“Wait a moment… she’s fallen for someone else?”
“All correct~” Tillysha carelessly leaned her head against Aistride’s bosom, the minty herbal fragrance wafting up making the silver-haired beauty’s heart sway.
Her silvery eyelashes were as thin as cicada wings, her snow-white face blooming with a touch of rosiness. Her violet eyes, like moons under mist, shimmered with an intoxicating vagueness. However, her usual cold expression masked the blush, making it barely noticeable.
“It’s only you, Aistride, who really understands me,” said Tillysha, the golden-haired girl in her embrace rubbing her head against Aistride’s shoulder like a kitty, the smooth touch of her silken hair tickling Aistride.
“Mr. Bubun, you claim to understand me, believing we’re alike and thus share the same preferences. But as you see now, these impressions may just be self-deception.”
“But… but…” Bubun appeared to still have something to say. “This can’t be fair, Tillysha. You and Aistride have been together so long it’s normal for her to understand your habits. I don’t have the same advantage.”
“That’s precisely what I wanted to tell you, Mr. Bubun,” Tillysha moved away from Aistride’s embrace. Aistride’s charming eyes retained a hint of enticing charm.
“Aistride understands me through our day-to-day interactions. You’re right, love at first sight might exist, but I believe long-lasting companionship surpasses it.”
“And Aistride knows every detail about me. That’s not something easily achieved through casual daily engagement, is it?”
On hearing this, Aistride felt there was more to Tillysha’s words than met the eye.
“That is my answer to you, Bubun.”
“…” Bubun sighed deeply, glanced at Aistride, then placed a hand on his chest and respectfully bowed to Tillysha. “I understand, Tillysha.”
“I respect your choice.”
“Aistride, the bond between you and Tillysha is quite strong,” Bubun suddenly said this.
“…” This left Aistride, who was carefully trying to avoid Tillysha, uncertain how to respond.
“Sorry to disturb you both at this near-class hour. I shall take my leave now.” And with that, Bubun graciously departed.
“Thank you, Aistride.” Tillysha giggled, her hand leaning on Aistride’s arm like an affectionate young girl. “Thanks for helping me deflect another bothersome confession. Of course, there’ll be no free rides. I’ll treat you to ice cream later.”
“No need,” Aistride was about to say, but was interrupted and pulled by the wrist into the classroom, leaving no room to speak.
“Big Sister Filisia, is Big Sister Aistride in love, or did she fight with Big Sister Tillysha?” In the classroom, Wenfu, already seated, asked Princess Filisia.
“Who knows?” Princess Filisia, tending her long twin ponytails, smirked.
Even Wenfu could feel their abnormal relationship; it was indeed obvious enough.
“If Big Sister Aistride and Big Sister Tillysha had an argument, how should we reconcile them?” In the mind of a child, there’s only black and white, good and bad. Wenfu couldn’t understand why these two good people would quarrel.
“I think they’ll handle it well themselves; no external interference necessary,” Princess Filisia smiled and looked toward the door.
Wenfu followed her gaze and saw Tillysha actively pulling Aistride inside, with Aistride half-resisting. The two elven maidens with different hair colors moved slowly under the crystal chandeliers, akin to dazzling dance partners on stage.
“Eh? Eh?” Wenfu rubbed her little head.
Hmm, it itches. Am I growing brains?
Yesterday the atmosphere between them was somewhat awkward, but how did it become so intimate this morning?
This puzzled Princess Filisia too, but she noticed a male noble seemed to have stopped Tillysha before entering the classroom. Perhaps that was relevant.
If indeed it relates to that male noble, then he inadvertently did them a big favor.
Aistride was somehow blindly led by Tillysha into the classroom, sitting together at their usual adjacent seats.
Smelling the hair fragrance beside her, recalling Tillysha’s earlier words—”Only Aistride truly understands me,” “Long-lasting companionship”—Aistride knew she was used as a shield but felt no irritation, rather a touch of unexpected sweetness.
Yes, the ice cream in her hand was sweet as well.
After lunch, at the cold beverage shop, under the umbrella, Aistride watched blueberry ice cream in a paper bowl.
She liked blueberries, and Tillysha remembered, just as Aistride remembered her details.
“Aistride, is something wrong? Are the flavors not to your liking? Did I get them wrong?”
“No.” She looked up to see the golden-haired girl leaning her elbow on the table, her golden hair cascading delicately down her snowy neck, falling lightly on her bosom. Her other hand placed a scoop of ice cream into her slightly opened lips.
“If you don’t eat soon, it’ll melt… or is it…” Tillysha smiled.
Suddenly, a subtle aroma of mango drifted to Aistride, who realized a tempting spoonful of mango ice cream was right before her nose.
“Taste mine?” Tillysha licked her lips, seemingly removing the ice cream remnant, and the phrase reached Aistride’s ears with an unintended implication.
Whether it was Aistride’s illusion or not, the crystal-clear ice cream appeared unusually tempting, like its glistening liquid wasn’t merely melting fruit but…
Aistride diverted her eyes to Tillysha’s lips.
“Unnecessary,” she resisted, maintaining her expressionless facade as she started eating her own ice cream. Only she knew how fast her heart had raced just then.
A devil seemed to whisper in her ear, urging her to accept Tillysha’s offer.
But she rejected the temptation.
She had a premonition that if she accepted, she might never turn back and things would get strange…
The golden-haired elf before her was a mire, the more she struggled, the deeper she sank. Reason told her to keep a distance from Tillysha, but reason isn’t everything, whether for elves or humans.
Elves, especially, possessed absolute reason but could also be purely emotional.
This felt like an irresistible impulse, like a flood breaching a rational dam.
Aistride tried her best to keep her eyes down and not meet Tillysha’s gaze.
“Tillysha, have you been avoiding me these past few days?”
“…” Aistride paused, frozen with her ice cream. It was clear to anyone, especially to the observant Tillysha.
Denial was futile, but Aistride didn’t know how to explain to Tillysha, she couldn’t reveal everything, right?
Call her fickle? Or accuse her of indulging in taboo love, that she liked another woman?
How could she say that?
She didn’t have such courage.
If Tillysha found out, what would she think of her? Tillysha was a normal girl, certainly not a bisexual like her…
“Never mind, I’m not forcing you to speak. Even the closest people have secrets they can’t share,” Tillysha continued smoothly, casually tucking a strand of windblown hair behind her ear. “You’re a smart girl, you might be confused, but you’ll follow your inner truth and find the way.”
“Tillysha, I have a question.”
“Hmm? What is it?” It was good that Aistride was opening up.
“Should I follow my inner truth, even if it seems absurd?”
“Absurd? Compared to humans mating and producing offspring, isn’t it somewhat absurd?”
“Not that bad,” Aistride contemplated for a moment.
After all, it’s internal among elves, indeed not as absurd when compared with humans.
“So that’s that,” Tillysha smiled. “Looks like what I taught you in the Secret Realm was wasted. Time passes, and yet you’re still asking such questions.”
“There are too many actions in this world that are misunderstood by the common folk, constrained by morality.”
“While morality is mostly correct for the good of all, sometimes, you need to examine your own conscience and act accordingly, once that’s done, follow your heart.”
Examine your own conscience?
Is this examining your conscience?
Aistride didn’t know.
Liking two people was a behavior of a heartbreaker, but strangely, she had no regrets or guilt; it felt normal to her.
Aistride couldn’t comprehend. The nature of elves was fidelity, loving only one person and not changing it ever—no case of shifting emotions existed.
Why was she the exception, falling for two people?
Was she an anomaly among elves?
This pressure made her pray even more often and longer in the chapel, and even that outlet was becoming insufficient.
Or was there a difference between a husband and a wife? Perhaps her fidelity had its own thoughts and planned a monogamous relationship?
Time passed quickly with Tillysha, and they returned to the dormitory together. But the entire way, Aistride kept a distance from Tillysha, even though internally she yearned to get closer. She had to resist.
Tillysha is Tillysha, and she is she. Even between women, proximity beyond a certain limit wasn’t appropriate.
Besides, she had an important matter to investigate.
Back at the dorm, today as usual, Wenfu cooked lunch. What was new was that she now had a helper.
Tillysha, though not an expert, thanks to elven dexterity, could contribute quite a bit to Wenfu’s cooking.
Aistride, in slippers, sat on the sofa, occasionally adjusting her black thigh-high stockings, glancing toward the entrance as if waiting for someone.
Because Aistride had been out recently, she didn’t have much chance to see him.
As the door opened with a familiar “I’m home,” Aistride silently stood up and approached the entrance.
The divine maidens from their school, being close, all arrived home at a similar time; the male students had a longer distance from the Crown Cup Academy and thus arrived home somewhat later.
Yimi placed her little yellow duck backpack and the yellow hat on the wooden floor, crouched down to change into her little yellow duck slippers.
Yimi had complained many times about the style of her slippers, but she had to endure under the tyranny of a certain woman.
Aistride’s attention, however, was on the person crouched down behind Yimi, changing shoes.
Her gaze shifted from hesitation to confusion and finally to perplexity. She, an elf who was highly sensitive to emotions, found herself unable to muster any interest in the young man who was changing his shoes.
It was as if the filters had changed; all his movements appeared stiff and mechanical, as if in a novel when love fades, all actions lose their once-lovely charm.
Had she really fallen out of love?
Aistride noticed that this Dillin she was facing had very much the same vibe as the Dillin just before the Crown Cup was about to start—like Dillin was no longer Dillin.
Why had this happened?
“Hey, are you alright?” By the time Yimi, now in her childish yellow duck slippers, walked in, she saw Aistride standing there in a daze, and gave her a side glance, wondering what was wrong with this quirky Moon Elf.
To Yimi, who considered herself a four-hundred-year-old elder, everyone else in the house was junior, so the use of polite honorifics was unnecessary.
“I’m fine.” Aistride shook her head to indicate nothing was wrong, but the ever-increasing confusion in her eyes didn’t escape Yimi.
“Tch, every one of these juniors is more troublesome than the last.” Yimi clicked her tongue, seeing Aistride, sitting somewhat dispirited on the sofa and questioning her own existence.
Running around with a giant model every day was already annoying enough, and now there might be a junior with psychological issues at home.
What exhaustion.
