The next morning, Ye Lalar woke up in bed in a drowsy haze.
For the first time in a long while, she had slept well — undisturbed by nightmares.
No vengeful spirits of fallen comrades. No dark, lightless dungeon.
In the past, to escape those torments, Ye Lalar had grown accustomed to sinking her soul into the Night God Throne System within her during sleep, using mental-world scenarios to replace whatever dreams might otherwise appear.
The little golden retriever, Isxila, had already slipped away at some unknown point.
As Her Imperial Highness rubbed her eyes and searched for any sign of her, a delicious aroma wafted over.
Standing up to look, she noticed two sandwiches already prepared on the table, along with two large cups of hot milk.
Inside the sandwiches, generously portioned chicken cutlets — clearly made with premium ingredients — gleamed enticingly, drizzled with rich sauce, layered with crisp lettuce leaves, and sandwiched between soft white bread.
Normally, something as simple as a sandwich wouldn’t reveal much about a cook’s skill, but these two were impossibly neat — almost too perfect in appearance.
Just looking at their shape and inhaling that rich, savory scent was enough to convey how exceptional the maker’s culinary talent truly was.
“Ye, are you awake?”
Isxila’s voice came from behind Ye Lalar.
When she turned, she saw Isxila wrapped in a bathrobe, toweling off her damp hair.
The girl’s fair skin carried a rosy flush on her exposed shoulders, radiating an intensely alluring aura.
“Ugh, I felt gross this morning since we didn’t shower last night.”
“So when I got up and saw you were still sleeping, I made a couple sandwiches and then went straight to bathe.”
After the events of last night, the relationship between the two had completely changed.
Now, Isxila was officially beginning her pursuit of Ye Lalar.
Even she felt a little shy showing this side of herself in front of someone whose beauty surpassed her own. Embarrassed, she used one hand to cover the bathrobe’s neckline and her shoulders.
“Those sandwiches — you made them?”
“They’re beautiful~”
Trained in royal etiquette, Ye Lalar — in her Imperial Daughter persona — had long grown accustomed to speech and behavior befitting her station.
Thus, she deliberately avoided commenting on Isxila’s current embarrassment and instead sincerely praised her cooking.
—To be fair, it was indeed far better than her own.
Ye Lalar’s culinary skills leaned heavily toward the practical. Hers were less “cooking” and more “wilderness survival manual.”
In the early days leading the rebel army in guerrilla warfare across complex terrain against the empire, resupply often went weeks without arrival — to the point where they nearly resorted to gnawing bark and eating wild grass.
As a result, she had honed the ability to identify nearly every known edible substance humans could consume and prepare it under almost any conditions to make it palatable.
But ask her to make proper dishes? She couldn’t.
During her years in the empire, she never had the chance to study cooking either.
In the palace the emperor had built for her, the moment the kitchen staff saw her trying to enter, they acted as if she were profaning their sacred duty to serve Her Majesty.
Then, in a panic, they would frantically prepare hundreds of dishes in a single day and pile them onto her dining table.
In other words, she was the type with a high lower limit but a low upper ceiling.
“R-Really?”
“It’s nothing special~”
Though she was thrilled inside, Isxila didn’t show it outwardly. Still, she silently thanked her queen mother in her heart.
Back then, her mother had earnestly advised her: if you want to capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach.
Her mother had attracted her father king that way — through cooking in a club at the Magic Academy — beginning their own love story.
“N-No, let’s not talk about that. It’s getting late.”
“Classes start today.”
The wall clock already pointed to eight in the morning.
At nine, their very first class at the Magic Academy would begin.
Throughout the day, instructors would guide each class through the full daily school routine, helping students familiarize themselves with the campus and adjust to academy life.
Arriving at the classroom early to prepare couldn’t hurt.
Isxila picked up the breakfast she had prepared for Ye Lalar from the table and brought it over.
“Thank you.”
Ye Lalar nodded slightly in gratitude.
This small gesture sent another wave of joy through the little golden retriever. Isxila then turned, quickly devoured her own breakfast in a few big bites, and retreated to her room to get dressed and ready.
Seeing this, Ye Lalar considered her options.
She had intended to take a shower herself, but time was short, and using someone else’s private dormitory space so casually still felt improper.
She would endure it for now and thoroughly wash up back in her own dorm after classes ended this afternoon.
With that thought, magical power flickered across her body once more.
The intricate spell formula branded upon her received energy. The delicate features of the Imperial Daughter gradually sharpened, long hair slowly shortened, and her chest flattened.
As the Radiant Sun Empire’s royal bloodline was suppressed again…
The luxurious royal gown exclusive to her dissolved into particles of light, reforming at her neck into the storage gem on her choker.
By the time Isxila emerged from her room fully dressed, Ye Lalar had already reverted to Ye Xu.
“Mm…”
For a moment, Isxila pouted in disappointment.
The rebel army’s grand young master was certainly impressive, but the Imperial Daughter was undeniably far more captivating.
That noble, untouchable beauty. That soft figure. That transcendent aura.
No one knew how much willpower she had exerted this morning to tear herself away from the Imperial Daughter’s gentle embrace.
When she first learned her beloved’s true identity was the Imperial Daughter in disguise, the reason her heart had nearly shattered was simple:
If Ye Xu was truly a woman cross-dressing as a man, wouldn’t her entire pursuit plan fall apart?
Moreover, she wasn’t gay — she couldn’t possibly fall for an actual girl.
But if her beloved had been turned into a girl… that was an entirely different concept.
In a world with magic, anyway, girls weren’t incapable of bearing children — it would just be a bit more troublesome.
“Hm? Something wrong?”
After spending the night together, Ye Xu’s tone toward Isxila had naturally softened a few degrees.
He picked up the breakfast and ate it, inwardly nodding at the exquisite flavor as he asked.
To this, Isxila — who had secretly vowed that, once married, she would hold Her Imperial Majesty the Imperial Daughter every single night while sleeping — simply smiled and replied, “Nothing at all. Let’s go.”
She then knocked on the attendant room door, signaling the two maids that they could come out to tidy the dormitory.
Under the maids’ respectful farewells, the pair left the dorm together and headed toward the distant academic district.