“Whoa, LittleSnow, put me down already! Don’t scoop people up without a word like a crane snatching laundry in the wind. I’m Yue Liuyi, a delicate girl, not a plush pillow to toss around.”

“Hehe, no way~ Little Yue’s a talking pillow, soft as a cloud at dawn. So cute—pat, pat.”

Even after setting Yue Liuyi back on the floor like a leaf settling after a breeze, Dixue showed zero remorse, fingers combing the blue-haired girl’s bangs like a kitten teasing silk.

“Uu… if I’d known it’d turn out like this, I wouldn’t have healed LittleSnow so soon, like mending a bow only to get shot.”

Yue Liuyi shook her head, cheeks pink like peach blossoms in spring. The silver-haired girl still sleeping on the bed was softer and gentler, fit to be a little wife like a candle by dusk.

Unlike now—bullying me in front of strangers like a gust flipping a skirt, making me shy like mist over a pond.

Purple Illusion lowered her head, the gesture heavy as a wilting lotus, as if making a hard choice weighed like stone.

“Uh… you two are that strong… looks like Little Illusion can only agree, like a sail yielding to the tide?”

“The Capital Alliance has plenty of exploiters who swallow people whole, bones and all, like wolves in a winter gorge. Don’t get too close to them.”

[Filtered: author commentary]

“But… change means danger, like crossing a rope bridge in fog, and a lot of things can’t bear that risk.”

“Still, that’s life—no road is nine-tenths certain, like stars behind cloud. If we’ve got seventy percent, we should try, like launching a boat with a fair wind.”

It was the same when Yue Liuyi left her hometown for the New Land, a bandit-ridden plain like thornbrush. The New Land was dangerous as cliffs in rain, but if she hadn’t crossed that risk, she wouldn’t have found the Eternal Tear, Linelor City’s plants wouldn’t have sprung up like green tide, and the new park’s chance to transform wouldn’t have bloomed.

“Try… okay, I get it. When the new park rises like a garden after rain, give Little Illusion a good spot, all right? The kind with the most guests, like a market at noon.”

“Don’t say one—several is fine, like lanterns in a festival row! A new park means swarms of restaurants and inns, business buzzing like bees.”

“Mm… Little Illusion understands.”

…

…

With the deal finally nailed down like pegs in dry earth, Yue Liuyi, LittleSnow, and Purple Illusion returned to the lounge of the Mystic Illusion Cafe, the air warm as tea steam.

“Master, you’re back!” came the greeting, light as a sparrow.

Black-haired Yin Mu lay sprawled on the sofa like a boneless cat in a sunbeam; the cotton cushions looked dangerously comfortable, like a nest of clouds.

“Mm. The Mechanical Monster’s been wiped out like soot in rain. Next, we head for the Xinke District to keep the plan rolling like a wheel on packed clay.”

“Huh? Where’s the red-haired big brother? Aren’t we waiting for him like a hawk for its mate?”

Lidashi sat on the sofa with both arms tucked in, obedient as a schoolboy, like a well-trained pup at heel.

(Obedient)

“Mm… Purple Illusion will handle the extraction, like a ferry at midnight. The rest, LittleSnow and I can manage, like twin blades.”

“B-but if it’s just the two of you, that’s too dangerous, like lanterns in a gale!”

“Hehe, don’t worry! With me and LittleSnow together, we’ll bag that guy called Fu Pi, like netting a boar in a thicket.”

Yue Liuyi patted her chest like a drumbeat, confidence bright as morning sun.

Yes—our plan was to seize the king to end the thieves, like plucking the head vine from a tangle.

Fu Pi and Linoket want to turn Dreamwood Star into a factory for their capital’s grip, like vines strangling a tree. If we capture both, we can cut their plan at the root like felling a stump.

“I know you two are very strong, like storm and thunder. But even so, you might not withstand the Capital Alliance’s army, a steel tide with thorns. They’ve got starships and powered armor, and plenty of hidden trump cards like daggers up sleeves.”

Purple Illusion had just learned the girls’ plan, and she spoke the biggest obstacle aloud like a bell in fog.

Even with the blessing of the World Tree Maiden, LittleSnow could unleash world-shattering magic like lightning splitting a mountain. But that power isn’t endless, like a river in drought.

Dreamwood Star doesn’t brim with magic elements, like thin air at altitude. Under the Capital Alliance’s attrition, even a legendary-tier mage could be dragged into a slog like mud; their tech comes from the Inner Ring civilization, with anti-magic counters like shields under silk.

“Trump cards?” The words fell like a pebble into a well.

“Little Illusion doesn’t know… and if Fu Pi hides, you’ll never find him, like a boar burrowed in brambles. He’s sly and greedy, like a hog sniffing truffles.”

“True… that tracks like footprints in dust.”

In war, speed wins like fire racing through grass; if we miss Fu Pi the first time, catching him later gets harder, like chasing a fox after the snow melts.

“Hehe, but Little Illusion has a good idea, bright as a lantern.”

The purple-haired girl blinked, suddenly lively like a fish breaking the surface.

“A g-good idea?”

“Mm! Every night, Fu Tong Industries—Fu Pi’s HQ—orders takeout from Little Illusion, like a clock striking. If you disguise yourselves as couriers, you can strike unexpected, like thunder from a clear sky.”

“Eh? We can do that?” Yue Liuyi’s eyes lit like stars.

She recalled a tale from the Warring States, old as moss—an assassin named Zhuan Zhu hid a dagger in a fish’s belly to kill King Liao of Wu, like death tucked in a feast.

Same idea now—just swap the fish for takeout, like masks for blades.

“Mm, but… those guys have strict demands for the couriers, like seals on a gate.”

Purple Illusion eyed Yue Liuyi, hesitation flickering like a moth’s wing.

“Huh? Do they want the couriers to be cute or pretty, like flowers on a tray?”

“Yes, and you two can easily meet that, like roses after rain. The hard part is the outfit… they require a uniform, no private clothes, like geese in matching flight.”

“Oh, that’s all? That’s natural, like bright shirts for road safety.”

“In the Inner Ring, delivery folks wear yellow like canaries, for visibility and fewer accidents, like lighthouses on roads.”

“Mm, but… they require couriers to wear maid outfits, the very fancy kind, like lace snow.”

“M-maid outfits?”

“If you two don’t mind, I’ll have Aya attend you and help you change into the dedicated maid uniforms, like a dresser before a play.”

…

…

…

Dark Interlude

Betrayal

After sending Yue Liuyi and LittleSnow to the changing room like swans behind a screen, Purple Illusion returned alone to her office, steps quiet as falling ash.

No ceiling lights—only a dim violet glow rose from the floor lines like bioluminescent moss, wrapping her in darkness like ink around a petal.

Her skirt swayed like a wavelet; lacquered fingertips touched a dusk-black button like a raven’s beak.

Moments later, a pitch-black hologram rose in the center of the office like a shadowed moon.

“Oh? It’s you… Why did you call, like a bell before storm?”

The voice was a rough, heavy man’s, gravel-deep like a riverbed, at least forty or fifty by the sound.

“Lord Linoket, bad news! Someone’s going to attack you and Lord Fu Pi, like knives in a banquet.”

Purple Illusion opened her mouth and let it spill without hesitation, words cold as night dew.

“Ha! An attack? Heh…” The man’s laugh was a blade on ice. “Did the Council send someone again, like wolves from the ridge? They never think the graves are full enough.”

“No! These attackers are terrifying, like dragons under silk. They’ve got legendary-tier strength, and they don’t seem fully tied to the Council, like stray lightning.”

“What? L-legendary-tier? Are you sure, like iron to the touch?”

Even through the hologram, the proud voice of the middle-aged man wavered like heat haze.

“Sure. While helping Little Illusion wipe out the mantis, I saw it—true legendary-tier, a level Little Illusion can’t stand against, like a candle in a gale.”

“Urgh… damn that old hag on the Council!” His shadow clenched a fist like a storm knot.

“Looks like… we’ll have to do it this way,” he said, voice falling like a guillotine.

“W-wait! Lord Linoket, Little Illusion hasn’t blown her cover, like a fox in tall grass. I’m still a subordinate of the Shadow Alliance. I won their trust like a cat purring, and I used a stratagem to have them come to you and surrender themselves like fish to a net.”

“A stratagem…? What is it, like a hook under bait?”

“Have them disguise as delivery couriers, bringing dinner to HQ like dusk birds. They’ll be in maid outfits, so they won’t carry armor or weapons, like dancers without blades.”

“Ha-ha, well done!” The black figure laughed, wild as thunder on stone. “Worthy of the ‘Queen’ of the Violet World, Purple Illusion! All right—I’ll be the one to wipe them out, like a scythe through reeds.”

“W-wait, Lord Linoket!”

Seeing him about to cut the line, Purple Illusion grew anxious, voice trembling like strings.

“What else, like an echo in a cave?”

“H-her…?” The purple-haired girl asked carefully, the word fragile as a moth.

“I’ve told you—this isn’t something done in a day or two, like carving jade. Hmph! The fact she’s still alive is already a miracle, like frost that doesn’t kill the bloom.”

“L-Little Illusion understands,” she murmured, small as a fallen leaf.

“Good. That’s that.”

The man in shadow cut the connection like a blade through silk.