“Wuu, stop it already!” Qin Yu’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.
“You haven’t answered me yet,” Luo Shangyu said playfully.
“I… Wasn’t my actions proof enough?” Qin Yu protested.
Luo Shangyu paused, then spoke seriously, “I want to hear you say those words yourself.”
“……”
Qin Yu felt a bit embarrassed to say it out loud, but then she thought, ‘we’ve already kissed—what is there to be afraid of?’
“Luo Shangyu… I love you…”
Before Qin Yu could finish, Luo Shangyu’s lips covered her inviting mouth.
“Mmm…”
Qin Yu was startled by Luo Shangyu’s sudden move.
She wasn’t prepared, and for a moment, she found it hard to breathe.
Luo Shangyu’s warm breath brushed against Qin Yu’s face.
With her right hand behind Qin Yu’s head and her left arm wrapped around Qin Yu’s slender waist, Luo Shangyu completely enveloped her.
Qin Yu saw Luo Shangyu’s closed eyes, utterly immersed in the kiss.
Luo Shangyu’s aggressive aura crashed over Qin Yu.
Qin Yu’s hands, placed against her chest, gently tried to push Luo Shangyu away, wanting to escape her forceful embrace.
But that gentle resistance only made Luo Shangyu more excited.
Finally, when their lips parted again, thin strands of glistening saliva stretched between them, sparkling in the light reflecting off the snow outside the window.
“Didn’t we just kiss once already?” Qin Yu complained with a hint of annoyance.
“Your lips are so wonderful, no matter how many times, it’s never enough,” Luo Shangyu said, her voice tinged with intoxication.
“There will be plenty of chances every day from now on~” Qin Yu raised her right index finger and lightly tapped it against Luo Shangyu’s lips.
“From now on?”
“Mhm, forever and ever.” Qin Yu gazed deeply into Luo Shangyu’s green eyes.
Within those emerald irises, the reflected light sparkled with a mischievous gleam.
“One look, and it’s settled!”
Seeing Luo Shangyu so full of hope for the future, Qin Yu’s heart sank: Luo Shangyu was an Elf, while she was just a Human.
The chasm of lifespan between their two races was impossible to cross.
Luo Shangyu gently stroked the top of Qin Yu’s head, making a mess of her white hair.
Qin Yu shook her head lightly in protest.
“Heh~”
Luo Shangyu chuckled softly, her right index finger sliding down from Qin Yu’s head.
Her hard fingernail, separated by the cotton pajamas, traced a line across Qin Yu’s soft skin.
Qin Yu felt a strange sensation, shivering as goosebumps broke out across her body.
It was a ticklish feeling that made her want to laugh.
‘Can’t laugh, must hold it in!’ Qin Yu bit her lip, trying her best to suppress the urge.
But holding back only made her chest feel tight, her throat itchy, as if she wanted to cough.
Now it was double torture.
When the finger reached her waist, Qin Yu couldn’t hold back anymore and let out a “Ying” sound.
“As expected, the waist is really sensitive!”
“If you know that already, then stop messing around!” Qin Yu forced a smile, pleading.
“Nope!” Luo Shangyu grinned mischievously, her hand not stopping.
“As the weaker one, you should enjoy it.”
“This… this isn’t being the weaker one, it’s just being affectionate!” Qin Yu couldn’t help but protest, her voice bubbling with laughter.
“Is that a protest?” In Luo Shangyu’s ears, the sound was more like acting spoiled than protesting.
Qin Yu stopped speaking and tried to ease the ticklishness by laughing, her head buried in Luo Shangyu’s embrace trembling with each giggle.
“Hurry and end this…” Qin Yu cried out in her heart, yet somehow she started to enjoy the sensation.
Luo Shangyu’s fingers, separated by pajamas, glided over Qin Yu’s thighs and calves, finally reaching her exposed ankle.
Luo Shangyu reversed her grip and held Qin Yu’s left ankle.
Qin Yu’s ankle was slim and fair, small enough for Luo Shangyu to encircle with one hand.
Her palm pressed against the top of Qin Yu’s foot, fingers wrapping around her ankle to rest on her Achilles tendon.
On either side of Qin Yu’s Achilles tendon were two little hollows; Luo Shangyu’s index finger and thumb gently traced circles over them.
“Mmm…” Qin Yu’s ankles weren’t as sensitive, so the laughter stopped and she took deep breaths to recover.
With her face buried in Luo Shangyu’s arms, her nose filled with Luo Shangyu’s scent.
At the same time, there was a fresh, subtle fragrance of lilies that refreshed Qin Yu’s mind.
“Why is that…” Qin Yu wondered.
In the depths of winter, where would there be lilies?
She quickly realized it was the lily-scented shower gel Luo Shangyu used during her bath tonight.
Outside, the wind and snow raged, the cold wind howling and the temperature freezing, but inside, their warmth made the bed as cozy as spring.
Qin Yu even felt a little hot.
The night was perfectly still, with only the sound of wind outside the window, Qin Yu’s heavy breathing, and the occasional soft rustling as Luo Shangyu’s fingertips brushed against Qin Yu’s ankle.
Suddenly, Luo Shangyu let go of Qin Yu’s ankle and swiftly grabbed her delicate foot.
“Eh?” Qin Yu called out in surprise, “Luo Shangyu, that’s dirty!”
“Why? Didn’t you bathe already?” Luo Shangyu countered.
“It’s still dirty!”
“As long as it’s yours, Qin Yu, it’s always clean.”
Luo Shangyu paid no heed to Qin Yu’s words.
“This…”
Qin Yu didn’t know what to do.
Her legs were wrapped around Luo Shangyu, her feet behind Luo Shangyu’s back, making it impossible to pull away.
She could only let Luo Shangyu have her way.
The sensation of being touched on her feet was completely new to Qin Yu, stirring a hint of curiosity.
Luo Shangyu’s thumb gently stroked the top of Qin Yu’s foot, while her other four fingers scratched lightly at Qin Yu’s sole.
An even more intense ticklishness shot straight to Qin Yu’s brain.
“Ugh ah…” Qin Yu couldn’t help but moan softly, her face pressed tightly against Luo Shangyu’s soft chest, as if that could ease the ticklishness.
Qin Yu’s legs clamped tightly around Luo Shangyu’s, her feet stretched out straight, desperately trying to dull the itch.
Compared to before, the tickling on her soles was a hundred times worse, and Qin Yu’s reactions grew a hundred times more intense.
She convulsed violently in Luo Shangyu’s arms, her laughter completely uncontrollable.
Qin Yu’s cheeks burned, probably bright red by now.
“Stop… stop it already…” Qin Yu wanted to beg for mercy, but laughter choked her words, rendering her mute.
She remembered seeing in stories about medieval Europe that people were tickled on the soles of their feet during interrogations to force confessions.
She always thought it was just a joke.
Only now did she realize how powerful tickling really was.
Her chest ached from lack of oxygen, her throat tickled from laughter, and Qin Yu began to cough violently.
Luo Shangyu sensed that Qin Yu was about to reach her limit and stopped, patting her back with her left hand to help her catch her breath.
“So Qin Yu is really ticklish! How amusing,” Luo Shangyu said with a gentle laugh.
“I… cough, I-I… cough… just…” Qin Yu tried to make excuses through her coughing, but couldn’t find the words.
Why bother making excuses?
Luo Shangyu was her lover, why couldn’t she tell her?
Was it really so hard to admit the truth?
Qin Yu kept asking herself.
“I really am ticklish, especially on my waist, belly, legs, and feet,” Qin Yu whispered softly.
“Hehe, I thought so,” Luo Shangyu said, her tone full of satisfaction at her discovery.
Qin Yu buried her head in Luo Shangyu’s embrace, recalling everything that had just happened.
Without Luo Shangyu’s touching and tickling, she suddenly felt a bit… lost.
‘Wait, isn’t something off about me!?’ Qin Yu snapped out of her thoughts.
How could she start enjoying being played with like this?
‘Am I really affectionate?’ Qin Yu began to reflect.
***
Ever since she admitted to being the weaker one last time, she had no resistance left against Luo Shangyu…
Maybe she wasn’t really affectionate, and she still disliked being touched by others—except for Luo Shangyu.
Qin Yu thought it through and decided: she couldn’t possibly be affectionate—after all, she only agreed to let Luo Shangyu tease her.
Seeing Qin Yu finally breathing normally, Luo Shangyu began to gently knead her toes with her right hand.
“Ah?”
Qin Yu was startled by Luo Shangyu’s sudden new approach.
‘So embarrassing… even my toes aren’t spared?’ Her pretty face flushed even deeper with shyness.
She felt unbearably hot under the covers, wanting to kick them away and cool herself down.
Luo Shangyu’s slender fingers slipped between Qin Yu’s toes, carefully massaging the webbing.
“Mmm…”
Qin Yu felt like her whole body was being explored by Luo Shangyu, that everything about her was being laid bare, and she offered no resistance—in fact, she was even enjoying it.
Maybe… she had already become a proper ‘weaker one’?
The image of her male self from her past life was growing further and further away.
There was no going back now…
When Qin Yu opened her eyes, Luo Shangyu happened to do the same.
The world around them was no longer shrouded in darkness—it was a bright and sunny morning.
Thinking about last night, both Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu felt too embarrassed to look at each other directly.
Snowflakes still drifted outside the window.
It had snowed all night, and the room temperature, without a stove, was almost at freezing.
Luo Shangyu waved her staff, using Magic of Atmosphere to gradually warm the room.
The two got out of bed and started getting dressed.
Neither spoke, but they kept sneaking glances at each other.
Whenever their eyes met, they hurriedly looked away.
This silence lasted all the way until breakfast.
“We’re lovers now. Shouldn’t things be a little different?” Luo Shangyu finally broke the silence.
“Different?”
“For example, holding hands or something?”
Qin Yu silently stretched out her left hand.
Luo Shangyu extended her right, her slender fingers wrapping around Qin Yu’s small hand.
‘She used this very hand to deal with me yesterday…’ Qin Yu thought as she looked at Luo Shangyu’s long, fair fingers.
The two sat at the table, hands held underneath, each having to eat with only one hand.
Qin Yu managed fine with her right hand, but Luo Shangyu had to use her left.
Watching Luo Shangyu awkwardly handle a soup dumpling with chopsticks, Qin Yu wanted to laugh.