Some birds can’t be caged, because they were born free!
Hualí always believed this!
And Hualí herself was that bird that always longed for freedom!
“Damn Sidella!”
At dawn, Hualí, who had been forced to stay awake all night, supported herself against the wall and walked out of Sidella’s Palace Chambers.
The morning sun shone on her, yet she couldn’t feel a trace of warmth.
The maid dress she’d just changed into yesterday was already wrinkled after a single night.
She almost forgot how many times it was in total.
Was it seven?
Or maybe eight?
Her small hand, tucked in the pocket of her maid dress, tightly gripped five cold, round Coins.
Sidella had indeed given her money, but it was a pitiful sum—only five Coins.
Hualí couldn’t feel happy at all.
Because Sidella said, with her scrawny body, her persistence, and her disobedient service attitude, even in a Wind Flower in the Royal City, an all-nighter was only worth this much!
But Hualí couldn’t refute it, because she knew Sidella was right…
This was humiliation!
Barefaced humiliation!
“Just you wait, Sidella! Underestimating Hualí comes with a price!”
One day!
She! Hualí, Human Hero!
One day, she would trample the wicked Blood Queen under her feet and wash away all the humiliation she’d suffered!
“Ha~~so tired~”
After every battle lost, there was always reflection and oath.
A deep fatigue instantly spread through her limbs. Hualí couldn’t hold back a long yawn.
Her steps stopped in front of the dormitory door.
She turned the doorknob and gently pushed it open.
After entering, she collapsed onto the bed, nearly limp from exhaustion, burying her entire face in a pillow filled with a milky scent.
Since things had come to this, she’d just sleep for now.
As for escaping from Sidella, and brothers’ funerals or whatever…
She’d leave that to her future self when she woke up.
Her breathing gradually became steady, and outside the window, the sky slowly darkened, as if ink was spreading across it.
That whole day, the pink-haired girl slept especially sweetly, especially deeply.
Zzzz
In a haze, the pink-haired girl seemed to have a beautiful Dream.
She Dreamed she was standing under a giant tree, its thick branches and leaves blocking out the entire sky above.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, scattering faint spots of light on a flat boulder.
Like nimble fish swimming in a shallow pond.
The wind rose, and the leaves rubbed against each other, making a faint ‘sha-sha’ sound.
Strands of hair near her ear swayed gently in the breeze.
The pink-haired girl, as if possessed, stepped toward the tree—its trunk so thick that dozens of people hand-in-hand would barely be able to encircle it.
As if something in her heart was calling, the pink-haired girl reached out and pressed her hand against the rough bark.
In the next instant, a rustling sound erupted from deep within the treetop above her head, growing closer to where the pink-haired girl stood on the ground.
Before she could react, dozens of arm-thick Vines dropped from the thick canopy, wrapping around her hands and feet and hoisting the dazed pink-haired girl into the air.
Several more Vines stretched out, reaching for the pink-haired girl’s most sensi.tive areas.
Her face instantly twisted in terror.
No, this, this can’t be right!
byd What kind of beautiful Dream is this!
In the silence of the Dream, the sound of rough Vine skin scraping against fabric was particularly clear.
It was just like sleep paralysis.
No matter how terrified her eyes became, no matter how fiercely she struggled, it was all in vain.
She couldn’t break free even a little.
Even her mouth was sealed by the Vines.
She wanted to shout “help,” but not a sound could come out.
All she could do was feel powerless and despairing at what was to come.
Two clear tears slid down her sweet cheeks.
“……Hualí, Hualí? Wake up.”
Just as the girl was about to surrender yet again, a familiar voice echoed through the Dream, reverberating against the Dream’s boundary and sending ripples through it.
Crack—!
As Hualí’s consciousness gradually awakened, the Dream shattered the instant she opened her eyes!
It turned into countless fragments, each reflecting the images of the Dream.
“Huff huff—!”
Hualí shot up from the bed, pupils shrinking to needlepoints, gasping for air, her back already soaked in cold sweat.
“Damn it, I almost died!”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
At that moment, a familiar voice came from beside her.
It was Jeilinfa, the one who’d pulled Hualí from the Dream.
Jeilinfa frowned, worry on her face.
“What’s wrong, Hualí? Did you have a nightmare?”
Seeing Hualí nodding her little head rapidly, looking as if she’d calmed down, she gently reminded her.
“Next time, don’t bury your head in the pillow when you sleep. That makes it easier to have nightmares.”
“There’s a saying like that?”
Hualí was surprised.
Jeilinfa smiled.
“In Dreams, doesn’t it feel like you can’t breathe or make a sound? If you bury your head, that’s how it feels.”
Hualí thought about it. Being gagged by a Vine probably felt exactly like that.
“So what kind of Dream could scare the mighty Hero Hualí into cold sweat?”
Hualí’s face stiffened.
If she told them she Dreamed of that kind of Ai.cao scenario, would she be seen as a bad girl who even Dreamed of that kind of thing?
Hualí shook her little head furiously. Absolutely not!
She was a pure and good girl!
“Nothing! Nothing happened at all!”
Hualí’s gaze drifted out the window.
After sleeping, time had somehow shifted to night.
Outside, it was pitch black, as if someone had painted it with light-absorbing black paint.
Only then did Hualí realize that as Maid Chief, it was odd for Jeilinfa to break into her room in the middle of the night.
Under Jeilinfa’s confused gaze, Hualí tightened her wrinkled maid uniform and scooted further away, her eyes mixing contempt with disappointment.
“I know I’m cute, but that’s no excuse for you to launch a midnight assault. I, Hualí, am not that kind of loose bad girl.”
“Oww!”
Suddenly, she was struck on the head. Hualí clutched her small head in pain, tears almost spilling out.
“Why’d you hit me!”
She’d even tried to kindly persuade the other to come back to her senses!
Jeilinfa retracted her fist, barely suppressing her anger.
“I came to ask if you got any money from Her Majesty. I need to go out and buy some kitchen supplies from the Royal City tonight. If you have money, you can come to the Black Market with me.”
Jeilinfa closed her eyes, looking serene as she spoke.
“Since you spent the whole night with Her Majesty, I figured she must’ve given you plenty of money. After all, even a night in a Wind Flower costs at least a Gold Coin.”
Hualí touched the pitiful five Coins lying quietly in her pocket and pressed her lips together.
Sidella was so stingy…
“No way. Did Her Majesty really stiff you and not pay?”
Seeing Hualí’s strange expression, Jeilinfa asked in disbelief.
“Of course not!”
Hualí puffed herself up.
“Who said I’m cheap! Sidella paid me ten Gold Coins for a single night!”
“Um, I never said you were cheap, Hualí…”
“Let’s go! If I don’t spend this money, I won’t have room to carry it!”
An opportunity to escape the Royal City had fallen right into her lap—how could Hualí let it slip away?
Grabbing Jeilinfa’s hand, she hurriedly dragged her out.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.