inside the store, Veena was easily carried by Jeff, who held her by the waist like a bag of rice.

Still, she kept thrashing, attracting unwanted attention from the customers and staff, until she realized that Jess wasn't actually there.

"Hmph! Please stop teasing me, Jeff-senpai!" she said, pouting before heading into the fitting stall carrying the clothes and items Jeff had chosen for her: a set of blue slim-fit dress, a silver large coat paired with high heels, and a sling bag the same color as her golden blonde hair.

It was quite a stylish outfit compared to what Jeff was wearing: a set of dark grey shirt and pants, even his shoes were the same color. The only eye-catching item on him was his blood-stained red jacket.

Yet despite his casual attire, his rugged handsome look attracted the attention of the other female customers and staff, who kept glancing at him while he sat in front of the fitting stall.

"How do I look, Jeff-senpai!" Veena exclaimed, excitedly opening the curtain and stepping out of the fitting stall.

Jeff stood from his seat, approached Veena, and patted her head before giving her praise.

"You look really beautiful, Vee."

"Mhm!"

Veena's cheerful smile never failed to charm Jeff, making him want to pamper her even more like a younger sister.

Aside from the clothes Jeff chose for her, Veena received more clothes of her own choice, including a gown she would wear for her 18th birthday—all free of charge, just as Nubia had promised as her gift.

While the gown was being adjusted to her size, Veena and Jeff waited in the lobby of the store.

Since Jeff was sure that Jess would certainly like Veena, he didn't make any effort—or more accurately, he didn't tell anything about her to Veena, as if trying not to ruin the surprise. However, that only made Veena even more anxious about meeting Jess.

"Should I also buy a gift for your girlfriend, Jeff-senpai?" Veena asked, her anxious and worried look returning now that she had calmed down from the excitement of picking new clothes.

"For Jess? Why though? Isn't she the one who should give you a gift instead?"

She would love to receive more gifts of course, yet even with how clingy and needy she was, Veena knew she couldn't mess up her first meeting with Jess.

"So she won't get mad at me and will approve of me."

Veena was sure that Jess was going to be mad at her. After all, no girlfriend would want their boyfriend getting close to another girl. But that wasn't her only concern.

Jeff still hadn't explained what he meant when he asked her if she wanted Jess to be her girlfriend as well. But despite not knowing what it meant, Veena was sure she needed to prove herself to Jess and get her approval to be included in her beloved senpai's harem.

Seeing the seriousness in Veena's eyes, Jeff almost felt like explaining the Harem x Yuri plan to her. Still, he held back, wanting to tease her just as much as he teased Nubia—and was planning to tease Jess.

"If you want to buy a gift, then I'll tell you what Jess really wants."

After receiving the gown and buying the gift for Jess, Veena and Jeff walked toward the train station and took the direct route from Capital City to Central City.

While riding the train, another question popped up from Veena.

"What about Kris-senpai, Marc-senpai, and everyone?"

Kris and Marc, together with their girlfriends, were supposed to be in charge of checking on Natan's group and Dexter's men locked up in the basement of the apartment building. But Veena would surely be happier celebrating her birthday with her friends, so Jeff decided to leave the job of looking after them to the guards assigned by Nubia's father.

"They will come later tonight, so you don't have to worry, Vee."

---

After an hour's ride on the train, Veena and Jeff arrived at Central City before noon.

Then after strolling downtown for half an hour, they took a taxi heading home—not to Jeff's parents' house, but their home, where Jess was waiting for Jeff's return, unaware that Veena was with him.

"Welcome home, Jeff!"

"I'm home, Jes"—BAM!

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