Riding atop Rainbow Hawkbeasts, the girls skimmed the cloudbanks, feathers bright as spilled paint across the sky.

They were massive birds, named for their kaleidoscope plumage. They could carry several riders and glide like skiffs on wind. Like horses for humans, Rainbow Hawkbeasts were the elves’ long-range ride and a war mount besides.

“La-la-la~ picnic time~”

Perched on a hawkbeast, Zaocun wiggled her cat ears, excitement fizzing like soda—no hint of negotiation nerves at all.

Honestly, it was a picnic. For a cute little creature like Zaocun, the elves wouldn’t hurt her, no matter the storm or season.

After all, the Beast-Ear Maidens Protection Association wasn’t a joke. Except donkey ears—everyone else with beast ears was under its wing.

“Zaocun, don’t squirm on the hawkbeast, okay? Or you might fall.”

“Wah, I know!”

“Yue Liuyi, don’t worry. I’ll watch Zaocun and keep her still.”

“Mm! Thanks to Zero Wei!”

Their Rainbow Hawkbeast slipped through gauzy clouds. In no time, the spires and bridges of the Elven Capital rose like a dream woven in green.

A miracle-city, built upon the World Tree.

The towering World Tree stood by a jade lake, veiled in mist fine as silk. Countless homes and halls knitted together over the water like lattices of wood and light.

They linked by timber bridges and climbed in crisscross tiers, rising along branches and leaves, a staircase into a sky of green.

Elven Gates, pregnant with magic, glowed like fireflies in noon shade. White doves skimmed branches and unfurled their wings into sunlight.

Above, pale-pink petals crowned the World Tree like a bride’s wreath—sakura blush frosted the air.

Every breath felt new-washed, scented with cool spring.

Yue Liuyi had never stood so near the World Tree, never seen beauty spill like this from horizon to heart.

Legend said two who kissed beneath the World Tree would share happiness forever. So the Elven Capital became a lover’s haven, hosting couples bright with promise.

War had stained that story. Humans were rounded up, and the curving boardwalks borne by branches now held only elven footfalls.

Shops run by humans—or opened to them—had shuttered like sleeping clams. The city felt hushed, its songs folded away.

They landed on a platform like a helipad—built for “helicopter-eagles,” the evolved cousin of “helicopter-chickens.” Both could lift straight up through dense canopy, and both were beloved elf transports, same as the hawkbeasts.

Yue Liuyi hopped down with LittleSnow, feet touching the Elven Capital like dew on moss. New-built streets spread neat and warm, yet the old wooden cottages showed age rings like trees.

Another clear impression—elves adored flowers. Rows and rows bloomed along every lane, tended with wooden stakes and little spritzers, just like Ailuna’s favorite pastime—care delicate as rain.

“So many flowers… they’re gorgeous!”

The green-haired girl clapped, ready to hop down. But some part of her outfit was too big; balance slipped like a loose sash, and she tumbled.

“Ailuna, careful!”

Yue Liuyi stood close, catching her sure as a net.

“Thanks…”

Ailuna’s cheeks flushed mint-rose; being held like that clearly pleased her, sweet as a stolen sip of tea.

“No problem. Now that we’re here—does anything come back to you, Ailuna?”

“Hmm… still nothing… but everyone looks like me—long ears, just like mine!”

She glanced around; of course, elves wore their long ears like moonlit blades.

“Huh? Even this close to your true body, no reaction?”

“True body!? Where is it? Wait—am I a clone?”

“No, silly—Ailuna is Ailuna. But… facing this giant tree, do you feel anything? A tug, a kinship?”

“Hmm… not nostalgia… but wow, what a hardworking tree! So big—so brave!”

“Mm… hardworking indeed.”

Watching Ailuna gaze at “her own body” with that starry envy, Yue Liuyi could only smile, the moment light as pollen in air.

…

“I’ll head to the Parliament. You all do as you please—there aren’t any humans around anyway.”

Qiu Ruyi went to find members of the Elven Parliament. Afternoon thinned like amber tea, and the five girls suddenly had nothing pressing to do.

So the visit truly became a trip for pleasure.

Walking foreign streets felt like tasting a new fruit—every corner bright and strange.

Even a tiny statue at the bend, even a sticker on a glass pane, could gleam like treasure and hook your gaze. You’d stop, unthinking, eager to frame it in a photo, to sip the moment twice.

“So pretty!”

Compared to human cities, the Elven Capital wasn’t grand at all. It throbbed with everyday life—none of that jittery modern hum. Elves strolled with slow elegance, faces smooth as calm ponds.

Children—loli and lad alike—laughed and chased like fireflies in daylight.

Even under war, no one seemed panicked. Calm flowed like water through willow roots.

Beggar and thief were absent—vanished like fog at noon. There wasn’t even a police station in the whole capital. Only an immigration bureau for outside adventurers, to catch humans who broke elven regulations.

Without outside trouble, pure elves truly lived with doors unlatched and streets free of loose coins.

“Ahh… it’s really gorgeous here~ Yue Liuyi, do you love places like this?”

Lingwei took Zaocun and Ailuna to pick little trinkets. Dixue held Yue Liuyi’s hand and led her to a terrace by the street.

From there, the lake lay in a veil of fine mist, and distant mountains wore forests like cloaks. You could imagine dusk falling, sprites waking over lake and bough, their light dancing like stars in a green sky.

“Mm, I do. Compared to my hometown… this is worlds more beautiful.”

Dreamwood Star had none of this—the cities offered barely a tree, concrete seas under neon moons.

Maybe that’s why Yue Liuyi loved nature and trees so much. Beauty stalled her steps; she’d linger, drinking it like spring wine.

“If only… our homeland could become this lovely…”

“Mm! We’ll make it happen!”

“But even if we reach the Rainbow Secret Realm, we might not get the Eternal Tear. And even with it, Dreamwood might not return to how it was…”

Don’t spiral, her heart pleaded before her mouth could shape the doubt.

“Don’t lose heart. If we fail this time, we try again. However many times it takes—I’ll be with you, Yue Liuyi.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You’re already my wife, aren’t you?”

“Eh!? Wife!?”

“That’s right~”

Under her startled gaze, the silver-haired girl leaned in and kissed Yue Liuyi’s cheek—soft as petals falling.

“U-uh!? Eh-eh-eh?”

“Hehe…”

“LittleSnow…”

“I like you so much… Please promise me—don’t leave.”

“Huh?”

“Your departing silhouette, that frozen, cold face… I know it was only an illusion, but I…”

Her voice trembled like a reed in wind.

“LittleSnow!!”

Yue Liuyi understood. Not only herself—Dixue, too, had been marked by the Naraku Illusion.

Those scenes weren’t mist-dreams that fade. They were sharp, a too-real branch of possibility.

Even awake, you couldn’t rub them out.

“Mm. I won’t leave you, LittleSnow…”

“Really?”

“Mm. We’ll stay together—always. As long as you don’t mind…”

“How could I ever mind!”

“Mm-mm~ Maybe one day I’ll grow old, grow plain, grow into…”

“You’ll still be my Yue Liuyi. The most important Yue Liuyi.”

“~”

They folded into each other’s arms, tight as vines.

Upon this jade lake,

within this ancient elven capital with a thousand years of breath,

they spoke a vow soft and precious, bright as a promised dawn.