The girl’s hair was a ribbon of blue water, bright as a river under noon sun.

Her eyes were wide, as deep as the sea at midnight, a calm abyss.

Lace and layered skirts wrapped a small, delicate body; her pale hands pressed together, uneasy as trapped moths.

The blue-haired girl, of course, was Yue Liuyi.

“Little Yue, don’t worry… Elves revere the World Tree Maiden. Whatever you say will be fine.”

Dixue stroked her head, gentle as a breeze through willow leaves, trying to pour courage like warm tea.

“I… am I really the World Tree Maiden?”

“Of course.”

“Mm… but…”

Under Dixue’s encouraging gaze, Yue Liuyi tiptoed to the room’s center. There, a pale-pink morning glory grew, soft as dawn mist.

This morning glory bloomed in Ailuna’s living room, both ornament and console of the World Tree. Speak before it, and the World Tree carries your voice like wind through roots.

Yue Liuyi leaned close. Her heart thudded, a drum in a quiet temple; guilt fluttered like a thief’s shadow.

Kind of like cross-dressing as the student council president and giving a speech on stage.

But Ailuna lay unconscious, and Breeze wasn’t good with words. To stop the war in the Elven Capital, the World Tree Maiden had to speak herself.

Even an “acting” one.

“Um, hello, everyone! I’m the acting World Tree Maiden… can you hear me? Okay… you can stop fighting now! \(^0^)/”

Her words spread through the World Tree, rippling out like rings on a blue lake, echoing along tangled wood walkways.

Elves mid-battle froze. A broadcast from the World Tree Maiden hadn’t happened in decades; the word “acting” drifted like an odd leaf.

Even many elder elves didn’t know what “acting” meant. But if the voice came from the World Tree, it had to be the Maiden’s.

So Elven Guards and Silverwing Elves alike lowered their weapons, eyes lifted to the dome of leaves, waiting for the next command.

A few heard something strangely familiar in that voice.

“Huh? Why does it sound extra familiar to Zaocun?”

“Uh… isn’t that Yue Liuyi?”

“Huh? Is that Sister Yue? Did Sister Yue push down the World Tree Maiden and become her? If so, Zaocun wants to push Sister Yue too… then Zaocun can become the World Tree Maiden! \(^0^)/”

“Um… Lord Zaocun, becoming the World Tree Maiden isn’t that simple…”

San Hua Zhi spoke from the side, and even Qiu Ruyi, Maria, and Lingwei looked up, puzzled, toward the sky of leaves.

“You’ve all done wonderfully—Silverwing Elves guarding the World Tree’s secret realm, Elven Guards seeking the truth. But now, there’s no need to fight. The problem’s resolved.”

Yue Liuyi paused, then kept her tone light and friendly, like sunlight on water.

“To honor everyone’s efforts, I’m declaring a three-day holiday for the Elven Capital. Little friends and grown-ups, rest, relax, and reunite with family! Our war with outsiders is nearing its end—no more battles!”

At the news, most elves exhaled, a long breath of green peace. The elven heart leans toward harmony; no fighting feels like spring rain after drought.

“Next, the Elven Queen will discuss foreign affairs with the Speaker. Interested citizens may come to the Elven Royal Palace—and take a tour.”

When she finished, Yue Liuyi let out a breath, soft as falling petals. Now she understood why Dixue brought her to the World Tree’s core—every word of a World Tree Maiden carries the weight of seasons.

With this, even differing elven ideals would be set aside. They would move together, like streams joining a river.

A fortunate turning of fate.

Yet beneath the gladness, Yue Liuyi felt a fog drift in. She had used Ailuna’s morning glory horn—successfully. Was she truly a World Tree Maiden?

What a maze… and LittleSnow too! Acting like she knows something, but won’t say. She even claims she’s the Maiden’s guardian—what does that mean?

Confusion rose in her sea-blue eyes, and they couldn’t help but glance at the silver-haired girl.

That dazed, soft look only made Dixue find her more adorable, a snow-white kitten staring at moonlight.

“Mm-hmm. My Little Yue gets cuter every day—almost too cute. Do you know, as a World Tree Maiden, wearing that expression makes people want to commit crimes?”

“Eh!?”

“Anyone living around the World Tree won’t be able to hold back their love for you. They’ll want to carry you home and raise you.”

“Don’t talk about people like we’re cats and puppies!”

“Little Yue, don’t tease others. You’re fond of Ailuna too—you picked her up and kept her.”

“Uu… that and this are…”

Yue Liuyi realized that World Tree Maidens truly are impossibly cute beings. Ailuna or Breeze, they strike the softest place in your heart, making you want to shield and draw close.

Maybe that’s how she looked in everyone’s eyes too?

Uu… the mysteries around me just keep piling up…

But now wasn’t the time to untangle them. She still carried a secret as heavy as a mountain. So she would play the role of the World Tree Maiden well, then learn, bit by bit, what had happened. That would help LittleSnow and everyone.

…

When the broadcast ended, Tisinate approached, head high, spine straight, an elf with a steel of honor even before a Maiden from another star.

“How… do you plan to save Ailuna, in all your diverse ways?”

“I want to use a detonation. Wipe out every wraith.”

“Detonation?”

“Mm.”

Dixue nodded, laying out her plan. “First, Ailuna forces all the wraiths to reveal themselves. Then Little Yue’s Stellar Moon Compass pins them. Then Breeze’s power petrifies them. Once they have bodies, my bow can erase them.”

“Hah!? LittleSnow, we’re going with something that violent?”

“Mm. It’s the simplest and most direct.”

“Breeze thinks the wraiths are too pitiful… They’ve no home, and now even their souls would be destroyed…”

“Guardian from afar, I once felt the same. But Ailuna won’t agree.”

Tisinate drew a deep breath; the silk at her chest rippled like pond waves.

“Huh?”

“Ailuna won’t use that kind of violence.”

Ailuna slept in the inner room, on her favorite bed. To avoid drawing wraith attention, chains still coiled around the sleeping girl like iron vines.

“Do you know? Ailuna won’t compromise her mission by even half a step. If not for the Cataclysm Chain, she would stay with the wraiths, on and on, until she broke.”

Maybe that’s why Tisinate took the role of the “villain,” feeding Ailuna’s inner hunger, meeting her strange, quiet yearning.

And this twisted bond can’t be told to the elves. The Maiden they revere—a masochist? That would crush their spirits. So Tisinate kept silent, bearing the weight alone.

“Mm… if Ailuna won’t agree, I have a better idea!”

“Huh? Little Yue… got a good plan?”

“Mm! LittleSnow’s method works, but it targets symptoms, not roots. I want to gather everyone’s strength and restore order to the Land of Chaos.”

“Eh!?”

Yue Liuyi’s words burst out like a skylark, startling both Dixue and Tisinate.

Only Breeze didn’t change expression; her calm was a stone under stream-water.

“It’s a good plan. But do you… know how dangerous the Land of Chaos is?”

“Mm. I know. More clearly than anyone.”

She remembered the vision. Dongfang Chen died there. So at this moment, Yue Liuyi nodded with quiet, steady confidence.

“I understand.”

Tisinate’s gaze sharpened like a hawk’s. She studied Yue Liuyi. In her eyes, this Maiden felt young, younger even than Ailuna, but she carried something Ailuna didn’t.

Courage,

and toward the unknown,

a spirit of exploration.

It’s the kind of expansive, forward-thrusting faith that keeps people warm against cold uncertainty. Even facing danger, their hearts stay lit.

Such souls—explorers, adventurers—record what civilization has never known. Because of them, we move forward. The world starts to join as one.

The New Land has televisions and temple fairs because of that spirit, in the end.

Usually, it appears in tough, broad-shouldered boys. For such courage to shine in a small, soft girl—astonishing.

For the first time, Tisinate felt a trace of respect for this girl from Dreamwood Star.

“Miss Yue, I’ll support you, not only because you’re the World Tree Maiden. You’ve met the Autumn Clan, I imagine. We elves will be your allies, backing your every plan.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

“Ahh… I didn’t expect my Little Yue to be so capable.”

Dixue’s eyes held their usual soft glow of pampering, a hearth-fire in winter.

“Mm… Whatever Sister Yue wants to do is what Breeze wants to do. So Breeze will support you.”

Breeze nodded, a small smile blooming like a shy flower.

“Thank you, everyone! Then let’s go together—to the Land of Chaos.”