“So, do you want to go grocery shopping with me, Yao?”
Yi Shiyue poked the dazed Ye Xingyao.
“No, I think I’ll just wait for you at home,” Ye Xingyao replied after snapping back to her senses. “I’ll clean out the fridge and stuff while you’re gone. I don’t know how long the appliances in these relocation houses have been sitting here.”
“Alright. I’ll leave the dishes to you, then?”
“What dishes, you dummy? We had corn and bread today.”
Ye Xingyao gave Yi Shiyue a playful tap on the head.
“Oh? That’s right.”
With a look of sudden realization, Yi Shiyue smiled, put on her coat and shoes, and headed out to buy groceries.
Ye Xingyao then began cleaning up the trash on the dining table. While wiping the table, she cleaned the refrigerator as well. There wasn’t much work to begin with, so she finished everything quickly.
“Next… is the main event…”
After confirming that everything was in order, Ye Xingyao turned around and mysteriously slipped back into her room—well, the room she now shared with Yi Shiyue.
After closing the door, Ye Xingyao canceled the Disguise Magic. A girl with black hair and blue eyes appeared in the world once again.
This Disguise Magic was quite practical, but unfortunately… although she didn’t look unusual to her sister, in her own field of vision, she still maintained her female appearance.
From a third-person perspective, once Ye Xingyao canceled the Disguise Magic, the thin boy in pajamas transformed into a girl. Her hair grew long instantly, and her body developed subtle curves.
‘I should be satisfied. At least my sister won’t know her dear brother has turned into a sister, right?’
Lost in thought, the girl shifted her gaze to the unmade blankets on the bed.
‘Hmm… should I try… that…?’
‘What does it feel like to crawl into Shiyue’s bed like a girl in a game and smell it…?’
The girl’s face turned slightly red. After a brief mental struggle, she failed to overcome her inner demons.
Ye Xingyao tiptoed to the bedside and sat down. She kicked off her slippers, revealing her neat little feet, and lay flat on Yi Shiyue’s blanket. After lying there quietly for a moment, she rolled herself into the blanket, covered her head, and took a deep breath with her face pressed against the bedding.
“Mmm… hah…”
There wasn’t really any special scent. Instead, it was a very clean, reassuring fragrance that made her want to sleep a little longer…
‘No, no, no!’
A long while later, the girl’s head popped out from the bundle of blankets.
This wasn’t the main event she wanted!
*Hiss… hah…*
***
After another mental struggle, Ye Xingyao finally overcame her inner demons.
The girl sat up, folded both of their blankets, and smoothed out the bedsheets. Once everything was tidy, she stood in the middle of the room and began the true main event.
Ever since she fell unconscious, encountered the so-called “Star Elf” consciousness, and her body turned into a girl, she had been with Shiyue constantly… kissing, chatting, going home, visiting Hongye Qiu’s house, and then coming home again.
They were stuck together even when they slept, so she hadn’t had the luxury to test the things she now possessed that she didn’t have before. Even though she could tangibly feel her female body, she still didn’t have a real sense of it all—especially the fact that she was the “Star Elf” described as incredibly powerful in the Elf Prophecy.
Ye Xingyao bent over and reached under a certain skirt in the wardrobe. She pulled out a portion of the various magic stones she had brought from the safe house and picked out a few duds that had lost their luster and mana, making them only useful for experiments.
Next, she placed the small stones on the floor and squatted down. She suddenly clenched her small fist and punched a stone as hard as she could.
“Ouch—!”
The stone shattered upon impact. It seemed her strength was greater than when she was an ordinary person; the body of a Star Elf was indeed extraordinary. But…
‘It hurts so much—!’
Ye Xingyao’s eyes welled with tears. Through the watery film, she looked pitifully at the red mark on her fist. A burning pain radiated from her hand.
‘Ugh… why am I so pathetic? It’s nothing serious, it just hurts a little, yet my nose is stinging and I’m about to cry… It hurts so much…’
‘How should I describe it? For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Right, that’s it. My body is very strong now, so hitting something hard is bound to hurt. Also, a girl’s body is more sensitive. That must be it. There’s no way I’m just crying this easily!’
‘Strength has increased, so what about magic?’
She was an “Elf” now, wasn’t she?
If she could learn Disguise Magic so easily, what about the rest? Magic shields like those used by magical girls, Specialized Magic, and the incredibly skilled mana manipulation abilities of the elves…
Ye Xingyao’s beautiful, misty eyes were once again filled with determination.
The girl closed her eyes, just as she had when she silently recited the elven words and tried to release the magic recorded by her father using magic stones.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly as Ye Xingyao’s consciousness sank deeper and deeper. After a long time, just when she was about to give away, a tiny speck of light appeared in the darkness behind her closed eyelids.
The speck of light slowly enlarged before her. It wasn’t as fierce as sunlight or as pure as moonlight. To her, the light seemed more… interesting?
For some reason, she was reminded of the scene she saw last night—the sky full of stars competing with the moon. That light seemed like the starlight of the night…
Gradually, the light transformed into a four-pointed star, appearing quietly before her. She felt as if she were in another space entirely. In a universe composed of endless darkness, the girl’s figure was illuminated by the light emitted by the four-pointed star.
‘I can… move?’
Ye Xingyao instinctively took a step forward.
No, this wasn’t the real world. She had just been in her room.
The surroundings were pitch black. That four-pointed star was likely the only thing she could interact with.
Ye Xingyao reached out toward the four-pointed star. The closer her small hand got, the brighter its light became, and the more she could feel the incredibly familiar warmth of the “star.”
‘Starlight.’
The word appeared in her mind naturally.
At this moment, she merged with the Starlight, and the Starlight was hers to use. She could make that star take any form she desired at will.
Outside her consciousness, the room with drawn curtains should have been dim, but now it perfectly highlighted the faint glow emanating from the girl. The radiance acted like a paintbrush, perfectly outlining the curves of her figure.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening rang out. Ye Xingyao snapped back to her senses, and the glow on her body vanished instantly.
“Yao? I’m back. What do you want for lunch?”
“I’ll eat anything as long as you make it, Shiyue.”
Ye Xingyao calmly pushed open the bedroom door, wearing a sweet smile.