The muscles on his arms bulged one after another.
The burly man grabbed a sharp fish fork gleaming with cold light beside him.
A fierce red aura burst from his body.
His face twisted like a demon descending from the heavens.
Swoosh!
He stepped forward and flung his arm.
The fish fork shot out, its piercing roar almost splitting eardrums.
But just as the fork, like a small cannonball, was about to pierce the sea where Shiya was submerged—
A magnificent golden sword aura, carrying a presence that made heaven and earth tremble, gently grazed the fork.
Crack!
The fish fork split in two, the halves falling to the island shore.
“Are you stopping me?”
The burly man turned his head and looked down at Elena, as if he would attack the empire’s princess the moment her answer displeased him.
Elena simply shook her head slightly, her tone calm.
“Shiya can’t swim.”
Sure enough, as the princess’s words fell, two figures burst out from the sea.
Ilya, even smaller than Shiya, held her under the armpits and dragged her back to shore.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Shiya collapsed on the muddy ground, her dress soaked through with seawater, outlining her graceful figure.
Ilya peeled the seaweed from her hair and looked reproachfully at the coughing girl.
“Shiya, if you can’t swim, don’t just dive into the water.”
“Sorry, sorry. Thank you for saving me, Ilya.”
Shiya’s chest heaved violently.
Driven by the overwhelming relief of survival, she hugged Ilya again and rubbed her cheek against the girl’s.
Suddenly pressed against by the older girl, Ilya felt her thin chest meet something soft.
Their clothes were both soaked, and the subtle friction made her cheeks burn.
But the intimacy didn’t last long.
The princess reached out, pinched Shiya’s neck—who never kept distance from others—and separated them.
Elena frowned slightly.
“Shiya, were you trying to run away? Don’t tell me you forgot you can’t swim.”
Shiya glanced sheepishly at Ilya, then her expression turned serious.
“Elena, something like a tentacle pulled me underwater.”
Her voice was quiet, but it jolted everyone present.
“I suspect something damaged the ship’s hull, causing the Student Council’s vessel to sink completely.”
Even as she said this, Shiya already had an answer in her mind.
She glanced casually at a purple-haired female Student Council member among the crowd.
The only one here with the power to release sticky tentacles—Karlen’s puppet harem member, Xiwa.
In the game Shiya had played, the developers, probably for sensory thrill, had designed this tentacle girl.
Under the orders of the player-controlled Karlen, this two-pointed tentacle girl would attack every pretty “puppet,” binding and wrapping them until they could barely breathe.
But Shiya couldn’t understand why Karlen would order his harem to destroy the ship, cutting off the Council’s escape.
Suddenly, Shiya’s eyes met those of the tentacle girl, full of malice.
Xiwa clearly noticed Shiya looking at her.
The undisguised greed, as if the next moment she would wrap Shiya in tentacles and drag her away, made Shiya shiver.
She instinctively shrank behind Elena.
Elena naturally noticed Xiwa staring intently at Shiya’s wet body.
But the princess only glanced at her lightly.
The tentacle girl immediately averted her gaze in fear.
Then, Elena unhurriedly took off her coat and draped it over Shiya.
At that moment, the elderly village chief arrived belatedly, rubbing his sore legs from the long journey.
“Village Chief…”
The burly man who had been so fierce toward Elena immediately approached respectfully and reported everything.
Elena maintained a calm expression, but inwardly she was shocked.
She hadn’t expected such a strong man in this remote village, someone who treated the old chief with such reverence.
The princess’s desire to win over Flower God Village grew even stronger.
“Thank you, Fluite. Go keep everyone in order first.”
The old chief patted the shoulders of the burly man, who had deliberately crouched down, then turned to Elena.
“Princess Elena, can we contact the Imperial Capital to send someone to pick you up?”
Elena shook her head lightly, her tone deliberately casual.
“The dense fog blocks magical communication. Chief, please have the fog stopped quickly.”
Village Chief Edwin first bowed fearfully toward the mountain-top church in the distance, then spoke seriously to Elena.
“This fog is a blessing from the Flower God to Flower God Village. Please do not offend the Flower God, Princess Elena.”
Elena maintained the dignity of an imperial princess and did not press the matter.
Instead, she asked, “In that case, please lend us a few boats to return to the Imperial Capital.”
Village Chief Edwin shook his head and sighed.
“Our fishing boats have all gone out to sea. They probably won’t return until the fog lifts tomorrow.”
Elena no longer hid her suspicion.
“Then please tell us what we should do now, Chief Edwin.”
Without even lifting his eyelids, the village chief replied calmly, “Let everyone stay in the villagers’ homes for the night.”
Upon hearing Elena’s instructions, the Student Council members, though dissatisfied, could only accept helplessly.
Several noble-born students huddled together, sneaking glances at the plump female villagers nearby.
As Karlen passed them, he raised an eyebrow but still whispered a warning.
“Pay them well. Don’t get caught.”
Ilya happily hugged Shiya’s arm and looked up.
“Shiya, tonight you can sleep with Ilya! We can talk about girl stuff. In the village, I don’t have any friends my age.”
Feeling the warmth of the white-haired girl’s palm on her head, Ilya squinted in contentment.
But then, a cold glare locked onto her, making Ilya shiver.
“P-Princess Elena… is something wrong?”
Ilya asked in a tiny voice.
“No, Miss Ilya.”
Elena replied politely and gracefully, but her pale blue eyes never left the girl.
It was like a gluttonous kitten about to steal a cabbage.
But how could a kitten nibble on a cabbage?
Little Ilya couldn’t withstand the princess’s subtle pressure.
Summoning courage, she showed a naive, innocent smile.
“Princess Elena, do you want to join us too?”
Shiya, who had been gently tousling Ilya’s short chestnut hair, stiffened.
“Huh… Shiya, why do you look so unhappy?”
Yawning, Ilya changed into her pajamas, her small face weary.
They had been busy all evening—cooking for the Student Council, cleaning up—and only now had time to rest.
Shiya peeked at Elena, who looked unperturbed, and awkwardly turned away, instinctively pressing a hand to her chest.
“Ilya, isn’t there a second bed?”
She wasn’t being a spoiled brat, but Elena had been staring at her with a strangely sticky gaze, making her feel that tonight would be troublesome.
Ilya lowered her head, slightly hurt.
“Sorry, Shiya. My home isn’t big. Besides my brother’s and my room, there’s no guest room.”
The girl’s eyes reddened, glistening with tears.
Elena gently scolded Shiya.
“Miss Ilya is kind enough to let us stay. Don’t make unreasonable demands.”
Shiya’s heart twinged.
She silently condemned herself for hurting the kind girl over a minor discomfort.
After soothing Ilya, the girl climbed into bed.
Seeing Shiya’s and Elena’s dusty clothes, she frowned.
“Shiya, Princess Elena, did you bring any pajamas?”
Elena then looked down at her Student Council uniform, soaked with sweat and now dry.
She glanced at Shiya to make sure she wasn’t looking, then subtly sniffed her own collar.
A faint smell of sweat.
Without a change in expression, she conjured a small water ball to clean herself, then looked up to answer Ilya.
“Most of our luggage sank with the ship.”
Ilya, who liked cleanliness, nodded thoughtfully.
After a moment, her eyes lit up.
She quickly unbuttoned her clothes and folded a set of pajamas neatly on the nightstand.
“You two shouldn’t sleep in dirty clothes. I’ll change too—it’s only fair.”
Shiya froze.
“No, Ilya, we can sleep on the floor.”
But Elena had already elegantly stripped off her soiled clothes, her silhouette even slimmer in the lamp light.
Wearing a set of blue undergarments, she reached out a jade-smooth arm and gently placed it on Shiya’s shoulder.
“Shiya, Miss Ilya has already yielded so much. Are you looking down on her and picking on her?”
Shiya opened her mouth, then sighed helplessly.
Her hands lightly touched the straps of her dress.
As she moved, the dress slipped off like an unrolling scroll, revealing her snowy-white shoulders and impossibly graceful back.
Behind her, the princess’s heavy breathing was clearly audible.
Shiya didn’t dare look back.
She quickly climbed into bed, pressed tightly against Ilya, as if seeking the only sense of safety.
But our princess, watching Shiya in her pure white undergarments, back turned and defenseless—
A sticky, dark tide seemed to surge in her pale blue eyes, betraying no hint of her thoughts.