Before dusk could settle, Yue Liuyi and Dixue hurried home hand in hand, like two swallows cutting back to the nest.

From afar, a thin thread of cooking smoke rose, and the familiar path lay like a worn ribbon.

Wind skimmed the treetops, brushing that cool edge of evening onto her skin; the silver-haired girl scooped Yue Liuyi up in a sudden princess carry.

“Whoa, LittleSnow! Why did you suddenly pick me up?”

Heat fluttered in her chest; the silver-haired girl smelled faintly of jasmine, her flawless profile like a carved moon, her arms soft as silk.

“I’m afraid Little Moon will get cold. We walked all day; you must be tired. Let your sister carry you the last stretch.”

“You didn’t have to do it out of nowhere… and we’re almost at camp. If everyone sees…”

“I want everyone to see. It’s a declaration of sovereignty. No matter how naughty you get, you’re my Little Moon.”

“Eh?!”

Realization pricked like a pin: Dixue didn’t just want to hold her—she wanted to show her off. Yue Liuyi offered a quiet protest that barely rippled the air.

“Huh? The elf ladies are back?”

“What—did Lady Fengyi get hurt?”

“Whoa, Lord Pillow really turned into a pillow!”

“Mm… thanks for the concern. I’m fine…”

Under their startled stares, Yue Liuyi could only blush and say that, while Dixue carried her straight into the bamboo hut like a breeze crossing a threshold.

Before the door even swung, iron chains clinked like cold rain; a pink-haired girl waited just behind it, anxious hope shining like lantern-light.

“Yue Liuyi! Sister Dixue! Thank goodness you came back safe…”

Seeing Dixue enter with the blue-haired girl in her arms, Ailuna let out a long breath, relief unwinding like a loosened knot—she had been waiting a long time.

“Oh? Ailuna was worried about us? Even so, I won’t hand Little Moon to you. See? She’s happiest when she’s in my arms, even if she likes you a lot.”

The silver-haired girl feigned an icy tone and gave Yue Liuyi a gentle sway, like rocking a boat on quiet water.

“LittleSnow, what are you even saying!”

“N-no, that’s not it! I know Yue Liuyi and Sister Dixue like each other… I don’t dare ask for that. To me, both of you are precious. Very, very precious!”

“Huh?”

Ailuna’s reply startled Dixue, like a bell struck off beat.

“After you left, I realized how useless I was… I remember nothing, I can’t help anyone! So anyone who accepts me like this and helps me—my sisters—are the most important people! No matter what I am, please, you must be happy!”

“Mmph…”

The lie-detection Gift worked on Ailuna too; that was the curse of it. Hearing the pink-haired girl’s bare truth, Dixue couldn’t smooth the moment by teasing Little Moon anymore.

“Um… Ailuna, we care about you. We don’t want you hurt. Rest easy—LittleSnow likes you too. She even ran all over to find a way to unlock your chains.”

“Ah? Little Moon!”

“Huh? You went out today because of me?!”

“Heh, my turn to tease LittleSnow. Hmph, rare chance.”

She twisted and slipped free of Dixue’s arms, landing in a quick hop. “And LittleSnow told me Ailuna’s amazing, not some useless girl!”

“Eh? I’m… an amazing girl?”

Ailuna looked from Yue Liuyi to the iron chain on her wrist, doubt pooling like fog. “B-but I can’t do anything…”

“Believe in yourself, Ailuna. You’re capable, just bound for now.”

“Mm… thank you, sisters. I won’t be dejected…”

She nodded, cheeks rosy like petals; Yue Liuyi didn’t know if her comfort worked, but Ailuna looked less lost, like clouds thinning.

“Mmph… she turned the tables without me noticing. Honestly, Little Moon’s a girl you can’t underestimate.”

Even as she said it, the silver-haired girl stepped behind Yue Liuyi and wrapped her from the back, a small tenderness glinting in her gaze toward Ailuna.

“So that’s how it is. Ailuna matters to us. If anything happens, tell me. We’ll do our best to protect you.”

“Really? Thank you, sisters!!”

“Of course it’s true.”

“Then… there’s something, can I…”

“What is it?”

“I… I need the bathroom…”

Her face flared scarlet; the words fell thin as a thread.

Two days slipped by like water over stone.

In that time, Yedie Snow studied the Memory-Bloom Master Gray had sent, decoding secrets folded in its petals like script on leaves.

Yue Liuyi and Lia kept caring for Ailuna, steady as candlelight.

The chain still wouldn’t yield, yet the pink-haired girl grew used to this life; when everyone worked, she sat quietly alone, kneeling in a calm corner, smiling as she offered blessings, like a soft prayer drifting over the room.

The camp took shape under callused hands; a warehouse and a workshop rose like bones beneath skin. Even a kitchen and a dining hall rose in bamboo, so adventurers no longer ate on bare earth, but finally savored meals at a slow pace.

Master Gray even sent trays of sakura cakes, so everyone could taste elven delicacies between tasks, sweetness like spring rain.

“So petals can be this delicious!”

“So good—why didn’t the elf ladies feed us petals before? I wouldn’t have wanted to run.”

“Get real, this stuff’s pricey! Lady Fengyi brought it for us. If you eat it like staple food, we’ll be broke in a week!”

As life settled into a neat rhythm, the Rainbow Hawkbeast courier from Ningyu arrived, feathers like scattered paint.

“Little Moon, look! Your body pillow’s here!”

“Ugh… what must come, comes…”

Yue Liuyi watched, mortified, as Dixue lugged in a life-sized box like a coffin of cardboard. No doubt it held the Yue Liuyi doll Ningyu had made.

“Did you know, Little Moon? In Gelwen, you’re a star every girl knows. Almost every one wants a Little Moon pillow.”

“Am I supposed to be happy? As a pillow, I still get hugged and played with…”

He could picture it: his pillow form cradled in girls’ arms, dressed in cute little skirts. It wasn’t unpleasant, but for a boy, it felt like defeat, like a banner torn.

(Maybe I should just stay a girl… I’d never be short on money; head to Gelwen and cash in those royalties…)

Spineless thoughts drifted like smoke through Yue Liuyi’s head, while on the other side, Dixue dove at the parcel, thrilled like a cat at catnip.

“La-la-la~ Lemme see how President Ningyu did. Is it just as cute…”

She tore the box open, then lifted out… an elf-version Little Moon, starlight in silk.

To be precise, Yue Liuyi in elven form: still a blue-haired girl, but tailored to elven taste—less impish human charm, more gentle, well-behaved sweetness.

The doll wore a lavish, finely crafted elven blue dress; her blue eyes gleamed like gemstones, deep and bright as a lake.

The craftsmanship was so delicate and true that one look at that soft azure hair made you want to clutch her and roll across the bed like waves.

Worse, even Yue Liuyi felt that urge, a heat like a spark in dry grass.

(Wow! I’m lusting after myself! I’m going to turn into a creep!)

He swallowed hard, wrestling down the impulse to pounce and hug himself, throat dry as sand.

“Wow! So cute, so cute!!”

Dixue lunged and smothered the Yue Liuyi pillow with playful “abuse,” affection piling like quilts; watching that made Yue Liuyi blush, warmth creeping over his skin.

“Huh? Why is there one more Liuyi!”

Hearing the commotion, Ailuna stirred from her haze and looked over, eyes like dew.

“It’s a Yue Liuyi body pillow. And don’t call it a ‘thing!’ Honestly, Ailuna, even you…”

“U-ugh… s-sorry!”

Tears welled in the pink-haired girl’s eyes, glimmering like beads about to spill.

“I didn’t mean it like that… Ailuna, don’t cry!”

So the bamboo room that housed three girls gained a fourth “companion.” The obedient Yue Liuyi pillow sat quietly, never angry no matter what you did, calm as a doll beneath glass.

Dixue dressed the “new Yue Liuyi” in all sorts of odd outfits, without asking the real one, a wardrobe like a rainbow strewn across the bed.

Even when Little Moon went out in the afternoon to plan camp construction with the adventurers, Dixue kept the pillow at her side, posed in a strange half-kneel to “accompany” her work like a mascot.

“Whoa! LittleSnow, what are you doing!”

“Working.”

“B-but why is ‘me’ half-kneeling here, looking so pitiful! And where did you even get this maid outfit!”

“Mm… snagged it earlier. Figured you’d get mad if I put it on you, so I saved it.”

“Ugh! So it was premeditated?”

“Heh. If you’re jealous, replace the pillow after work.”

“I’m not doing such a shameful pose!”

He said it, but that doll was truly adorable. Each glance made Yue Liuyi itch like ants under skin; he wanted to do something to that blue-haired girl—she was just too cute.

“Mm, told you. Little Moon isn’t a weapon specialized against me; she’s lethal to all girls. With the real Little Moon, I’d wield endless power.”

“Don’t say lines like a villain!”

The day slipped away in busy rhythms, like shadows stretching and folding back into night.