After admiring the starry sky late into the night, the three girls slept together in the tent. A single thick down duvet was enough for all of them.
Perhaps because of the long journey yesterday and the exhaustion from playing, Elliris didn’t remember how she fell asleep so quickly. She only felt as if she were grabbed by something in her dream and then dragged into the darkness.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she woke from the nightmare in the morning. Looking to both sides, she understood everything.
Sophia was sleeping on the left side of the tent, while Nino was on the right. Elliris was forced into the middle, unable to move.
It was because Elliris had become a shared body pillow for Sophia and Nino.
On the left, Sophia was like an octopus, her arms and legs entwined around one of Elliris’s limbs. On the right, Nino was clinging to her other arm.
Elliris was sandwiched between the other two girls, caught in a dilemma.
‘Miss Elliris, you wouldn’t want others to know what happened last night, would you?’
Whatever. Since she was the first to wake up, Elliris had to think of a way to escape this situation.
She shifted and wiggled, rocking slightly back and forth…
The result was total stillness.
She found that only her left hand could still be lifted, but she didn’t dare use too much force for fear of waking Nino.
‘Sigh… I’ll just lie here for a while longer. Let it be.’ Having grown used to being Sophia’s body pillow over the years, Elliris could only resign herself to her fate.
She looked at the cute sleeping faces of the two girls beside her, feeling their scent and warmth.
“Ahem — ” Elliris turned her head shyly, her eyes closing in a fake sleep as the tips of her ears turned a burning red.
“Sleep a little longer. It’s still early,” Sophia’s caring voice came from right beside her ear.
“You’re awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Did I wake you?” Elliris turned her head bashfully to look at Sophia.
“It’s fine; I’ve slept enough anyway. Today’s El energy has been fully replenished~” Sophia then licked her lips, her expression becoming relaxed and joyful.
“Enough already. Release your octopus form; I’m very uncomfortable…”
“As you command, my dear sister~”
Sophia let go of that strange sleeping posture and whispered into Elliris’s ear.
“El, let’s talk for a bit. Let’s continue yesterday’s topic.”
Elliris naturally knew what Sophia was thinking. She slowly turned around and looked at Sophia, who was already lying on her side. Two pairs of calm, bright eyes met.
“Sophie, I’m still me. That will never change,” Elliris replied, her eyes filled with expectation.
“El, you have to learn to cook for yourself; I’ve taught you. Also, share more of the household chores with me, okay? Especially my potted plants — please be sure to take care of them with love.”
Sophia spoke of these things like mundane daily nagging, but there was a slight depth to her words that Elliris didn’t truly understand at the moment.
“El, no matter what happens, our hearts will always be together. That won’t change either.”
—
Nino, who was still dazed in sleep, heard voices in a haze but couldn’t make out anything clearly.
She tried to feel her surroundings. The previously crowded tent had suddenly become spacious, and she tried to stretch while lying down.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and felt around for a bit, finding no one beside her.
After a moment, she smelled the aroma of food from outside the tent. Slowly unzipping the tent, she saw Elliris and Sophia making breakfast together.
“El, remember to master the heat for this hamburger meat. Even if you use a grill, the method is the same as using a frying pan,” Sophia said patiently, her hands on her hips as she supervised Elliris’s cooking.
“Okay, Sophie. I’ll make all the food this morning; just watch me closely,” Elliris said with a light smile, her eyes looking at Sophia with such brightness.
Elliris focused on slicing vegetables and shredding cheese on a temporary cutting board, preparing a vegetable salad.
Sophia approached from behind, pretending to want to help while her intentions were obvious. When Elliris turned to look at her, Sophia gently kissed her forehead.
Elliris raised her hand to cover her forehead, where a warm sensation still lingered. Her heart rate felt as if someone had pressed fast-forward, like a little deer was ramming against her ribs.
The soup pot on the stove bubbled, and white steam surrounded Elliris. It was unclear whether it was the steam from the soup or steam rising from Elliris’s head, but steam was definitely coming off her.
As luck would have it, this scene was witnessed by Nino, who had just opened the tent flap…
Feeling the harmonious, intimate atmosphere between Elliris and Sophia, something shifted inside Nino.
‘Sister Elliris and Sister Sophia are really… intimate. It feels a bit much…’
‘Why can’t Nino be like that with Sister Elliris…’
For some reason, seeing the intimacy between Elliris and Sophia first thing in the morning made Nino’s chest feel tight again. She felt as if her world had become very oppressive…
She pulled the tent shut and sank into an “emo” funk.
Why?
‘Sister Elliris always feels like she’s just being perfunctory with me…’
‘Nino wants to take a step closer to Sister Elliris, too…’
‘Sister Sophia… sometimes really… wants to exclude Nino…’
Wait? How could she have such thoughts! That definitely wasn’t right!!
Inside the tent, Nino shook her head violently, trying to dispel those strange thoughts.
Just as she regained her composure and was staring blankly inside the tent, Sophia unintentionally interrupted her daze.
“Nino, breakfast is ready. Are you awake?~”
Sophia poked her head in to look at Nino. Nino had a stress response, her hair standing on end, but she immediately calmed down upon seeing it was Sophia.
Sophia looked at Nino, who was sitting blankly in the tent with tears in the corners of her eyes, and seemed to understand something.
Her emotional intelligence was more than a few dimensions higher than that of the blockhead Elliris. She naturally realized that Nino had likely seen their intimate moment just now.
“Little Nino, some things aren’t quite what you think~” Sophia wanted to comfort her. In her view, Nino wasn’t just overthinking things.
She viewed Nino as a competitor, but she also trusted Nino deeply — at least when it came to how to treat Elliris.
“Little Nino, do you remember what I told you before? I hope that after I leave, you can laugh with her and cry with her. If possible, I’d prefer if you could protect Elliris.”
Sophia dropped her usual playful tone, looking at her with eyes that were steady and bright.
“That prophecy about assisting a sovereign is too heavy. I just hope Nino can be herself — just as you are now~”
…
The three girls finished a hearty breakfast that morning, packed up their tent and travel gear, and then headed down the mountain to return to their respective rooms at the Resistance headquarters.
A long time had passed since the three of them had said their goodbyes.
Sophia locked herself in her room, choosing to release the emotions she had deliberately suppressed only when she was alone.
She stared at the items on her nightstand, her eyes turning red as her lips trembled, on the verge of tears.
It was a reply from the elven Valkyrie and current Sword Master, Fiona, from the second continent, the Tisomde Continent. Fiona had already agreed to take her as an apprentice.
Sophia knew that she would be leaving here in a few days.