Alicia laid into Ling, then stormed out, smoke in her wake, claiming she needed to burn off her anger. She left Ling alone like a single lantern over a sea of paperwork.

Self-proclaimed smart Ling finished in an hour, a fox-grin on her face. She pressed both hands on her head and trotted to the sofa like a sparrow hopping to a branch. Her hands stayed clamped, and a big “bump” peeked beneath those tiny palms. Looks like Alicia’s strikes left a mark—on the floor, I mean, a hole the size of a loli’s head yawning like a crater.

Click. The door nudged open; Flan stood there, arms full of bandages and bottles like a traveling apothecary. “Miss Ling, Flan’s here to put medicine on.”

Without waiting, she pinned Ling gently yet firmly, like a nurse with silk gloves. She dabbed salve while Ling’s eyes brimmed like a pond about to spill. Then Flan rolled in a wheelchair, quiet as a swan. Ling blinked, baffled at first, then sat. Flan told her they were off to find Alicia. Ling didn’t resist; the chair was absurdly comfy, like floating on a warm cloud.

...Click. A jolt broke Ling’s bliss, and the little loli’s hair pricked up like a startled kitten. “Miss Ling, we’ve arrived,” Flan breathed by her ear like a breeze through reeds. Ling climbed down with reluctance clinging like dew, then took a seat by a grand round table. Alicia sat opposite, a winter calm across the wood.

Alicia pushed the gleam of her glasses up her nose. Her right hand twirled a black pen, a raven feather spinning in her fingers. Then she squared her shoulders and met Ling’s gaze. “Our next target is to bring the Elvenfolk into our empire, right?” Ling nodded, a bobbing buoy on a restless sea, while inside she stamped this place as the Main-Quest Reception Hall.

“The plan? We should have a real one this time, yeah?” “Of course!” Ling’s voice puffed with pride, like a rooster at dawn. Her face shouted praise me, the kind that makes you want to rush in and scrub that puppy head till it shines. Alicia lifted the hand that almost rose, then lowered it like a tide holding back. Her hopes for this silly loli’s brain were thin as spider silk, yet still hanging. The table suffered instead; two fingers pinched its edge like skin, twisting until wood curled up in splinters.

“Ahem! Your great Sister Ling, after a long think, weighed the Elvenfolk’s mountains and forests and their chill to outsiders, and reached one conclusion...” “Mm-hmm!” Alicia nodded, sparks lighting her eyes like lanterns. For a breath, she felt that homey ache—my girl’s finally grown, like a sapling catching sun.

“Conclusion—plans can’t outrun change. So we charge straight in. When the boat meets the bridge, the river straightens. Let fate steer.”

Crack. A corner of the table snapped clean, a dry branch under Alicia’s fingers. “As I feared. Believing your IQ would act normal was my biggest mistake.”

She fished under the table, impatient as a cat, and yanked out a stack of white pages scrawled in black. One lazy toss turned into a strike; the papers smacked Ling’s little face like windblown leaves. “Here’s my plan. The Elvenfolk dislike force, more or less. With other factors in mind, we’ll proceed like this. If you’ve got issues, we’ll discuss.”

Ling peeled the “plan” off her cheeks, eyes swimming. Dense words tangled with doodles like a child’s storm of crayons, enough to make the room spin like a top. “Emmm... Oh—so this and that, like so and so... Oh! Subarashii! A genius plan!”

She wasn’t faking. Even a loli with fluff for brains can read some words, like picking berries along a path. She didn’t get why the plan mattered, or how it differed from her beloved bulldozer style. But her trust in Alicia was solid as a stone bridge. Doing as Alicia said should be fine.

“Yeah, great plan. We’ll run with it.” Her mouth agreed like a bell, but doubt fluttered in her chest like a caged sparrow. Fate is a weather vane; it turns when it wants. She didn’t voice it. She lobbed the plan back, then stood. Restlessness bubbled in her bones like spring water. This warm house fed her urge to move like a brazier stoking coals. Now she had a reason to head out—to play—no, to work. She’d seize it.

“Alright then! Isn’t there a saying? The early bird gets the worm; the early loli’s unbeatable. If I remember right, Zhou Shuren said that. Let’s roll!”

“Wait!” Alicia’s sudden shout froze the foot Ling had already set like a deer catching a twig snap. Ling turned, cheeks taut with awkwardness. Her mind raced like a hamster, wondering how her seamless act gave away her plan‑to‑play heart.

“I’m coming with you.” Oh... scared this loli half to death. I thought I was about to get scolded again. She sneaked out a long breath, a kettle venting, then put on a thinking face, nodding now and then like a pecking bird. “Emmm... this side’s affairs wrapped up... that side can get a stand‑in...” About a minute of acting later, the loli ran out of theater. She smacked fist to palm like striking flint. “Approved!”

Alicia nodded, drew out a phone like a talisman, and made a three‑second call that cut the air like a blade. She’d summoned a helicopter. Power bends the wind; even split from the Empire, the old king still spoiled Alicia like spring spoils flowers. “Alright, once the chopper gets here, we depart. Remi, Flan, mind the house.”

Remi and Flan didn’t mind; it fit like rain in season. Time alone with big sister—little sister had been a wish in their hearts like a coin at the bottom of a well.

———

Main storyline... begin.