Miss Yumo's mornings were always busy.
After visiting the Marchioness and Marquis Xiumu-Duke, she heard that the heroine had started breakfast and immediately scampered toward one of the temporary wooden cabins.
Although Mengxi's injuries were even more severe than when she had been inside Garos Fortress, after receiving Yumo's mana replenishment, she hadn't fallen into another prolonged coma like before. Instead, she regained consciousness quite quickly.
Under normal circumstances,
the moment Mengxi woke up, she would definitely drag Yumo over to use as a body pillow.
However, the doctors insisted that Mengxi needed complete rest, forbidding her from treating Yumo as a body pillow for the time being. Although Miss Mengxi was thoroughly unhappy about it, she ultimately couldn't argue with the physicians and reluctantly gave in, only casting slightly resentful looks at Miss Yumo.
Temporarily relieved of her "body pillow" duties, Miss Yumo had, for the past few days, finally been able to enjoy peaceful nights of sleep.
After all, ever since that spring dream, staying in Mengxi's embrace had always given her an indescribably strange feeling...
However,
after actually sleeping peacefully for several nights under the care of the maid Duo'er, Yumo unexpectedly began to feel an inexplicable sense of loss.
'...This feels so unfamiliar...'
What a strange feeling...
Miss Yumo couldn't help complaining inwardly.
Afterward, she ran toward Mengxi's room with the speed expected of a little girl.
According to Mengxi herself, the girl was rather shy around strangers. Every morning she woke up surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and with her strength still not recovered, she felt quite uneasy. She hoped someone familiar could spend more time with her...
So Yumo had agreed to visit her every morning.
Though, to be honest, Yumo didn't really believe Mengxi would feel anxious over something like that...
Of course, while visiting, she could also conveniently observe Mengxi's physical condition.
Previously, to suppress the backlash from her divine power, Yumo had replenished Mengxi's mana once.
But honestly...
because Mengxi's finger movements had been **far too adorable, Yumo had accidentally forgotten to pull her finger away, causing Mengxi to absorb far too much Shadow of Silence Power—far beyond the amount necessary to restore her soul.
Lately, that had been making Yumo rather uneasy.
She had no idea whether such an excessive amount would have any adverse effects on Mengxi.
After all, under normal circumstances, another Mid Sixth-Tier individual exposed to that much Shadow of Silence Power would probably have already transformed into an Abyss Demon...
...
Pushing open Mengxi's door, Miss Yumo cautiously poked her little head inside and looked toward the silver-haired girl quietly eating porridge while sitting on the bed.
At that moment,
Mengxi was dressed in a white patient's gown.
Her beautiful silver hair had been elegantly tied behind her head.
She remained just as gorgeous, just as radiant as ever.
Yet the deathly pale complexion and obvious weakness on her face added a melancholy sort of beauty to the picture.
Putting on her adorable little-girl voice, Yumo slowly spoke.
"Big Sister Mengxi, may I come in?"
The instant she saw the little girl standing in the doorway, the trace of coldness on Mengxi's face vanished completely.
In its place bloomed a sweet smile warm enough to melt anyone's heart.
"Come! Xiaomo, hurry over!"
"Mhm!"
Answering brightly, Yumo trotted over on her tiny little legs like a child and arrived beside Mengxi's bed.
"Big Sister Mengxi, did you sleep well last night?"
However,
before Mengxi even answered, she skillfully grabbed Yumo's little hand, pulled her onto the bed, wrapped her in a hug, and rested her chin atop the pink-haired girl's tiny head.
Her two soft mounds directly pressed against Yumo's neck, causing Miss Yumo's little face to flush slightly.
"As expected, waking up and hugging Xiaomo first thing in the morning feels the best~"
"Big Sister..."
Yumo puffed out her cheeks helplessly.
She had long since grown accustomed to Mengxi's fondness for hugging her.
After all, the little girl she was pretending to be was just that soft and adorable.
Still...
for some reason, after this battle, Mengxi's hugs had become noticeably more intimate.
Before, she merely held her.
Now she seemed to kiss Yumo's cheeks at every opportunity.
'I don't remember raising her affection lately...'
Miss Yumo frowned slightly with her adorable little brows.
The nearby maids and nurses also seemed completely accustomed to the sight.
Without saying a word, they quietly packed up their things and left the cabin.
Watching everyone leave one after another, however, Miss Yumo wore a faintly displeased expression.
Then she slowly asked,
"Big Sister Mengxi, haven't those people from the Asumos Church returned yet?"
Hearing that,
Mengxi smiled somewhat helplessly.
"No. We can't even contact them."
A trace of confusion unconsciously entered the silver-haired girl's voice.
Although those Braves had clearly been sent by the Archbishop to monitor her and restrict her freedom, which irritated her greatly, they were still nominally her companions and also important fighting forces within the Church.
For them to suddenly disappear without a trace truly puzzled her.
At first, she had suspected they might have died while fighting the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church.
But after tallying the casualties over the past few days,
they hadn't found Kabanei or the others' bodies at all.
Meanwhile, the residents of Wind Facing City had also confirmed that no members of the Asumos Church had participated in any of the battles throughout the city.
"Who knows where they disappeared to..."
"I see..."
Yumo murmured softly.
An almost imperceptible trace of displeasure flashed through her sapphire-blue eyes.
Looks like...
my heroine's teammates are kind of unreliable...
Originally, when the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church attacked, Yumo had been counting on those two Braves to help relieve some of the pressure.
If they had assisted the heroine sooner, perhaps Welt-Sislov could have been defeated before Yuan'er arrived.
That probably would have counted as completing an epic-level objective.
But instead?
Those so-called Braves had simply vanished for no reason.
In the end,
I still had to do everything myself.
Seriously...
they're way too unreliable!
Besides, weren't they staying perfectly fine in Wind Facing City before?
Why did they suddenly abandon the Child of Destiny and disappear?
How strange.
The more Yumo thought about it, the more confused she became.
At the same time, fully understanding how important reliable teammates were, Miss Yumo rested a hand against her chin and sank into brief contemplation, wondering whether she should have the Black Rose Family send a few dependable people to join the heroine as her new companions...
However,
while she was thinking,
Mengxi's gentle voice sounded beside her ear once again.
"Forget it, Xiaomo. Those Braves can go die wherever they want. Let's not [N O V E L I G H T] worry about them anymore. Honestly, with them gone, I feel much more relaxed~"
As she spoke, Mengxi gently pinched Yumo's soft, delicate cheeks.
"Mhm, let's not talk about them."
"Oh, right, Xiaomo."
"Hm? What is it, Big Sister?"
"I heard from the maids that you even cooked something specially for the Marchioness?"
"Ah? Ah, y-yes."
Yumo nodded slightly, one eyebrow unconsciously lifting.
Why bring that up all of a sudden?
She had indeed cooked Avnora a bowl of nourishing porridge.
The real reason she'd done so was simply so she could secretly add a little Natural Tears into it under perfectly legitimate circumstances, helping the Marchioness recover more quickly.
How had such a trivial matter reached Mengxi's ears?
Apparently noticing Yumo's confusion, Mengxi chuckled.
"Oh wow, so it's true. No wonder all the maids kept praising Xiaomo for being such a thoughtful girl."
"O-Oh, I see."
"Are you good at cooking, Xiaomo?"
"I... I know a little."
"Then could you cook something for your big sister too? Lately it's been nothing but plain porridge every single day. I'm getting tired of it."
Mengxi pouted as she complained, then looked expectantly at the pink-haired girl in her arms.
"I want meat. Xiaomo, could you make something for me? I've really been wanting to try your cooking~"
"Um..."
Faced with Mengxi's hopeful gaze, Yumo couldn't bear to refuse.
Cooking wasn't difficult anyway.
"Then... what kind of meat dish would you like? If it's something I know how to make, I'll do my best."
"Hmm..."
Mengxi looked thoughtfully toward the ceiling.
"Then... Emerald Firefish Cakes, Shabeton Chicken... Oh, right! It'd be even better if there were roasted Camel Dragon meat!"
"Oh, that's not difficult at all. They're pretty simple to make. I'll go prepare the ingredients, and by noon I should..."
After briefly thinking through the recipes, Yumo answered honestly.
However,
the next moment, Miss Yumo's heart skipped a beat.
Wait?
Haven't I made all of those dishes before... back at the little cabin?
What a coincidence?!
And then,
in an instant,
Yumo abruptly stopped speaking.
At that moment, she suddenly realized a very serious problem.
Before she could say anything,
Miss Mengxi leaned close to her ear with a teasing smile.
"Prepare the ingredients? Emerald Firefish Cakes and Shabeton Chicken aren't a problem—they're ordinary ingredients. But Camel Dragons? In the northern region, those are magical beasts that only live in the Great Winter Forest. Wind Facing City doesn't sell them. So... Xiaomo, where exactly are you planning to get one?"
"Ah... um..."
Damn it!
I forgot I'm supposed to be a little girl!
There's no way a little girl could possibly obtain those ingredients!
Think of something! Hurry!
Oh, right.
A flash of inspiration struck Yumo.
"Um... as for the Camel Dragon... I-I heard from the people of the Black Rose Family that they have some stored away. I was planning... to buy some from them."
"Oh~~ Is that so~~"
Miss Mengxi smiled with unmistakable amusement.
"The Black Rose Family? I heard they're rather exclusive. For them to even tell you what ingredients they have is quite unusual. Looks like, Xiaomo, you're on rather good terms with them too?"
"I... I guess so..."
Yumo awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
"After all... they rescued me before, and I stayed with them for a while... hehe..."
"I see~"
Comments