After returning to her room, Shu Yue had no intention of wasting time on pointless thoughts.
The top priority now was to improve herself; otherwise, any thoughts would be useless.
She walked over to the bed, took out a bottle of Magic Potion, and poured out a shadowy mass.
With a simple manipulation, a thin dark sphere enveloped the bed.
The room was far too large—this amount wasn’t enough to cover the entire space, so she had to make do with this small barrier, three meters in diameter.
This item was found in an underground ruin, originally a special barrier used to protect a secret chamber, capable of concealing presence and reducing one’s existence.
Shu Yue had refined it into a Magic Potion using the Star Tempering Art.
It was a convenient barrier spell—just pour it out and shape it with Magic Power.
Unfortunately, it wore down a little with each use, so Shu Yue rarely employed it.
She sat cross-legged inside the barrier without dispelling Mirror Flower Water Moon, lest someone seize an opportunity.
If her true form were seen, the trouble would be enormous.
She had no idea how she would explain it to Luolan…
Was she supposed to tell her that her old flame Liya had actually been a girl from the very beginning?
Luolan wasn’t a fool like Emily—such a clumsy lie would never fool her.
“I’ll just stay like this. If someone senses I’m not in the room and barges in, it won’t cause any trouble…”
Shu Yue glanced at the lower body of her Mirror Flower Water Moon illusion and couldn’t help but sigh faintly.
How much time had passed?
She had almost forgotten what it felt like.
Had she experienced too much, or had her body already reshaped her consciousness?
Could she really be turning into a thirteen-year-old girl?
‘Stop thinking about that. Focus on training.’
Shu Yue shook her head, tossing all the strange thoughts out of her mind.
She calmed down and continued chiseling her core circuits.
Even though her Bloodline Manifestation doubled her speed, she didn’t dare transform into the Dragon Maiden here.
She had specifically instructed that she would be meditating and asked not to be disturbed.
When she had Spirituality, she would carve core circuits; when she didn’t, she would meditate to recover.
She repeated this cycle, training all the way until evening.
Though Mirror Flower Water Moon consumed more Spirituality, she had dinner delivered to her room by the maid.
After the meal, she continued training.
Just after ten o’clock in the evening, Shu Yue heard a knock.
She slowly stopped meditating, recovered her Spirituality, got up, and opened the door.
The person standing at the entrance was no surprise.
The blue-and-white-haired girl stood before her, nearly as tall as her.
But that was the height of Mirror Flower Water Moon; Shu Yue’s real body was much shorter.
However, that wasn’t the issue now.
Shu Yue was momentarily stunned when she saw Luolan, then she came to her senses and asked, “Luolan, is there something you need from me?”
“Take a walk with me.”
Luolan’s icy eyes fixed on Shu Yue.
This wasn’t the usual coolness—it was genuinely cold.
Just her gaze alone made the temperature around them drop.
Shu Yue couldn’t help but shiver, chilled by the cold.
Seeing this, Luolan slightly averted her gaze and tried to restrain the power emanating from her Bloodline.
Shu Yue swallowed and replied, “Okay.”
Luolan turned and walked slowly.
Shu Yue gently closed the door and cautiously followed.
She had originally wanted to keep a low profile and avoid too much contact with Luolan—more words meant more mistakes.
Luolan and Liya were supposed to be familiar with each other, and the more contact they had, the higher the chance of exposing her impersonation.
But now Luolan had invited her, and Shu Yue had no choice but to go.
She was currently playing the role of Liya, who deeply adored the girl before him and wanted to marry her.
It was all because of Shu Yue’s speech at the wedding that she had cemented that lovesick persona.
Tell one lie, and you have to tell countless more to cover it up.
Shu Yue was starting to get a headache.
She guessed Luolan’s body was probably as cold as a block of ice, considering how the area around her felt like winter had arrived.
The girl’s every move altered the temperature of the surroundings—was this the power of a top-tier Bloodline?
The two walked one after the other, not side by side.
A few steps down the corridor, an exit opened directly into a garden—the same one Shu Yue had seen through the floor-to-ceiling window earlier.
Luolan led Shu Yue into the garden, walking a long way until they reached a spot that seemed designed for afternoon tea while enjoying the landscape.
Luolan slowed her pace, and only then did she speak.
“When I was little, Father told me I must protect you, so I will protect you.
As long as you stay by my side, no one will dare to harm you.
Whatever you want, I can fulfill it for you.
“If you need women to satisfy your desires, or need women to bear your children and continue the White family bloodline, that can also be arranged. I won’t mind if you have relations with other women.”
Shu Yue fell silent.
Listening to Luolan’s words, she finally understood.
So Liya had been nursing a one-sided love.
Princess Luolan’s heart wasn’t in it—she had grand ambitions elsewhere.
The reason she remained silent was that she was thinking about how to reply in a way that fit the persona.
Shu Yue herself didn’t care, but she hadn’t forgotten that she was playing Liya, someone who was hopelessly in love with that girl before him.
How would he respond to Luolan?
Would it be a confession of undying love, a stubborn pursuit, or letting go…
Letting go was definitely not an option.
A guy who was crazy about Luolan suddenly doing a 180 and acting indifferent would be far too suspicious.
If she let go, Liya’s lovesick simp persona would collapse.
After thinking it over, Shu Yue came up with a good answer.
She put on a dazed expression and said bitterly, “Luolan… do you also think I’m not worthy of you?”
“It’s not about being worthy or not.”
Luolan shook her head.
“If you insist on the marriage contract my father made for us, you will bear an extraordinary amount of pressure.”
“But I’m not afraid!”
Shu Yue straightened her expression, puffed out her chest, and lifted her head, showing a firmness that said nothing could change her mind.
‘Yes, that’s it!’
Only by appearing resolute enough could she maintain the persona and prevent Liya’s identity from falling apart.
Shu Yue even felt it wasn’t enough, so she added more fuel to the fire.
She pretended to look flustered and asked, “Luolan, are you unwilling to marry me?”
Luolan seemed to sigh and said something hard to swallow: “But you might not be able to make me pregnant.”
‘Well, that’s actually true!’
Shu Yue almost lost her composure, but she managed to lower her head in time, her mind momentarily in chaos.
‘Princess Luolan, you’re this practical?’
Luolan had her back to Shu Yue the whole time.
She only noticed Shu Yue lowering her head and her body trembling slightly, thinking that she was probably shocked by what she had just heard.
It wasn’t that Luolan was infertile—there was another reason.
Afraid that Shu Yue might misunderstand, Luolan explained why she had said that.
“Father has never woken up, and Mother can’t hold on for much longer, so I must step into the Transcendent realm as soon as possible.
Even though I can still conceive now, pregnancy and childbirth would waste a lot of time, and Mother would never allow it.
“After reaching Transcendent, my life level will undergo a transformation. Mortal Blood won’t be able to impregnate me—unless you also reach Transcendent and undergo the life level transformation.”
Shu Yue understood.
‘So she’s afraid I can’t break through that membrane.’
‘Wait, I have Dragon Scale Protection on my body. Would I need to break through that first to get in?’
Thinking about it, she unconsciously glanced at Luolan’s hand.
Slender fingers, evenly proportioned and fair, almost like a masterpiece of craftsmanship…
‘Wait, why am I thinking about this?’
Shu Yue quickly flushed away those strange thoughts, internally blaming Luolan for leading her astray.
After carefully analyzing Luolan’s words, she found something interesting.
Princess Luolan was protecting Liya simply because her father had told her to.
Even her father, Grand Duke Isold, had arranged the marriage contract between his daughter and Liya.
The reason she brought up the pregnancy issue was that she thought it would discourage Liya.
In her mind, men sought women to bear their children.
Was that idea naive?
A little, but also half-right.
Luolan first said it was still possible, then said it would waste time, then brought up her mother’s disapproval.
In essence, Luolan was resistant, but because she had promised her father, she was willing to protect Liya and even go through with the marriage, becoming Liya’s wife in name.
If Shu Yue had been unrestrained during the walk—like a lustful beast clinging to her—Luolan’s favorability would have hit rock bottom.
Even though she would still pretend because of the agreement with Grand Duke Isold, she would never develop feelings.
Luolan’s last words were even simpler: she was basically saying that Liya’s talent was too poor to ever reach Transcendent.
Shu Yue didn’t know what rank Transcendent was, but it was probably high.
For Luolan, however, reaching it wasn’t that far off.
Going back to Luolan’s opening statement, the subtext was obvious—let Liya be a kept man who lived off her; there was no need for him to struggle, as any effort would be futile.
‘So Princess Luolan is essentially an evolved version of Emily…’
But…
After sorting it all out, Shu Yue now understood the relationship between Luolan and Liya, and how to handle it.
She didn’t plan to get too close to Luolan.
If she pursued Luolan, Luolan would naturally keep her distance.
That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about maintaining the right boundaries, because no one would take it seriously.
Shu Yue definitely wouldn’t develop feelings—she had no heart left.
And Luolan wouldn’t either, since she didn’t like Liya at all, even feeling a hint of unconscious annoyance.
With that in mind, Shu Yue replied to Luolan:
“Even if I can’t continue the bloodline, it’s fine. As long as… as long as I can stay by your side!”
‘Is that desperate enough? Disgusting enough?’
Whether it was disgusting depended on the target.
Luolan was truly a stunning, divine beauty.
Saying cheesy love words to her actually satisfied some of Shu Yue’s twisted sense of pleasure.
Luolan had turned around and was staring at Shu Yue, stunned.
Shu Yue looked at the divine figure before her, feeling nothing special, and added another line:
“Luolan, from now on, let me protect you! I’ll work hard to get stronger.”
When she said it, she thought she looked incredibly cool.
Shu Yue saw Luolan freeze for a moment and felt the effect was pretty good.
On her Mirror Flower Water Moon illusion’s face, she could see the expression a man would have, but those amber eyes were unnervingly clean, devoid of any lust.
Luolan’s lips parted slightly, but she didn’t know what to say.
She quickly turned her back to Shu Yue, her usual calm icy eyes trembling.
Her hand unconsciously covered her heart.
‘What… is this?’
She didn’t understand.
How could those words make her lose her composure…
Seeing Luolan turn away, unable to face her, Shu Yue’s lips curled up slightly, and she gloated inwardly.
‘Hehe, I grossed her out, didn’t I?’
She admired her own brilliant acting.
‘This is… talent.’
“I’m going back now…”
Hearing those words, Shu Yue watched as Luolan flew away into the air, leaving her alone on the ground.
Shu Yue stared at the spot where Luolan had vanished, couldn’t help scratching her head, and wondered if she had grossed Princess Luolan out so badly that she couldn’t take it and ran away, abandoning her here.
“That must be it.”
She pursed her lips, thinking to herself that Princess Luolan’s tolerance was surprisingly low.
“Sigh, I’ll go find Eustia and see if she has a larger mirror to swap out.”
Having just sent Luolan off, Shu Yue was about to go find Eustia.