By the time they returned home, the Sun was already about to set.
Liang Lai’s residence was bathed in the golden glow of dusk, and outside the window floated the Church’s specially made “Eternal Day Lamp,” illuminating the Court of Purity as bright as midday.
Dolosa stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the Silver Cross Pattern embroidered on the curtain.
Liang Lai poked her head out from the inner room, several colorful Feather Pens tucked into her silver hair.
“Hurry over and try the New Dessert I snuck from the kitchen!”
As Dolosa turned around, Liang Lai suddenly paused.
Bathed in the slanting rays of the evening Sun, she could clearly see the dark circles under the little girl’s eyes, as if someone had painted two indigo streaks beneath them.
“You didn’t sleep well last night?” Liang Lai put down the dessert plate and crouched down to look at Dolosa eye to eye.
The cuffs of her Holy Robe were stained with jam, looking nothing like the dignified Saintess she was supposed to be.
Dolosa avoided Liang Lai’s gaze.
“Mm, I just wasn’t that sleepy, so I didn’t really sleep.”
She didn’t mention that she’d spent the whole night on guard against a possible attack from Liang Lai, her fingers secretly pinching her palm.
Liang Lai blinked, the second layer of golden pupils swirling beneath her eyelids.
Suddenly, she clapped her hands, startling Dolosa.
“I know! You must not be used to the new environment!”
Saying this, she fished a few glowing Crystalline Shards out of her Holy Robe pocket.
“Wait here, I’ll make you something good~”
Dolosa watched warily as Liang Lai arranged the Crystalline Shards into the shape of a rabbit.
When Liang Lai bit her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the crystals, Dolosa’s pupils trembled.
“Watch closely!”
Liang Lai pressed her palms together, and her silver hair fluttered as if stirred by an invisible breeze.
The Crystalline Rabbit suddenly perked up its ears, warm yellow light shining in its eye sockets.
When it hopped onto Dolosa’s knee, it gave off the scent of a blanket basked in sunlight.
Dolosa froze.
This utterly harmless creation… was completely different from the biting things in the Underground Sanctuary.
“It’ll glow at night.”
Liang Lai proudly poked the rabbit’s head.
This was the result of her hard work these past two days.
Though she still wasn’t very good at crystallization, she’d already learned some simple Crystalline Magic.
“It’s like… uh, a night lamp from where I’m from?”
She didn’t say that she’d secretly adjusted the crystal structure so the toy could emit sleep-inducing waves.
Late at night, Dolosa curled up in the guest room under the Velvet Canopy, staring at the Crystalline Rabbit on the nightstand.
It was rhythmically brightening and dimming, as if it were breathing.
This defenseless posture made her anxious.
If Liang Lai wanted to make a move, now would be the best time.
“Crack.”
The faint sound of something fracturing made Dolosa tense up instantly.
A crack split open the Crystalline Rabbit’s left ear, and then its whole body began to swell unevenly.
When it doubled in size, Dolosa saw its teeth had turned into sharp crystal clusters.
“Screee—!”
With an ear-piercing shriek, the rabbit doll shot off like a cannonball, smashing the vase on the nightstand.
As Dolosa rolled off the bed, the toy was already bouncing off the wall, leaving radiating cracks behind it, just like a bouncy ball wrecked by a mischievous child.
“What happened?!”
Liang Lai burst through the door in her nightdress, still clutching half a piece of Light Honey Freeze—she was clearly sneaking a midnight snack.
Her eyes widened as she saw the rabbit toy bouncing madly off the ceiling, making the Crystal Chandelier ring and clatter.
“Wait, this isn’t supposed to—”
“Watch out!”
The moment Dolosa tackled Liang Lai, the toy whistled over their heads, smashing the Wall Painting Frame to pieces.
Sawdust clung to Liang Lai’s silver hair, making her smell like pine wood basked in the Sun.
“My control is terrible!”
Liang Lai climbed up with a wry smile, her eyes suddenly lighting up. “We have to catch it!”
With that, she grabbed the Silver Teapot from the table.
“You flank it from the left!”
Dolosa was still in shock, but her body moved on its own.
She leapt onto the Four-Poster Bed’s canopy, using it to launch herself at the airborne toy.
The moment her fingertips brushed the crystal surface, the rabbit abruptly swerved and crashed into the wardrobe.
“Boom!”
The Oak Wardrobe exploded like it had been shelled, dozens of Saint’s Robes soaring into the air like a flock of white doves.
Liang Lai’s scream was drowned out by the cascade of fabric.
As she staggered back, she stepped on her nightdress’s hem and fell backward into the pile of clothes.
Dolosa tried to catch her, but a falling Holy Robe landed squarely on her head.
When everything finally settled, the only sound left in the room was the rustle of fabric.
Dolosa poked her head out from the pile of Holy Robes and saw Liang Lai’s head sticking out, a Pearl Belt tangled in her silver hair.
“Pfft…”
Dolosa hurried to cover her mouth, only to see Liang Lai burst out laughing first.
She laughed so heartily that even her pupils turned golden and curved into crescents.
Some warm emotion suddenly washed over Dolosa’s chest, and before she realized it, she was laughing too.
“Got you!”
Liang Lai suddenly pulled her hand from the pile of clothes, and in her palm lay the Crystalline Rabbit, restored to its original form.
It was missing one ear now, looking rather pitiful.
“Looks like I still need more practice with my abilities…”
She scratched her face and handed the rabbit back to Dolosa.
“Anyway, there’s definitely no problem this time. It’s for you, even if it’s a bit flawed and not that pretty…”
Dolosa cradled the battered toy, feeling the steady warmth in her palm.
She recalled the perfect but cold artifacts in the Underground Sanctuary, and suddenly, this lop-eared, slightly silly-looking rabbit seemed heartbreakingly precious.
“Why are you giving this to me…” Her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
Liang Lai was folding a Holy Robe into a ridiculous hat shape.
Hearing this, she tilted her head.
“Hmm? Because kids are always afraid of the dark, right?”
She casually plopped the “hat” onto Dolosa’s head.
“When I was little… uh, I mean, I heard kids all like these glowing little toys.”
Dolosa lowered her head to look at the rabbit doll.
The broken edge of its left ear sparkled like fragments of starlight.
When she touched it with her fingertip, the toy suddenly let out a gentle hum, bathing the whole room in warm yellow.
“This is…”
Dolosa’s eyes widened.
A miniature vortex of light appeared in the core of the toy, exactly like the golden pattern in Liang Lai’s eyes.
Liang Lai shyly twirled a lock of her hair.
“I added a little feature. It’ll glow brighter when it senses fear.”
Right after, she suddenly sneezed, and a feather drifted off her nose.
Dolosa hugged the toy tightly.
She suddenly realized that this seemingly scatterbrained Saintess had seen through her fears far earlier than anyone in the Underground Sanctuary.
Some indescribable, burning emotion swelled in her chest, forcing her to bite her lip.
“Want to hear a bedtime story?”
At some point, Liang Lai had cleared a space and was patting a fluffy feather pillow.
“I’ve got a special version of Noah’s Ark… Ah, though you probably have no idea what that is…”
Dolosa slowly scooted over.
She moved so carefully, as if afraid to disturb something.