“Not even a spark of tease, nothing that could ever compare to my Ailuna.”

Seated on a carved throne like a crescent of obsidian, she surveyed the eternal World Tree and the vast Elven Capital, toes poised like a hawk upon a branch. She wore black stockings and a robe of ninefold sheer silk, a coronation of the finest satin, flowing like twilight mist across water.

Through the gauze, the Elven girl’s body showed with ripened grace—no excess, curves honed like a bow, her chest generous as harvest. Wheat-colored hair cascaded, deep-green eyes cut like pine needles in winter, a gaze that swept the horizon and brooked no denial.

She was the Elven Queen, Tisinate.

Yet, someone stood before her like a stone in the river’s path—someone who could resist her current.

Breeze stood expressionless, a still lake under wind, watching the queen. Since Tisinate lost the Cataclysm Chain, she had no way left to bind the World Tree Maiden.

It meant Breeze could leave like a wild bird or stay like a rooted tree, and no one could stop her.

But Breeze would not leave. Her companions were still here, and her heart held them like embers under ash.

“Tisinate, release my companions.”

“Hmph. Rest easy—my interest in you is dust on the road. I just want my Ailuna back.”

“Breeze doesn’t know where Ailuna is.”

“You can stand in for her work, like a shadow filling a gap. Once I find Ailuna, I won’t need you.”

Losing Ailuna had left Tisinate sour and starved, like a winter wolf. She recalled how she trained the pink-haired girl, hunger gnawing like cold rain.

“You’ve lost her consent,” Breeze said, voice flat as frost. “She chose to walk away like a leaf on her own wind.”

“What do you understand?” Tisinate’s voice struck like a stinging nettle. “Ailuna’s just being tsundere. She craves my bullying, craves my domination—this is the pleasure only an Elven Queen can give.”

“But those aren’t memories worth keeping,” Breeze replied, still as night.

…

…

…

At the adventurers’ camp, everything moved with an orderly hum, like ants rebuilding after rain.

After changing into newly issued short skirts, the place turned chirpy as orioles and swallows, lively colors fluttering like spring blossoms.

To outsiders, it might look like noble girls on a holiday, picnicking beneath willow shade; who’d imagine these adventurers lived on tree leaves just two days ago?

Outside, a wall of logs rose like a rough palisade, thin bark against the world. It wouldn’t stop a storm, but it kept out forest bears and wolves, so patrols could rest beneath stars.

Everyone slept easier, treating this place as a seed to grow into home.

Yedie Snow, silver hair bright as moon threads, found Yue Liuyi in secret, and they spoke in hushed tones like water over stones.

“Xiao Yue, I’ve fixed our companions’ locations,” she said, voice light as dandelion fuzz. “They’re split among three places.”

“Really? You found everyone?” Yue Liuyi’s hope fluttered like a sparrow.

“Mm. Breeze is at the Palace of Grace in the Elven Capital. Xiaoyan, Maria, and the Blood Dancer are locked in the Elven prison of the Silent Garden.”

“That sounds like mountains to climb.”

“Mm, it’s tough for now,” Yedie Snow nodded, eyes sharp as a cat’s under lamplight. “But Lingwei and Zaocun are fine—so fine we might not need to rescue them.”

“No need… wait, don’t tell me it’s not a prison but a hotel?”

“Heh, better than a hotel,” she smiled, like dew on petals. “To be precise, Lingwei and Zaocun aren’t imprisoned. They were assigned to Yunlin Academy.”

“Yunlin… Academy?”

“Mm. You might not know this—Yunlin Academy is the largest comprehensive academy in the Elven Kingdom, built near the sacred cherry tree on the outskirts of the capital. Almost every elf studies there, like seeds returning to soil.”

“But why would Lingwei and Zaocun be sent there?”

“They’re still school-age children,” she said, warm as sunlight. “And elves adore small animals. They treat Zaocun and Lingwei far better than ordinary humans.”

“So… that’s compulsory education?” Yue Liuyi’s surprise fizzed like soda.

“You could call it that.”

She had heard that, because of elves’ long lifespans, compulsory education lasts thirty years. Many elves study in scattered springs rather than all at once.

“Wow, they actually went to school,” Yue Liuyi laughed, like wind chimes. “Yesterday I thought Zaocun would be sad from not getting fish.”

“Heh… Xiao Yue, are you jealous?” Yedie Snow teased, eyes curved like crescents. “Don’t worry, we can infiltrate today.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll disguise ourselves as elven students and sneak into Yunlin Academy. Picture it—fun like butterflies escaping a net.”

“What about the camp and Ailuna?”

“We’re just leaving for a few days. Lia will command like a seasoned captain—no problem. Besides, only there can we find how to unlock Ailuna’s fetters.”

“Yunlin Academy, then?”

“Mm. It doubles as an elven research institute, like a grove that studies its own roots.”

“B-but I… I’m worried my disguise won’t hold,” Yue Liuyi murmured, heart fluttering.

“Just be a female student,” Yedie Snow coaxed, gentle as a spring stream. “Same as when we went to school.”

“Uu…”

Yue Liuyi flushed; he’d attended a magic school, but never as—a girl. He pictured tripping again like a newborn foal, becoming the campus airhead.

“Don’t worry, Xiao Yue,” Yedie Snow soothed, hand warm as sunlit bark. “Just walk behind your sister, and you’ll be fine. I prepared the clothes.”

“Eh?”

Under Yue Liuyi’s dazed gaze, the silver-haired girl laid out black over-the-knee socks, a pleated black skirt, a blazer, and a crisp shirt, neat as a tea ceremony.

“Heh, my little Yue,” she smiled, eyes bright as morning dew, “I can’t wait to see you in uniform.”

…

…

Warm sunlight washed the clean bluestone road like honey, while a wide blue sky drifted lazy clouds that gifted moving shade to the earth below.

Under the hollow-carved eaves, yesterday’s dew clung like pearls. Drops fell slow as time, feeding the flowerbeds, while butterflies flitted like musical notes.

A breeze rolled in, carrying blossoms’ fragrance, scattering spring’s blessing over the academy like confetti of petals.

This was Yunlin Academy, a place where hope sprouted and dreams took root.

Uniformed girls sat in circles of three or five, hands linked like garlands, eating bento on the grass. Their laughter rang like silver bells, making nearby boys pause like deer at a stream.

Yue Liuyi never imagined he’d become one of them—another ripple in this school’s pond.

The silver-haired girl held his hand and walked down the path, happy as a kite tugging its string.

Neat uniform, pleated skirt swaying like reeds, black knee-highs and round-toed shoes—at that moment, Yedie Snow looked bright and youthful, a true student under spring light.

“Yunlin, here I come,” she chirped, like a sparrow darting from the hedge.

“Um, LittleSnow…”

“Eh? Xiao Yue, call me Senior Ye here,” she whispered, like secret ink. “And we speak Elven.”

“Uu… Senior Ye…”

Yue Liuyi felt his face heat like steamed buns. The boys’ glances touched him like falling leaves, making him squirm.

Maybe the school atmosphere was too familiar, warping his mind into feeling like he was cross-dressing back in class.

(Get it together. I’m Yue Liuyi. I’m a girl—wait, no, I’m a boy, only temporarily a girl—no, wrong, the transformation expired…)

On the way to Yunlin Academy, he dared try every trick except undoing the change.

Now, even in daylight, he could stay as Yue Liuyi without draining a drop of magic, like a lamp that learned to burn on air.

His body seemed used to sunlight; casting spells in daytime no longer dulled like wetted tinder.

(At this rate…)

He knew something was off with his transformation. The best path would be to try again, to see if he could return to being a boy.

But the blue-haired girl could no longer become Dongfang Chen. He loved Yedie Snow, loved everyone at the Rangers Lodge, loved the new camp rising like a village in spring.

If he force-changed here, he feared everything would scatter like ashes in a gust.

“Uu…”

“Xiao Yue, what’s wrong? Sad?” Yedie Snow asked, soft as moss.

“N-no… just a little sentimental.”

“Then let’s buy things first,” she said, pointing like a willow wand. “See that tall building? It’s the new commercial center after elf–outer world exchange. You can buy Inner Ring goods there.”

“Eh?”

“Like data cables, holo helmets, and LPADs. The Elven Forest has no holo network or 15G towers, so no calls, no net—only charging docks.”

“Charging is enough,” he sighed, relief like rain. “My phone’s been dead forever.”

“Same. Let’s go.”

Hand in hand, they crossed the lawn like two swallows. Birdsong threaded everywhere, and the forest’s sough rose like sea waves in green.

The academy wasn’t like Yue Liuyi imagined. Roads and lawns were clean as a brushed stone, no litter anywhere. Animals didn’t fear people; spotted deer dashed across paths like scattered blossoms, without worry of cars.

Of course—there were no cars in the Elven Forest, only the hush of leaves.

Soon, the two girls reached the commercial center, a modern shell of glass and steel, yet sitting quiet as a lake among trees, not jarring at all.

Because war choked the trade routes, Inner Ring goods ran scarce. Buy one, and the shelves thinned like a winter pantry—so the center was lively, elf youths choosing trinkets behind glowing panes like fish at market stalls.

Not just tech like data cables. Mooncakes, peach crisps, and fries turned it into a tasting map, making Yue Liuyi and Yedie Snow grin like kids at a festival.

“Tasty,” Yedie Snow said, biting oden on a skewer, steam curling like fog. “Xiao Yue, try these cuttlefish balls.”

“Tasty, yes… but we’re here to find people.”

“Eat to work hard,” she answered, bold as a fox. “Besides, I’m looking too… found it—map shop!”

Yedie Snow bought a campus map, studying it like stars.

“S-so big…” Yue Liuyi murmured, cheeks puffed with food.

“Don’t say that with your mouth full,” she laughed, tapping his forehead. “But Yunlin really is huge—over a dozen square kilometers. Let’s see… Lingwei and Zaocun should be in the Beast-Eared Girls Department, northwest corner.”

“Beast-Eared… Girls Department?”

Elves have long ears, but those aren’t beast ears. True beast-eared girls hear in four channels; cover one pair, and the other pair still catches sound like wind at the back door.

Playing strange tones is an easy way to “capture” some beast-eared girls, like luring moths with light.

If they want silence, they must use hands and feet to block all ears, leaving them unable to fight or run, prey to teasing like rabbits in a snare.

“The Beast-Eared Girls Department trains girls with animal ears who melt hearts,” Yedie Snow said, eyes glinting, then glanced at Yue Liuyi’s smooth blue hair like a lake at dusk, clearly plotting something.

“Why would an elven magic academy have that?” Yue Liuyi blinked, curiosity like a cat’s paw.

“Because the New Land’s natives aren’t only elves. There are beastfolk too. But male beastfolk look rough to elven eyes, so the academy only admits female beastfolk or catkin as exchange students.”

“Ah, so that’s how it is.”

“Mm. Elven tradition is like a mirror—beauty is the sharpest power,” Yedie Snow said with a playful tilt, “and your Sister Yedie Snow should be one of the academy’s top powerhouses.”

“In a certain sense… I can’t argue,” Yue Liuyi sighed, smile blooming like a small flower.