Staring at the almost identical snow outside made Edlyn queasy; she ducked back into the car, flopping onto her seat with storm-cloud impatience.

Cold wind pried the window open like a sly finger.

Edlyn stared at the window for a long beat, like watching frost creep across glass.

"It's a bit cold, can you… move a little closer." She bit down on her teeth, shot me a side-eye, then sidled closer like a cat inching toward a stove.

Is this tsundere? Heh heh heh.

I swallowed my laugh, drew her into my arms, set her between my legs, wrapped her from behind like a bear around a small fire.

Her brows pinched like two thin blades. "Who said you could hold me?"

"You said you were cold," I smiled, my voice a warm breath in winter.

"Who knows why I got in the same car as you." She didn’t fight; she hid her mouth in her scarf, muttering like a kettle under a lid.

I crooked my mouth; wasn’t it you who wanted proper spell practice and jumped into my car? How is this my fault?

I tightened my hold a little to show my righteous anger, like cinching a belt against the wind.

Eh, Ed-chan smells so good—I'm tempted to lick...

Ahem, I'm not into lolis, okay—hey, you over there, don't call the cops; let me explain.

"Mm, Hero, I'm not feeling well." Edlyn looked up, a faintly wounded look pooling in her eyes like rain on ink.

I dropped the joke; nerves pinned me like needles. "What is it? Did the earlier ignition burn you anywhere?"

She arched a brow, a small falcon. "You're still mocking me?"

I grabbed her rising hand, catching it like a gust. "Who's mocking you? Quit messing around. Tell me straight—where does it hurt?"

"... My stomach." She pressed her lower belly, face knotted like tangled thread, and looked at me.

I frowned. I shut the door tight, then summoned a small flame to drift inside the car like a firefly.

I tugged her clothes a little, baring the pale plane of a girl's belly, snow-white under the dim glow.

Her cheeks flushed like peach petals. "Try anything weird and I'll kill you," she warned.

I chuckled and tapped her forehead, a small drumbeat. "What on earth lives in that head, dead girl?"

She pouted and let the complaint sink, lips hiding like a bird under a wing.

I brushed the tear mole at her eye like touching a star. "You still don't trust me?"

She stayed quiet, so I lowered my gaze to her belly, a small field of snow under my hand.

I whispered a spell; white light gathered around my palm like a soft pearl.

I set my hand over her abdomen, gentle as a winter sun.

Warm, pliant comfort filled my palm, a dangerous sweetness that's hard to release.

Edlyn shivered, a tiny tremor like a reed in wind.

Slow as I am, dull as I can be, she's still a girl. I thought that, smiled, and watched the tense creature in my arms like a skittish fawn.

Holy light seeped through her skin like rain into soil.

I closed my eyes and listened, then...

"Kid, how old are you?"

I tore my hand from that comfort, fixed her clothes like closing shutters, and looked at her flatly.

"Sixteen. Why?" She looked puzzled, confusion drifting like snow; how did a bellyache tie to age?

"Sixteen already, and you don't even know when your period comes?" I rolled my eyes, my urge to cough blood kicked like a mule.

"Period? What's that? I don't have any Aunt Flo."

I mean—menstruation.

"Huh? What's menstruation?"

I grit my teeth. Was she joking? She stared at me with innocent eyes, clear as spring water.

I leaned out the window and shouted to the car ahead, my voice a horn in fog. "Liqianyu, come give me a hand!"

"Coming!"

A black-haired ponytail girl dropped from the sky like a swift, landing steady on my roof.

I raised a brow. "Come inside so we can talk."

The three of us sat face to face like stones around a brazier.

I told Liqianyu, "Miss Li, please explain to my silly girl what menstruation is and the basics."

I rubbed my brow and stepped out to let the wind comb my head.

After a while, Liqianyu came out, face grave as winter slate. "Hey, Eli, are you abusing her?"

I blinked like an owl in daylight. "Huh? I've fed her well all year, treated her like royalty. How's that abuse?"

She frowned, lines gathering like storm ripples. "Right. Otherwise it might've been even later."

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Ed-chan—this is her first time."

"... No way."

"Mm. Her body's odd—it devours a lot of energy, leaving her extremely weak. That's what caused it," Liqianyu said.

She sprang onto the roof again, wary like a guard hawk.

I narrowed my eyes, thoughts pooling like ink. What's strange about Edlyn's body?

By my senses, there's only that eerie, powerful Demon Race soul coiled inside her.

Looks like I really need to find time to solve that, like sharpening a blade before the storm.