“What? Already upset?”
Ileya glanced sideways, looking at her younger sister lying beside her, the smile at the corners of her lips completely impossible to hide.
But Reliel, lying beside her, didn’t respond to her words. She just slightly turned her head away, with an expression of “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Ah~ Since that’s the case, I originally wasn’t going to bring this up again after punishing you… but under these circumstances, I’ll have to pursue this matter of you ambushing me to the very end~”
Ugh… this woman!
Reliel wanted to get angry, but… she found herself completely without justification.
She had indeed… entered the Lady’s room tonight under the pretext of being punished.
Earlier in the duel, she had indeed attacked the Lady after clearly losing, so… no matter what punishment she endured, it was her own fault.
One should say… that kind of punishment, which was only humiliating without causing her any actual harm, was already quite lenient…
But… for Reliel, this kind of spiritual shame was even harder to accept than physical pain!
Whenever she thought of what had just happened in the bathroom, the younger sister at this moment felt both her rear and her face burning hot, wishing she could just crawl into a hole in the ground!
“How about… this~”
Suddenly, she felt a pair of ice-cold arms wrap around her waist, and from behind… though separated by the thin pajamas… she could still feel that softness that fit perfectly in one’s grasp.
“I won’t tell anyone about this~ And you’re not allowed to tell anyone about tonight’s events either… Let these things be our little secret~ How about it?”
The mischievous one hugging her little sister from behind curled her lips slightly upward.
This was the solution she had thought of earlier.
If what happened here today were to be exposed, not just this one, but she herself would also have to suffer through social death.
So… using this method would kill two birds with one stone~
Sigh…
Hearing the words “our little secret,” the naive younger sister finally turned her head back slowly, looking at this mischievous one who was holding her from behind, eyes full of smiles…
She nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Mm~ That’s right~”
Ileya smiled and brought her head a little closer again.
Reliel seemed to follow her own heart as well, slowly turning around.
The two faced each other, forehead against forehead.
Honestly speaking, this was the first time she had… slept together with the Lady… alone.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous right now.
She had no idea what this woman might do to her later.
Having grown up in the mercenary company since childhood, Reliel had naturally heard those vulgar mercenaries tell dirty jokes, and had some knowledge of… certain not-so-good things.
But as for how those things were actually done, she naturally had no idea either.
However… this time, the younger sister’s expectations might be disappointed~
At least tonight, Ileya had no intention of doing anything to her little Lili.
She merely treated her as a pillow, and her consciousness sank into the Underworld.
The Lady wasn’t planning to waste these nighttime hours.
Compared to sleeping, directly immersing her soul into the Underworld to refine it was naturally the best.
Sigh… And so Ileya’s soul sank deep into the Underworld…
Her body also became still and silent at this moment, its outward manifestation being that it almost completely lost its vitality.
And the one who felt this most deeply was Reliel.
She felt that the Lady in her arms seemed to have an even lower body temperature than just a moment ago.
Moreover, their foreheads were pressed very close together, but Reliel could no longer detect Ileya’s already faint breathing…
The girl was first somewhat dazed, then slightly frowned, and reached out to wave her hand in front of the Lady’s face.
No reaction…
She then subconsciously placed her finger, as white as a scallion, between the other’s brows, unconsciously tracing downward…
The Lady’s eye corners, earlobes, nose tip, lips…
By the time she realized what she was doing… she had already been “playing” for quite a while.
Ugh.. Reliel, what are you doing!?
Shouldn’t you be checking what’s wrong with this woman?
Sigh… The girl blushed, covered her eyes with her arm, and after a moment of silence, opened them again…
Rustle rustle…
This time, her form slowly shifted downward within the blanket.
I.. I’m just worried about her, just worried about her, that’s all! There’s no.. no other meaning! None!
Muttering in her heart, Reliel pressed her ear gently against the Lady’s chest.
What struck her first was a fragrance uniquely Ileya’s, like an orchid in a deep valley, making one involuntarily quicken their breathing.
Thump… thump…
Faintly, Reliel, with her ear pressed tightly against her elder sister’s chest, heard that weak, slow heartbeat.
So fragrant, so soft… ah no, it was such a faint heartbeat…
But… thinking that Ileya’s transcendent abilities were all related to “Reanimated” powers… it probably wasn’t strange for her body to be like this, right?
Reliel thought this, yet unconsciously began to feel the elder sister’s body on a deeper level…
This woman’s body really was ice-cold. It probably would feel quite comfortable to hold in the summer?
Thinking of this, Reliel unconsciously burrowed deeper into Ileya’s embrace.
Mm… at this temperature within the blanket, holding her like this really did feel quite comfortable~
The naive girl thought this, curling up in this mischievous one’s arms, feeling a peculiar sense of security welling up within her.
She didn’t know what this feeling was, but she just felt… comfortable.
Very… at ease.
……
Early morning…
The weather outside today wasn’t very good.
Gale-force winds carried the bleakness of autumn, making the leaves still maintaining a third of their greenness on the trees “wisely” fall to the ground.
The clouds stacked in the sky, and even any commoner without meteorological knowledge could tell that there would likely be heavy rain today.
And in such weather, perhaps the most suitable thing to do would be to sleep in the room, right?
Sigh… With a falling sensation, Ileya’s soul and consciousness finally returned to her body.
Through the baptism of her soul by the black clouds high above the Underworld, in just a single night, the power within Ileya’s soul had completely stabilized at the initial stage of the Third Rank, ready at any moment to attempt a breakthrough to the mid stage of the Third Rank.
This speed could no longer be called shocking—it was to the point where any Human or Foreign Race Transcendent would feel terrified just looking at it.
But this kind of improvement had a drawback, which was that it only improved the power of her soul… her physical body was still at the incomplete initial stage of the Third Rank.
However, this also gave Ileya a new idea.
That was to temporarily cultivate only the soul, not the physical body…
This way, the progress would be more than twice as fast as she had anticipated!
Of course, the biggest flaw in doing this was that the power of the body and soul wouldn’t match, resulting in… Ileya walking a more extreme path.
With a frail body but a powerful soul, commonly known as a glass cannon.
Although with her half-Lich constitution, she wouldn’t show any obvious weaknesses when fighting ordinary Transcendents, the moment she encountered a truly “Transcendent”-level opponent like Bellelily…
She might truly have to abandon her physical body and fight only in soul form.
But perhaps there truly was no other method faster than this to raise her strength…
Frail is frail then! If it really comes down to it, I’ll just create an entire Undead Army, three layers inside and three layers outside to protect me~
Alright then, the plan for now is settled: focus on cultivating the soul, raise her power as quickly as possible.
As for the physical body… after this incident is over, once she has enough time, she’ll make other plans.
Alright! Happy decision made just like that…
Nuzzle nuzzle~
Hm? While thinking these thoughts in her heart, Ileya suddenly felt something on her chest… squeezing its way between the two little animals…
“Uh?” She opened her eyes somewhat bewilderedly, but in the next second, she saw her little sister’s adorable sleeping face.
At this moment, the little girl was sleeping deeply, curled up entirely in her embrace, looking quite well-behaved.
“This one… hehe~” Ileya was first slightly startled, then smiled helplessly, reaching out to gently stroke the girl’s forehead.
“Mmm mmm~” The girl made an unintelligible sound.
What an adorable one…
The Lady curled the corners of her mouth slightly, instinctively reaching out, wanting to embrace the Reliel in her arms…
Knock knock knock…
But just at that moment, a gentle knocking sound made Ileya’s arm freeze mid-air.
“Lady~ Are you up?”
It was a familiar questioning voice—that was her personal little maid, Yumina.
Ugh… Th-this… what should I do?
“Lady~”
She was supposed to be the Lady, but at this moment, she was somewhat panicked.
With a turn of her eyes, Ileya yanked the blanket up, covering the Reliel curled up in her embrace underneath, while she herself made no sound at all.
Starting to fake sleep! Bluff her way through!
But… creak~
After calling several times without receiving a response, Yumina, unexpectedly to Ileya, directly opened her door.
Huh? This one…
Tap… tap…
Yumina’s footsteps were very light, but at this moment, they might as well have been stepping directly on Ileya’s heart.
Sigh… Then, Ileya could feel a breath carrying a faint warmth, slowly brushing against her cheek.
Slap tap~
That was the sound of shoes being kicked off.
Eh… Eh?!
And while the Lady was bewildered, a soft, fluffy body carrying a faintly sweet, peachy fragrance pressed against her other side.
Sigh… What on earth is happening right now.
With “a beauty on each arm,” Ileya maintained the appearance of being sound asleep on the surface, but inwardly she was somewhat lost…
“La-dy~ He-he-he… La-dy…”
And at this moment, the maid was engrossed in monopolizing one of Ileya’s arms, carrying out some rather unsightly behavior.
“Hm? Why is the Lady’s room door not closed? Senior Veil! Wait a moment!”
“Don’t worry about those things~ That one isn’t afraid of the cold anyway… Go eat breakfast quickly…”
But just at that moment! A familiar, silly-sounding voice suddenly came from outside!
Followed by the footsteps of two people!
“Uh?!” Yumina was clearly startled by the voice as well, her orange-red pupils suddenly shooting toward the half-open door!
Just now, because she was too excited from attacking… uh… from seeing the Lady’s sleeping face!
She was so thrilled that she forgot to close the door…
Perhaps due to being too flustered, the thieving little maid didn’t choose to quickly get up and cover up her actions, but instead chose to throw open the blanket!
And dove right in!
“Hm?” And at this moment, Holly, who had just walked to the door and was about to close it, was slightly stunned.
Hiss… From the corner of her eye just now… she seemed to have glimpsed something lying beside the Lady…
Something dark.
And then it disappeared in an instant… Was it her imagination?