Xili and Estelle were both handed over to Enya. She lingered for a little while longer, then released her descended state, leaving only Enya to look after the two children.
Phil wasn’t in her true body right now, so once Enya arrived, she quietly slipped away. However, both sisters were sound asleep in the same way.
Aside from Rosily, Estelle had also been released from the minor dream. The dreams Phil had woven hadn’t been fully experienced by them yet, so they wouldn’t be waking up for quite some time.
Enya had a bit of a headache. Even though Rosily and Estelle were both thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls, their heights weren’t particularly impressive for their age, and as girls, their frames were smaller.
Still, with both of them nestled in her arms, it felt a little crowded.
One was just right, two was a bit of a stretch, but not impossible.
Enya sat with her legs spread wide, giving Rosily and Estelle a place to sit, one arm wrapped around each girl’s waist, with one shoulder for each of them as well.
But sitting there like that, she wasn’t sure what to do. Enya looked at Rosily, whose lips were curved into a faint smile. Of course, she wasn’t awake; she was just having a bit too much fun in her dream.
“Ah… no, what am I thinking?”
Enya gazed at the two sleeping daughters in her arms, and a sense of sorrow welled up in her heart.
“I’m sorry.”
Thinking about it now, Enya felt that perhaps starting from a state of shallow consciousness and instinctive life, growing up little by little like human children, would have been better for her two daughters.
Neither of her daughters had a childhood.
The experiences of those early years could never be felt again later in life.
But once an arrow is loosed, it cannot return. Her embrace could barely hold these two children anymore, and such thoughts could only be idle musings. Next, they would spread their wings and soar.
Human children needed over a decade to grow, but the children of dragons could take flight from birth. Others might think dragons were superior, but Enya actually wished it could be more like humans.
Suddenly, Enya turned her head toward one direction.
Over a thousand meters away in that direction, a crimson figure was flying toward her.
Henna didn’t bother checking on the situation with the Red Pine City Order of Knights. She had a fair amount of confidence in her subordinates.
So, Henna prioritized looking for Rosily.
Earlier, she had sensed something faint in this direction, so she rushed over without pause, her feet never touching the ground along the way.
When she smelled two traces of scent in the air, she instantly knew who and who were in this place.
Flapping her blood-red wings, Henna circled around the massive tree that would take dozens of people holding hands to encircle. On the fluffy fallen leaves between the roots, she saw two girls lying on their sides, facing each other.
Both girls had delicate, charming figures, with golden and silver long hair scattered across the ground.
At this moment, the first ray of the morning sun arrived slowly, and sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, spilling through the gaps onto them, casting a faint glow over their fair skin.
If this scene were written into a story, the title would definitely have to be <The Golden and Silver Twins of the Forest>.
Henna felt a surge of literary inspiration, wanting to grab paper and pen to write freely. She looked at Rosily, then at Estelle beside her, seeming to understand something, yet also feeling confused.
Miss Estelle—wasn’t she Princess Vivienne’s daughter? Wasn’t Rosily Phil’s child? How could there be such a coincidence in the world?
Why were they so alike, to the point where they could already be called twins?
After a moment of stunned silence, Henna opened her mouth, then closed it, pressing her lips together.
There could only be one answer: someone shared a part in both of their bloodlines, which was why the scene before her existed now.
So, who was that person?
Henna was reluctant to guess, but in her heart, she already believed she knew.
“Phil, she…”
It was only at this moment that Henna realized the Mrs. Phil in her heart seemed to be quite out of the ordinary as well.
“No wonder Princess Vivienne had Miss Estelle stay at Mrs. Phil’s house. So that’s it, so that’s it…”
Henna looked as if she’d suddenly figured something out.
Hidden away, Enya watched Henna stare at her daughter for a while, then put on an expression like she’d understood something. She felt a bit helpless.
She considered transforming into the Black Nun Moth Lady to give her little pet a scare, but thinking it over, she decided against it.
Henna had served her loyally without complaint, and besides, Enya was the one who’d taken over her territory.
Taking over someone’s land, and even their body—that was too far, too bullying. Enya wasn’t that kind of person.
At least, that’s what she believed of herself…
Henna was dazed for quite a while before she called people over to take the two children away.
The enemies had all fled. Aside from leaving behind some traces, not a single one remained alive, and there was no clue at all.
What had they done? Henna had no way of knowing, but she would report this matter to Vivienne.
She always felt that Vivienne had been to the north and met the Elven Saintess Eliv, so she should know something.
The knights of Red Pine City and Henna’s sparrows searched the surrounding forest, finding and bringing back all the scattered children who were still alive.
There were also some who had tragically lost their lives, and their bodies were brought back to the Forward Camp.
Alongside the soldiers who had died in battle and the vanguards who had been killed, they were purified and laid to rest by the accompanying clerics, then transported back to Red Pine City by carriage, where they would receive proper burials.
Forward Camp, inside a rest tent.
Elqi stared blankly at Rosily, who was on the bed, hugging her sleeping sister. She was lost in a daze.
At that moment, Scarlett walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at the two sisters for a while.
Then, she remarked:
“Wow, they really do look exactly alike. How did they manage that?”
“Miss Rosily and Miss Estelle are twins, after all.”
Sister Simona said timidly.
Scarlett raised an eyebrow and leaned in for a closer look. Just as she was about to reach out and touch, Elqi slapped her hand away.
Facing an irritated-looking Elqi, Scarlett just chuckled.
“But Rosily said Estelle is a full year older than her.”
Simona had no idea how to explain that.
“This…”
Bella, the lucky ordinary person, whispered very quietly:
“Maybe their parents’ bloodlines are very stable?”
“That is a possibility. After all, pretty people always tend to look about the same, but ugly ones? They come in all sorts of strange varieties.”
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
Scarlett spread her hands and laughed.
Elqi could barely contain her anger, glaring furiously at the loud-voiced Scarlett.
“They’re still asleep, Scarlett. Can’t you keep it down?”
“Alright, alright~”
After responding, Scarlett proactively covered her own mouth.
The first wife had spoken; if she kept going, she’d be challenging authority.
Just kidding.
Scarlett got up, walked to the side, and sat back down in a chair.
Whether it was the sound of their voices or not, the girl with the pale golden hair on the small bed slowly opened her eyes at that moment, and in her eyes was a lingering reluctance, as if she didn’t want to wake from the dream.
Rosily had dreamed of her childhood, when she was very, very small, around one or two years old. That whole day, Mama had played with her, going to all sorts of places to have fun.
But dreams must end. A person cannot immerse themselves in a beautiful dream forever and never wake, nor treat a dream as the real world.
She hugged the soft, fragrant “pillow” in her arms tightly, rubbed her face against it, and said in a cajoling tone:
“Sister Cang~ how are you doing?”
Sister Cang…
Elqi had been delighted to see Rosily wake up, but when she heard that name Rosily called out first upon waking, and even directly used “Sister,” she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes, staring at the back of Rosily’s head.
After shaking off the initial drowsiness of waking, Rosily also sensed the gaze boring into the back of her head, as well as the prying eyes of many others…
Her ears instantly flushed crimson, and she buried her face even deeper into the soft, fragrant “pillow,” trying to pretend she still hadn’t woken up.
At that moment, Scarlett said teasingly:
“Rosily, you’re awake?”
Rosily remained silent, still forcing the act, until she truly couldn’t keep it up anymore. She took a deep breath and lifted her face from her “pillow.”
And when she lifted her head, she saw that the person she was holding was none other than Estelle.
Even though Rosily had already accepted Estelle as her sister, the two had always slept in separate rooms from start to finish.
At most, they’d crossed paths during baths. More often, they faced each other with swords, honing each other’s sword skills.
Physical contact between the two sisters was already rare, and holding each other like this could be said to be exceedingly uncommon.
And what was most terrifying was…
There were still so many people around watching, and they were all people she knew!
Thinking about how spoiled and clingy her call of “Sister Cang” had sounded just now, Rosily truly wanted to sleep for another whole day.
Rosily released the still-slumbering Estelle, scrambled to sit up on the bed in a fluster, and turned to look—sure enough, everyone was right there. Fortunately, it was only the members of her little squad.
Henna had opened a convenient door for them, setting aside a dedicated rest tent.
Rosily was about to say something when she sensed someone entering the tent.
Curiously, she looked toward the fabric wall and watched the crimson figure walk in. That pair of blood-red vertical pupils was also looking at her.
Henna gave Rosily a faint smile.
“Rosily, you’re awake. No discomfort anywhere in your body, right?”
Rosily was dazed for a moment, not immediately recognizing this as her Aunt Henna.
“Mmm…”
The others in the squad all stood up, respectfully addressing her as Lord.
Henna nodded lightly but corrected them on a small point.
“Just call me by name. No need to be so formal.”
“Sister Henna?”
“I’m no longer the Lord. The current Lord is Yelena. You can just call me by name.”
Rosily, relying on subtle similarities and a familiar scent, recognized the drastically changed Henna a beat later than the others.
Henna nodded.
“It’s me.”
“How did you… become so big?”
Rosily first looked at Henna’s face, then at Henna’s body. Her memories of Henna were still very clear. In other words, she knew Henna’s physical changes inside and out.
When Elqi heard those words, she drew in a sharp breath of cold air, and the others had similar expressions.
Henna thought Rosily was saying she’d grown taller, so she smiled and said:
“A few things happened…”
Indeed, so much had happened this past month, even more than the frost season of last year’s Dark Season, leaving Henna with a feeling of being overwhelmed.