Faya had been restless lately, her thoughts tangled like ivy, all because of the boy who saved her that day.
It was her first close brush with a man, warmth rising like spring mist; he even slipped off her thigh-high stockings, and she felt no disgust—how strange.
“But, thinking back, that boy was truly cute; like a deer in dawn light. Too bad I didn’t catch his name… Ah! What am I thinking!”
Heat surged like a tide; Faya buried her head under the duvet like a shy rabbit hiding in snow.
“Eh? Faya, what are you doing?”
A girl stepped into Faya’s room like a blossom caught in lamplight.
She wore fresh pajamas, bath steam still clinging like dew; flame-red hair spilled down her back, and her crimson phoenix eyes hooked the gaze like a burning sunset.
“Ah! Aixue, you finished your bath.”
Faya popped from the covers like a startled sparrow; her face stayed pink, like petals in spring rain.
Her name was Eastern Moon Aixue, sole daughter of Eastern Moon Aotian, princess of the Eastern Moon Empire, and Faya’s childhood friend, hand-in-hand since sand and willow days.
Her talent was a rising star; at sixteen she was an SS-ranked Magus, already at the pinnacle, one step from an SSS-ranked Grand Magus.
“Mm. Your new body wash is great; it smells like a flower lake at dusk. By the way, what’s been knotting your brow, Faya?”
Eastern Moon Aixue sat on Faya’s bed, curiosity flickering like fireflies.
“Uh… you saw that?”
Faya’s voice creaked like a rusty hinge, words tripping like stones in a brook.
“Mm.” Eastern Moon Aixue nodded, calm as moonlight on water.
“From where did you start seeing?” Faya still stammered, her gaze drifting like smoke.
“Probably the moment you dove under the quilt like a turtle.”
She grinned, interest bright as a lantern. “C’mon, Faya. Tell me which lucky man stirred your heart like wind in bamboo?”
“Uh, it’s not like that!”
Faya turned away, but her cheeks flared red as a boiled prawn, steam and shame rising like summer heat.
“Look at that blush blooming like cherry fire, and you say no?! Spill it.”
Eastern Moon Aixue pressed on, like a cat with a dangling bell it refuses to leave.
“Uu… fine, I’ll talk. Don’t look so stern like frost on a gate!”
Faya relented and told everything about that day, words flowing like a stream under willows.
“What! Larl did that to you?”
Eastern Moon Aixue leapt up, anger crackling like thunder, then settled like rain easing. “But I heard Larl offended a boy recently and lost an arm. Is that the one?”
“Uh… probably.”
Faya’s voice went soft like mist. That boy rode a giant dragon like a storm cloud; a mere Larl was a twig in the river, even if he was the Kage Family patriarch’s son.
“All right, forget that tiresome Larl; tell me about the boy like you’re sketching starlight.”
Though a princess, Eastern Moon Aixue was still sixteen at heart, curiosity dancing like swallows in spring.
“Uh, didn’t I already tell you the important bits?”
Faya shot her a look, helpless as a leaf in wind.
“I know that! But did the boy really take off your thigh-highs like peeling silk?”
Eastern Moon Aixue sounded shocked, eyebrows lifting like cranes; to unhesitatingly slip off a girl’s stockings—was he pure as snow, or clueless as stone?
“Mm…”
Faya nodded, face burning like coals, then hurried on, words tumbling like rain. “But it’s not what you think! I twisted my ankle, and he was just helping.”
“Sure, sure. Still, that boy really attracts trouble, like lightning to a tall tree.”
“Eh? Why?”
The moment Aixue finished, Faya asked without thinking, worry fluttering like a moth to flame.
“Didn’t expect you to care this much; your eyes shine like stars.”
Eastern Moon Aixue laughed, light as silver bells, then continued, voice smooth as flowing tea. “He arrived in Proudmoon City today, and soon clashed with the Kage Family’s mage corps.”
She laid out what happened, each detail like brushstrokes under lantern glow.
“Uh… that serious?”
“Yeah. I heard the Kage Family and the Dark Magic Guild plan to join hands against him, like wolves under one moon. I don’t know the details.”
She flopped onto the bed and stretched, catlike under warm light, then popped back up, mischief bright as a comet. “By the way! Faya, did you fall for that boy?”
“…”
With that question, Faya dove back under the covers like a fish into a shadowed lake.
“Oh my, oh my—looks like it’s true.”
Seeing Faya’s reaction, Eastern Moon Aixue needed no more ink on the painting.
“Uh, how long will you hide in there? Come out, little turtle!”
After a moment with no movement, Eastern Moon Aixue tugged her out like pulling silk from a loom.
“This is all because you asked such weird things out of nowhere!”
Faya emerged, cheeks still aflame, breath light as feathers.
“All right, all right, I’ll stop, like rain ending at dusk.”
Eastern Moon Aixue sighed, helpless as bamboo bending in wind.
And then—
“Ang!!!”
A dragon’s roar ripped the sky like a blade, echoing past the window like rolling thunder over the sea.
“What happened?!”
Startled, Eastern Moon Aixue and Faya rushed to the window, pushed it open, and looked out into moon-washed night.
“…”
They saw a silver dragon streaking through the heavens like a comet, its scales gleaming like frost, its Dragon Aura pressing down like a mountain storm.
“Looks like a sleepless night.”
A man’s voice rose behind them, low as distant drums.
“Uh, Father, do you know what’s going on?”
They turned to see Faya’s father, current head of the Tira Family—Kainqi Tira—standing like a pine under snow.
“Mm.”
Kainqi walked to the bedside and gazed at the dragon flying high, his tone steady as old stone. “The Kage Family and the Dark Magic Guild are joining against that boy because there’s a dragon at the Holy Peak beside him.”
He sighed, the sound like wind through reeds. “Seems they’ve long prepared and will soon wage war on that Holy Peak dragon. Who will win? Who knows.”
“Go sleep early, both of you. Don’t chase shadows.”
With another sigh, Kainqi turned and left, footsteps fading like waves drawing back.
...
