Enya paced around the house, suddenly feeling an unexpected wave of boredom.
So, she began doing some chores.
Her daughter Rosily had gone off to practice swordsmanship far away, specifically to keep her from discovering that special sword.
As for why… of course, it was Cang’s own request.
With “Cang,” the sentient sword, teaching Rosily various skills, Enya felt much more at ease and didn’t worry about her.
Humming a little tune, she swept the floor.
Suddenly, Enya remembered she had two daughters.
The eldest, Estelle, had been neglected for quite some time now—it was about time to pay her a visit.
With that thought, Enya immediately dropped the broom, abandoning her role-playing as a dutiful housewife.
She walked over to the full-length mirror in her bedroom and separated Phil from herself.
Looking at the smiling woman before her, Enya straightened her expression and said, “You handle the housework, I’ll go find Estelle.”
“Why can’t I go?” Phil asked.
“You do the housework.”
“Heh, you really know how to boss people around, even yourself,” Phil rolled her eyes.
Enya tugged at the corner of her mouth, not bothering to argue over who’s in charge.
Ever since Phil developed a second personality, she especially enjoyed being stubborn with her on trivial matters.
When Phil saw Enya ignore her, she turned to leave, but Enya quickly reached out and grabbed her thick, beautiful dragon tail.
With her tail caught, Enya glared back at her. Phil smiled and said, “What’s the rush? You’ve been letting me go for days, and now suddenly you’re in a hurry?”
“Did you forget something?”
“What?”
Enya frowned and pondered for a moment before suddenly recalling something.
When Antiros left, she had told her that Princess Vivienne would arrive in about seven days. Now, nearly six days had passed since then, meaning Vivienne was very likely to arrive tomorrow or the day after!
Remembering this made Enya’s expression darken.
But looking at Madam Phil before her, she thought, isn’t she here for this? Let her face Enya, while I hide.
Satisfied with that decision, she nodded and said, “I got it. You can let go now.”
“Oh.”
Phil reluctantly loosened her grip on Enya’s tail. She loved the soft yet elastic feel of it—it was wonderful. And it could get hard too~
Enya shivered slightly and glanced at Phil.
Anything Antiros made had some weird side effect—either here or there, always something strange.
She thought about whether she should ask Antiros to fix Phil’s increasingly odd head. How could a manifestation have its own ideas about her original self?
Enya shifted her hips, flicked her tail, and used the Dream World to adjust her position.
The silver-black pendant hanging from her long, pointed ears glowed.
A beam of white light enveloped Enya, transforming into armor that covered her entire body.
This was Enya’s second created alias.
A dragon adventurer named Ain.
Currently, she held three identities: first, Phil Crochy, a fourth-tier alchemist; second, Ain, the dragon adventurer; and third, Black Nun Lilith, also known as Ms. Moth.
Arriving at the northern gate of Red Pine City, she found her eldest daughter Estelle’s location and appeared out of thin air inside a large villa.
“Huh?”
Enya looked around and realized Anna and the others had moved into a bigger house.
However, the place was still freshly renovated.
She sensed the aura inside the house and found them all gathered in a room on the second floor.
Enya hid in the crack between the Dream World and reality, then walked upstairs and phased through the wall to open the door.
Just in time, she saw Anna and the others.
Estelle was there too.
The room was set up like a living room, with several people sitting on comfortable large sofas.
On the small coffee table were various snacks and treats—colorful and clearly expensive imported goods.
Red Pine City wasn’t rich in resources.
Being near the forest, their diet was mostly magical beasts, which were animals capable of using magic or magic power.
Their meat wasn’t much better than ordinary animals; in fact, it was sometimes tougher, with a few exceptions.
The atmosphere in the room was a bit heavy because Anna and the others were talking about farewells.
During the two days Enya had been dormant, Phil had delivered the potion to Milly, who, with its help, had safely broken through to the fifth tier.
She was now a high-ranking goddess priestess!
With the church’s recommendation, Milly would soon be able to go to the West Wind Empire’s higher-ranking cathedrals and monasteries to continue her training.
Her future looked bright.
“Everyone, cheer up! We’re not dead people; there’s no need to be so gloomy. Eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink!” Milly said, her personality optimistic and cheerful. Although she had her soft moments, most of the time, she was the one caring for others’ feelings.
Anna was the sisterly, approachable type with leadership skills and excellent at communication.
The two quickly lightened the mood.
By now, the female mage Anna had completely changed out of her adventurer’s gear and into an elegant long dress, exuding the charm of a high-class lady.
After a few days of adjustment, she had returned to her identity as a merchant’s daughter. Her manner of speech was very different from before.
Enya was quite surprised by this.
She didn’t care that Anna and the others were spending money from the guild’s funds—those coins were gone anyway.
Recently, Enya had also been… oh no, she had been making money. Lots of it.
But she doubted Tulius would just pay up quietly.
She could already guess his mindset.
One million gold coins would definitely be paid in installments, never all at once. Tulius was afraid she’d take the money and cause trouble by going after him.
Enya didn’t mind, though.
Free money was money, and however much she could get, she’d take it!
There were five women in the room, the oldest in her twenties, and the youngest was Estelle, just over one year old.
Between moments of joy, they talked about future plans.
Goddess Priestess Milly was heading to the West Wind Empire; swordswoman Ruby would join the Order of Knights; Marpel would stay by Anna’s side as a bodyguard; and Anna would officially start her business.
Enya listened quietly, feeling a bit surprised.
“Is she really going to make money for me?” she thought.
She hadn’t expected much from Anna—just someone to stuff coins into Henna’s little treasury was enough.
She hadn’t thought Anna would seriously want to develop the northern gate area.
“Well, let her,” Enya smiled.
She had the mindset that a small loss wasn’t a loss, and a small gain was a big gain.
Whatever Anna earned, Enya could accept.
Her gaze fell on Estelle. This visit was to see her eldest daughter. Rosily had Cang; Estelle needed her to personally guide her.
Milly happened to ask Estelle, “Estelle, what will you do in the future? Continue as an adventurer here?”
Estelle was about to answer but suddenly froze, as if receiving a signal.
She stood up from her chair, then, under everyone’s gaze, rushed out of the room.
Milly wanted to follow but was held back by Anna.
Worry flashed in Milly’s eyes.
“Anna…”
“Maybe she’s finally been waiting for this moment,” Anna said with a smile.
These days, Estelle had truly been waiting—she didn’t sleep at night, meditating and training while she waited.
All to wait for that senior named Ain who had promised to come for her.
“Did senior Ain really come?” Milly gazed toward the open door, her eyes distant, lost in thought.
Elsewhere, Estelle hurried downstairs, dashed out the front door and yard, then ran through the streets.
The silver hair of the girl fluttered behind her as she ran, attracting many onlookers.
“What a beautiful girl, whose daughter is she?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Huh, I feel like I’ve seen her before… maybe nine years ago?”
“Old man, you’re getting senile. She’s just a little girl; how could you have seen her then? You probably saw the girl’s mother.”
“Right, right.”
“Maybe she really is her mother?”
Hearing “mother and daughter,” several people grew interested and began debating on the spot.
Young woman or girl—who was more attractive?
Estelle reached the patch of woods within the city. Following the faint aura guiding her, she arrived at an open space.
Beneath an ancient tree stood that figure again—the adventurer clad in armor just like when they parted last time.
Enya looked at Estelle and felt as though she was seeing her younger self. She hadn’t been talkative or emotionally expressive as a child.
After all, living alone in a large castle, the maids caring for her hardly spoke a word to her. That kind of upbringing forged her solitary personality.
Fortunately, she later met Antiros.
Although Antiros was somewhat taciturn, she really knew how to tease people. Sometimes Enya would be utterly exhausted, other times she’d laugh heartily.
After hesitating for a moment, Enya spoke, “Estelle, what do you think of your mother?”
Estelle didn’t know why she was being asked about her opinion of her mother… did it have anything to do with swordsmanship?
Obviously not. Enya just wanted to know how Estelle viewed the two women who were nominally her mothers—herself and Princess Vivienne.
Though Enya and Estelle were blood-related mother and daughter, the process was complicated. Rosily had at least come out of her own womb.
Enya didn’t know how Vivienne regarded Estelle, but she treated this child as her daughter, even if she hadn’t given birth to her.
“If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to,” Enya said softly, leaping down to stand before her eldest daughter and gently ruffling her silver hair.
“Don’t you want to learn swordsmanship from me? I’ll teach you.”
“Mm!” Estelle looked up at her and nodded.
Enya could sense joy in her, though very faint and rarely expressed.
The silver-haired girl was the epitome of the “three no’s”—no emotion, no expression, no reaction.
“Let me think about how to teach you…” Enya pondered, deciding to use the same methods Antiros had used when training her to train her own eldest daughter Estelle.