Bai Ye tried to sit up, only to find that her arm was pinned down.

She turned her head toward Yilisi and saw that, even in her sleep, the girl was clutching Bai Ye’s arm and refusing to let go.

“Mmm~ Big Sis Bai Ye...”

Hearing Yilisi’s sleepy mumbling, Bai Ye tenderly stroked her cheek. It seemed Yilisi was uneasy even in her dreams.

Carefully, Bai Ye slipped her arm free, tucked Yilisi in, and got out of bed.

She had a lot to do today. Besides hiring a carriage to take them out of the city, she needed to buy Yilisi a few outfits. The girl was still wearing one of Bai Ye’s spare shirts.

Bai Ye carefully drew back the curtains. It was still early; the sun was just peeking over the horizon and hadn’t fully risen yet.

Even so, the Royal Capital was already restless this morning.

Through the window, she could just make out a squad of knights racing toward the imperial palace. Both riders and horses were clad in black armor, and they seemed to be in a great hurry.

“She’s sent the Black Night Knights here so soon? An Jieli must’ve already guessed that I left the palace.”

Rumor had it that after the Black Night Knight disappeared, the Black Night Knights had been pushed to the sidelines and never sent to the front lines again.

But the truth was, An Jieli simply didn’t want Bai Ye returning to the battlefield. And if Bai Ye wasn’t going to war, then naturally, the knights under her command would have a different role.

The Black Night Knights now guarded the Royal Capital. They were usually stationed in a camp outside the city, and in a crisis, they took orders directly from An Jieli herself. Naturally, they weren’t sent to the front lines anymore.

With this squad of Black Knights racing toward the palace, it seemed An Jieli had given the order herself. There weren’t many things that would make her deploy the Black Night Knights. This was probably still about Bai Ye’s disappearance.

“We’d better leave the Royal Capital as soon as we can...”

“Mmm~”

As Bai Ye pondered, Yilisi stretched beside her and woke up.

“Big Sis Bai Ye?”

When Yilisi woke and found Bai Ye wasn’t beside her, she unexpectedly panicked for a moment.

Luckily, she only had to turn her head a little to see Bai Ye standing by the window, so she didn’t get too flustered.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, no!” Yilisi hurriedly waved her hands. “I’d just woken up anyway. You didn’t wake me, Big Sis!”

Yilisi’s reaction was so cute that Bai Ye couldn’t help smiling.

“All right. Since you’re awake, let’s go get something to eat. I bet you’re hungry too, aren’t you, Yilisi?”

“Mm-hm.”

...

It was still early, but most shops had already opened. There weren’t many customers, but shopkeepers lived by the principle that every extra coin earned was a coin worth earning. They always got up earlier than ordinary folks.

“Sigh~ Not a single customer...”

At that moment, the owner of a clothing boutique was leaning against the doorway, sighing.

“Can’t be helped. Yours is an upscale clothing shop, so you don’t get many customers at the best of times—let alone this early.”

The shop assistant chatted with her boss as she tidied up, getting the store ready to open.

“We haven’t had any customers with taste lately, either. My ‘babies’ are just dying to be worn by a beautiful girl!”

“Store manager...”

The shop assistant didn’t know how to respond. Her boss didn’t seem to care much about how much the shop earned. She seemed far more concerned with whether her clothes would ever be worn by a beautiful girl.

“Sigh~ Without a beautiful girl around, I can’t even find the inspiration to design clothes...”

The shop owner leaned against the doorframe, looking utterly dejected.

“Oh, heavens! I don’t even care if I make money—just drop two beautiful girls right in front of me!”

“‘I don’t even care if I make money’? You’ve got to be kidding, Store Manager,” the shop assistant muttered from the side. “At least make enough to pay my wages.”

“Don’t worry. Even if my shop goes under, I won’t leave your wages unpaid.”

As the two chatted, a pleasant voice suddenly came from outside the shop.

“Excuse me, are you open?”

At the sound of that voice, the shop owner gave a sudden jolt. In all her years of meeting beautiful girls, she’d learned that a voice like that probably belonged to one!

She hurriedly turned around. Sure enough, there was a beautiful girl—and not just one, but two!

The two girls were tall and short. The shorter one was delicate and adorable, with a slender figure, like a doll you could hold in your arms.

As for the taller, silver-haired girl, she was something else. Her features were delicate, and she had a cool air about her. With that head of silver hair, anyone would believe she was a princess from some kingdom!

“We are! Of course we’re open!”

The shop owner seemed to have been injected with a shot of excitement as she hurriedly made a welcoming gesture.

“Big Sis Bai Ye, maybe we should forget it. The clothes in here look so expensive.”

Yilisi tugged at Bai Ye’s sleeve, looking reluctant to enter the shop.

The clothing shop wasn’t very large, but everything about it screamed one thing: expensive! From the fine wood used to decorate the storefront to the delicate texture of the fabrics, it all spoke of luxury.

Yilisi’s father was a merchant, and she’d grown up comfortably enough. Even so, she’d never been into a shop like this.

So even though Bai Ye had chosen this shop, Yilisi really couldn’t bring herself to go inside.

“Let’s go. Yilisi wouldn’t mind even if she doesn’t get any new clothes.”