She rose from the pool like a moonlit reed, yet not a drop clung to her skin.

After a short walk, the silver Skyship floated into view, resting in the forest like a sleeping silver whale.

Tree shadows flickered like fish scales, sun-dapples mottled the glass, and insects called from the brush in wave after wave.

“Looks like the ship didn’t get wrecked… what a surprise!”

“Dixue, you menace, do I have to go full dark every time to please you?”

The purple-haired girl stepped out, displeasure tightening her brow at Dixue like a drawn bowstring.

“Heh-heh~ You can’t blame me for worrying. How’s the check? While we were gone, did anything unexpected crawl out of the woodwork?”

“No. Same old problems as before.”

The purple-haired girl pulled a little notebook from her chest, her voice steady as a plumb line. “The anti-gravity engine and the thermal controls are shot. Without key parts, they’re still dead.”

“Mm… then we can only borrow some parts.”

“Borrow?”

“Yes.”

Dixue tucked away her playful smile. A half-smile, half-secret glimmered on her face as she watched Dawn Goose, her voice soft as a breeze through leaves. “I found the berth of the Fourth Princess’s ship. I’ll borrow a bit in a minute.”

“Huh?”

“The royal engines of Dragon Heaven shouldn’t be shabby, right? They should pair with the Skyship like thunder with rain.”

Hearing that, Dawn Goose understood at once, like a blade catching light, what the silver-haired girl meant to do.

“If you weren’t the branch head of the Rangers Lodge, I’d peg you, like me, for a pirate roaming the stars.”

“Pirate life sounds fun, but then I couldn’t be with Little Yue in the open, like sun on water!”

“You say that like running away from home is oh-so proper…” Xiang Xiaoyan sighed, shook her head like a weary willow. “What do I do next? Go ‘borrow’ an engine with you?”

“I can handle that solo. Dawn Goose, stay on the Skyship, prep some food, and guard Little Yue like a lantern in fog.”

“Yue Liuyi? She’s here too?”

“Mm! I tucked Little Yue into my bedroom…”

“Got it.”

…

Elsewhere, Yue Liuyi lay on Dixue’s bed like a petal on silk.

Just now, the blue-haired girl had been hauled to the wardrobe by Dixue and shoved into another cute dress, like a doll spun for display.

The long hem carried elegant patterns like flowing vines. With her slender ankles and chunky platform shoes, her cuteness felt crafted and fine as filigree.

But now, Yue Liuyi’s mood was a stew of flavors, sweet and bitter like mixed tea.

This was where she had truly met Dixue for the first time. It was also her first return after stripping her identity bare like shedding old bark.

Thinking back, it still felt unreal, like mist that won’t hold in the hand.

Back then in the bathhouse, Dixue was serious and a little somber, not the sly, playful fox she is now, teasing all day like wind teasing grass.

And she herself never imagined she’d be a World Tree Maiden. Even her girl-shape felt like a one-of-a-kind ability, a trick of light on water.

Many things now mark her as a World Tree Maiden. Yet years as a boy left her heart slow to feel being a girl, like spring lagging after frost.

(Maybe my mindset is still a boy’s?)

She wondered, hazy as dawn. If back in the bathhouse she hadn’t held out, if she had fainted in a little dress on Dixue’s bed—what would have bloomed from that?

Even if she explained, Dixue probably wouldn’t like her then. After clearing the air, she might have kept her distance, hiding her feelings like a bird in brush.

Another path: given how things unfolded, she might have been treated like a plush ball. LittleSnow would lock her up like a treasure box and demand she stay a girl forever.

Either way, the thought was a cliff’s edge—too scary by far.

Afraid, the blue-haired girl hugged the sheet like a lifeline. Small arms tangled with quilt and lace, so pretty and small that linen and ruffles blurred like cloud and foam.

At this crossroads, Yue Liuyi felt she had to rethink her road ahead, like choosing a river to follow.

If she truly was Dreamwood Star’s World Tree Maiden, then the goal of this journey needed deeper thought, like roots seeking water.

By Dongfang Chen’s long-running research, the Eternal Tear could save Dreamwood Star because its life-force made any withered plant rise green again, like rain waking deserts.

He had thought Eternal Tear was for reforesting the land, reviving the planet like spring. Now it seemed otherwise, like a compass pointing inward.

The Eternal Tear might be for her.

Yue Liuyi could wield a World Tree Maiden’s power now, but much of it rode on the help of Dixue, Breeze, and Ailuna, like three pillars holding a roof.

In the mana-rich Rainbow Sanctuary, she could refill her strength and cast world-shattering spells like storms breaking mountains.

But back home, the blue-haired girl didn’t know if she could still act as a World Tree Maiden. If a planet’s World Tree is gone, a Maiden’s power is fettered like a bird in a cage.

Like Breeze, after centuries of change, unable to move or speak, mobility lost like fallen leaves.

“Ugh… the road ahead feels long, like a road through rain.”

She shook her head, hugged the sheet like a pillow, and sat up, breath a small tide.

And this wasn’t her only trouble. She had long prepared plans to save Dreamwood Star, seeds planted years ago.

But for one thing, she still had no plan, like stepping into fog.

“From here on, how do I live as a World Tree Maiden?!”

This question split like a river at a fork.

First, the World Tree.

Second, the maiden.

Becoming guardian of the World Tree meant she couldn’t weigh gain and loss as a private person anymore. She had to think like a forest, not a leaf.

That was her hardest thing. The blue-haired girl looked kind, yet even Dongfang Chen knew she could be selfish, like a cat guarding milk. She couldn’t match Ailuna or Breeze in a Maiden’s breadth and stillness.

(Suddenly leading a planet? That’s a mountain too steep, isn’t it?!)

Last came the second point: the girl.

Because, as Dongfang Chen, she grew up a boy and liked girls, a compass set from birth.

So as a hopelessly straight girl, Yue Liuyi knew nothing of girl-life arts—how to weave relationships, how to act cute, how to refuse gently—petals she’d never learned.

Thus, as a little cuddle-pillow, Yue Liuyi didn’t know how to play to her own cuteness. She could only be teased by Dixue, like a fish nudged by waves.

That gave her a headache like tight strings. Plus one more thorn—if she stayed a girl, how would she face people who knew her before?

She couldn’t just laugh it off like with Zaocun. “Hi, I’m your former classmate, ‘Dongfang Chen’!” as if slipping into a new semester like a shadow.

Even if they accepted it, she’d want the earth to swallow her whole, shame pouring like rain.

“Argh, argh, argh!!!”

No solution came. The blue-haired girl hugged the quilt and flailed, a storm in a teacup.

“Liuyi! Are you under attack?!”

“Huh?”

A mature, steady voice reeled her back like a line. Her blue eyes turned to the door—Dawn Goose stood outside, gripping a pitch-black longsword like night drawn long.

“Uh, um… not attacked…”

She apologized softly, words small as falling petals. She hadn’t thought her fuss would draw Dawn Goose. “Sorry… I just can’t handle my identity right now. I’m at a loss.”

“World Tree Maiden troubles? Heh… Come to think of it, your status matches hers like mirror to mirror…”

Leaning on the frame, the purple-haired girl wore a cold look like frost. Yet Yue Liuyi knew she stayed to help, warmth under ice.

“Huh…? Hers?”

“Xinrui. Her status was the same—she came to Dragon Heaven to study as a World Tree Maiden.”

“What!?”

“Dixue didn’t tell you? It’s a secret known to very few, but I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t! LittleSnow mentioned it, but always half a sentence. I only knew Xinrui was targeted by a Murder Fiend. I never knew why…”

“Ugh. She loves acting mysterious… Those Murder Fiends had to kill Xinrui because she was a World Tree Maiden—root the tree, end the grove.”

“Huh!? Wasn’t it Qin Hui?”

“She was at most a pawn. Even without Qin Hui, they would’ve moved. Because once she was dead, the war would tilt like a scale.”

“Win the war!?”

“Yes. That’s how it was—though I wasn’t there, so it’s misty.” The purple-haired girl rubbed her temple, memory stirring like smoke. “Two mid-ring worlds were at war. One sought a sure path to victory. So they sent their World Tree Maiden to Dragon Heaven to study.”

“Oh…?”

“Of course, that brat Dixue didn’t know Xinrui was a World Tree Maiden. She only learned it after she died. She’s a runaway mess, but sure enough, that useless Dixue only falls for World Tree Maidens.”

“So, so… LittleSnow likes me because…”

Hearing that, Yue Liuyi felt a small loss, like shade crossing water.

Like straight or gay, it’s instinct. But thinking Dixue liked her due to some inherited pull left the blue-haired girl unhappy, like sweetness gone flat.

“Uh, no… I didn’t mean that!”

Realizing she’d misspoken, Dawn Goose waved her hands, a bead of sweat popping like dew. “Dixue’s a bit mischievous… but with love, she’s serious. She never lies to the one she likes—single-hearted as a blade.”

“Really…?”

“It’s just that sometimes she’s dense and a mess—no, wrong! She’s simple and pure. So, Liuyi, if you tease Dixue a little, the sky won’t fall.”

“Eh, can I? But… LittleSnow’s so clever, and strong as a river. I can’t win…”

“Then ambush her. Make her blush like sunset. She’ll probably drop her guard and stop resisting.”

The purple-haired girl laid it out carefully, not noticing she was feeding Yue Liuyi a basket of improper, not-for-maidens ideas, like smuggling fire into silk.