23~ I’m going all out against you!
“Sleep tight, little Sha.” A delicate hand gently swept across the sleeping girl’s beautiful face, her soft and indulgent voice sounding much like a mother soothing her daughter to sleep.
After spending a moment gazing at Tillysha’s sleeping face, Bilodis slowly and quietly paced out of the room. Her steps were so light, they might as well have been floating, producing no sound at all.
Once outside and having gently closed the door behind her, she turned her gaze towards a silver-haired elf maid who had appeared at some point behind her.
“Empress Bilodis.” Lailyn gave a slight bow in greeting.
“Did you watch the whole thing?” Bilodis asked with a smile, her tone questioning yet filled with an air of certainty, as if from the very start she knew there was a silver-haired maid ‘peeking’ outside the door.
“Initially, I was concerned that the princess may have lost her memory and might not recognize you, but when I saw your interaction with her, much like before, I was relieved.” Lailyn, of course, knew she couldn’t hide anything from Bilodis. The whole Golden Wood Palace was laced with the empress’s authority and ‘informants,’ so the smallest disturbance wouldn’t go unnoticed by her. Realizing Bilodis had no intention of sending her away, she watched openly and honestly.
“However, although the princess’s physical form has been restored, there seem to be quite a number of issues.”
“These things can only be handled gradually. All I can do is bestow royal bl**d for her body’s reconstruction; the rest like meridians and sinews cannot return to their original state.” Bilodis looked thoughtfully at the closed door. “She is not yet whole.”
“I remember the princess always emphasized she was not ‘Tillysha’ and would often expose excess memories she carried with her. Do you think it’s possible for a similar soul to create the same outcome?” Lailyn spoke of her doubts that had lingered in her mind for a while. The implication of her words was clear.
Could a sacrifice result in someone else taking their place?
“You’re right; at first, I had similar worries. However, after making some inquiries, I can affirm that such a possibility does not exist.” Bilodis’s lips parted in a soft smile, her mouth slightly curling up.
“Why?”
In response to Lailyn’s question, Bilodis chuckled lightly and walked to the window.
Due to the differing flow of time, the twilight had just begun to fall within the secret realm. As she looked at the moonlit, star-sparse sky, Bilodis twirled a strand of her hair and turned back with a smile.
“Is there anyone in this world who wouldn’t recognize their own younger sister?”
—
So soft, so fragrant…
Tillysha curled up, feeling she had never slept so comfortably, so luxuriously.
She felt as though she were resting on clouds, each fluffy cloud so soft it draped around her every inch of skin, hugging her so kindly, like a mother with a broad and warm embrace.
Tillysha’s lips moved slightly, finding herself too relaxed to even turn over. Angelic hymns seemed to echo softly in her ears, surrounded by the scent of lavender; it was the first time she had ever found sleeping to be such a blissful experience.
Drifting on this sea of softness, Tillysha felt as though she had returned to infancy, nestled in her mother’s arms, receiving affectionate nourishment.
This sense of security made her reluctant to open her eyes.
To her, sleep was merely a necessary rest. Elves didn’t need much slumber, and a few days without it made little difference.
For her, who had always had a precise biological clock, this was a rare instance of oversleeping. It was seldom that she could collapse and sleep like a baby.
Though her biological clock chimed, smiling and gently trying to wake her, her eyelids felt weighed down as if filled with lead.
Clearly, her internal alarm had rung. Under normal circumstances, she would have already stirred.
Getting up a little late shouldn’t matter, right? Just a late start once in a while. A small nap, a sweet rest.
Even though they say “sleeping till the sun hits your b*tt,” surely you can just sleep a little longer without the sun really reaching yours?
…It feels itchy, a bit tingling, could it really be the sun on my rear?
Tillysha longed to ignore the itch, struggling to open her eyelids again only to close them tightly, but as though knowing her thoughts, the tingling and itching grew worse until she couldn’t help but notice.
How strange, is the sun really so strong today? Has it hit my behind?
No, I was sleeping on my back. How could the sun possibly reach that area?
Tillysha forced herself to open her eyes slightly, her blurry gaze forming a foggy field of vision. She glimpsed strands of golden silk falling on her neck, luxurious yet inevitably itchy.
What in the world is this?
Tillysha lifted her eyelids slightly, and what appeared was a snow-white panorama.
Hmm, vast and surging, Tillysha never imagined one day she would wake up to see an “ocean.”
Her drowsiness cleared as she discovered herself lying on a large velvet canopy bed.
Bathed in warm sunlight, it reflected brilliantly on the colorful ceiling, and slightly above lay that fluffy, whiter-than-the-ceiling rabbit…
Tillysha paused in astonishment, trying to rise but finding her body unmoving. A slender, gentle arm wrapped around her waist like a jade lock, holding her tightly. Moreover, she finally understood where that tingling sensation had come from.
It wasn’t the sun. It was rather…
The woman was this indecent even in her sleep? And how did they end up sleeping together?!
Currently, Tillysha lay in Bilodis’ embrace, their hair tangled together, blending in an almost indistinguishable mess. Below, Bilodis lay with one arm around Tillysha’s waist, cradling her as if she were a porcelain doll, while the other hand… was now rather mischievous.
Moreover, during her slumber, Tillysha had unconsciously grabbed the arm with which Bilodis was holding her.
As memory returned, Tillysha instantly recollected what had happened before sleeping.
Just at the thought of her unraveled dignity, laughing uncontrollably under ‘torture,’ Tillysha wanted to find a crack to crawl into.
Tillysha, how could you not withstand such a punishment—essentially a childish scare tactic?
A simple tickling, yet it caused her to lose her facade…
This wicked cow of a woman has humiliated her, leaving an indelible blemish.
Having rested enough, Tillysha, with her high spirits slightly diminished, began to think about how to erase this new mark of shame.
Perhaps… she could just silence her?
While the woman was still asleep, strangle her.
The moment the thought arose, Tillysha let go of the arm she held, lifting it slightly before dropping it back helplessly.
Come on, without her hairpin, she was nothing, and surely couldn’t strangle anyone.
This woman was capable of safeguarding the Elf Sacred Tree against a Demon Army’s assault, so suppressing her would simply require a flick of her fingers. Not even Divine Authority would prevent that.
Don’t accumulate more black history by acting rashly…
Tillysha extended her hand toward Bilodis’ pristine and delicate neck, only to draw it back.
Being held like this, she had nowhere to go. Nor could she fall asleep, now that she was awake.
Speaking of which…
Glancing upward, then down, Tillysha’s mind drifted into contemplation, an odd sense of competition rising in her heart.
She measured the size with her hand, then raised it high.
It did seem larger by a circle…
Such a size could even exist?
No, no, she must not have measured correctly. She had always been confident in this.
Therefore, Tillysha repeated the previous action, fearing a significant margin of error might occur, so she brought her hands together for closer measurement.
However, during this moment, she looked up and directly met a pair of emerald eyes filled with affection, indulgence, and a hint of amusement.
“……” Tillysha’s expression froze.
An awkward silence filled the room.
“Are you awake~?” After a moment, the soft, melodic voice of Bilodis resonated like a babbling brook.
“Ah, um.” Tillysha dared not meet her gaze, turning her eyes away and wishing she could cover her face.
Too embarrassing! She caught herself engaged in this odd action!
“Little Sha, how long have you been awake~?” Bilodis asked gently. Tillysha somehow thought she detected a teasing tone.
“Not long, just woke up.” Tillysha responded in an attempt at casualness.
“Oh, I see. Were you sleepwalking, Little Sha?” Bilodis, appearing docile, had humor sparkling in her eyes. “Dreaming of something? Like plucking peaches?”
“Ugh…” That ill-tempered woman!
Tillysha’s cheeks blushed from this remark.
The person had clearly been awake all along, simply pretending to observe her actions!
“It’s fine, no need to be shy. Interested in sister’s body? Sister welcomes it.” Observing Tillysha’s darting gaze, Bilodis lightly pinched her nose. “Little Sha truly is a timid little girl, having interest but no courage.”
“You don’t have the grounds to talk.” Tillysha huffed. “When I was asleep, you were… how could you treat your younger sister like that? Pedo-sister!”
Though she wasn’t the original Tillysha, it was the real Tillysha’s body, and the older sister was behaving in an inappropriate manner.
“Then you’re the pedo-sister~?”
“Stop it! Let me go, I want to get up.”
“Did you sleep well~?”
“Not really, not as comfortable as my little bed at Coleman Academy.” Tillysha responded stubbornly, her tone less than persuasive. “Especially waking up to your face in the morning—annoying.”
Upon hearing this, Bilodis remained silently indulgent, her gaze affectionately piercing through Tillysha’s denial with a tender smile gracing her green emerald-like eyes.
“You, why are you smiling?”
“Nothing, just that Little Sha’s sleeping face is really adorable. She even said dream-talk like ‘Sister, I’m sorry,’ ‘Sister, I made a mistake,’ ‘Please don’t punish Little Sha’… so cute.”
“What nonsense are you inventing? Impossible, I absolutely did not say such embarrassing things.” Tillysha immediately countered.
“Ah? Are you sure? Completely?”
“Sure… what’s the problem?” Seeing Bilodis’ amused face, Tillysha hesitated.
“Pu pu.” Bilodis revealed a gemstone etched with magical patterns before Tillysha, her white, delicate hand holding the stone and shaking it lightly. “Do you know what this is?”
“How should I know…” Tillysha was about to say she didn’t know, but then noticed a familiar pattern of enchantment on the gemstone, identifying it after a short moment as a ‘recording’ enchantment.
Using spiritual energy to etch a recording enchantment and then sculpting it with her power, enabling it to store sound—this was knowledge Tillysha had learned in the Magical Foundations Book.
The person, could it be…?
Tillysha’s emerald pupils contracted.
“Correct~” As if reading Tillysha’s thoughts, Bilodis smiled, her face beaming as if delighted to toy with Tillysha like this, leaving her caught between wanting to escape but being unable.
“Little Sha’s sleeping poses and murmurs were so irresistibly cute, such candid and sincere sides of Little Sha can only be seen in dreams. So sister couldn’t help but use the recording stone to capture this precious moment.”
“Right, this recording stone has been placed on the nightstand since yesterday, meaning it’s been recording continuously until just moments ago.”
“Every sound within this room, every single one, has all~ been recorded.” Watching as Tillysha’s hope faded, Bilodis emphasized her tone, a fox-like cunning smile curving at her lips.
“Ah ya, my dear Little Sha~ you can always take it out to reminisce any time you’re bored.”
“You, I won’t fall for it. You must’ve put an empty one to scare me.” Tillysha calmly responded.
After yesterday’s interactions, this kind of thing would be exactly something such a despicable woman would do.
“Oh~?” As if expecting this from Tillysha, Bilodis’s radiant smile deepened. “So much has changed, sister’s words are now doubted.”
“Can the words of a despicable woman be trusted??”
“Excessive! Fine, if Little Sha doesn’t believe me, then I’ll have to replay it, Little Sha can’t blame sister afterward.” Bilodis lightly touched the gemstone to activate the enchantment.
The enchantment glowed brightly, and after a moment of static, a distinct sound, one that was clearly trying to suppress but failing miserably, emerged—a tender and uncontrollable cry mixed with laughter, akin to a split personality.
“You pervert!” Realizing her black history from yesterday had been documented by a ‘historian,’ upon hearing this sound, Tillysha lost her temper, breaking free from Bilodis’ grip and charging forward to seize the gemstone.
“Argh! You pointed-eared old woman! I’ll go all out against you!”
