“What the hell’s going on over here?”

His Majesty the King arrived fashionably late, and the moment he stepped into the arena, the pressure from the wind raging at the center hit him so hard he couldn’t even open his eyes. Then he felt the terrifying energy brewing overhead and let out a curse on the spot.

“Your Majesty!” Mimi and Aya hurriedly bowed. Mo, who was used to doing whatever she wanted, hadn’t planned to bow at all, but after Mimi elbowed her, she still ducked her head and saluted.

Aside from that, the king’s arrival didn’t draw much attention. All the guards and Holy Cross Knights had their eyes locked on the final clash between the princess and the Elf girl.

“Are they trying to blow up the arena?” The king’s head was starting to ache.

Court magicians had already rushed over to reinforce the protective barrier, but all they could really do was weaken the wind leaking out. Once those two unleashed their ultimates in midair, even if the knights inside could use Chi to protect themselves from the aftershock, at least half the arena was going to collapse.

“Is there any way to stop this?”

Sweat beaded on the king’s forehead. Rebuilding an arena wasn’t cheap. The New Year’s festival budget was already tight; even if the treasury had money, it shouldn’t be burned like this.

“Please rest easy, Your Majesty. Leave it to me.” Mimi smiled confidently and walked over to the totally confused Aya.

“Mm? What is it, Lady Mimi? Eh, eh-eh? What are you doing? You’re not planning to… Wait a second!”

“One-Moment De—”

“Thunder God’s Ha—”

Up above, the two girls facing off had almost finished charging their ultimates, and screamed the move names at practically the same time. Don’t ask why they’d do something that dumb; that’s just how you get that big-ultimate-clash feeling.

But just as the magic cannon and the slash were about to fire, a black blur tore through the protective barrier and shot between the two, disrupting their casts at the last possible second.

If you had to compare it to something, it was like punching tiny holes into two dams that had just finished filling to the brim. The holes were small, but with all that pressure built up, it was more than enough to trigger a collapse.

So the ultimates, right at critical mass… blew up in their faces.

“Help meeeeeeeeeee!” A certain trembling dragon girl’s scream was instantly swallowed by the tidal wave of energy.

…

Thanks to Lady Mimi, the arena didn’t actually get annihilated. Faced with two powerful but incomplete attacks, the high-grade divine protective barrier around the arena just barely held on.

In the stands, the king silently stared at the giant crater blasted into the arena floor. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“Mimi…”

“Your Majesty, there’s no need for praise. I only did what I should.” Mimi smiled.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean… is the maid girl still alive?” The king’s expression was a little panicked. That pitch-black lump down there did not look reassuring at all.

…

“Ugh… Am I… still alive? I feel like I kinda saw an Angel big sis just now…”

Groaning quietly, Aya slowly opened her eyes. Her vision still wasn’t clear; a blurry figure hovered over her, looking down with obvious concern.

“Mom, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Chirp?” The moment she heard that voice, Aya shook her head hard, snapping fully awake.

Sure enough, it was this little brat. No wonder my legs feel so heavy.

“Oh? You’re awake?” Mimi, arms folded, leaned against the wall off to the side, staring at Aya. “Tch. So you survived, huh?”

“I heard that ‘tch’ loud and clear! And that disappointed face… You were totally planning to kill me just now, weren’t you!” Aya angrily set Chirp aside and pointed right at Mimi.

“…” Even with a finger in her face, Mimi didn’t show the slightest hint of panic. “So what do you want to do about it?”

“What do I want?” Aya was in a foul mood. “First you’re going to apologize properly, then you’re going to compensate me! Starting with… with…”

“With what?” The corner of Mimi’s mouth curled up slightly.

The head maid had gone red-eye mode. Her hair was starting to float, and black, hellish aura was swirling around her.

“With… with… I-I’m sorry, Lady Mimi, I was wrong. Being thrown by you is my greatest honor. Please feel free to use me however you like from now on.”

“Mom’s so spineless.” Chirp propped herself up on both hands on the bed and tilted her head at Aya.

You don’t get it. If I don’t cave now, I’m gonna die right here. Aya silently retorted in her heart as she shuffled step by step toward the door. “Lady Mimi, please get some rest. I’m all dirty, so I’ll, uh, go wash up first…”

She slammed the door shut with a bang and bolted.

…

By then, someone else had already claimed the princess’s bathroom.

“Here.” Tiran tossed her clothes into a basket, then casually flung a bath towel at Coco, who was still undressing.

“Th-thanks.” The steam painted a faint blush over the Elf girl’s fair cheeks. Now that the fight was over, Coco seemed to have reverted in an instant to the shy, adorable girl she’d been at the start.

“Phew. Being all sticky is a little gross, but it’s been a long time since I got to fight that hard.” After rinsing off the sweat and dust, Tiran gathered up her long silver hair and twisted it into a bun, wrapped herself in a towel, and padded barefoot to the edge of the bath. She tested the water lightly with her toes, then sank in.

“Um, c-can I sit next to you?”

Coco had taken her clothes off too and wrapped herself in a towel. She walked over to Tiran’s side and asked, a little hesitant.

“Of course.” Tiran shifted aside to make room.

“Thank you.” The Elf girl sat down with a red face, her cheeks flushing even deeper.

The atmosphere suddenly turned mysteriously awkward. The two of them sat soaking in silence, and the only sound in the room was water gurgling into the bath.

“Hey, why’re you so shy? Don’t tell me you’ve never taken a bath with anyone else before?” Tiran couldn’t take it anymore. She scooped up a double handful of water and poured it over Coco’s head, drenching the girl’s soft gold hair.

“Mnya?!” Caught off guard, Coco let out a cute little cry and shook her head hard like a startled animal, spraying droplets everywhere. She glared up, half shocked, half angry. “What are you doing!”

“Sorry, sorry. It was just weird seeing you so quiet.” Tiran stuck her tongue out. “Anyway, what are you doing in Milanía? The Elf Kingdom’s pretty far from here, isn’t it?”

“Because it’s such a rare chance to see Master Lengshang in person.” Coco lowered her head, sounding a little let down. “But before I could go see her, I got…”

Dragged into a duel by Tiran.

“Yeah, my bad. That one’s on me.” Tiran’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “Oh, right! The trade fair lasts three days. Why don’t we go together tonight?”

“Eh? Really?”

…

In the shower next door, Aya stripped off what was left of her knight uniform—blown to literal rags—and stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself for a moment.

She was black from head to toe… like a miner who’d just crawled out of a coal pit. Thankfully, her Qi Scales had taken the brunt of the damage and she wasn’t actually hurt. Aya pulled a crooked grin. That was way too close. Next time there’s a duel like that, I’m staying far, far away. Otherwise I’m just going to keep getting caught in the crossfire in weird ways.

It took a lot of scrubbing before she finally managed to get herself clean. Exhausted, she slumped down on a little wooden stool.

“My whole body’s sore… Huh, a bath?” She looked up. A bright sign was hanging on the wall.

Soaking in hot water sounded like a pretty good way to deal with muscle aches.

…

“I still think Christie in Master Lengshang’s ‘First Snow’ is the best. That icy queen vibe is absolutely perfect.”

“Mmm, well, if I had to pick, my favorite’s still Lady Flash.”

“Yeah, I can tell. You even got Aya to wear Lady Flash’s outfit.”

Before they knew it, the two girls had warmed up to each other. Once they realized they were fellow fans, the mood got even more animated.

“But I don’t think Miss Aya managed a perfect cosplay,” Coco said after thinking for a bit.

“Why not? I had Mimi custom-make the costume and props down to every detail. And Aya’s height and everything are super close…”

“It’s the figure!” Coco nodded earnestly and cupped her hands under her own chest in a lifting gesture. “Boobs, boobs. Even if Lady Flash only ranks as average, having nothing at all is going way too far, don’t you think? Everything else was flawless. It’s just that one flaw…”

“Guh.” Tiran’s expression froze. Her eyes were drawn straight to the swell of Coco’s chest, especially after Coco lifted it like that. The cleavage squeezed out above the towel was impossible to ignore.

Then she looked down at herself. Sitting like this, she could see her thighs at a glance.

Why does this feel like losing?

“So yeah, if she doesn’t have a chest, we really shouldn’t have Miss Aya cosplay that role again. When everything else is perfect, a single shortcoming just stands out even more…”

Tiran stared at Coco, who was still rambling on, and ground her teeth. In terms of looks, the two of them were on the same level, each with their own strengths. But in terms of figure… Because Elves had finer builds to begin with, Coco was actually shorter than her, maybe around one sixty-three. But that chest—if it wasn’t a D, it was at least a C, right?!

Then there was her. A perfectly flat sea-blue plate. Already seventeen and still no growth at all. Like an elementary school kid. That was just despair.

“Uuugh…”

“If I were in charge of styling Miss Aya, I’d… Eh? T-Tiran, why are you tugging on my towel?”

Coco’s towel slipped lower, then floated away on the surface of the water. Freed from its bindings, her chest bounced out like two big white rabbits.

“Kya!” The Elf girl yelped and instinctively wrapped her arms over her chest, but at some point Tiran’s hand had already slid down to her thigh.

So soft. So this is an Elf’s body? Ughhh, I’m so jealous. Especially that chest—how is that fair?

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

“E-eh? What are you—hey, d-don’t squeeze my chest… mmnya!”

Coco’s protests only egged Tiran on. A mean urge to bully her got triggered, and Tiran started roaming her hands all over the Elf girl’s body.

“Why? Why don’t I have a chest like this? It was like this before, and it’s still like this now!” Tiran growled through gritted teeth.

“W-wait, no, don’t—d-don’t go lower…” Feeling Tiran’s hand slowly sliding toward that secret garden between her legs, Coco’s body went rigid and her eyes squeezed shut, like a little lamb cornered by a big bad wolf.

“What a cute reaction.” Tiran smirked and pecked the side of Coco’s pale, pink-tinted neck. The heat on her lips was almost too much. Mmm… I’ll just go ahead and take this adorable girl’s first time.

“No, not there! I-I’m getting weird…!” She clearly wanted to pull away, but her whole body tingled and went weak.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Miss Tiran, p-please stop! We’re both girls…”

“Exactly. Because we’re both girls, it’s fine.” Tiran stepped in and pulled Coco into her arms. Their smooth skin slid together, and she blew lightly on the Elf girl’s ear, whispering, “Besides, we’re in the water. Even if we… no one will be able to tell.”

“B-but… ah, mmm…” Coco’s eyes were already spiraling.

“Hehe, already like this? Your body’s really sensitive. Just let it take over~”

“H-help…” Before Coco could even finish the word, she was completely gone, slumped weakly against the edge of the bath, reduced to short, breathy gasps and soft moans.

Right then…

“Oh? Someone’s in the bath?”

Aya raised a hand to her brow in a lookout pose, but the steam was too thick; she couldn’t see who was in the tub. And what was with that? She’d already heard some pretty weird sounds from outside the door.

But in the very next second, her vision went out like someone had pulled the plug.

Huh?