When I came to, three sunrises had already slipped past like water under a bridge.

Egisia Academy was a hive in overdrive, everyone scattering like startled sparrows. Three days ago, Dark Demon stirred the nest, and the aftermath was a storm that wouldn’t clear.

Dark Demon was clean about it—made a mess, then vanished like smoke on the wind. But the academy couldn’t just clap the dust off and call it a day. Our students were heiresses and princesses from across the Eastern Moon Continent, and quite a few from other lands and races. With casualties stacked like fallen leaves, how could we be careless?

Different factions cried in different tones, but one vow was shared like iron: Dark Demon would pay. Families and nations of the dead declared it like thunder—if they saw any member or branch of Dark Demon again, they would erase them to the last shadow.

Well, none of that was my problem, and the Mizumi Clan hadn’t shown much reaction. The river flowed on without me.

This day.

“Ugh, my head’s heavy.” I rubbed my temples, sitting up like a bear surfacing from winter sleep, and stared at the ceiling, mind fogged like dawn mist.

“Oh? Servant, you’re awake?” Xinuo’s voice slid in from the side, naturally as the sun warming a window. I turned; no surprise—she sat by my bed with a book, calm as a lake.

“Mm…” I nodded, trying to gather the scattered reeds of my thoughts.

After a few quiet minutes, the fog lifted.

“Right—Xiao Nuo, how’s Hill?!” The memory of Hill getting hurt for my sake pricked me like ice, and I asked Xinuo, heart tightening.

“Hill? She’s sleeping.” Xinuo didn’t lift her gaze; she just pointed at the bed opposite, fingertip light as snow.

“Got it.” I hopped off the bed. I didn’t even bother with shoes, crossing the room like a gust.

“…”

Hill lay there, peaceful as a winter pond under moonlight. But her breath was faint, a candle’s flame starving in a draft, as if she might never wake.

“Xiao—”

I was about to ask Xinuo what was going on when the door swung open with a soft rush.

“Ah, big brother! You’re awake! That’s great!” My little sister dashed in like a sparrow to grain and threw herself into my arms.

“Sumeragi, how is it? Anything uncomfortable?” Qianji Sister arrived almost by teleport, appearing at my back like a whisper, then hugged me tight. Her hands were fair and pretty, skimming over me like warm silk, checking for hurts.

“Yare yare, brother, you’re still as doted on as ever.” Only Elyar entered with a helpless look, like a willow bending to a persistent wind.

“Ah, Yumigawa-kun, you’re awake.”

“That’s wonderful, Yumigawa-kun.”

“Yeah, Miss Xinuo said you’d be fine, but we were worried.”

“Your Excellency Yumigawa Sumeragi, your body’s alright now?”

Eastern Moon Aixue, Faya, Paluna, and Yuyi Mengliu stepped in one after another, their concern drifting around me like warm lanterns.

“Mm. Thank you for worrying.” My mind, though, was nailed to Hill. I finished the line and looked to Xinuo. “Xiao Nuo, what’s with Hill? Didn’t you heal her?”

“No, I haven’t treated Hill.” Xinuo set down her book and walked over like a breeze crossing still water. She reached out and pinched my cheek, voice as placid as ever. “Hill was hurt because of you, Servant. So you should be the one to heal her. I only eased her into painless sleep. She won’t come to harm.”

“I’m the one to heal her… but I don’t know medicine! And Hill’s injuries—ordinary medicine or healing magic won’t do a thing, right?” I shook my head, wearing the helpless look of a man trying to catch clouds.

“That’s true. But there’s a certain medicine that can restore Hill in an instant. Servant, you only need to find it.”

“A medicine? One that heals in a heartbeat…” I turned her words over, and the answer surfaced like a pearl. “Ice Dream Lotus?!”

Only a heaven-and-earth treasure at that level—Ice Dream Lotus—could mend Hill’s wounds in an instant.

“Ice Dream Lotus, hmm?” Qianji Sister, still hugging me, chimed in from behind. “The Mizumi Clan does have some in storage. Why don’t—”

Xinuo cut her off with a glance, a blade of calm parting the line. “No. If the Mizumi Clan solves this, then Hill’s suffering is wasted.”

“But I heard Ice Dream Lotus is rare outside the Central Continent. Sending big brother to find it is too hard, no?” My sister looked at Xinuo, uncertain as a cub at a riverbank. Even on the Central Continent, such treasures were scarce; how much more on other lands?

“Don’t worry, little sister. Since I’m saying this, I know where to find Ice Dream Lotus.” Xinuo’s gaze told her not to fret, steady as sunrise. “Ice Dream Lotus grows only in cruel cold, where winter bites like iron. The coldest place in this world is on the Northern Abyss Continent—the Extreme Cold Hell. Within that, there’s a Nine Cold Labyrinth. There will be Ice Dream Lotus there.”

“Nine Cold Labyrinth? I’ve heard some tales.” Elyar picked up the thread as Xinuo let it fall. “They say a being of overwhelming power created it. If you pass the Nine Cold Labyrinth, you can obtain anything you want—or have any wish granted.”

“Correct.” Xinuo tipped her head in agreement, then turned to me with a calm that cut like clean ice. “So, Servant, you will go challenge the Nine Cold Labyrinth. Go alone. Bring back an Ice Dream Lotus to heal Hill.”

“Uh… Elyar, is that labyrinth dangerous?” The question crept out, a cold finger down my spine.

“If you know when to advance and when to retreat, it’s fine.” Elyar’s tone was level, like a forest in shade. “If you insist on clearing all nine layers, it’s dangerous. I’ve never heard of anyone who finished it and lived.”

“Yikes.” Coming from Elyar, the Elf King, that meant the place was a den of blades—and the sharpest kind. Just imagining going there for the lotus made my skin tighten like stretched drumhead.

“Xiao Nuo, is there any other way?”

“No, Servant. You have no other choice.” Xinuo’s gaze held, a winter moon refusing to waver. “But you can rest easy. I can guarantee you won’t face any danger to your life.”

“Why?”

“Because you are Xinuo’s Servant. With that identity, who under heaven and earth dares kill you?”

“…Alright.” Looked like being Xinuo’s Servant outclassed being the Mizumi Clan’s young heir. Titles were armor in this world, and hers fit like plate.

“Also—Servant, you’ve slept for three days. Go bathe, change, and get some food. This time, I permit you to wear men’s clothes.”

“…Yes.” I didn’t know why, but my bones told me to obey. Instinct was a bell in my chest.

An hour later…

I stood beside Xinuo, refreshed like a stream after rain. I’d switched back to men’s clothes, and the sight made Qianji Sister and Eastern Moon Aixue blink in surprise like birds at a new sun.

“Alright, Servant. I’ll send you to the Extreme Cold Hell now.” Xinuo spoke, and with a casual wave, split open a seam in space like silk tearing.

“Once you arrive, change Shattered Light back into sword form. Then shout, ‘FrostyLily Dream, you pervert, get this lady out here, now!’ Someone will come take you to the Nine Cold Labyrinth.”

“Ehhh? Why? And Xiao Nuo, you actually called yourself ‘this lady’—”

“Less nonsense. In you go.” Her foot touched air, swift as a willow switch.

“—Aaaaah! Can’t I at least brace myself first?!” My protest hadn’t even finished when Xinuo kicked me through the rift.

…