“Th-this… is this me?”
Wendy reached out and touched her ear, only to discover that her distinctive, long, elf ears had vanished.
What she felt now was an ear no different from a human’s.
Her pale blue hair had become a light gray, and the long tresses that once reached down to her calves now only brushed her lower back.
Even her voice had changed its tone.
The transformation happened so quickly that Wendy was having a hard time adjusting.
“This… this isn’t my body anymore?”
Wendy cried out in shock.
She looked down at her chest. Although it wasn’t much different from her own ‘bunny twins,’ it still wasn’t truly hers.
The forest elf girl was about to reach out and touch—
“Ahem!”
Enya cleared her throat.
Only then did Wendy come back to herself, realizing what she was about to do—her hand, which was almost there, froze awkwardly in mid-air.
“Uh…”
“At least wait until I’m not around,” Enya said, not caring much, but honestly, Wendy was quite bold to do this in front of her.
With Enya’s remark, Wendy’s face instantly turned bright red, shyly lowering her head and not daring to look at Enya at all.
She turned slightly to the side, covering her face with both hands.
Enya felt a strange sense of discomfort. Even though that wasn’t really her own body, with Wendy acting like this, it was still oddly unsettling.
Enya casually tossed the mirror into the void, then reached up and removed the mask.
Wendy felt something lift from her face, and her eyes went blurry for a second, but quickly regained their brightness—she had turned back to her original self.
Seeing her pale blue hair return, Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. But then she remembered that Enya seemed to want her help with something. She looked at Enya, her lips trembling, and asked softly,
“Se-se-senior, may I ask what you want me to do? Please rest assured, Wendy will definitely get it done for you!”
Enya now stood in a pose that revealed her draconic tail and wings.
Wendy naturally remembered how Nina had referred to Enya as a “dragon.”
The senior’s race was obvious.
So, Wendy stuttered as she spoke—even more than usual.
After all, this was the Dragon Tribe!
Even on the Northern Continent, with all its myriad races, the mighty Dragon Tribe was still among the most mysterious and unknown!
Enya saw how quick Wendy was to catch on, so she reached out and placed a hand on the forest elf girl’s shoulder, nodding with approval.
“It was definitely the right choice to spend sixty thousand gold coins to get you out of there.”
“Ugh…”
The mention of sixty thousand gold made Wendy wilt like a sun-shriveled flower, her dark green brows drooping along with her hair and ears.
Seeing Wendy’s dejected look, Enya laughed.
“If you get this done, I’ll waive a thousand gold off. What do you think?”
“Huh?”
A thousand? Wendy was still stunned.
Enya squinted her eyes, continuing to entice her.
“This is a rare opportunity. If you don’t want it, I’ll have to find someone else.”
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
Hearing the hint that Enya might give up on her, Wendy hurriedly agreed—even though Enya hadn’t even said what the task was yet.
She agreed so quickly that even Enya was a bit surprised. After a moment’s pause, Enya coughed lightly and continued.
“It’s nothing particularly hard. I just need you to…”
“You need me to what?”
Wendy’s dark green eyes sparkled, her little fists clenched, paying close attention to Enya’s masked face.
It was clear she was desperate for that thousand gold coins.
Through her helmet, Enya’s gold-and-red dragon eyes gazed at Wendy. After a short pause, she gave the forest elf girl a mischievous smile.
“I want you to play as me.”
“Eh?”
Wendy’s mind couldn’t process Enya’s words. Enya didn’t explain much, simply telling Wendy that it was an easy task.
And it really was easy!
All she had to do was wear the Mask of a Thousand Faces, sit somewhere, and ignore everyone—nobody would dare approach her.
Everyone in White Stone City already knew that Ms. Enya was a moody “madwoman.”
Now that Sharon knew about Enya’s strength, she naturally saw her as a potential competitor and would try various ways to remove her from participation.
There was no way Sharon would allow Enya—a person who could disrupt her plan to snatch the fragment from Tulius—to pass through the Teleportation Array.
Three days later?
Three days later, it would all be too late!
Enya wanted Wendy to impersonate her for a simple reason—to pull a bait-and-switch. While Wendy drew attention in public, Enya could act in the shadows.
Enya placed her hand on Wendy’s shoulder and said,
“Wendy, though this is a simple matter, it’s extremely important. From the very first moment I met you, I knew you were someone worth cultivating.”
“Ugh!”
At this praise, Wendy’s ears stood up.
Elf ears reflected their emotions, and right now, Wendy was clearly shocked.
Enya went on to flatter her.
“In my eyes, Wendy, you’re just as important as Sophia and Nina.”
“Even… surpass…?”
Wendy panicked. Hearing she was considered more important than Sophia and Nina in her senior’s eyes, her jewel-bright green eyes spun in circles.
Could this be true?
Am I really talented, just never discovered before? But my old captain always said I wasn’t good enough, and even my childhood sweetheart broke off the engagement!
But the senior is from the Dragon Tribe, and so strong—if she says so, it must be true, right? It should… it should be true, right?!
Enya saw tears begin to glimmer in Wendy’s eyes.
She froze for a moment.
Oops, did I accidentally touch a sore spot?
Enya took a deep breath, then thought about how to coax the nearly-crying Wendy back to normal. In the end, her answer was…
A head-pat.
She reached out and placed her hand on the forest elf girl’s head, deciding to double down on the praise.
“Wendy, I’ve always believed in you.”
“Senior…”
Wendy lunged forward, clinging to Enya, and began to bawl her eyes out.
Just then, Sophia pushed the door open and walked in, planning to ask Enya about the next steps. But as soon as she entered—
“???”
Outside White Stone City, in Golden Town, inside an elegantly decorated room, Sharon reclined on a lounge chair, quietly listening as the maid kneeling beside her reported.
Suddenly, she stopped the maid.
“So, not only did they refuse all invitations, but they also rejected anyone’s visits and spent all day either eating or playing around?”
“Yes, Lady Sharon…”
The maid lowered her head.
Sharon felt little surprise at this answer, especially the part about the elves’ exaggerated appetite.
She rose from her chair and said to the calm maid beside her,
“Go back, and keep a close watch on them.”
“Yes, Lady Sharon!”
The maid bowed deeply, then rose, lifted her skirt respectfully, and withdrew. Sharon, however, didn’t spare her loyal servant a single extra glance.
No matter how loyal, a servant was still just a lowly servant.
Sharon walked slowly toward the balcony, speaking as she went.
“Inform the Hall of Shadows—take action today.”
“Yes!”
Her shadow flickered, then quickly returned to calm.
Sharon leaned on the railing, her enchanting eyes gazing into the distance at the White Stone City lord’s castle. She murmured softly to herself,
“Tulius, who told you to cross Lilith’s path? You’re always so greedy for quick success, despite all the years we’ve worked together.”
Sharon’s intelligence network naturally reached neighboring Red Pine City. However, the Asades Family’s lord there was unwilling to accept her investment, so Golden Town was never built in Red Pine City.
The information coming from that side was fragmented, but by piecing things together, Sharon deduced that Tulius and Lilith had engaged in a Path Strife.
A Path Strife—that was seventh-rank stuff!
And the result? Tulius retreated and began consolidating his power. From that moment, Sharon knew the opportunity had come.
She had raised Tulius for so long; now it was time to butcher him.
Sharon’s hand reached to her face.
“In a little over a month, it’ll be the Harvest Festival, the biggest event of the year. I should prepare something nice for the table.”
She slowly removed the Mask of a Thousand Faces.
Her height, over 1.7 meters, shrank, her chest flattened, and her brown hair transformed into wavy purple locks.
The girl’s figure vanished from the balcony in an instant.
Inside the inner city of White Stone City, in a deserted alley, three figures appeared.
“So, can senior explain to me what happened?” “…”
Enya turned her head slightly, saying nothing.
Sophia frowned and pouted, standing beside Enya, clearly still miffed about seeing Wendy clinging to Enya and crying her eyes out earlier.
But Enya had already explained: she just praised Wendy, and the girl ended up in tears. What else could she do?
“Hey, Mother Dragon, what happened? Nina hasn’t even had breakfast yet, and Mother Dragon dragged Nina out. You owe Nina a breakfast!”
“Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you know!”
Sophia’s tiny fist thumped Nina on the head, her face fierce. She might not be able to take on Enya, but surely she could handle Nina!
Nina was aggrieved—she had no idea what was going on. Why were Mother Dragon and her own Sophia-nee suddenly at odds?
Sophia gazed into the empty space and sighed deeply.
Her sour mood stemmed mainly from the previous night, when Aimee nearly scolded her to tears. All that grievance she had to swallow by herself.
But Wendy got to run into senior’s arms, and senior even comforted her gently!
How unfair—so sour!
The more Sophia thought about it, the more wronged she felt, her lips pouting.
Enya seemed to catch a whiff of jealousy in the air and quickly grabbed Sophia’s hand, but didn’t say any comforting words. When a girl’s angry, you shouldn’t just advise her directly—it’s better to help her vent and distract her.
“Didn’t we say we’d go shopping for clothes?”
Sophia remembered—Enya had promised to take her clothes shopping! But glancing at Enya in her suit of armor, Sophia couldn’t help but say,
“Armor shopping?”
“Yeah! Sounds great!”
Nina, who wasn’t much for dressing up, instantly lit up at the mention of armor. She wanted to try wearing a suit of armor just like Enya’s.
The result? Another punch from Sophia.