Yue Dier had always kept a secret, tucked away like a firefly in a lidded jar at midnight.

Hidden as roots under snow, it was still real as cold against the palm.

Dixue had a mild fear of men—an invisible thorn that pricked whenever a shadow wore broad shoulders.

She could talk fine most days, but skin-to-skin or anything tender with boys her age felt like icy water poured down her spine.

It’d sound ridiculous on lantern-lit streets: the Night Clan’s pearl, the elegant, beautiful branch chair, Yue Dier—afraid of men.

Normally, it wouldn’t matter; as the Night Clan’s princess, Dixue needed no boyish romance, only to tend the World Tree Maiden like a priestess before an ancient trunk.

But here lay the knot on the red thread: the World Tree Maiden she loved wore a boy’s face too.

Worse, she’d grown up as a boy; when he turned into a boy, he was all summer grass and sun-warm wind, not a hint of girl-soft.

Dixue twisted herself into knots; she loved Yue Liuyi, no doubt, no lie—even if she turned ugly, even a monster, she’d still love Xiaoyue, guard her like a pine in snow.

But not as a boy—there the line froze hard as rime.

It wasn’t emotion so much as instinct, like wild geese veering south before the first frost.

One look at Yue Liuyi’s boy face, and Dixue went blank; her head fogged, as if an unseen whirlpool dragged her down into cold, swallowing water.

Yue Liuyi didn’t know; seeing LittleSnow’s color fade, she leaned in, worry pattering like rain on eaves.

“LittleSnow… LittleSnow, what’s wrong?”

“Whoa! Xiaoyue—why are you this close? Ugh…”

As she came to, the boy-face of Yue Liuyi rose before her like a moon breaching cloud.

Less than eight inches—so close LittleSnow felt Dongfang Chen’s heat, a hearth at her cheek.

She’d chosen the bow to keep strangers at arrow’s length; now a boy her age was close as breath on glass.

Resisting was a dream; injured as she was, her arms were wet paper—she couldn’t even push Dongfang Chen, let alone touch his chest.

If Yue Liuyi suddenly went wild and did something terrible, the silver-haired girl couldn’t fight at all, a moth drowning under rain.

“Eh… LittleSnow hates this that much? Then I won’t be the director. I’ll stay home and keep you safe and snug.”

“Eh? That’s not it! Ugh…”

Yue Dier shook her head on reflex; heat flooded her cheeks, and she wanted to burrow under a quilt like a kit in winter.

Truth is, boy or girl, Yue Liuyi hit Dixue like an arrow to the heart just the same.

It was true damage—armor and wards ignored; when she was a girl, Dixue could tease Xiaoyue to vent the heat, but as a boy, nothing worked.

After all, this world only teaches World Tree Maiden Kidnapping 101, not World Tree Boy Kidnapping 101.

She’d thought she’d abducted a silly little girl home; instead, Yue Dier stood on thin ice, no step forward or back without a crack.

To ice the snow, boy-form Yue Liuyi went pure airhead at the worst moment.

“LittleSnow doesn’t mind? Eh? Then… do you have a fever? Ah! Maybe the wound’s infected!?”

Startled, Dongfang Chen caught the silver-haired girl’s wrist; he eased down the white sleeve, and her pale, tender arm shone like porcelain under dawn.

“Huh? It’s fine… no infection. Maybe the leg’s infected…”

“Ahhh! Xiaoyue, why is your airhead trait proccing now? Turn back into a girl, a cute girl, quick!”

“Eh…? Right now?”

Dongfang Chen tilted his head, puzzled, like a sparrow staring at thunder.

“Of course—right now! Transform, now!”

Face blazing like sunset on snow, Dixue issued a no-arguments command to transform.