“Phew~” Liana breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that there hadn’t been any major problems; the full moon night had concluded relatively smoothly.

“Your hand is trembling.” Mephilia reached out and held Liana’s hand. “Are you nervous?”

Liana’s hand hung down, trembling somewhat uncontrollably. She had been incredibly nervous. If it had just been the two of them, it would have been fine.

But later, a bunch of little spirits suddenly appeared, dancing around them. Being watched by so many little creatures at once, how could Liana not be nervous?

Toward the end, she had nearly lost her strength from nervousness and almost ran into problems. Fortunately, everything ended smoothly.

“What do you think?” The violin in Liana’s hand transformed into mana and disappeared.

Mephilia hugged Liana, letting her sit on her lap, and reached out to squeeze Liana’s small hand.

Even now, Mephilia could feel Liana’s trembling fingers. “You really worked so hard. And, Liana, how many more surprises would you give me?”

Gem creation magic, rearranging incantation sequences, imagination magic, inventing cosmetics cleaner, having excellent culinary skills, and now this musical talent.

And that wasn’t even counting all the matters with Countess Rose. Every time they met, Liana brought Mephilia new surprises.

Liana was exceptional, too exceptional. She could do many things that broke common sense. However, Liana would occasionally be a bit absent-minded, as if telling Mephilia about her authenticity. She wasn’t a perfect person, but in Mephilia’s heart, she was the most perfect.

“There really isn’t anything else.” She couldn’t pull out more; her hidden talents were almost all depleted.

However, seeing what had happened today, Liana was also somewhat grateful that she had always liked to find things to pass the time when she had nothing to do; otherwise, she really wouldn’t have known how to play this thing.

“Good job.” Mephilia massaged Liana’s shoulders.

“I didn’t expect the full moon night would be like this.”

Sephirena’s ethereal dress had already given Liana enough shock, but then there was something even more impressive—dancing together with the faeries, which gave Liana an extreme shock.

Liana didn’t know that today was that special; ordinarily, the singing and dancing would just end, with no session of dancing with those nascent elves.

“Oh? You didn’t expect it?” Sephirena had been wondering how to rejoin this conversation, but unexpectedly, Liana herself brought it up.

“...”

“Liana, didn’t you say you had seen how the Tree of Life looks under the full moon night? How could you still be so shocked? And when you were playing the violin earlier, Princess Sephirena also showed a surprised expression. Plus, you just said this was the first time you heard this song. Why is that?” Mephilia asked mischievously.

“Well...” Liana wanted to escape but couldn’t. She was firmly embraced by Mephilia.

“What’s wrong? Is it not like that? Could it be that, Liana, this is also your first time seeing the full moon night? Then why did you lie to me?” Mephilia continued to ask.

Liana knew that Mephilia had already confirmed the answer in her heart. Saying these things now, doing these things, was just to see her admit the truth.

“...Alright.” Liana also knew that continuing to hide it was useless, since the other had already determined that she hadn’t seen it before.

“The reason I didn’t look earlier was because I wanted to see it with you, Mephilia.” Mephilia looked at the Tree of Life, which was still emitting a sacred light. “It seems this decision wasn’t wrong. The Tree of Life under the full moon night is really beautiful.”

“Silly.” Mephilia hugged Liana, kissing her neck. “Thank you for the gift you gave me. I really like it. It’s truly beautiful scenery, and it also gave me a big surprise.”

“Hm? Gift?”

“Yes, isn’t this the gift you prepared for me? Being able to see this scenery together with you makes me really happy,” Mephilia said.

“Actually, it’s not...” Liana looked at Mephilia. She seemed to have misunderstood something. “This isn’t the gift I prepared for you...”

“Huh?” Mephilia was a bit confused. “It’s not?”

Did she hear wrong? Or had Liana already calculated that she would follow her to the bathroom and ambush her? Was this all Liana’s calculation? Did Liana deliberately let her see it? Just to hide the real surprise?

Cunning Liana, to have calculated this point! You’re really a bad woman who deserves to be thoroughly loved. Why are you so great? Really... I like you so much.

“If I have to say? I guess it counts? After all, a gift ultimately is something that makes the other person happy. If tonight’s full moon night makes you happy, Mephilia, then it’s fine to call it a gift,” Liana said.

“Stop being glib.” Mephilia rolled her eyes at Liana, though she couldn’t suppress her smile. “But what you say makes sense, Liana. I also like this gift very much.”

“It’s not because tonight’s melody was particularly beautiful, nor because the dance was particularly moving, nor because the Tree of Life is particularly sacred. What’s important is that you accompanied me to appreciate it—that’s what makes me happy.” Mephilia smiled.

If it were just her alone, seeing beautiful things, at most she would think they looked nice and want to share them with Liana. She wouldn’t feel genuinely happy from the heart like she did now.

“I’m very happy too.”

“So, Liana, what is the real gift you wanted to give me?” Mephilia asked.

“Eh...” Liana suddenly felt a bit shy now.

“What is it? What is it?” This time, Mephilia was truly a bit anxious. If this didn’t count as a surprise and gift for her, Mephilia didn’t know what kind of thing would count as a surprise. This had instantly raised Mephilia’s expectations to the maximum.

Liana took a deep breath. This was just a completely ordinary matter.

Stay calm, just stay calm. Don’t be nervous, don’t get excited.

“It’s already prepared, but before I give it to you, Mephilia, I hope you can close your eyes,” Liana said.

“Alright.”

Mephilia, seeing Liana’s serious expression, tightly closed her eyes.

She felt Liana reach out and touch her left hand. Liana gently lifted her left hand.

Then suddenly, her ring finger felt something cool, just like... wait!!!

Mephilia suddenly opened her eyes and saw Liana kneeling on one knee, one hand lifting her left hand, and the other hand holding a ring, gently pushing it onto her ring finger.

Liana’s tone was somewhat helpless. “Didn’t I say to close your eyes? You still peeked.”

Liana had originally thought she would be very shy, but after seeing Mephilia’s eyes, she felt extremely calm.

This wasn’t something to be ashamed of. On the contrary, Liana should hold her head high doing this because she deeply loved Mephilia. Bravely showing her love wasn’t something ridiculous or shameful.

“I got this from the Angus Commerce Guild. It has high-level recovery runes carved on it. The gem is something I prepared myself—a product of my magic. I specifically chose blue because of your eyes.

“This isn’t an ordinary gem. It can absorb magic and store it, similar to a magic stone, but different from a magic stone. It won’t explode due to excessive mana, so it won’t have that danger.

“And compared to magic stones, which can only be infused with your own mana, this gem can absorb any mana on its own. It’s not picky,” Liana explained.

However, at this moment, Mephilia obviously couldn’t take in what Liana was saying.

Mephilia looked at the ring on her ring finger, speechless for a long time, almost stopped breathing. She raised her left hand, looked at the front, then turned it over to look at the back.

She kept repeating this action over and over.

She seemed to be very happy? But why wasn’t there a smile on Mephilia’s face? And she wasn’t speaking. Could it be that she didn’t like this gift?

This made Liana a bit nervous. Was it too hasty? After all, concealing their relationship was the correct choice now, right? Suddenly having a ring appear on Mephilia’s hand would definitely cause her unnecessary trouble.

“Um... if you don’t like it, don’t force yourself.” Liana said.

But unexpectedly, this sentence from Liana triggered Mephilia. “I don’t dislike it at all! It’s just... just...” Mephilia’s voice began to choke up.

“What’s wrong?” This left Liana at a loss. Why was Mephilia suddenly crying?

Had she stepped on some landmine?

Mephilia suddenly lunged at her, making Liana fall to the ground.

Mephilia cried even louder, and it seemed she wouldn’t stop for a while.

“What’s suddenly happening? If there’s something, just tell me.” Liana had no way to deal with crying girls, especially when the crying girl was the person she liked.

Seeing Mephilia crying like this, Liana’s heart was breaking.

Liana thought it was because of the ring. “If you don’t like it, I’ll think of something else. Don’t cry, okay?”

As a result, Mephilia did stop, but she glared at Liana. “Even if it’s you saying it, Liana, I’ll get angry!”

She returned to hug her tightly.

Liana was a bit confused, and this was the first time she had seen Mephilia cry like this.

What else could Liana do? She could only talk about some beautiful memories between the two of them, comforting Mephilia with a gentle voice while softly patting her back.

About ten minutes passed before Mephilia’s emotions somewhat stabilized.

Liana reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of Mephilia’s eyes. Mephilia had cried so much that her eyes were a bit swollen, and Liana felt very distressed. “What’s wrong? Don’t scare me, okay?”

Liana didn’t want originally beautiful memories to turn into bad ones.

“I feel like I might be too happy right now?” Mephilia’s voice had become a bit hoarse from crying so much.

At the moment Liana put the ring on her, Mephilia felt her mind go blank. She couldn’t believe this was real. She even doubted if she was dreaming.

“This is the best gift I’ve received in my life, and also my favorite gift. Thank you...” Mephilia kissed Liana’s lips.

“Thank you...”

Another kiss.

“Thank you.”

Yet another kiss.

Mephilia hugged Liana. “Can you feel my heartbeat? I’m really happy, really, like a dream, really. Liana, you’ve given me such a big surprise that I’m afraid this is just a dream.”

So, it wasn’t because she disliked it that she cried, but because she was too moved—tears of joy.

This time, it was Liana’s turn to actively seek Mephilia, though this time, Liana mischievously bit Mephilia’s tongue as it tried to enter.

“Does it hurt?” Liana asked.

“It hurts... but more than the pain, there’s happiness.” Mephilia said, a tear sliding down her cheek again.

Liana wiped away Mephilia’s tears. “If you’re happy, you should smile. Mephilia, you look best when you smile. Look at you now, crying like a little kitten. But still, you’re my favorite little kitten.

“I thought you didn’t like this gift, or that this gift had touched some sensitive spot, making you cry so sadly. Really, it scared me. I thought I had done something wrong,” Liana said.

“Hmph!” Mephilia pouted. “I already said! Even if you say it yourself, Liana, I’ll get angry! This is the best gift I’ve received, so! Don’t say such things anymore!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Liana reached out her finger and squished Mephilia’s face, then stuck out her tongue and licked Mephilia’s cheek. “Salty.”

“Pfft!“

This action from Liana instantly made Mephilia laugh. “Silly Liana.”

Seeing Mephilia’s smile, Liana also breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. “Indeed, Mephilia, you look best when you smile.”

“You look best when you smile too.” Mephilia looked at Liana, somewhat entranced.

Under the clear moonlight, they gazed at each other, closed their eyes, and felt the softness and warmth of each other’s lips, tasting each other.

“The two of us are like idiots.”

“In front of you, it’s okay to be a bit foolish.”

Previously, before Liana gave her gift, Sephirena was reaching out her hand to pick the small flower on the Tree of Life.

This special flower wouldn’t wither even if it left the main body and was exposed to air for a long time. It would absorb mana to nourish itself.

“Thank you for your gift. I will definitely give this flower to Princess Liana,” Sephirena whispered.

Afterward, the Tree of Life grew a fresh branch, but it suddenly broke off and fell into Sephirena’s hand.

“Is this also to be given to Princess Liana?”

The Tree of Life swayed slightly.

“Mm, I understand.” Sephirena nodded. It seemed the Tree of Life liked Princess Liana very much.

Sephirena put away these two items and stepped onto the lake, walking toward the two.

Sephirena went near the love birds, unbeknownst to them. She heard Mephilia asking Liana.

“Are you nervous?”

Liana responded, “Yes, very nervous.”

“Thank you for the gift you gave me.”

“But this isn’t the gift I wanted to give you? However, the purpose of a gift is to make you happy.”

“I’m not happy because of what I saw today, but because I saw it with you. So what is the real gift?”

“You close your eyes first.”

“Okay~”

Sephirena saw Princess Liana take out a ring and put it on Princess Mephilia’s hand.

But then something strange happened. For some reason, Princess Mephilia suddenly started crying, and crying loudly.

Actually, Sephirena knew that in Princess Mephilia’s crying, there was no sound of sadness. She was very happy.

Afterward, Sephirena stood there, listening to many stories between them, hearing Princess Liana’s very gentle words.

Sephirena looked at the flower and branch in her hand. It might not be a good time to go over now. Better not to disturb them.

Princess Liana was indeed a very gentle person. Sephirena had deeply experienced this, both just now and currently.

Making such a gentle person kill her—the other would definitely feel very guilty.

Sephirena also knew very clearly that Liana had found her not to kill her, but to make her change her mind.

It’s just... sorry, Princess Liana, I can’t find meaning in living on.

“...” Sephirena’s face suddenly turned a bit red, and her slender ears were now tinged with pink.

What? How did you two suddenly start kissing? This made Sephirena standing there extremely awkward.

But this was indeed because Sephirena had come to eavesdrop, so she couldn’t blame others. The young couple had been dating there from the beginning. Coming to disturb them, naturally she couldn’t say anything, and it wasn’t good to say anything.

If they discovered her now, she would definitely be treated as a pervert, because wasn’t this just peeping at others’ date?

“I’m sorry, Liana, for letting you see my bad side.” Now Mephilia had completely calmed down.

“Little crying cat.” Liana hadn’t expected this result either. She could only say that this gift’s effect was much better than anticipated. This was the first time Liana had seen Mephilia lose composure like this.

But this was the real Mephilia.

Mephilia looked at the ring on her finger, extremely happy, but then she looked at Liana’s empty fingers. “Liana, where’s yours?”

“Mine? I don’t have one. Since this is a gift for you, I only made one,” Liana said.

Mephilia pouted. “How can this be! Why would only I wear the ring?! Liana, just wait! I’ll definitely prepare a ring for you!”

“That’s not necessary...” Liana didn’t care much about this aspect. “As long as it’s a gift the other person likes, it’s a gift. No need to fixate on whether it’s a ring or not.”

“No! This is important!” Mephilia seemed to care a lot about this matter because it symbolized ownership! It symbolized belonging! Liana belonged to her, Mephilia!

“Alright.” Liana wasn’t clear why Mephilia viewed this matter so importantly, but as long as the other was happy, it was fine.

“This is a ring inscribed with high-level runes. You must have spent a lot, Liana?” Mephilia asked.

Liana shook her head. “I got it for free.”

Then Liana explained to Mephilia what had happened that day.

What Liana had done made Mephilia laugh. “Oh my! Liana, you’re so bad!”

“They didn’t respect me, so I had no reason to respect them.” Liana shrugged. Her personality was like this. If others treated her well, she would treat them well in return. If others didn’t respect her, then Liana wouldn’t respect them either.

Respect was mutual. If they couldn’t even manage equal respect, then there was nothing to talk about.

“Moreover, those people from the Angus Commerce Guild didn’t seem like good people anyway.”

“What you say is true, Liana.” Mephilia fully agreed with Liana’s words. She was a customer, and if merchants didn’t respect customers, one couldn’t expect them to respect others.

“But, Mephilia, you don’t need to be too fixated on the quality of the ring,” Liana said. “As long as it’s from you, it’s very meaningful.”

Liana knew very well how expensive rings with high-level enchantments were. Mephilia didn’t need to spend on such unnecessary things. It was better to invest the resources she had in herself now.

“When you become a monarch in the future, forget rings! Clothes, shoes, socks, you’ll have them all, all over your body! All inscribed with high-level enchantments!” Liana joked.

Mephilia of course knew Liana was using a joking tone to make her accept this. “I understand.”

It was best to accept it now. In the future, she would definitely properly compensate Liana.

After watching the full moon night performance, they returned to the forest cabin.

At this time, Mephilia was somewhat reluctant because early tomorrow morning, she would return to Ibett Magic Academy.

“What’s wrong?” Liana turned to look at Mephilia beside her. “Too excited from watching the performance? Or too happy from receiving the ring that you can’t sleep?”

Mephilia reached out and pinched Liana. “Neither. It’s because I have to go back tomorrow. Just thinking about not seeing Liana for a month makes me a bit depressed.”

“I’m not going to run away. After some time, you’ll be able to see me every day.” Only Liana wasn’t too sure how long this time would be.

But Liana felt it would be when the original main storyline began, which was when she would also start taking action—about a year and a half later.

Mephilia sighed, hugging Liana. “I’ve already asked Miss Gardenia. Her illusion magic can last about three seconds. Those three seconds should be no problem, right?”

“Trust me.”

“Of course, you’re Liana after all.”

“However, before that, I still have some things I need to deal with,” Liana said.

Regarding Tari’s matter, if it wasn’t resolved now, Tari would definitely have big trouble later, and it might cause irreversible consequences.

Additionally, Liana herself had no good feelings toward the Angus Commerce Guild. As she left, she might as well give them a small gift.

“If there’s anything you need help with, feel free to tell me, Liana. I’ll help you as much as I can,” Mephilia said.

“I just need to borrow Mephilia a bit. With her protection, I can better do what ‘Liana’ can do.” Liana smiled somewhat mischievously.

Since so many people didn’t believe she was a good person now, then she would act as a villain, act unreasonably, and do some things—wasn’t that a normal thing to do?

Mephilia didn’t ask too much about what Liana was going to do. She only said one thing: “As long as Liana doesn’t do anything that puts herself in danger, I’ll fully support you.”

“Speaking of which, there’s actually one thing I need your help with,” Liana said.

“Just say it. I’ll help you.”

“Help me contact His Majesty the King and let him tell my parents that I’m not dead,” Liana said.

Previously, Liana had hoped her parents would quickly return to protect her, but now, Mephilia was already protecting her.

Although she would like to see them, they also had their own matters to handle now. She couldn’t let them be distracted because of her issues.

She might not be able to contact them, but His Majesty the King definitely could.

“...Alright.” Mephilia nodded.

Liana’s death wasn’t a small matter now, especially since various events had already happened in the Venus Dukedom recently. If another major event occurred at this time, it would be impossible to conceal, and Liana’s parents would definitely hear this news.

“You don’t want them to worry too much about you, right?” Mephilia said.

“Mm, they also have their own matters to deal with.” Liana said.

“I thought you were going to use this to make Duke Venus and Sister Ambis come back to see you.”

“I’m not a child anymore. I wouldn’t use such childish things to make them specifically come back to see me. Besides, if they didn’t know the truth about this matter and only knew about my death, how sad would they be?” Liana said.

“...Mm.”

If Liana hadn’t told her anything and suddenly learned that Liana had died, Mephilia might have gone crazy.

“That’s why I specifically discussed this matter with you, even though I knew that after saying it, you, Mephilia, would definitely oppose me.” Liana said.

“Thank...”

Mephilia suddenly dove under the blanket.

“What...” Liana was confused about what Mephilia was suddenly doing, but then she felt her nightgown being lifted.

Mephilia kissed Liana’s lower abdomen, making Liana feel ticklish.

Then Mephilia poked her head out, looking at Liana. “What’s wrong? You look a bit disappointed. Were you hoping I would kiss your... mouth?”

“...You rogue.”

Mephilia might have been talking about the mouth, but which mouth was uncertain.

But now, it was better not to do anything too intense. Just hugging and sleeping together was already very blissful.

“Don’t worry, tonight, let’s just rest well.”

“Mm.”

Mephilia hugged Liana and quickly fell asleep.

In the early morning, Liana stood at the door early, looking at the girl before her with some reluctance.

Mephilia was reluctant to leave her, and how could she not feel the same?

The two didn’t speak much. If they started talking at this moment, they might delay for a while again.

“Be careful on the way.” Liana spoke first.

“Mm.” Mephilia looked at the ring on her hand. This was equivalent to Liana always accompanying her.

Mephilia stepped forward and kissed Liana’s lips.

Minoga: I have no objection.

“See you in a month.”

“Mm.”

Liana waved, watching Mephilia leave.

The carriage disappeared into the snow and wind, and Liana felt somewhat empty inside.

“What’s wrong, Princess Liana? Feeling lonely after Princess Mephilia left?” Sephirena’s voice came from behind Liana.

“Who’s lonely!” Wait! More than Sephirena’s question, what Liana cared about was that Sephirena had actually initiated a conversation with her, and it was about this topic. This made Liana feel very surprised.

But she couldn’t bring it up. If she mentioned it now, Liana felt there would never be such an opportunity again.

This made Liana’s heart leap with joy. Did this mean Sephirena’s mindset had changed? Things were moving in a good direction. This made Liana very gratified. It seemed Sephirena wasn’t entirely made of stone.

“Today, are we training with Miss Sephirena again?” Oliphia asked.

“Mm.” Liana nodded.

It was only the first dozen or so days that Liana had followed Sephirena. Later, after discovering Sephirena could teach her elven magic, she rarely went out with Oliphia.

Moreover, Sephirena’s close combat abilities were also maxed out, after all, she had been a tomboy from the beginning, very mischievous.

Liana wasn’t deliberately isolating Oliphia. It’s just that after her fake death, it wouldn’t be good to bring Oliphia along. The fewer people who knew about this, the better.

In about a week, Liana planned to send Oliphia back. Now, having Sephirena guide her was enough.

Because of yesterday’s full moon night, Sephirena didn’t need to specifically take care of the Tree of Life today. Today, just let the Tree of Life grow well on its own. There was no need to disturb it too much.

“The snow seems heavier today.” Liana walked into the forest, looking at the snow that was almost up to her knees. But this was probably the peak of winter. After some time, the snow should start to lessen, and the weather would begin to warm up.

“Mm.” Sephirena looked at Liana, who was having a very difficult time walking. “Do you need my help?”

Liana looked at her, standing directly on the snow with no sign of sinking. Damn child of nature, beloved by nature yet unaware.

Liana shook her head. “No need. If you always help me, training would lose its meaning.”

Sephirena’s slender ears twitched, as if she heard some strange sound.

“Snow wolves again.” Sephirena could tell from the sound. “Five in total. It seems the cold weather is making them suffer too. Without food, have they come looking for humans?”

Liana looked at Sephirena. This girl was really talking more.

Then.

“「Create Gem Gun」”

A long musket appeared in Liana’s ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) hand. “How about we compete to see who can deal with more snow wolves?”

“Let me handle it. After all, my task is to protect Princess Liana.”

“That won’t do. Your task’s priority is definitely to obey my orders. Besides, excessive protection during training isn’t beneficial for growth, ” Liana said. “Or are you afraid of losing?”

“Huh?” Sephirena clearly had an emotional reaction.

Afraid of losing? This kind of competition—Sephirena, afraid of losing? What a joke.

When Sephirena was young, she often competed with other elves, using her bow and arrow to see who could shoot down more apples.

At that time, let alone one-on-one, even facing several opponents simultaneously, Sephirena wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

“You said it, Princess Liana.” A bow and arrow appeared in Sephirena’s hand.

“Just competing isn’t very interesting. How about we make a bet?” Liana said.