Xing Yue clutched her chest, a little dazed.
That feeling was strange—
It wasn’t real pain, but a dull, blocked sensation, like something was stopped up.
This indescribable emotion was like a tiny thorn, piercing the softest part of her heart.
‘Why am I feeling this?’
Xing Yue furrowed her brow and silently withdrew her gaze.
‘Probably… I really can’t stand these sentimental scenes.’
She sighed silently in her heart, thinking that since Xiao Fenmao was awake now, she might as well bring her along every time she came to the dungeon to deliver food to Wei Anna.
After a while.
The emotions of the two finally eased a bit, their crying gradually subsided, leaving only occasional sobs and soft whispers.
Xing Yue spoke up at the right moment. “Wei Anna, eat something first. It’ll get cold if you wait any longer.”
Wei Anna paused slightly, then nodded gently.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Her voice was still gentle, but the sincere gratitude could be heard.
Emily also looked up, wiping the tear stains on her face with the back of her hand. She turned around and looked at Xing Yue sitting not far away. Her red, tearful eyes were full of gratitude and sincerity.
“Princess Xing Yue…”
Her voice still carried the nasal tone of having cried, but it was unusually earnest.
“Thank you… really, thank you.”
“In the future… if you ever need anything from me, I will definitely help!”
Xing Yue blinked.
‘This Xiao Fenmao finally remembered me, huh.’
‘Hmph! But it’s too late! I don’t need belated gratitude!’
Xing Yue turned her head away and waved her hand. “Alright, stop with the sentimentality. Take care of yourself first.”
Then she looked back at Wei Anna and brought up the serious matter. “By the way, Wei Anna.”
“Although I used the Healing Spell you taught me on Emily and restored her vitality, she is now successfully awake, but her body is still weak. She can’t even go to the bathroom by herself.”
“What’s going on?”
At this, Wei Anna lowered her head and thought for a moment, then spoke her guess in a low voice. “Based on what you said and what Emily just told me, her last memory before falling unconscious might be due to some kind of sequelae.”
“I suspect that the Vampire Old Demon King did something after Emily fell unconscious, so merely restoring vitality might not be enough, leading to the current situation.”
“But for now, I can actually feel that Emily’s condition is fairly healthy. It’s best to continue resting for a while and see how things go.”
Xing Yue nodded. “Alright, I understand. As long as there’s no big problem.”
At this moment, Xing Yue suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.”
She looked at Emily.
“You seemed pretty focused when you were sneaking a look at that magic book of mine before?”
Emily was stunned, then her cheeks flushed slightly. “Princess Xing Yue, I, I didn’t mean to sneak a look… it’s just… it’s just…”
“I know, that kind of thing doesn’t matter. Don’t blame yourself.” Xing Yue interrupted her explanation. “I remember your class is also a mage?”
Emily blinked and answered softly. “Yes… that’s right…”
Xing Yue’s eyes lit up.
‘She remembered Wei Anna was an eighth-order Saint Domain Priest, and Emily was also from the former Hero Party. She should be pretty strong, right?’
“What was your original strength?”
Emily hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly. “I’m only seventh-order… just a Legendary Mage.”
Xing Yue fell silent.
‘Only seventh-order… just?’
‘Why does this Xiao Fenmao feel a bit like she’s humble-bragging?’
‘Although compared to Wei Anna’s eighth-order she’s a bit lower, that’s relatively speaking. Just looking at ranks, Xiao Fenmao’s realm is much higher than Yang Dazhuang and the others.’
‘Not to mention comparing myself to her. A third-order small fry like me probably isn’t even worthy of being her XP pack.’
Just then, Wei Anna suddenly interjected. “Your Highness, don’t underestimate Emily just because she’s seventh-order.”
“Her magical mastery is very high. She is the most talented mage in the empire, and the only genius in nearly ten thousand years with the greatest potential to become a tenth-order God of Magic. If she hadn’t followed us to fight the Demon King, Emily’s future ceiling and achievements might have been far more than this…”
At this, Wei Anna was somewhat grieved and sad. She truly felt that their original choice had led to ruining Emily’s life, causing a promising seedling with potential to become a god to wither halfway.
Emily was a bit shy being described like that by Wei Anna, but when she heard the last sentence, she immediately stepped forward to refute. “No… it’s not anyone’s fault, not Sister Wei Anna or any of you! It was my own desire to come with you to fight the Demon King!”
“Although we failed, the memories and experiences of the journey have made me grow a lot compared to before… really! Even if I could do it over, even knowing the outcome, I would still choose to form a Brave Squad with you and embark on that journey.”
As the words fell, Xing Yue felt an inexplicable throb in her heart once again.
‘It’s this feeling again. It hurts.’
‘Is it because of the bond between them…’
‘Or after becoming a girl, I’ve gained more empathy…’
Xing Yue didn’t know. She was silent for a long time, and finally sighed in her heart: ‘Ah, getting old, I really can’t stand these scenes.’
‘However… speaking of which.’
‘High magical mastery?’
‘Future strongest mage?’
‘Doesn’t that mean I can…’
Xing Yue looked at Emily, a hint of… longing… in her gaze.
“Emily.”
“Huh?”
“I want to learn magic from you.”
Emily was stunned.
Those pink eyes widened, and she didn’t react for a moment.
“Huh… you want to learn magic from me?”
“That’s right.” Xing Yue nodded seriously. “I’m very interested in magic, and I also want to improve my own strength.”
“I’ve always been worried that I’m too weak, that at some point in the future, I’ll have regrets and remorse because I lack power.”
Emily opened her mouth, then closed it.
She glanced at Wei Anna, then at Xing Yue, and finally lowered her head, saying softly, “If Princess Xing Yue wants to learn… I can naturally teach you…”
‘Although teaching a Demon Princess magic sounds a bit like aiding the villain…’
‘But someone like Princess Xing Yue, even if she learns powerful magic, she definitely wouldn’t use it for evil, right?’
‘Mm… Princess Xing Yue is a good person, she definitely won’t!’
“Great! Then it’s settled! Xiao Fenmao!”
Emily was taken aback. “Xiao… Xiao Fenmao?”
“Nothing, just saying you’re cute.”
“Huh… Huh?!”
They chatted for a while longer.
After Wei Anna finished eating the bento, Xing Yue estimated the time and stood up.
“It’s about time. I should be going now.”
She looked at Emily. “Let’s go, or I’ll leave you in the dungeon.”
Emily was stunned.
Then she lowered her head and was silent for a few seconds.
When she looked up again, there was actually a hint of hesitation and anticipation in her eyes.
“Princess Xing Yue, actually, it’s okay if you leave me in the dungeon… as long as you let me be with Sister Wei Anna…”
Xing Yue: “…”
“Emily!”
Wei Anna also heard Emily’s words, and her voice rarely carried a hint of severity. “What nonsense are you saying?”
Emily shrank her neck, a bit aggrieved.
“Bu-but…”
“No.” Wei Anna’s tone was unyielding. “You must leave with Princess Xing Yue.”
She turned towards Xing Yue’s direction. Although she couldn’t see, her blindfolded eyes seemed to be trying to look at her.
“Your Highness, in the future… will Emily and I be able to meet again?”
Xing Yue nodded. “As long as Phyllis isn’t around, I should be able to bring her here in the future.”
A hint of a smile appeared on Wei Anna’s face.
“Is that so? That’s good…”
She turned to Emily, her voice becoming gentle again.
“Did you hear that? Emily, since Princess Xing Yue said so, it must be true. We’ll have many chances to meet in the future.”
“So now, go back obediently with Her Highness, take good care of your body, understand?”
Emily bit her lip, and her eyes reddened again.
But in the end, she nodded.
“I understand…”
She stood up and walked over to Xing Yue’s side, looking back every few steps at that lonely figure sitting back in the corner.
Until she walked out of the cell door, until that heavy iron door slowly closed behind her, she was still looking back.
Xing Yue couldn’t help it. She reached out and pinched Emily’s soft little cheeks. “Hey hey hey! It’s not like you’ll never see each other again. Don’t make it seem like a life-or-death parting, making me look like the villain separating you two!”
“Waaaah… Le-let go…”
Only after hearing Emily beg for mercy did Xing Yue snort twice and let go, then recast Levitation on Emily.
After leaving the dungeon, Xing Yue made a detour to the Treasure Room.
She found a few books on Elemental Magic theory, as well as a book on the unofficial history of this world, and brought them back to her room.
These books were naturally for her and Emily to pass the time.
But when night came, Xing Yue realized she had forgotten one thing.
Xing Yue sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the bed that Emily had occupied for over half a month, and suddenly realized a problem.
‘Tonight… they seem to be sleeping together again?’
Xing Yue’s face turned red instantly.
She quickly began to think in her mind: ‘Is it too late to make a bed on the floor now?’
‘After all, sleeping together… that would really be sharing a bed with a girl, right?!’
‘Although I’ve been sleeping with Emily for so long before, that was different! That was different!’
‘Before, when Emily was unconscious, it didn’t feel like anything. It was like having a non-moving life-sized body pillow beside her.’
‘Although this body pillow wasn’t that well-behaved either, it would actively cling to her when asleep.’
‘But now… she’s awake.’
‘Awake means she’s a living, moving, breathing, reacting… person!’
Xing Yue sat on the edge of the bed, completely caught in an extremely conflicted state.
‘After all, when you think about it carefully, between her and Emily, they’ve cuddled, she’s accidentally seen things she shouldn’t have, you could say there are almost no secrets left. Now it’s just sleeping as usual.’
Just then—
Suddenly, a faint, barely perceptible fluctuation entered her perception, interrupting her thoughts.
Xing Yue was stunned.
The fluctuation was very light and faint, like someone from a very, very far distance gently tugging at the corner of her clothes.
It was someone requesting to borrow her power.
‘This feeling… is it Alpha?’