Chapter 65: Gifts

The stairs spiraled downward, stretching into the depths underground.

The entire Place of Rest was structured like a giant threaded screw. But the spiraling stairs were on the inside, winding down along the hollow cylindrical walls.

Just standing at the top of the stairs, Ai’er felt a strong dizziness.

“S-so high @_@! Waa…”

Although Elena had told Ai’er that the place only looked deep due to visual differences created by magic, Ai’er still couldn’t stop her legs from going weak.

She leaned against the wall for a while, unable to recover. When she finally managed to leave the wall, she grabbed onto the handrail nearby.

“Ai’er, what’s wrong?”

The silver-haired girl was gripping the handrail tightly, not moving, her body trembling slightly.

It was then that Elena suddenly noticed Ai’er’s newly changed “maid outfit.”

She recognized at a glance that it was made from her own formal dress, but that dress had been a bit too flashy for her.

But now on Ai’er, on this girl who was already smaller than her and whose body was still trembling, it gave off a fragile, cute feeling.

Just looking up at Ai’er like that from below, Elena couldn’t help but curl the corners of her mouth slightly.

“Ai’er, give me your hand.”

This silver-haired girl was afraid of heights—a fact Elena had only learned this morning when they flew back to the White Principality.

But even knowing that, Elena still let go of Ai’er’s hand after entering the gates of the Place of Rest.

She probably understood—she herself wanted to see how this silver-haired girl was doing now.

She wanted to see the vulnerable side of the one she loved, to see that side yield before her…

But just as Elena walked up to Ai’er, she saw Ai’er’s fingertips, white from the force of her grip.

At that moment, Elena’s heart gave a jolt.

“Ai’er… are you that scared?”

Ai’er didn’t respond; she simply nodded.

‘I might have been too harsh…’

But before Elena could blame herself, she stepped to Ai’er’s side, placed one hand behind the silver-haired girl’s back, and reached the other hand under her knees.

Then, with a firm heave, she lifted the silver-haired girl into her arms.

“Ai’er, close your eyes. I’ll take you down.”

In Elena’s arms, Ai’er closed her eyes.

After a slight feeling of ascent, it was a smooth descent like an elevator going down.

Ai’er realized Elena must be using Flight Magic, but compared to their earlier flight to the principality, this was just a steady descent.

And nestled in Elena’s arms, she could smell a faint, reassuring fragrance.

So this time, Ai’er opened her eyes.

“Huh…”

Mist almost obscured everything around them—the stairs, the walls; if she let her gaze wander, the only thing Ai’er could see clearly was Elena’s profile.

At that moment, Ai’er felt as if she had fallen into a dream.

Sunlight streaming in from the ceiling—by some principle—pierced through the mist like threads of pale golden warmth, flowing downward.

It really wasn’t high here; soon, the two landed on the ground.

But the mist still enveloped them, and Ai’er could still only see Elena’s profile.

“Elena, put me down; I’m fine now.”

“But what if I want to hold Ai’er a little longer? I don’t really want to put her down.”

As she said this, Elena gave Ai’er a mischievous grin.

“Eh, huh?!”

‘What’s gotten into this girl?!’

‘It’s just that she went to the room and looked at the box Lady Serina left; why did she suddenly become like this?!’

‘According to the novels Ai’er had read, was Elena about to develop a “little devil” personality now?’

‘No! Absolutely not!’

‘Anyway, the initiative must be mine!’

So Ai’er began to struggle in Elena’s arms.

Seeing this, Elena’s hand on Ai’er’s back slid down a little and then gently poked the silver-haired girl’s slender waist.

Only after Ai’er let out a pitiful “Eep!” did Elena laugh and set down the now-resigned Ai’er.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing Ai’er. Let’s… get down to business.”

A snap of her fingers accompanied Elena’s words.

The faintly visible ground around them began to glow with a pale blue light.

Then the mist, like servants seeing their master, parted to both sides, clearing a path to the Place of Rest.

At the end of the path lay a giant pale blue ice crystal, sleeping quietly.

Ai’er had seen this ice crystal before.

In the memory the System had shown her, in that valley with almost no light…

Serena slept within the ice crystal, as if still dreaming the dream from nine years ago.

But now, the once-dark dream of Elena’s mother rested in the warm sunlight.

“Mother…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Elena walked toward the ice crystal.

But she stopped after just a few steps, turned back, took the silver-haired girl’s hand, and then the two walked together toward the ice crystal.

Then they stopped a short distance from the ice crystal and set down a flower basket.

“Mother, it’s been a while… Let me introduce you: the one by my side is Ai’er. She is my—”

The one I love.

But before saying those three words, Elena glanced sideways at the silver-haired girl beside her.

Elena felt that, at this moment, the girl seemed a bit dazed.

Seeing the girl looking dazed, seeing her dazedly meet her sideways glance, seeing her dazedly waiting for her next words…

“She is someone very, very important to me right now.”

‘Don’t rush until everything settles down.’

‘When I’ve handled everything and can provide a harbor for this silver-haired girl, then I’ll confess my feelings to her.’

“And these flowers, we brought them for you. They were Ai’er’s idea. It seems that in Ai’er’s homeland, giving flowers is an important ritual for expressing one’s feelings.

I hope you can be happy by the White God’s side, together with Father.”

As she spoke, Elena calmly gazed at her mother’s face within the ice crystal.

Perhaps it was an illusion from the light refracting through the ice crystal, but Elena felt her mother seemed to be smiling.

‘Let’s leave it at that for today.’

“Mother… once everything here in the principality is settled, I’ll come see you again.”

After all, the main reason she had come down this time was for the three boxes her mother had mentioned in her letter.

So she stepped back slightly and took a deep breath.

“Ai’er, I need to go to the room ahead. Can you wait here for a moment?”

Her mother’s belongings were all placed in the room behind this ice crystal.

But Elena didn’t want Ai’er involved in the principality’s affairs, so after telling Ai’er this, she headed alone toward the back of the ice crystal.

Elena went around the ice crystal from the right side.

Now, only Ai’er remained, still staring at the giant ice crystal.

But the silver-haired girl wasn’t really looking at the ice crystal; she was staring at the words that suddenly appeared in her field of vision, floating above the ice crystal—

[Magical Entity that the Host can absorb.]

So Ai’er stepped forward and reached out toward the ice crystal.