“There’s nothing here either…”
The three of them had already circled around the forest at the edge of the academy, but they hadn’t managed to find a single usable herb.
The sky was turning dim and clouds were beginning to gather. The wind carried a chill that brushed against their cheeks. The air felt damp, with a faint earthy scent of soil lingering within.
Glancing up at the darkening clouds, Aurora spoke with concern, “It looks like it’s going to rain. Maybe we should head back?”
“But we only just came all this way. Are we really going to return empty-handed?” Saga said unwillingly.
“Why though? Our friend said there were plenty of herbs here.”
Xiao Mo pushed aside some bushes and found a herb with its roots broken off. That’s when she understood the reason.
She stood up and held the broken herb in front of the others. “We’re not the only ones here to pick herbs, Saga.”
“You mean?”
“Since exams are coming up, all the herbs around here were probably picked clean a long time ago. Some people have even been selling them illegally.”
“Isn’t there someone from the neighboring class? They sell fresh herbs at high prices to other students. I’m guessing they picked them from here.”
Hearing this, Saga immediately puffed out her cheeks in anger. “That’s just too much!”
After pocketing the herb, Xiao Mo added, “But it’s not like we have no other options.”
“Ah, stealing will get us punished!”
“Even I wouldn’t do something that stupid…”
She pointed deeper into the forest and said, “The closer to the forest’s edge, the fewer people who’ve been there.”
“But isn’t it more dangerous?” Aurora quickly interjected.
She had heard from her sister that the entire academy shifted forward every day starting at midnight. What lay ahead was unpredictable. What if there was a bandit camp or a monster’s lair deep in the forest?
So even for the sake of exams, risking one’s life was not right.
“If there really are monsters or bandits deep in the forest, wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
Aurora said this just as Saga spoke in a soothing tone, “Don’t worry, Eve. I heard from a friend that there’s a small town to the west. There’s even an Adventurers’ Guild there. If monsters exist, the adventurers would have surely dealt with them.”
“Is… is that so?”
Listening to these words, Aurora still felt uneasy. As she looked at the increasingly gloomy sky, a bad premonition stirred in her heart.
“Let’s head deeper west then. The closer to the town, the safer it should be, right?”
“Ah, Eve, if you’re really scared, I can take you back first.” Looking at Aurora’s pale face, she kindly offered.
Aurora took a deep breath, calming her anxiety, then said, “I’ll go with you.”
Leaving friends behind and going back alone — such cowardice was not befitting of an elder sister.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Eve. You can’t even use your imprint magic yet.”
“It’s fine! I’m strong!”
Seeming unwilling to be looked down on by her friends, Aurora rolled up her sleeves and flexed her arms, patting her fair skin with a determined shout, “I used to carry several baskets of clothes all by myself!”
“Eve, you’re so adorable,” Saga chuckled, covering her mouth.
“Let’s hurry then, before it starts to rain.”
*****
Inside the mansion.
Lola Bell anxiously paced by the front gate.
Since leaving at noon, it had been four hours without seeing her sister. The restlessness in her chest was crawling all over her body.
She wanted to hear her sister’s voice, wanted to smell her scent, wanted to casually brush against her lips, wanted to bury her face in her sister’s chest…
These thoughts grew stronger as time passed. Unable to bear it any longer, she took out one of her sister’s clothes and, while no one was around, indulged in an epic inhalation.
“What are you wandering around for, Lola Bell?”
Azalea’s voice suddenly came from the staircase, making Lola Bell hurriedly hide the clothes behind her back.
She glanced sideways and stammered, “Princess Consort, I… uh, I’m waiting for my sister to come back.”
Please don’t let the princess have seen what just happened. If she had, Lola Bell felt she might as well die.
“Oh… then why are you smelling her clothes?”
So she did see it all.
“I just… I just think the perfume the princess made smells really nice, haha.”
“Is that so? I don’t remember ever spraying perfume on Miss Aurora.”
“Let me have a smell (reaching out).”
“These are my sister’s clothes. You can’t touch them (holding up high).”
“You really are protective over your food…” Azalea pouted, slightly displeased.
“Speaking of which, why hasn’t Miss Aurora come back yet? It’s almost dark… and it looks like it’s going to rain.”
Azalea looked through the window at the dense clouds with a worried expression.
“If only you and Misha had come with us to gather herbs, it would have been better. Misha is definitely good at it…”
As she spoke, Azalea’s mood seemed to sour.
Since coming here, she hadn’t properly built a relationship with Aurora, not even exchanged a few words.
And it was all thanks to her overprotective little sister.
Noticing Azalea’s slightly resentful gaze, Lola Bell felt puzzled.
“W-What’s wrong, Princess Consort?”
The angrier she got, the more she turned her head with a scowl. “I’m going to write to Father to dock your wages!”
“Why?!”
“You be the overprotective one and think about it yourself. I’m going to go find Misha to play.”
With that, Azalea hopped off toward the basement, leaving Lola Bell standing confused by the door.
Boom!
Suddenly, a flash of white light streaked across the sky outside, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.
Lola Bell’s anxiety surged uncontrollably with the thunder.
As if unable to bear it any longer, she returned to her room, quickly donned her silver armor, grabbed her holy sword, and prepared to go out to search for Aurora.
But just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she stopped. She didn’t know where exactly to look.
Her sister’s letter said she was out gathering herbs, so she must be somewhere in the forest around the academy, right?
The academy was so big—if she circled around it, who knew how long it would take to find her?
But it was better than waiting idly here.
With that thought, Lola Bell opened the door and stepped outside.
Under the gray clouds, she spread her pure white wings and soared into the sky…
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