Enya opened her eyes and saw her own face in the small round mirror she held.
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
She put the round mirror back into Survival’s Conception, then raised her eyes to the dressing table, where another mirror sat.
Seeing herself seated upright in the mirror, Enya smiled helplessly.
“She’s still as straightforward as ever—straightforward enough to be overwhelming. Sigh, at least it’s all done now.”
After meeting Vivienne, Enya had already realized that Lakeside City had been prepared well in advance.
Enya leaned back in her chair and turned her head to the side.
Through the open window, the evening breeze carried a faint chill, stirring her silver-white hair, while her eyes remained fixed on empty space.
“Come out.”
Her voice seemed to echo, but no one was there in the direction she was looking. She shifted her gaze to the mirror. On the dressing table now crouched a figure.
The figure was lithe, dressed in a lightweight black cloak. Under the hood, strands of golden hair gleamed faintly in the moonlight.
Two openings had been cut into the hood, revealing a pair of fluffy, oversized ears, and behind her, a large, bristling tail was raised.
If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, she was a fox clan girl.
The fox princess narrowed her eyes, leaned close to Enya, and sniffed for a moment. Then her eyes widened as she looked Enya up and down.
At this moment, Enya wasn’t wearing the “Thousand Faces” mask—meaning she was completely exposed, without any disguise, in front of an acquaintance. Enya had been warned by the Nightmare Knight, but she hadn’t expected this one to arrive so quickly.
Enya reached out, pinched the fox princess’s nose, and gently pushed her too-close face away. Then she shot a glare at this uninvited guest.
“What do you want?”
“Hehe~”
The fox princess raised an eyebrow with a grin and pounced directly.
Enya was caught together with her chair, and the fluffy tail behind her wagged rapidly.
“Sister Enya! Sister Enya!”
“…”
Though Zeta was surprised that Enya was no longer human, she could feel that Enya’s core hadn’t changed—she was still the same Enya from before. That was why she was so excited.
Enya, still trapped in the chair and being shoved by the fox princess’s flat chest, could barely stand it.
She quickly grabbed Zeta by the nape of her neck and lifted her up.
Zeta shrank her neck.
“Mm.”
“Alright, have you had enough fun?”
Enya sighed helplessly and set Zeta down on the ground.
Once on the floor, Zeta turned around and sat back on the dressing table, elbows resting on her thighs, hands cupping her round, lovely face, her water-blue eyes locked onto Enya.
“Sister Enya turned into a Youkai.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I ride Sister Enya?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because no means no.”
“How come it’s no?”
Zeta puffed out her cheeks, her features incredibly lively—her brows half-lidded, her lips slightly pursed—looking very hard to refuse.
But she was facing Enya!
Enya was always more reactive to force than to softness. She had trouble dealing with someone like Vivienne, who just went straight for it, but Zeta’s little expressions had no effect on her at all.
Enya said coldly, “Alright, change of topic. Let’s talk about you.”
“Mm…”
Zeta was clearly unhappy. She hopped off the dressing table and was about to grab Enya’s tail when her own tail was caught first, and she was lifted up.
“Eep!”
“What were you trying to do with your hand?”
“I wasn’t doing anything yet.”
“Heh.”
Enya knew Zeta’s nature all too well—it fit the fox’s cunning stereotype perfectly. Plus, during the last Mirror Meeting, Zeta had taken the chance to bully Enya while she was playing the role of the Black Nun.
Zeta turned her head and looked at Enya pitifully.
Enya glared at her fiercely before slowly releasing her grip on the fluffy tail. Once free, Zeta immediately distanced herself from Enya and flopped onto the bed, rolling around.
“Waaah, it smells like Sister Enya~”
Enya pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed, thinking, ‘I’m still right here—can you stop acting crazy?’
She got up from the chair and looked at Zeta, who had kicked off her shoes, burrowed into the blanket, wrapped herself up, and left only her tail sticking out. Enya’s mouth twitched.
‘What a fox that needs a good spanking!’
Enya raised an eyebrow, walked quickly to the bedside, and raised her hand to give Zeta a smack.
The spot she hit was soft and springy—from the feel, it was the butt.
Hearing Zeta’s yelp, Enya felt a bit relieved.
She flicked her tail and sat on the edge of the bed. Just then, Zeta poked her head out from the blanket. Her fluffy ears twitched, and her disheveled golden hair partially covered her delicate, charming yet slightly seductive face. Her water-blue eyes were full of grievance.
“Sister Enya, why does your bed still smell like that stinky elf?”
“She’s the one who cleans the room.”
Enya said as she pinched Zeta’s fluffy fox ear, but only lightly. She let go and looked at her own hand, thinking back to the journey through the mirror earlier.
She always found herself reaching out to touch others—it seemed like a habit she’d caught from Vivienne.
It was a good habit, but it tended to erase the sense of distance.
Zeta twitched her ears and said, “Someone hired me to kill a woman named Einfall Krolock, so I came this way.”
“…”
“Zeta never thought that person would be Sister Enya.”
“What a big lie.”
Enya moved her hand, wanting to pinch Zeta’s soft cheek, but she pulled it back again.
“I know who sent you here. Also, Tulius is dead already. That Cult of Calamity member you were supposed to meet—is his name Frisi? After he sensed something was wrong, he fled overnight.”
Zeta had come here for the task she mentioned during the Mirror Meeting: to go to White Stone City and kill the Cult of Calamity traitor Tulius.
As for why she stopped midway and came to Lakeside City—there was definitely something else. More likely, she came specifically to find Enya, which was how she ended up here.
Zeta stuck out her little pink tongue, her face showing that she really couldn’t hide anything from Sister Enya.
Then a mischievous smile tugged at her lips.
“That so-called Hall of Shadows actually wanted to kill Sister Enya. What a bunch of arrogant scumbags. So I killed the assassin they sent and took his place to come to Sister Enya’s room.”
“Mm.”
Enya could tell that Zeta wasn’t lying about that.
Zeta raised her head and looked at Enya. “The one who wants to kill you is a guy named Penrose. Want me to go take him out?”
“A small fry like that isn’t worth it.”
Enya shook her head.
Zeta wriggled closer to Enya, then bumped her head against Enya’s lower back, making Enya frown.
Zeta turned over, lying face up, and said to Enya, “Sister Enya, how about we go together to that Hall of Shadows and have some fun? Just the two of us.”
“This…”
Enya narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment, then looked down at Zeta, whose face was full of anticipation. After a brief hesitation, she nodded in agreement.
“We can go, but you’ll have to wait a while for me.”
“Great!”
Zeta had no objection to waiting a bit longer.
Enya thought to herself, ‘I need to put the Eclipse Ritual on the agenda.’
After getting the reply, Zeta crawled out from under the blanket, put on her shoes, and tried to hug Enya, but Enya blocked her.
Zeta could only pout and say, “I’ll see you at the City of the Other Shore, Sister Enya.”
“Mm. I’ll come as soon as I can.”
Enya stood up and gave Zeta a farewell hug.
Zeta nuzzled into Enya’s arms.
“She wants to see you.”
“…”