The sakura mochi in the Elven Capital tasted like spring melting on the tongue, petals drifting through the mouth like pink snow. Fragrance rose like a garden after rain.

It didn’t just melt away. The petal-softness clung to the tip of the tongue, like silk wrapped around a willow branch, lingering and sweet.

Sakura mochi was a specialty of the Elven Forest, the kind of treat elves adored, like moonlight loves the lake.

“So good~”

“So yummy~ just a tiny bit worse than dried fish!”

…

After their hug, Yue Liuyi and Dixue rejoined the others, like swallows returning to the eaves.

The Capital’s streets were clean as rain-washed jade. Not a speck of dust, like a mirror of morning dew. The girls sat on a roadside wooden platform and unwrapped mochi.

“Nom… sakura mochi is amazing!”

Ailuna was the happiest, her smile opening like a flower. She always lifted the mochi to her little nose first, breathing it in like a bee at a blossom, then she’d take a bite.

Watching her dote on each bite, Yue Liuyi couldn’t help teasing, like a breeze tickling a wind chime.

“Don’t hold back. Ailuna, eat as many as you like!”

“Really?”

“Mm! We bought a whole bunch!”

“Um… Little Moon…”

“Eh? LittleSnow? What is it?”

“Mm…”

Dixue slid close and brushed Yue Liuyi’s ear with a whisper, soft as a moth’s wing. “The World Tree in the Elven Capital… is actually a cherry tree.”

“Eh? No wonder the crown looks pink, like dawn clouds!”

“That’s not the point. The point is… the Capital’s sakura mochi uses petals from the World Tree.”

“Eh!?”

A chill rippled through Yue Liuyi, like frost on spring water. A terrible idea took root.

Was Ailuna… eating herself?

Watching Ailuna nibble with such joy, the blue-haired girl pictured something awful, like a folk tale told by the fire.

Once there was a bun walking down the road. It walked and walked, then it got hungry. So it ate itself…

“Guh!!”

“Huh? What’s wrong… sisters? Is the way I eat weird?”

“No, no. Ailuna is adorable!”

“Heehee, thank you for the praise.”

…

The “Ailuna cakes” really were delicious. Yet while the girls savored them, a wail carried over like wind through reeds.

“Waaah! Mama! Where are you?”

A tiny girl with pale-yellow twin-tails ran toward them, tears glittering like raindrops on petals.

She was adorable and so small—maybe one meter twenty—delicate as a bud.

She’d lost her mother and stood helpless, like a fawn at the edge of the woods. The Capital had one flaw: its paths wound like vines around a tree.

Wooden walkways crisscrossed, circling the World Tree through dozens of districts, layered like terraces. One wrong turn, and you’d drift like a leaf and be lost.

The girls hurried to her, voices soft as warm cloth.

“Hey? Little one, did you lose your mama?”

“Waaah! Mama’s gone…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll help you.”

“Wow! Mama’s here!?”

She’d been sobbing a moment ago. Then she saw Yue Liuyi, and the little one lunged forward like a sparrow to a branch.

Her little head only reached the blue-haired girl’s waist, but she latched on tight, like ivy to bark, refusing to let go.

“Eh? Um…”

“Mama! Mama!”

Yue Liuyi knew she’d been mistaken for someone else. But she couldn’t just peel the child off and say she wasn’t her mother. That would be a winter wind to a sapling. She should be gentle.

Except Yue Liuyi had grown up as a boy. Words scattered like startled fish.

“Um… little one, Sister Yue isn’t your mom, okay? But Zero Wei will help you find her~”

Thank goodness Zero Wei was quick to understand. She slid in, offering the girl her mochi, like handing over a warm bun.

“Mm, Zaocun will help too.”

Zaocun bounced over and offered her half-eaten mochi, like a squirrel sharing a nut.

“No, this is my mama! Blue hair, same as Mama! You’re not taking my mama!”

The girl pouted like a duckling. Bribes didn’t tempt her at all; only rubbing her cheeks and hands against Yue Liuyi’s soft body lit her up like lanterns.

“Mama’s the best!”

“Uu…”

Yue Liuyi shot her friends a helpless look, like a ship signaling from fog. A boy inside, called “Mama” by a stranger—too strange.

Strange or not, Zaocun and Ailuna watched with green-eyed envy, their gazes clinging like silk threads. Hugging Yue Liuyi that close was exactly what they longed to do.

At last, Dixue stepped in. The silver-haired girl bent down, gentle as snow on bamboo.

“Mm… little one, don’t get it wrong, okay? This Little Moon isn’t your mama. Your mama’s somewhere else~”

“Somewhere else? I don’t believe you! This one is my mama.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you to your mama. She’ll look exactly like this one.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Really!”

“I’m not measured by ‘one of these,’ you know!”

Seeing Yedie Snow’s sly smile, Yue Liuyi knew this clever girl had a scheme twinkling like a fox’s eye.

…

Led by Dixue, the six girls reached a gorgeous shop, nestled in the corner of a small square like a bird’s nest in ivy.

Emerald creepers curled over the walls, their green threads hinting at years gone by. Yet inside, everything smelled fresh from the oven, warm as bread.

“This is the place!”

“Of course it is!!!!”

Yue Liuyi should’ve guessed. Whenever Dixue wore that smile, the destination was never “proper.”

The wooden sign outside, in Elvish, read: “Yue Liuyi Dolls—Selling Like Crazy.”

It was… a cuddle-doll shop.

They stepped in. The door chime tinkled like water over pebbles. Under soft amber light, a flock of brand-new Yue Liuyis sat primly on chairs.

The dolls wore lavish outfits, brocade and lace like clouds and foam. They were wildly popular. Most display scenes belonged to the blue-haired girl’s face.

“Welcome!”

An elf girl in a splendid dress, pleats and lace piled like layered petals, hurried over at the chime.

“Are you here for Liuyi cuddle dolls too? I’m the owner. These are fresh from Chairwoman Ningyu’s workshop, selling like—eh? Eh!????”

She didn’t finish. Thump. She dropped to the floor like a felled sapling.

“Eh? Are you okay!?”

“Why is there a Liuyi doll… alive, and talking… Ah! I’m seeing things!”

Eyes wide as moons, she stared at Yue Liuyi like she’d seen a ghost slip through a paper screen.

“Uu… I’m not a doll. I’m a person… an elf!!! The real one!”

“Eh?”

She stood, peering closely at Yue Liuyi’s face, gaze trembling like a leaf. Suddenly tears welled, then spilled like pearls.

“It’s… it’s really you? Uu… uu!!!”

“Um… Miss Owner?”

“Uu—didn’t think I’d see the real Yue Liuyi in my lifetime. I’m so moved I could faint!”

“Eh…?”

“Lady Liuyi, can I get your autograph?”

“Uu… I mean, sure… but am I really that important?”

“Of course!! Liuyi cuddle dolls are the cutest beings in the world, moe beyond mortal measure!”

…

She then rhapsodized about the dolls, counting off blessings like prayer beads: soft and easy to topple, dumb-cute and mood-lifting, big chest, big heart…

“Guh!!”

“Little Moon, accept your fate and be an adorable cuddle pillow~”

Watching Yue Liuyi’s expression twist like a ribbon, Dixue almost burst into laughter. Yue’s popularity among elves wasn’t just because of a cute face. There was another reason. The silver-haired girl kept that snowflake on her tongue.

…

“Wow, Mama! So many Mamas!!!!!!!”

Seeing a room full of Yue Liuyis, the little girl bounced like a spring sparrow. Her eyes scrunched into > <, like play-park signs.

“Eh? Xiaobai, is this your Mama?”

“Mm!! I love Mama most. Mama stays with me all day! No matter how I bully her, she never gets mad. She’s the best~~”

“So Mama means… the cuddle doll. If possible, I hope you don’t bully ‘her’…”

Yue Liuyi nodded awkwardly, like a crane unsure where to land. Somewhere out there, her image was being used everywhere.

Maybe that was a good thing. It helped people.

(Huh? Wait… if it’s for that kind of use!!!!!!)

As a boy, Yue Liuyi wouldn’t have minded. As a girl, she loathed it like grit in tea.

While she spiraled, the owner leaned in, curiosity fluttering like a moth.

“Hey? This little one… is she lost?”

“Yeah… we’re helping her find her mom. But it turns out, her ‘mom’ is…”

“That’s not strange, Lady Liuyi.”

The elf girl edged closer and whispered, voice low as dusk wind. “Because of the recent war, many elves enlisted and went to the front.”

“Eh?”

“They can’t be with their children. So many ordered Liuyi dolls here, to soothe their kids’ loneliness when they’re away.”

“Uu! So that’s it…”

Yue Liuyi looked down at the girl hugging the doll, face lit like sunrise. That smile was real.

Maybe Xiaobai knew the doll wasn’t her mom.

But war could strip life like fire strips bark. Xiaobai’s mother might…

Faced with brutal truth, Xiaobai chose the gentler lie, like sleeping under a warm quilt during a storm.

That way, even if the worst news came…

…

(War is awful…)

Yue Liuyi clenched her fist, the resolve rising like a tide.

(I’ll do everything I can to stop this fight.)

For the little girl. For herself.

To complete what she hadn’t finished in the dreamscape, to round the circle like a full moon.

…

Just then, the bell at the door chimed again, clear as icicles.

Another guest stepped in. The voice felt familiar, like a scent on the wind.

“Ah… Dixue, you all wandered into a cuddle-doll shop… I’ve been hunting everywhere.”

Qiu Ruyi, green-haired and weary, walked in like a willow in rain.

“Just browsing. It’d be a waste to stay put on a rare day.”

“Next time, Lady Dixue, please don’t run off. You trouble everyone when you do.”

“Yes, yes… So, Ruyi, what did the council say?”

“Almost settled. Tonight, the Elven Speaker will meet us to discuss freeing the adventurers.”

“That’s good…”

“No need, Ruyi! No need to wait till tonight. Now’s fine.”

A lively voice rang out through the shop, bright as bells.

“Eh? Who…”

“I’ve already met the two leaders of the Azure Front. As expected, both are lovely girls~”

“Sp—Speaker?”

Under the girls’ stunned gazes, the little twin-tailed child waved, smiling pure as first snow.