Dusk, 16:48

The boardroom at Teng Corporation’s headquarters held the sky and Linelor City in its gaze, a window like a lake swallowing horizon and cloud.

Gold‑and‑jade trim gleamed like sun on river stones. Lush green orchids breathed quietly. Cherrywood chairs and tables sat solid as old trees, flaunting the company’s power.

At the room’s heart reclined a black‑haired woman in her twenties, a quiet moon amid glitter.

She wore a silk black hanfu, her classic dark hair coiled into a hairpin and falling like a waterfall. Her long sleeves slipped along the recliner, airy and idle, beauty like orchids on a riverbank.

“Oh… they’re just charging straight in?”

Calm first, then motion. She lowered her head and watched the tableau outside. The enemy surged like a rising tide, yet she only opened her folding fan. Her phoenix eyes hovered between smile and shadow, narrowing like crescent blades.

“Madam, your courage is stunning!”

Across from her, a man in azure bowed, hands cupped. “With a thousand riders at our gate, your calm is like autumn water. Ai truly admires you!”

“Haha, Young Master Ai, spare me the praise. If you weren’t here, how could I keep my heart as still as stone?”

Smiling, she let a glance drift to Ai Qing, a look both stately and free, a blossom opening under frost. Without foreknowledge of her past, Ai Qing might have forgotten himself.

She was Teng Feiyang’s wife. As the Ai clan’s envoy and an ally, Ai Qing dared not lose face.

“M‑Madam… you—you jest! Haha… You rushed back to Dreamwood Star today. Surely there’s a plan?”

“No grand plan. I’ll just push along with the current, let things flow like water.”

“Eh! You mean—!”

Ai Qing’s eyes widened, disbelief stark as lightning.

“If they want this tower, let them have it.” She closed her fan with a crisp snap. “But everyone inside will be my husband’s burial offering.” Teng Ruolan spoke, her tone cold as winter steel.

...

“Ah… this little cake is so good~ Angel sis, I want more~”

Little Rose licked her lips, happiness glowing like a lantern.

It was private feeding time. Injured, the red‑haired little girl lay in Yue Liuyi’s arms, while the blue‑haired maiden fed her fresh strawberry cake, bite by sugary bite.

“No more. Keep going and your calories will blow past the line. You haven’t moved much these days. You’ll puff up like a dumpling!”

“Eh? Puff up?”

“Mm… you’ll turn into a little piggy. Your cute dresses won’t fit, like petals crammed in a jar.”

Saying it, Yue Liuyi remembered what LittleSnow had done to her, a sweet trap wrapped in lace.

Back on the Skyship, LittleSnow spoiled her, always pushing cakes and cookies, meals piling up like clouds—never ending, never empty.

At first, Yue Liuyi thought it was kindness. Even though she was technically a boy, sweets called to her like fireflies.

Soon, something felt off—like grit under a pearl. One day outside the study, she heard LittleSnow whispering.

“Eh? Why hasn’t my little Yue turned into a little pig yet? If she gets chubby, she shouldn’t be able to start a harem, right?”

“Is it the wrong ingredients…? I’ll check…”

“Eh!? Eh!!! So a World Tree Maiden won’t get fat no matter how much she eats! Ugh… I forgot! Little Yue’s a natural recycle pool. All food turns into pure life force, no effect on her figure…”

“But… would Jin Kela fertilizer make her gain? Little Yue said she’ll never eat fertilizer, right? Hmm… I’ll slip a pinch into tomorrow’s cake. She won’t notice, right?”

And so LittleSnow’s little plot unraveled like a ribbon, caught by Yue Liuyi’s gaze.

Back to the point: even a World Tree Maiden needs balance like a garden. Cake might be heavenly, but cream is high‑heat fuel. Too much skews the body’s rhythm.

“Waa! But without cake, Little Rose’s mood droops like wilted petals, and recovery won’t bloom as fast.”

Eyeing the remaining strawberry cake, the little girl all but drooled, a brook ready to overflow.

“Th‑then… try cucumber cake! Dress it with lettuce and purple cabbage. It’s tasty too!”

“Little Rose isn’t silly! That’s fruit salad, not— eh!”

Boom.

They were sitting on the bed when the floor rolled like a drumhead, shaking the room.

“Careful!”

Emotion first, then motion. Yue Liuyi steadied the tipping glass. The entire Moon Post Bookstore shuddered, wooden plaques knocking the wall, the door chime rattling like hail.

“Was that an earthquake!!”

“Wow, did a building collapse!!!!”

“Ah! My Moon Post Bookstore… Eh? It’s still up…”

“It’s a distant tower! Angel sis, look there!!!!!!”

Little Rose pointed. On the skyline, a high‑rise bloomed into a sea of fire and then came apart, a flower of flame tearing free.

The thunder arrived late, miles piled into a single roar. Like a bomb, the shockwave punched the sky over Linelor City. In the dim clouds, a mushroom cloud lifted slowly like a bruised dream.

“Xiao Yue, are you okay!!!!!!”

A silver‑haired maiden shoved the door open and ran in, urgency sharp as wind.

“Mm… I’m fine! Little Rose is fine too. What about everyone?”

The blast was far from Winterwood District. After a brief shiver, the bookstore settled like a pond after rain.

“Uh… the others should be fine! Xiao Yue, did that mutation scare you into crying? Come to sis’s arms!”

“How could this level make me cry…”

Yue Liuyi set Little Rose back on the bed, then craned to look toward the ruined tower, eyes like clear water.

By the angle, the blast was in Xinke District. Raised on Dreamwood Star, she’d never once gone there.

“What’s happening…? How does a tower just explode like that?”

“Stop acting strong. Mm! Xiao Yue, cry for me now!”

From behind, Dixue hugged Yue Liuyi, face “serious,” eyes fixed on the window like a hawk.

“Who makes someone cry first and then comforts them!”

“I heard domineering CEOs do that. LittleSnow must like sister being a bit more bossy, right?”

“There’s no such thing!”

Yue Liuyi braced to wriggle free, when hurried footsteps rushed down the corridor, a drumbeat on wood.

“Eh? That sound is—”

“What happened!!!!!!”

The one who pushed the door in was Miss Teng Ying, her face tight with worry.