Chapter 97

The bird landed on the branch and chirped at Livra. The “Ice Block Princess” responded with a gentle smile.

In truth, that so-called “Ice Block Princess”—the ice had long since melted.

It had melted into genuine jade, melted into a girl yearning for the sky.

“You there, your name is Little Blue!”

“And you! You’ll be called Wind Song!”

“Do you like your names?”

The princess danced gracefully among the flower fields, singing, raising her arms high toward the countless birds in the sky, laughing, unrestrained and free.

Actually, the sky was never that far away.

You had always been by my side.

Your name was White Feather.

White as the firmament, feathers falling back to dust.

My friend, may you be well.

---

15. Venue

In the early morning, Miss Sheffy was extremely irritable.

She wasn’t always this irritable. Normally, her mornings were spent kindly conversing with the giant fish by the lakeside, caring for every flower and blade of grass, like a cheerful, gentle little angel.

But this morning… she was simply furious!!

The silver-haired girl gathered magic light bullets in her hands. While running around the lake, she unleashed a barrage of spells onto the water’s surface, sending up sprays several dozen meters high, mingled with the giant fish leaping up and down in terror.

At this moment, Sheffy perfectly illustrated the meaning of “powerless fury”!

“Ahhhh, I refuse to accept this! It was so close… just the final step, why was I the one to faint first again? They said if you kept the tipsiness, you could charge straight ahead! They said the wheel of fate would turn, that I’d definitely have a beautiful comeback! In the end, the fairy tales were all lies, ahhhhh!”

Xiarette sat calmly on the balcony, elegantly crossing one slender leg over the other as she savored the warm black tea in a delicately carved cup, listening to the adorable shrieks outside the window.

She rose lightly, bringing with her a fierce undulation on her chest no less impressive than the surface of the lake.

She stood up merely to refill her tea—certainly not to go and persuade Sheffy to spare the giant fish in the lake.

Let her vent.

Xiarette understood better than anyone that right now, Sheffy truly needed to let out her anger.

Last night’s “battle”—Sheffy, emboldened by the liquor, had indeed been quite fierce.

That determination to seize the initiative and never back down had caught Xiarette off guard at first. She had even felt an illusion that tonight she might really end up being overpowered by Sheffy.

But as things developed, the truth made itself clear… this wasn’t very realistic.

Yes, Sheffy was very spirited.

But then what?

Some things simply couldn’t be endured to the end with nothing but fervor.

While Sheffy was trying to baptize Xiarette, Xiarette was silently baptizing her as well. These things had always been mutual, and when one couldn’t help but make a move, it became a contest of who had the greater stamina in the end.

The outcome was obvious.

The invincible Miss Sheffy—she had collapsed once again.

Xiarette could only say that the heavens were indeed fair.

No matter how powerful Sheffy was during the day, once she lay down at night and the lights went out, she became just that “fragile.”

So long as she didn’t gain the advantage in the first round of their clash, Sheffy would spend the entire “battle” at a disadvantage.

Perhaps even Sheffy herself couldn’t control it—whenever her mental focus reached its utmost limit, her eight wings would unfurl on their own. Even if she instinctively tried to retract them, Xiarette would never give her the chance.

And the moment Xiarette suddenly seized those wings, Miss Sheffy could only let out a muffled, aggrieved whimper, her whole body going limp like a persimmon—one that was not only flushed red but also brimming with moisture.

By the time Xiarette had toyed with her nearly until dawn, Sheffy had actually ended up crying out of sheer frustration.

It wasn’t because Xiarette’s offensive was too unreasonable, but because she was furious at her own body for being so useless!

At this rate, just when exactly would the long-awaited counterattack ever come to pass?!

Don’t be fooled by her tears—what Sheffy excelled at most was her stubborn tongue. She never spared a single word of bravado, and her declarations were nothing short of impassioned.

[Did you not eat?! Didn’t you drink any water?! Did you only swallow a single grain of rice?! Useless! Completely useless! Wuuu!]

[This...this is it? Can’t you be any rougher?!]

[No...no big deal!! So long as I haven’t fainted, you haven’t won! Even if I do faint, that doesn’t count as your victory!]

Every time she shouted such things, she was unknowingly spurring Xiarette’s fighting spirit to even greater heights, making her grow braver the longer it went on.

Seeing Sheffy curled up, trembling and wailing, Xiarette couldn’t help but feel a deep tenderness…

Out of an unreserved affection for Sheffy, Xiarette chose to clasp her hands to her chest and simply lay flat on the spot.

That fearless smile with her eyes closed seemed to say: it’s all right, Sheffy, you can do whatever you like now—your big sister won’t fight back, okay?

Originally, she thought such a concession would finally make Sheffy happy and at ease…

But instead, Sheffy ended up crying even louder!!

Wuuu wuuu wuuu—what did it mean to experience utter humiliation if not this?!

In order to salvage what little remained of her dignity, Sheffy simply decided to imitate Xiarette and also lay flat, throwing this “freedom to act” right back to Xiarette—let her shoulder this disgrace!

How was it…? If I do this, Xiarette, surely you’ll feel too humiliated to do anything further, right?

Oh, oh…!

Thank you for delivering yourself so sincerely, Sheffy. Since you’re being so accommodating, your big sister won’t hold back anymore!

Thus, before dawn broke, Sheffy’s gaze gradually went vacant and lifeless, her dull eyes staring at the faint glow rising outside the window.

Ah… the sun was coming up.

But Xiarette was still moving relentlessly.

It was terrifying.

Truly… terrifying!

After resting for a little while at dawn to recover her strength, Sheffy once again cast 【Healing Recovery】 on herself and hurled a fierce declaration at Xiarette.

"I…I’ve already discovered your weakness! Next time…I will definitely break through it!"

"Mmhmm, your big sister will be waiting, all right? Sheffy, since you’re saying that, why don’t we just start the ‘next time’ right now…?"

"Spare me! Damn it, you remember this! I will absolutely win it all back! I said absolutely!"

After throwing down her harsh words, Sheffy slipped away outside to vent her impotent fury by blasting the fish—just like she was doing now.

Xiarette could say she felt thoroughly satisfied, or perhaps not satisfied enough. Either way, she was very much looking forward to the “next time” Sheffy spoke of.

This was bad…this sort of thing could really become…addictive.

But it wasn’t her fault~ if anything, she blamed it on how impossibly adorable Sheffy became in that soft, helpless state—so cute it should be illegal!

The Holy Sword hanging on the wall glimmered with a faint, lustrous light.

From it came Sylatrella’s soft, complaining voice.

"Hero, you slept with my mom again and even made her cry. You really are unforgivable."

"Uh…Sylatrella, little sister, scolding me first thing in the morning—are you sure that’s appropriate?"

"I don’t know if it’s appropriate, but I’m not happy, because yesterday you threw me into the flowerbed again."

"Ha…nothing could be done about that. I suggest you try to dodge on your own next time, or else we’ll end up tossing you even farther."

"Wuuu…what a pity, I didn’t get to see Lady Sheffy’s dazed expression again!"

"Of course you’re not allowed to see that?!"

You keep calling her your respected “mother,” but your thoughts are getting more and more outrageous by the day!

Xiarette vaguely felt that Sylatrella’s attitude toward Sheffy was growing stranger… She clearly hadn’t had such bizarre ideas in the beginning. Lately, she was becoming more and more flamboyant.

But Sylatrella simply never had the chance.

The moment the night’s “business” began, the first thing Sheffy did was throw the Holy Sword out into the flowerbeds beyond the villa.

Throwing her out wasn’t the issue—what truly bothered Sylatrella was that they always forgot to pick her up the next morning. She was quite distressed about this.

There was no time to idle around chatting anymore.

Xiarette lifted her gaze to the wall clock, setting her teacup gently on the edge of the table.

She pushed open the window.

A gust of damp air rose up, thick with the moisture of the evaporating lake, along with the sight of the giant fish flailing nearby.

The giant fish: So? You finished your tea? Is it time to finally do something about that demon creature over there?

Cupping her hands like a megaphone in front of her mouth, Xiarette called Sheffy to come back.

"Sheffy! Enough, come back now, we have proper business to take care of!"

"What?!" Sheffy turned around from her fish-blasting, her expression full of disbelief. "Xiarette, do you have any shred of humanity left?! It’s only been a few hours?! And you already want to do ‘proper business’ again?!"

"I meant proper business—actual proper business..."

Mmm...though that kind of thing probably counted as proper business too.

But what Xiarette was talking about now was the sort of business in the broad sense, with absolutely no indecent implications.

Didn’t Her Highness Livra say she would be coming over this morning to negotiate with the Demon Clan Princess?

The most pressing matter at the moment was to prepare a suitable venue that could serve as Sheffy Harl’s “Sealed Ground.”

Even if it was just an act, it still had to look convincing, right?

——————————————

Beside the villa, along the lakeshore, on the road that led out to the mountain ranges, there was a very inconspicuous hollow in the base of a tree.

If one didn’t deliberately pay attention, it looked no different from the thousands of other trees standing here—nothing special at all.

Xiarette used her sword to slash away the thick layers of vine covering the hollow, swift and clean.

Sheffy leaned forward to peer into the tree hollow.

Very quickly, she discovered—there seemed to be something hidden underground inside.

Because at the bottom of the hollow lay a stone slab that looked very out of place—clearly an artificial construct.

Xiarette stepped into the hollow, and with one hand, lifted the slab with brute strength, exposing the hidden space below to the light once more.

With the dim sunlight slanting into the hollow, it was possible to glimpse a winding stone staircase descending underground.

It was unfathomably deep, and farther down, everything was swallowed in darkness.

"Let’s go, Sheffy."

"Awooo! Adventure, adventure!"

"Wuu...I’m scared of the dark." Sylatrella, hidden within the Holy Sword, was honest about her fear. If she was afraid, she just said so.

Unlike Sheffy—whose fingertips were clearly trembling—yet still puffed out her almost nonexistent chest to speak with proud defiance.

"Hmph...! Pathetic. What’s so scary about the dark? Mature people aren’t afraid of the dark! Xiarette, give me your hand, in case you get lost."

"...…"

In silence, Xiarette took Sheffy’s small hand and stepped onto the stairs first. At the same time, particles of magic gathered in her other palm.

【Light Magic】

A conjured glow appeared, clustering like fireflies into Xiarette’s hand and illuminating several meters around them.

Sheffy was thinking the exact same thing.

Just as Xiarette was casting Light Magic, Sheffy was casting her own spell as well!

【Light Magic - Improved Version】

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