“—Ah! Please don’t do that! I’m begging you...!”
Rip!
There wasn’t the slightest trace of sympathy in Isabelle’s deep-blue eyes. Her movements were clean and decisive. With a casual flick of her hand, Zhuyou’s outer clothes were disintegrated into particles, exposing her body and the blue-and-white undergarments beneath.
“...Master, do I need to take these off too?” Isabelle paused, then added, “I’m worried it might offend your eyes.”
“—Don’t!” Zhuyou cried out. “I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!”
“Really?” Vieya asked.
Zhuyou’s beautiful eyes turned icy as she stared at the two hateful enemies before her. At last, she made her decision. “Ask. As long as you’re willing to spare me this once, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Are you trying to negotiate terms with me?” Vieya tilted her head slightly, then smiled. “Keep stripping her. I really don’t like that look in her eyes.”
Rip!
The moment the words fell, Zhuyou felt a chill across her chest.
In an instant, her pretty face turned red and black at the same time, like a destruction mushroom about to swell and explode.
There was no doubt—if the restraints and suppression on her were lifted right /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ now, she would absolutely gamble her life on a spectacular self-detonation.
But she was suppressed so thoroughly that she couldn’t even move a finger. All the magic in her body had been solidified.
She, who always loved calling others dead fish, had now become a dead fish on someone else’s chopping board.
“All right, can you continue talking now?” freēwēbnovel.com
Vieya crossed her arms, looking at Zhuyou’s humiliated expression. The corners of her mouth lifted with pleasure as she mocked her,
“If you don’t talk soon, you’ll lose your last layer of armor too. Not only that, I’ll have Isabelle throw you out onto the street and let all the elves admire your disgrace.”
Zhuyou clenched her teeth. She swore that in her entire life, she had seen countless monsters and monster girls, but she had never seen such a shameless slime girl.
Oh, wait.
The dead white-haired thing in front of her was probably the first slime girl to ever appear on this land—at once embodying humanity’s vicious despicableness and a slime’s harmless-looking appearance. A true demon species.
Sorrow welled up in Zhuyou’s heart. When she looked at the utterly indifferent Isabelle standing before her, it felt as if something inside her soul shattered, turning gray and powerless.
Why was it that she could never surpass that lazy, stupid mermaid?
She was the one who worked hard—studying human military strategy day and night, researching ways to enhance her strength, planning the training of monster armies. While other monsters indulged themselves, she was still thinking about how to improve... and yet, in the end, she had never once beaten Isabelle.
She didn’t understand. She really didn’t understand.
Damn talent-born lucky freak...
Zhuyou’s eyes dimmed. Her voice turned bitter. She gave the two before her one last look, then slowly closed her eyes.
“I’ll talk...”
......
At the same time.
Aislin did not return to her room to sleep. She walked alone through dark alleys, then made her way along a small path toward the vicinity of the Elven Queen’s palace.
Under the clean silver moonlight, the Elven Royal City was quiet and mysterious.
At that moment.
A wisp of black mist drifted out from behind Aislin and hovered in midair, looking around beneath the moonlight.
Gradually, the black mist condensed, and it became possible to see that she was the soul of a female elf—ash-gray, slightly wavy long hair, pointed ears adorned with silver pendants that swayed back and forth.
She appeared to be a mature great elf, though her face retained a hint of baby fat. Her brows were gentle, giving off an overwhelming sense of approachability. Even the figure below her neck—though only a vague silhouette—was clearly outstanding.
Even a slime girl at her peak would have to sigh in admiration after seeing that.
“Sister Daisy, Vieya is a friend worthy of trust. Even if I told her about you, I can guarantee she’d only be curious about you,” Aislin said, looking up at the sky.
Daisy drifted in a circle in the air. Upon hearing that, she floated back beside Aislin.
She smiled with her beautiful eyes half-lidded, her voice gentle yet earnest.
“Little Aislin, I just feel that the aura on that child seems familiar... and besides, look at me like this—ah, I really wasn’t mentally prepared to face an old acquaintance’s child.”
As she spoke, the rather large elf even started twisting shyly in midair.
There was no need to put on an act—and what kind of mental preparation was even needed for that?
Aislin didn’t understand, but she respected it anyway. So she asked again, “Then, Sister Daisy, do you want to stay here reminiscing, or come with me to meet the current Elven Queen?”
“Hehe, no rush...” Daisy’s voice was very light, as soft as cotton candy—sweet like cotton candy. “Let me float around a little longer in this gentle, beautiful night.”
‘Sigh, is this one really an Elven Queen too?’
Aislin rubbed her forehead and sighed. In her impression, she had thought all Elven Queens were like her mother—cold, rigid, and meticulous.
But after walking through the altar, that centuries-old stereotype had shattered completely.
Thinking this, she glanced at the elf floating in the air, found a stone block nearby, and sat down to wait.
After a short while, Daisy floated back, satisfied, and said with a smile, “The current Elven Royal Court is developing very well—much more impressive than when I was around. Truly admirable.”
“...Mm. Then, Sister Daisy, are you going to keep floating a bit longer?”
“No more floating, no more floating. If I float any longer, little Aislin will get mad and abandon me.” Daisy sounded troubled.
‘At least she has some self-awareness,’ Aislin thought.
Daisy floated behind Aislin as they continued toward the palace where the Elven Queen resided.
The night here was very quiet, but Daisy seemed to be an elf even more enthusiastic than Aislin. She kept asking questions nonstop at Aislin’s side.
“Little Aislin, could you play a tune for me? We ghosts without physical bodies can’t play music ourselves,” Daisy put on a sad expression.
“Sorry. My instruments are all locked in cabinets back in my room... I can’t perform right now.”
“Is it that you can’t, or... that you don’t want to?”
“Maybe both. My mother requires me to be like her—to become a qualified Elven Queen. A qualified Elven Queen can’t casually laugh and joke. She has to be more serious, more solemn, so she can give more elves a sense of security.”
“...But are you happy like that?”
“Of course I am!”
Aislin suddenly stopped walking, turned to look at Daisy, her eyes filled with seriousness.
“Though the two ways of living are completely different, they mean the same to me. No matter what, I won’t run away from the responsibilities that belong to me!”
“......”
Daisy looked at Aislin in silence for a moment. Then, as if she sensed something, her brows quickly relaxed, and she smiled warmly.
“Oh my, little Aislin, look—since you came home so late, your mother has come out to look for you.”
“...!”
Aislin startled and hurriedly turned around. Then she saw the Elven Queen standing on the white marble steps of the great hall, silently watching them.
The Elven Queen’s gaze lingered on Aislin for a moment. After confirming her daughter was unharmed, she shifted her eyes to Daisy, who had already floated to within less than a meter of her.
Two elves. Four eyes meeting.
“So you’re the Elven Queen of this generation? You smell... somewhat unwell,” Daisy said, her tone tinged with melancholy.
The Elven Queen paused, then turned and walked back into the palace.
“If there’s something to discuss, let’s talk inside. Aislin, you come too.”
......
The basement.
After obtaining the information she wanted from Zhuyou, Vieya once again tossed out the painting scroll and sealed her back inside.
This time, however, there was an extra golden, gleaming bead in her hand.
[Dragon Pearl]
[Quality: Hidden]
[Effect: Unknown]
[Note: A condensed essence pearl that only pure-blooded dragon species living on the Eastern Continent can produce—yet it was actually birthed by a carp that leaped over the Dragon Gate? Curious? Strange!]