Chapter 71
Although Xiarette said so, the anxiety she couldn’t hide when she slightly shifted her gaze still completely betrayed her true feelings.
How could she not be anxious?
Sensing that Sheffy was getting farther and farther from her position... no matter how hard she tried to chase, she couldn’t catch up. The range of magic power was even about to leave the Kingdom of Aurus and return to the Demon Domain.
Compared to Xiarette, Sylatrella was much more straightforward.
The Little Holy Sword, with tearful eyes, hugged the trophy in her arms, trembling as she pushed it in front of Sheffy, afraid that Lady Sheffy wouldn’t see it, so she directly pushed the trophy against Sheffy’s cheek.
"Ugh...! Lady Sheffy... I won the trophy for you, look, look...! Before I could show it to you, you suddenly ran away far away...! Ugh... I thought you didn’t want me anymore... Here, your... trophy."
Sheffy reached out and took the trophy.
Only then did Sylatrella reveal a relieved smile.
This poor little girl, abandoned by her family a thousand years ago, was really overly sensitive to the concept of "leaving".
Looking at the trophy in her hand, Sheffy was also quite touched.
While feeling touched, she also had a strong urge to smack the back of Sylatrella’s head!
Trophy?
You silly Little Holy Sword! A trophy? Do you know my heart was not on the trophy, but on that bag of gold coins!
Damn it, just one sentence from Belith and you ignored the gold coins and handed them over like that. Such a wasteful act, I have to properly lecture you about this!
However... speaking of which, it’s something to be discussed after going back.
Your anxiety, your urgency, instead made me feel much more at ease...
The clear spring flowed gently as always, and the night sky was softly warm and eternally unchanging.
Coincidentally, Xiarette had bent down to check on Sheffy's condition.
So Sheffy simply took a step forward.
One hand wrapped around Xiarette’s shoulder.
The other hand rested on Sylatrella’s shoulder.
Then, sticking her head between the two of them, Sheffy rested her chin and wore an extremely content smile.
"Sheffy?!"
"Lady Sheffy... hugged me!!"
Hmm, just warming up, I happen to feel a bit cold right now\~
Sheffy tilted her head.
Without any warning, she pecked Xiarette’s cheek lightly.
Xiarette instantly trembled all over, letting out a strange single sound from her throat, but did not move away from Sheffy's small arm range.
"Sheffy, you are...?"
"Nothing\~ Just telling you not to worry. There’s good food, good drinks, and a big soft bed in the Royal Capital. I’m not going anywhere."
"Mm... I... I’m relieved."
Relieved as she was... but Sheffy, at least give a heads-up before kissing on the cheek! Where did you learn such a bad habit?!
To be honest, this was just learned from her little sister a moment ago.
She had fully grasped the essence, carrying on the tradition.
Sylatrella looked at that kiss just now with great envy. The Little Holy Sword wanted to earn that privilege too!
"Lady Sheffy! I want a kiss too!"
"Huh? No."
"Ugh! Just one... just one kiss will do!"
"Say another word and I’ll beat you up."
"You can beat me too! Go ahead and beat me!!"
Look how excited you are!
Sheffy let go of the two, turned around, and gazed at the starry sky.
Belith had already completely vanished from sight.
Xiarette stood up and came to Sheffy’s side, gently placing her slender, graceful hand on Sheffy’s shoulder.
Together, they looked up at the same stars.
"You don’t have to bear everything alone... Sheffy, last time you said, if you’re in the mood, you’d tell me your story with Belith. I wonder if... you’re in the mood tonight?"
"To be honest, I’m in a decent mood tonight\~ But right now, we have a more important matter."
"What is it?"
"Going home to eat strawberry donuts. It’s midnight snack time!"
"Pfft... you’re something else. Don’t eat too much."
"That depends on the situation!"
On the way home, Sheffy paused and looked up at the sky once more.
Belith... thank you for the gold coins, you know? Your big sister’s life is much wealthier now.
And also, your fishing skills still haven’t quite hit the mark. You’re far from mastering it\~
Inside the pouch of gold coins Belith had given to Sheffy — there was a small fish, still wriggling.
Belith, who used to be so resistant to fishing.
It seemed that recently, she had quietly sat by the lakeside, waiting for those thrilling ripples on the water.
71. The Tale (six thousand characters)
The twin moons were both full on this warm night, dotted with playful fireflies.
Wearing a smooth, delicate blue and white nightgown, Sheffy lay flat on the big soft bed, happily swinging her little feet from time to time, tapping her toes together playfully and energetically, showing no signs of sleepiness.
Every so often, she turned over to excitedly talk to Xiarette beside her. Even though it was already past midnight, this was who-knows-how-many times Sheffy had happily repeated herself.
"Hehe... Xiarette, Xiarette! I really think the arena is quite nice now. You can eat, you can watch matches, and that old King actually gave out entrance tickets as a reward — for once, he made a correct decision! It’s really great!"
"Alright, alright\~ As long as my Princess Sheffy is happy, hmm... next time, big sister will take you again. This event happens every week."
"Sure! Hopefully next time the Fire Cat will bring fish\~ I’m curious how big the fish from the Fire Cat Clan’s territory are."
"The Fire Cat Clan doesn’t necessarily join every time... I can’t say for sure about that."
This afternoon and evening had been a rare experience for Sheffy.
Well… except for that little episode with Belith at the end of the event. Though mentally exhausting, her private stash got filled again because of it, so it was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
She licked her somewhat uncomfortable lips. The more she licked, the angrier she became.
Belith, you’ve really grown some nerve… treating your own big sister like this? If Father and Mother knew, they’d definitely give you a good slap!
Xiarette didn’t quite understand why Sheffy kept licking her lips tonight, but the connection between them never broke for a moment.
So she also turned over.
The soft, bouncy marshmallows bumped and pressed against Sheffy’s shoulder, making Sheffy’s expression suddenly turn serious and respectful.
"Sheffy, what’s wrong...? Thirsty? I see you keep licking your tongue."
"Not really, just recalling some unpleasant memories. I have this bad habit — whenever I think of bad things, I start licking my lips."
"Mm, is that so...?"
Xiarette propped herself up on the bed with both hands.
Her blonde hair, freshly dried with wind magic after the bath, smelled fragrant and felt soft.
She reached out and swept her treasure-like shining long hair to one side, leaning forward toward Sheffy.
Hmm... Sheffy, you say this is an old habit, right?
In that case... for this disobedient Sheffy, whose little tongue just wouldn’t stay still, this was the right approach.
A light kiss landed.
She planted a gentle kiss right on Sheffy’s lips.
At the same time, Sylatrella, now returned to her sword form and hanging on the wall, emitted a faint golden glow!
Sometimes, she couldn’t help but admire the Hero’s courage!
The kiss was as brief as a dragonfly skimming the surface of water — touching and separating instantly, without lingering.
Even so...
It was enough to make Sheffy’s eyes suddenly widen in shock!
"Another kiss...? Ahem! No, Xiarette, you, you, you... you!"
"‘Another’?" Xiarette found this word rather strange. "Sheffy... your choice of words isn’t quite accurate. I remember after we got home, we haven’t kissed, right?"
"You haven’t! But just now Belith sucked on me! She…! Uh..."
"?!"
"!"
Sorry.
People are like this. When excited, things bottled up inside just spill out naturally.
Xiarette’s expression right now was extraordinarily vivid, a textbook example of human shock.
After the shock, the vinegar jar was completely overturned. There was no saving it.
Xiarette’s eyes wavered as she struggled to speak, staring intently at Sheffy’s unsteady, trembling lips.
"Belith...? No... but Sheffy, isn’t your relationship..."
"Hiss... it’s hard to explain! By all logic, that girl should hate me. Even if she no longer hates me, she should at least evolve into a good little sister who respects her big sister. But just now\...! She actually...! Damn it, I really don’t understand!"
You don’t understand?
What Xiarette was thinking now had nothing to do with why Belith did such a thing.
A woman’s possessiveness was always strong.
Even someone as gentle as Xiarette had principles just as uncompromising as Belith’s.
That was why, when Xiarette asked this question, her voice was extremely soft, so soft that Sheffy could barely hear it.
"Bes... besides... that..."
"Xiarette?"
"Besides the kissing... Belith... she didn’t do anything else to you, did she..."
"Huh?!"
Blockheaded Xiarette might react slowly to big matters, but when it came to emotions, she was surprisingly sharp.
Sheffy wasn’t bad either, but for the current situation, she needed a moment to process it.
The reason was...
At this very moment, this was the first time in two lifetimes that someone had been jealous because of her.
The way Xiarette now puffed up her cheeks and asked so urgently… Sheffy had never seen such an expression before!
A single moment of distraction could decide the outcome of the battle.
Let alone the fact that Sheffy had already been dazed for quite a while.
"Mm?!"
The powerful First Demon Princess was once again pinned onto the bed by the Hero.
This time, her poor lips did not encounter a light dragonfly-like touch, but rather an almost frenzied bombardment of relentless demands.