Even though Yue Liuyi kept pouring mana into the magic card, the remaining images refused to bloom, like buds sealed by frost.

Huh? Why won’t it start? It’s like the button’s buried in ice!

Xiaoyue, let me take a look...?

Okay...

Dixue took the card, studied it, then set it back in Xiaoyue’s palm. The card shorted out. You flooded it with mana, like spring melt swamping a creek.

Huh? Was that one surge from me that did it, like thunder in a teacup?

Mm. Seems you’re truly a World Tree Maiden; in a single breath you blew past its limit, like a gust snapping a thread.

Uu, sorry... but, LittleSnow... am I really a World Tree Maiden? My heart’s fluttering like a trapped bird.

The images and text from the magic card snagged at Yue Liuyi, burrs on a hem. The parts about the World Tree Maiden hit hardest; she lost her grip for a beat, and the short flashed like spark to dry straw.

Of course—clear as moonlight!

B-but... the card said the last World Tree Maiden already— The words dropped off like a cliff-edge.

Heh, that’s good news. It means everyone in Dreamwood Star has no idea you’re still a World Tree Maiden, like a seed sleeping under snow.

They don’t know...? Why is that good? Vines knotted in my chest.

Because as a World Tree Maiden, your potential’s sky-high. If people knew, some would come like wolves for a lamb, greed smoking their eyes.

Oh... then Sis Kiki wiping my tracks was to protect me... b-but, do I really need that much protection? I feel just human, like a pebble among gems—nothing like Breeze or Ailuna.

Don’t worry. It’s a special case, but I swear you’re a true World Tree Maiden, solid as rings in old wood.

A bit special...? So something about me isn’t normal...? Am I some odd World Tree Maiden, like a crooked branch?

Mm. I mean form. Life grows with its surroundings; Xiaoyue’s the same, like water taking the shape of its jar.

Grow with... the environment, like moss on stone?

Yeah. Ground beasts turn earth-colored; leaf insects go green. You grew in abandoned Dreamwood Star, so you’d shape the same way, like wind carving dunes.

Dixue lifted a finger and rubbed Yue Liuyi’s little ear. Just like when you sprouted elf ears in the Elven Forest—your ability isn’t only turning into a boy. You adapt to the moment, becoming the most fitting form, like a chameleon in sun and shade.

Eh!? That’s how it works, like fog lifting?

Mm. So how you look now might not be your true form. Being different from Ailuna and Breeze is natural, like different leaves on the same tree.

Ugh! Then what if my true form isn’t a World Tree Maiden at all, but a warped monster, like a knot of dead wood!

Heh. Your imagination runs deep, Xiaoyue—like a rabbit hole—but that’s even less likely.

The silver-haired girl smiled at Yue Liuyi as if at a daft, adorable kitten. Your true body is surely a beautiful World Tree Maiden. And even if it weren’t—even if you were a gross monster—I’d still like you, like holding a thorny rose.

Hearing that, Yue Liuyi’s cheeks flared hot, embers under ash.

Li-LittleSnow...

But if your true body is a boy, that’s another story, a line drawn in chalk.

Eh!? Why is it different just because it’s a boy!!!

Hehe—payback for being so naughty earlier, Xiaoyue, like a fox keeping score.

Cradling the blue-haired girl, Dixue wore a prankster’s triumphant grin, sly as a fox with a stolen egg.

...

...

...

That night, Yue Liuyi slept easy, like a cat in a sunbeam.

Though the Moon Post Bookstore had sat idle for years and drafts wandered every corridor like stray ghosts, the cold always found a crack and slid in. But the girls held each other, and warmth pooled like tea.

At first light, Yue Liuyi rose bright-eyed, vigor bubbling like a spring.

LittleSnow, morning!

Mmm... morning...

LittleSnow looked spent; her eyes opened a sliver, then folded again like petals at dusk.

LittleSnow, I’ll go make breakfast, like lighting the kitchen hearth.

Okay... but no rush... let me sleep a bit more... zzz...

Dixue fell asleep at once. On the bed, hugging the quilt, she was tempting and adorable, like a snow fox curled in fur.

(Joy fizzed in me—if LittleSnow weren’t sick, I’d never see this cute side, like a hidden moon peeking through cloud!)

Watching her on the bed, Yue Liuyi decided to show her skills while LittleSnow was ill, to earn her trust, like weaving a red thread between hearts.

Otherwise, once LittleSnow recovered, the chance would evaporate like dew in sun.

Mm... first, I need to repair the Moon Post Bookstore. If night drafts keep slipping through, forget opening; even LittleSnow’s sleep will scatter like leaves.

With the goal set, Yue Liuyi began to plan. To open as LittleSnow envisioned, she’d replace broken glass, whitewash the outer wall, and find a small chalkboard to draw a sign, like hanging a lantern.

To gather the materials, she’d have to find substitutes. They weren’t cheap, but in half-deserted Linelor City, salvage lay everywhere like shells at low tide.

From those hollow, people-gone buildings, she could scavenge what she needed, like gleaning ears after harvest.

The junk-picking World Tree Maiden, moving out!

With a big burlap sack ready, Yue Liuyi stepped onto her “expedition,” heart quick as a sparrow taking flight.