Damn it. Why’d it have to be you, you cursed thing.

Nana Shi’s face went storm-gray as she crushed the Ice Emperor’s razor icicles with a rough squeeze; veins rose like knotted cords, angrier than when she’d faced Trollop.

If you can’t give me a reason that holds water today, you won’t take half a step out of Chronos City.

I ran myself ragged to hunt you down, crossed dunes and frost to quell the sigil anomaly in the Northland for your sake. The battle barely cooled, I didn’t even get a sip of tea—and you’re telling me you never left Chronos City?

Why don’t you just keel over.

Nana Shi had never found the woman before her so maddening. The last time she felt this disgusted was… the last time.

System: …

Host, you’re really doing this again, huh.

…

The Ice Emperor said nothing. A faint, almost-not-there smile hung on her lips like frost on a blade’s edge.

That expression always set Nana’s temper alight. Every time the Ice Emperor wore it, an itch to land a punch rose from the pit of Nana’s heart like a spark in dry grass.

If you’ve got gas to vent, vent it. Don’t stand there like a lightning rod and piss me off. Nana flicked her fingers, and the soldiers melted back like a tide, leaving only the Ice Emperor and Thousandwise behind her.

But Nana’s chill gaze lingered on Thousandwise like a shadow that stuck to the skin. About your master being inside my Chronos City—you knew all along, didn’t you?

Her voice wasn’t loud, yet in the hush it boomed like a drum. Locked in those ink-dark eyes, Thousandwise felt, for a heartbeat, as if she’d been dragged into a lightless abyss; even her breath turned thick.

Uh…

We moved alone this time. Aside from Us, no one could know Our whereabouts. The Ice Emperor’s voice struck straight into their minds like a bell in winter air. Clarity snapped back into Thousandwise’s gaze; Nana’s crushing pressure vanished in a breath, and her whole body felt weightless again.

What We did was forced by circumstance. If you return what belongs to Us, We can give you a reasonable explanation.

What thing?

Nana’s brow arched. Her look turned strange.

As far as she knew, she’d never taken anything from the Ice Emperor in the Northland.

That. The Ice Emperor’s finger cut the air toward Nesting Phoenix, who stood not far away behind Yan Xiao’s guard.

She was the same as ever—going her own way, a sovereign unchained by any fetter.

But…

You want her? Nana traced the line of that finger, and a crooked smile slid across her face. Spirit Energy flared around her like heat shimmering off stone, turning the air into a restless ripple.

Did the door slam your head on your way out today?

Nesting Phoenix is my bottom line. How dare you stomp across my minefield like it’s a dance floor.

Think you’re untouchable, no one can rein you in?

…

The palace went knife-quiet. The System felt its legs shake like reed stalks in a gale.

When my host wears that look, she’s already thinking about killing…

Thousandwise, only just hauled back to herself by the Ice Emperor, stood weakly at her back and didn’t dare breathe too loud.

Our Majesty’s born disregard can give you a headache sometimes…

Standing at the center, the Ice Emperor acted like she couldn’t see Nana’s face at all. She lifted her chin a fraction, lips barely moving. City Lord Shi, are you dissatisfied with Us?

Dissatisfied doesn’t cover it. I’m using everything I’ve got not to twist your neck off right now. So watch your mouth. Nana’s smile turned sharp and mean.

She wasn’t the patient sort. The Ice Emperor had helped her once, true, but that didn’t mean Nana would yield—especially not when her bottom line was on the chopping block.

Yield? Not happening.

Just as the air drew tight, ready to split.

Suddenly—

A clear, thready voice broke the tension like a pebble on still water. Nana, breathe. Your Majesty the Ice Emperor, too—talk it through. There’s a misunderstanding here!

Bandages wrapped her head; a white hospital gown draped her frame. Yan Xiao rolled in on a wheelchair pushed by a robot, like a wisp in moonlight.

Nana’s brow pinched—annoyance flashed, then cooled. She didn’t scold. She only asked, Your wounds aren’t healed. What are you doing out here?

You could’ve pinged that dumb System. Why risk it? If anything happens—

I… it’s kind of serious. Yan Xiao’s cheeks flushed as the robot eased her forward.

No one needs to be at each other’s throat. Nana, what Her Majesty wants is the artificial sigil currently installed on Nesting Phoenix. Not Nesting Phoenix herself.

Is that what you mean? Nana turned to the Ice Emperor, not to ask so much as to warn: it’d better be.

Correct. The artificial sigil on her is important to Us. If possible, We wish to reclaim it now. The Ice Emperor’s tone softened like thawing ice. As for the girl herself—We’ve no interest. One loyal pet is enough. More is a nuisance.

Y-Your Majesty… Feeling that sovereign hand ruffle her hair, Thousandwise’s cheeks flamed rose-red, and something low in her body reacted in a way that wasn’t ideal for court.

…

You two can stop now. Nana tugged at the corner of her mouth and cut her gaze back to Yan Xiao. Weren’t artificial sigils your own research? How are they hers?

Because the sigil’s carrier came from the Northland. Yan Xiao’s smile went a little bitter. And thanks to that carrier, I could develop an artificial high-grade sigil at all. Otherwise, Nesting Phoenix would still be floating in a nutrient pod.

What about the sigil Kleisint had?

Allow Us. The Ice Emperor seemed in rare good humor now that the knot had loosened; words came more freely than usual. In this matter of sigils, blame lies with Us. It let ill-intentioned hands find a gap. We are not human, but a spirit medium born a thousand years ago in the Northland, condensed from its killing cold. We have no flesh of Our own. We’ve survived by inhabiting life within the Northland.

But Our core is woven from a thousand years of Northland Spirit Energy. Our soul is too heavy. Even sleeping, doing nothing, any host would crack beneath Our weight.

Left with no choice, We turned Our Spirit Energy into sigils. Split in two. One sigil shaped a human shell for Us—the spirit body. The other lodged upon that spirit body, power We could wield. Split in two, yet one whole.

But that cut Our strength. Each year, there are days, sometimes weeks, when We turn weak. During that time, We must dissolve the shell’s sigil, return to sigil-form, and enter the other sigil, to nourish the shell.

And because your true self goes inside the sigil, it goes ownerless. Kleisint took it. You were trapped and couldn’t get out. Nana spoke over her, her thoughts already striding ahead like a blade through fog.

Am I right? She met the Ice Emperor’s eyes.

This time, the Ice Emperor only smiled, quiet as falling snow.

So that’s that. Nana was quick. Half a sentence and she’d traced the whole arc.

Which meant she’d run for nothing.

There are only two high-grade sigils. Both belong to the Ice Emperor.

If she reclaims them, Nesting Phoenix goes back into the pod.

All that running around, and I end up paying the Ice Emperor back a favor?

Hey now, Nana, don’t lose heart. There’s a way. Yan Xiao’s eyes brightened, mischief cutting through fatigue.

What good news? Don’t tell me there’s a third high-grade sigil. Nana looked up, temper prickling.

Well… working off the Ice Emperor’s sigil-body from the Northland gave me an idea. Yan Xiao flicked up a holo-screen with a swipe, pale blue light washing her face. If Nana can find another vessel akin to a high-grade sigil, making a second artificial high-grade sigil isn’t impossible. I kept that drop of phoenix essence blood perfectly intact.

But where’s the host supposed to find such a vessel? The System finally piped up, a bubble breaking the surface.

An existence like Her Majesty, a spirit medium condensed from ambient Spirit Energy, is already beyond the norm. Finding another vessel like that is about as hard as finding her a new body.

…

The Ice Emperor nodded, for once in agreement.

No need to strain your circuits, Little One. Nana has mastery over the law of time. Plucking a worldline from the Three Thousand Worlds with a suitable vessel isn’t hard. It’s only a matter of time. Yan Xiao’s smile skewed, just a touch unhinged.

W-what do you mean? Little One felt a bad wind rising off her host.

You still don’t get it? She wants us to keep plane-hopping and fishing for random drops from the Dao of Heaven.

Little One: …Sounds exactly like my host.

Nana’s teeth itched with anger, a wolf gnawing a bone.

But there was no way around it.

It was the only path left to save Nesting Phoenix.

She glanced at the girl who’d been watching her face in silence for a long time. The harsh words curled on Nana’s tongue, then melted away like frost in sun.

It wasn’t a question of go or not. In her heart, Nesting Phoenix had always been first.

Am I… a burden to you? Night draped the room. Nesting Phoenix bit her lip as Nana lifted her onto the bed, the question slipping out without permission. You don’t have to do all this.

She’d been conscious in the nutrient pod. As long as she knew she was alive, she’d already been content.

Hush. Nana’s long white finger touched her parted lips, a petal pressed quiet.

Her ink-dark eyes, rinsed with moonlight, shone clear and tender.

Nana drew her close. One hand settled at that slender waist like a vow, her voice low as a night breeze. I won’t allow you to stay in that cramped little box.

Nesting Phoenix is the one she holds on the tip of her heart. If she stays, it’s on the throne above all others.

And…

Don’t use titles on me. Hold me. Say my name.

Mm…

Nesting Phoenix felt the warmth at her lips, a sear like a brand pressed into her heart.

Even her breathing tangled into threads.

Na-na…

Hm?

I love you.

I love you.

They’d never said those three words. At most, a soft I like you. Tonight, she said them first.

For a heartbeat Nesting Phoenix went blank—until Nana kissed her bold and sure, fingers deft on the fastenings of her clothes, and sense came back in a sweet fog.

By the bedside, buttons yielded one by one to Nana’s gentle touch. Bathed in lunar silver, Nesting Phoenix’s slim, snow-white body came into full view—lines clean as carvings in jade. The pair that usually looked flat beneath her clothes, freed at last, rose with quiet pride.

Nana Shi’s gentle touch stalled for a beat. She’d known Nesting Phoenix was stunning, but that moon‑bathed body in the flesh stole her soul. Beauty worthy of Artemis, it kept plucking at her nerves like a silver string.

“What is it?”

Feeling the woman on her go still, Nesting Phoenix murmured without thinking, a breath like a feather by the ear.

That one soft sound cracked open the deepest love buried in Nana’s heart.

Birdsong seemed to ripple at her ear. Trusting everything to Nana, Nesting Phoenix felt herself drawn into a whirlpool; before thought could rise, another crest lifted her higher.

...

They tangled until near dawn. When Nesting Phoenix finally dropped into heavy sleep, spent, Nana Shi held her close and let her own breath slow.

Sleep wouldn’t come. Her head kept replaying that soft voice, those pleading eyes, sweet as a spoiled child.

Did she like Nesting Phoenix?

Yes. Otherwise she wouldn’t have done so much for her.

And love?

Nana stared at the steady breath and went a little dazed, caught in the hush between heartbeats.

The sky had begun to pale. A wash of light fell beside Nesting Phoenix, and somehow Nana stirred her awake.

“What’s wrong, Nana?” By reflex, Nesting Phoenix wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled into her chest, reluctant to leave the warm dark.

“Don’t sleep. Listen.”

Nana gently lifted her face from her embrace, guiding her to meet her eyes.

Through sleep‑blurred lashes, Nesting Phoenix saw her lover’s face; her pupils bloomed wide like dark flowers.

“Mmm.”

The kiss melted her legs.

But Nana didn’t stop.

“I love you too.”

At first light, with dawn brushing the world like silk, Nana Shi said it to Nesting Phoenix.