Yilisi blushed and stood at the bathroom door with her head bowed, like a child who'd done something wrong. She secretly watched Bai Ye's expression from the corner of her eye.
“Together... That might not be appropriate.”
At Bai Ye's reply, Yilisi's body gave a small shudder, and even her eyes dimmed.
“I suppose so. Someone like me, actually daring to hope I could be with Big Sister Bai Ye...”
“No, that's not what I meant!”
Seeing Yilisi's expression, Bai Ye hurriedly waved her hands.
“It's just that this bath is a little cramped. If you don't mind, of course we can bathe together.”
“R-really?”
“Of course.”
“That's such a relief.”
With Bai Ye's permission, Yilisi hurried over to the bath, casually pulled off her towel, and stepped in.
“Wait! Why are you taking off your towel?”
At Bai Ye's question, Yilisi tilted her head.
“Taking a bath with a towel wrapped around me? Wouldn't that be weird?”
“Ah... Y-yeah, I suppose so.”
Bai Ye quietly drew back the hand she'd reached out to grab the towel, turned her head away, and did her best not to look at Yilisi's body. She even tried to keep as much distance between them as she could.
But while Bai Ye was trying to keep her distance, Yilisi didn't seem to realize it at all. She even moved closer and rested her head on Bai Ye's shoulder.
“Y-Yilisi?”
The sudden contact startled Bai Ye.
“Is that not okay?”
Yilisi's voice was soft. She was clearly embarrassed, but Bai Ye just couldn't bring herself to turn her down.
“...It's okay.”
“Thank you, Big Sister Bai Ye.”
Yilisi snuggled even closer, but Bai Ye didn't say anything more.
Perhaps Yilisi wanted a little more comfort from her. Out of sympathy for her, Bai Ye simply couldn't bring herself to refuse.
“Big Sister Bai Ye, will those nobles really be punished?”
“They will.”
“But they're nobles, aren't they? Aren't nobles really powerful?”
Bai Ye reached out and gently ruffled Yilisi's hair.
“I can promise you they'll face the full punishment of the Empire's laws. They won't get away with it.”
“Mm. I believe you, Big Sister Bai Ye.”
Yilisi edged even closer, until she was nestled against Bai Ye.
She wrapped her arms around Bai Ye's slender waist and rested her head against Bai Ye's chest.
“Yilisi, are you still scared?”
Bai Ye didn't push Yilisi away. She let her hold on.
The poor girl had been through something so terrifying. If holding Bai Ye could comfort her, Bai Ye didn't mind.
“I'm a little scared, but when I'm with you, Big Sister Bai Ye, I'm not afraid anymore.”
“It's okay. It's all over now,” Bai Ye comforted her. “Tomorrow morning, I'll buy you a few things to wear, then take you home.”
“Thank you, Big Sister Bai Ye...”
Bai Ye gently pinched Yilisi's cheek and said,
“There's no need to thank me. I'm going to Nokan Territory anyway, so taking you there is just along the way.”
“Come to think of it, Big Sister Bai Ye, aren't you from the Royal Capital? Why are you leaving?”
Yilisi blinked her big eyes and looked at Bai Ye curiously.
The Royal Capital was the Empire's most prosperous city. Countless people would do anything to settle there, so Yilisi couldn't understand why Bai Ye wanted to leave.
“Because of someone who's very important to me.”
“S-someone important...”
Yilisi froze for a moment, then lowered her eyes in silence. For some reason, her voice sounded a little flustered.
“C-could that person be your lover, Big Sister Bai Ye?”
“My lover?”
Hearing Yilisi's question, Bai Ye gave a helpless little smile.
“How could that be? What are you thinking?”
“Oh... So they're not your lover...”
“Of course not.”
Bai Ye gave Yilisi's little nose a gentle pinch.
“But I won't go into it tonight. I'll tell you when we have time. Dry off and get some sleep.”
Yilisi obediently nodded.
“Mm.”
......
Tonight was bound to be a sleepless one for An Jieli.
Though it was already late at night, An Jieli was still seated on her throne, waiting for her subordinates to report back.
“Your Majesty, it may take a while before we have an answer. Why don't you get some sleep first? I'll let you know as soon as we find something.”
The maid beside her tried to persuade An Jieli to rest. By any ordinary schedule, it was already well past the Queen's bedtime.
“Do I look like I could sleep right now?”
An Jieli propped her head up with one hand. Her body was tired, but her mind was too unsettled. Even if she tried to sleep, she probably wouldn't be able to.
“Pass down my orders. No one sleeps until we have an answer. I'll wait right here until they report back!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
When traces of a magic circle had been found in Bai Ye's room earlier, someone had speculated that it was a teleportation circle. But how could an ordinary teleportation circle possibly get someone out of the Imperial Palace?
So An Jieli had ordered them to search every book on magic circles and find out what this one did. She hadn't expected the search to take the entire day.
Those useless fools. I should fire the lot of them!
They can't find a person, and they can't even figure out what a magic circle does. Useless—all of them!
As An Jieli was pondering this, someone suddenly came to report that they'd finally figured out the traces of the magic circle in Bai Ye's room.
