Enya half-jokingly said, “So, you’re planning to show your true face only to your beloved?”
“?”
Hearing that, Sophia’s entire body froze on the spot, while Enya slightly raised her head and deliberately adopted a serious tone.
“I can pretend I didn’t see anything.”
Sophia’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
She slowly lowered her head, pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose and rubbing it, then turned her head away.
Her beautiful golden hair, soaked through by the water, clung to her body, and she used her fingers to brush away the strands sticking to her face.
Then, Sophia covered her face with both hands and bowed her head even lower, but Enya could still see the faint blush coloring her delicate cheeks.
Between the golden strands, a pair of ears peeked out, standing upright and tinged with the same rosy red at their tips — the pointed ears of an elf.
After quite a while, Sophia finally opened her mouth and spoke anxiously, “No, no! I only wear the veil because… because…!”
In truth, Sophia didn’t even know how to explain it.
She felt as if her mind had gone fuzzy and was struggling to think clearly, so all she could do was open her mouth helplessly.
Enya smiled and said, “Sorry, I was just joking.”
That single joke instantly made Sophia swallow all her words of explanation. Her soft, pink lips quivered as she lowered her head in silence.
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and exclaimed, “Right, where’s Nina!?”
Sophia’s heart instantly became anxious at the thought of Nina.
Not caring that Enya was watching, she took out a jade-green gemstone and held it tightly in her palm.
Then the elven girl closed her eyes and began to pray softly.
Soon, she sensed a presence.
The aura was somewhat unstable, but it didn’t mean that Nina was in danger — rather, it showed that the aura’s owner was currently panicked and confused.
Sophia focused her senses again and, upon confirming that Nina was unharmed, her previously raised worry finally settled.
She looked up slightly and met Enya’s gaze.
Enya was also studying the water-soaked elf in front of her.
Three pure white light points hovered from the ceiling, illuminating the small, confined space where the two of them were alone.
Sophia seemed uncomfortable making eye contact with Enya, and the moment their eyes met, she deliberately looked away.
Enya, in turn, shifted her gaze from Sophia and glanced around the surroundings.
They were standing on a small stone platform, roughly five or six square meters in area, covered with settled soft mud.
On all four sides, stone rock walls blocked the way.
It was probably a natural recess, with the ends lower and the center higher, forming this little stone platform.
When Sophia splashed water earlier, she had gotten mud all over her body, and being soaked as well, the elf now looked like she lived by scavenging.
Beautiful, yes, but somewhat disheveled.
That was Enya’s assessment.
Enya herself wasn’t in much better condition.
She was drenched from head to toe, her armor coated with a layer of mud, and the chubby tail behind her was filthy as well.
Her armor was definitely leaking; her boots were filled with water, and inside the armor, she had collected nearly half a bucket of water.
Being so soaked made her utterly uncomfortable.
But Enya couldn’t very well take off her armor in front of Sophia.
If she did, that would be too honest, too revealing. No, no, she already had a daughter and couldn’t afford to flirt around anymore!
Leaning against the stone wall, Enya closed her eyes to rest.
Sophia also glanced around.
After a long sigh, she laid down directly on the muddy ground.
Now, she had no heart to maintain her beauty.
If it weren’t for Enya being right there, Sophia might have rolled around in the mud.
This was something she had never experienced before.
She didn’t regret her current state; in fact, she felt exhilarated.
To have escaped a great crisis only to be trapped in a confined space—and with a dragonwoman, no less.
Just thinking about it made Sophia’s mind race with excitement. It was just like those adventure novels she had read!
So, what now?
How would they escape this underground prison?
Sophia had been using magic nonstop, shooting off a fireball and then erecting a dirt wall to block the water.
Her magic was nearly exhausted and needed time to recover.
At that moment, Enya spoke.
“Rest for a bit. I’ll take you out.”
“Mm.”
Hearing Enya’s decision—even without any concrete plan for escape—was enough to put Sophia at ease.
She rolled over and looked back at Enya, who was still leaning against the stone wall.
Sophia pressed her thin lips together but didn’t stand.
Instead, she placed both hands and feet on the ground and crawled over to Enya’s side.
She sat down beside her, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.
After a while, Sophia shifted her hips, uncaring about dirtying her already soiled clothes.
She was covered in mud anyway, so it didn’t matter anymore.
She was almost pressed against Enya.
Enya remained expressionless.
Then the elven girl’s soft, pink lips moved, her voice faint as a mosquito’s hum.
“Ms. Enya, may I lean on you?”
“Mm.”
“Thank you.”
“Mm.”
Enya replied helplessly.
Sophia took a deep breath of the cold air and rested her head on Enya’s shoulder.
It was late at night.
Sophia was truly exhausted, and not long after leaning on Enya, she actually fell asleep in this environment.
Enya turned her head, looking at Sophia with surprise.
“Truly worthy of being a Gold Elf.”
Though Sophia often restrained her desires, her bloodline’s nature still made her curious, always testing the boundaries of rules.
Only a Gold Elf would dare to cast explosion magic in such a confined space.
Enya could have taken Sophia straight out of this underground cave, but bringing her here was intentional.
Yes, intentional.
Without creating difficulties, how could their relationship progress?
“Wait, did I just do something weird again without realizing it?”
Enya squinted, looking down at Sophia’s peaceful sleeping face.
Pretending she had no thoughts, she closed her eyes again.
After a while, Sophia woke up, feeling hot and stuffy.
She instinctively moved closer to the person beside her.
But Enya was wearing full armor, and when Sophia rested her head on her chest, she could only feel the cold hardness.
If only she could take off that armor, Sophia thought.
Sophia slowly opened her eyes, the sluggish feeling in her mind gone.
She got up from Enya’s embrace.
Only then did she realize she had somehow crawled into her embrace and curled up like a small ball.
Looking at the tail wrapped around her waist…
She glanced back at Enya and found that Enya’s breathing was steady, as if she were asleep, yet the tail wrapped around her hadn’t loosened even a bit.
Gazing at the faceplate of the helmet, Sophia zoned out.
“Glug.”
She swallowed hard.
When Nina tried to touch Enya’s tail earlier, Sophia stopped her.
But she herself actually wanted to touch it!
Not only that, she also wanted to touch Enya’s horns, her wings, and even see what kind of body was beneath that armor.
What would it feel like to touch a dragonwoman’s flesh?
Would her body be covered in scales?
Would she smell nice?
If she licked her, what would the taste be like?
The surging curiosity made Sophia want to admire every inch of Enya’s skin, to explore all those unknown secrets with every sense.
But she had to restrain herself.
She withdrew her hand, which had unconsciously reached toward the helmet, and told herself in her heart:
“No, Sophia, if you do this, Ms. Enya will be displeased, and then you’ll never get to see her face again!”
“But… Ms. Enya is so mean.”
“Not only does she hide her face, she also wraps her body up so tightly!”
Elves were a race that took pride in displaying their beauty.
Therefore, their clothing was never thick; instead, they tried to reveal as much of their skin as possible to show off their beauty.
Sophia wore a veil because the Saintess had asked her to, to prevent those with ill intentions from targeting her.
Enya shifted her body and loosened the tail wrapped around Sophia.
“Sorry, you kept leaning on me just now, so I just held you directly. My lady won’t mind, right?”
“N-no, she won’t…”
Freed from the tail’s binding, Sophia was too embarrassed to remain in Enya’s embrace and reluctantly climbed out.
After a short rest, the two finally prepared to consider how to get out.
Sophia felt the air had become very stuffy; if they didn’t leave soon, they might suffocate.
The elven girl summoned her staff, closed her eyes, and began sensing the surroundings through Earth Elemental Magic.
After a short time, Sophia identified another open space.
“Down this way…”
She told Enya about the path leading to the other cavern.
Why not dig through with Earth Elemental Magic?
Digging would consume a lot of magic, and for a Fifth-Tier Magic Core spellcaster who had only recovered about thirty percent of her magic, it was too strenuous.
If her magic core were stronger, she could have dug directly upward to the surface.
For now, they could only find a path bit by bit.
Enya stood up.
“Understood, my lady~”
“Ugh…”
Sophia blushed at Enya’s words, “my lady.”
When Enya said that, there was no hint of flirtation; it sounded deliberate, like teasing.
But Enya’s armored appearance made it hard to tell if she was joking or serious.
Sophia pouted and muttered, “Damn…”
“What?”
Enya heard and curiously looked back.
Sophia quickly said it was nothing.
Enya silently walked over and then, without any hesitation, scooped up her lady in a princess carry.
“Eiya!?”
Sophia let out a cute shriek.
Hearing that soft, charming sound, Enya felt slightly embarrassed.