“Princess Liana, you’re truly strange,” Sephirena sighed.

If Princess Liana had continued speaking that way, she would definitely have been angry. But Princess Liana suddenly stopped and even apologized to her.

Even without an apology, it wouldn’t have mattered, since Princess Liana was now her master. Saying such things was quite normal.

Besides, as an elf, and a princess at that, she naturally had some knowledge about them. It was perfectly normal for Princess Liana to say these things.

Although she disliked this aspect, Princess Liana seemed to dislike it too, which is why she apologized.

“If we reduce it by ten days, that leaves nine hundred and thirty-six days, right?” Liana said.

Sephirena shook her head. “No need.”

“Really? After all, I was in the wrong first.”

“...” Liana’s existence constantly showed Sephirena why Princess Mephilia was so captivated by this little one.

Princess Liana indeed had a very special quality that attracted others, but if you asked Sephirena to articulate it, she couldn’t.

“It’s not necessary. Let’s keep it as it was—nine hundred and forty-six days,” Sephirena said.

“Alright.” Liana nodded. It was good that no major problem had arisen. Sephirena had just begun to trust her a little. If there had been an issue, all her efforts would have been wasted.

“Demons...” Sephirena kept murmuring these words.

If you asked which race in this world hated the demon race the most, it would undoubtedly be the elves.

Elvenkind was naturally sensitive to magic, and demonkind hunted those with powerful magic, so they naturally became mortal enemies.

Add to that the Tree of Life’s situation, and every elf harbored a deep hatred for the demon race.

“Making death meaningful?” Sephirena looked at her palm. She possessed magic and abilities stronger than other elves, which was because she was their princess.

Sephirena knew better than anyone that she was simply avoiding the issue, lacking the courage to face it directly, constantly evading.

She also knew clearly that the demon race would resurge in five years, and what she should do. Sister Tarashil certainly wouldn’t want to see her in such a fallen state.

Then, Sephirena looked at Liana, at this somewhat strange person.

“Princess Liana, we’ve arrived at Count Ige’s mansion gate,” Minoga said.

“Oh? Mm!” Although Liana had said she wasn’t very tired, there was no helping it—she’d fallen asleep shortly after getting in the carriage.

Liana raised both hands above her head and stretched. “Mm...”

Liana looked outside. The sky was dimly lit. Even though it was already seven o’clock, the sun’s shadow was still not visible.

The good news, however, was that the heavy snow had gradually stopped, with only occasional snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Liana secured her scarf, ensuring she was warm before getting out of the carriage. After all, she couldn’t use magic in front of others right now.

“Minoga, you don’t need to come out for now.”

“Understood.” Minoga nodded, then her figure disappeared into the night.

With Minoga present, Count Ige would certainly have no room for resistance and would simply surrender, which would defeat the purpose.

Crunch crunch crunch

Liana walked in the snow. Due to yesterday’s heavy snowfall, the road was covered with a thick layer of snow that hadn’t yet been cleared.

Liana looked around. This was the city under Count Ige’s rule. The occasional cold wind made it feel particularly desolate. People on the street were gradually setting up stalls, but there was no sense of vitality—it gave a suffocating feeling...

But with the laughter of children, this suffocating feeling eased.

“Hahaha! It snowed heavily yesterday! Mother’s busy with the shop today, so no one can stop me from having a snowball fight!” A little girl with a snowball in her hand threw it at another little girl.

“That’s not fair! I wasn’t ready yet!” The girl who was hit seemed unhappy, then made a snowball and threw it back.

Liana found herself standing still. Since coming to this world, she had only seen snow a few times. “Snowball fight” was a very unfamiliar term to her. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

So she was somewhat entranced, and children’s smiles could truly heal the heart.

Of course, that was assuming they weren’t bothering her.

“Hey!”

“Princess Liana, be careful.” Sephirena caught the snowball that was about to hit Liana with one hand.

“...I was a bit too engrossed.” Liana smiled.

“Wow! Big sister, you’re amazing!” A little girl came before Sephirena, her eyes twinkling as she looked at Sephirena.

“...” Sephirena took a step back. Clearly, she didn’t like these children.

“That was indeed impressive,” Liana approached at this moment.

Obviously, these children, though they had heard of Liana’s notorious reputation, had never seen her. Besides, they probably hadn’t heard what Sephirena had just said, otherwise they wouldn’t have approached.

“Why not throw a few more and see if this big sister can catch them all?” Liana smiled.

“Eh? Okay!” The little girl hesitated only briefly before nodding in agreement.

“Lia...” Sephirena was speechless. Why was Princess Liana playing with children? Weren’t they here on official business?

“Shh, don’t call me that. They’ll be scared,” Liana whispered.

“...Alright.” It seemed Princess Liana was in the mood for this.

Looking at the snowballs flying toward her, Sephirena sighed. What was she here for?

Why had things suddenly turned out like this? Sephirena felt a bit depressed. A few months ago, if someone had told her she would be having a snowball fight with children, she would have thought that person was crazy.

Clearly, these little girls were no match for Sephirena. The snowballs that seemed very fast to the little girls moved like turtles in Sephirena’s eyes. She caught them all with ease.

“Wow!!! Big sister!!! You’re so amazing!!!” The little girl looked at Sephirena with admiration. She was so cool!

“If I could be as amazing as you, I’d never lose a snowball fight again!”

“...” What an adorable wish.

Liana couldn’t help but laugh. Then Liana held a strangely shaped snowball in her hand and threw it at the little girl, but it fell apart midway.

“Hahaha, big sister, you’re so silly,” the little girl laughed.

Liana smiled awkwardly. What could she do? She had never played with this before. Being able to make a ball on her first try was already good!

“Let me teach you!” The little girl came to Liana and taught her hands-on how to make a good snowball and how to throw it so it wouldn’t fall apart.

Sephirena watched them. It was indeed heartwarming now, but what about later?

Would they still be like this after knowing Princess Liana’s name?

Soon, a small snowball appeared in the little girl’s hand, and the next moment, it landed on Liana’s clothes.

“Big sister, you’re not as good as that sister,” the little girl said.

“...” Liana patted the snow off her clothes. “Of course. That sister is very skilled. Also.”

Liana pinched the little girl’s cheek. “This is very impolite behavior, you know.”

“Xiao Qian! Xiao Qian!” A woman called the little girl’s name.

“Mother! I’m here!” The little girl shouted to the woman.

“Really! I take my eyes off you for a moment, and you’re running around everywhere. You haven’t bothered anyone, have you?” Although the woman sounded somewhat impatient, her tone was quite indulgent—until she saw who was beside Xiao Qian. Then she froze.

In that instant, she felt something colder than yesterday’s harsh winter.

Liana’s hand was still on Xiao Qian’s face, and there was snow on Princess Liana’s clothes. The woman understood something and her legs went weak. She sat directly on the snow. “I’m sorry! Princess Liana! Xiao Qian is still young. If she did anything to displease you, please forgive her! If you’re dissatisfied, let me bear it! Please spare Xiao Qian.”

“Mother? Princess Liana...” Xiao Qian looked at her mother. The mother who had always been so brave in her eyes was now so frightened. She understood something in her heart.

Princess Liana—this name was familiar to her. Children of her age were all too familiar with it because some people used Liana to frighten children who didn’t listen, who were naughty, who didn’t want to sleep.

She was practically a boogeyman to scare children into behaving.

Xiao Qian looked up at Liana. Her hands were trembling. She couldn’t believe that the pretty big sister who had just been playing with her was the demon her mother had spoken of.

But then she remembered that Princess Liana liked to disguise herself, pretending to be very kind and friendly to lower your guard.

“I’m... I’m sorry!” A tear fell from the corner of Xiao Qian’s eye, and her voice began to tremble. She was nothing like the cheerful, bright little girl from a moment ago.

Had things ended up like this after all?

Sephirena glanced at Princess Liana. Princess Liana’s expression visibly darkened. Who wouldn’t be hurt by this?

Sephirena knew very well that such thoughts were deeply ingrained and difficult to change.

Everything was as she had anticipated. Although Princess Liana had asked her to conceal her name, Princess Liana was a celebrity and would be recognized sooner or later.

The little girl who had just been playing with her now addressed her this way. It must be painful.

“...” Although Liana had already anticipated this outcome, when it actually happened, she still felt a bit hurt.

However, this expression only stayed on Liana’s face for a few seconds. “You’re sorry?”

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry...” Xiao Qian sobbed, repeating these words continuously. She seemed quite frightened.

Xiao Qian’s mother remained collapsed on the ground, not daring to approach, fearing that Liana might be displeased.

Soon, Liana’s name spread. Shops that had just opened their doors now closed them again.

They returned to their rooms, watching Liana through the windows.

“Huff.” Liana exhaled a white breath.

“Indeed, one should apologize for doing something wrong.” Liana pinched the little girl’s cheek a bit forcefully, then released her and flicked her finger against the little girl’s forehead. “Don’t do this again. Remember to ask first if someone wants to play a snowball fight with you.”

Her previously good mood had turned somewhat sour, but Liana also knew that she couldn’t blame anyone. She could only blame herself.

“Sephirena, let’s go.” Liana looked toward the prosperous mansion in the distance.

The scenery there was completely different from here. Not a trace of snow could be seen—snowflakes that drifted into the mansion were immediately melted by the surrounding magicians.

She could even see that the servants inside were wearing summer clothes. It was more luxurious than even Venus Manor.

“Yes, I understand, Princess Liana.” Sephirena followed behind Liana.

After Liana left, the mother and daughter embraced, crying together. They looked somewhat incredulously at the departing Liana, feeling a sense of unreality. Had Princess Liana really just let them go?

“Princess Liana?” At this moment, someone suddenly called out to Liana.

This made the mother and daughter’s hearts, which had just settled, rise again.

Coco! What are you doing?!

Liana stopped in her tracks and turned around to see a somewhat familiar little figure. Wasn’t this the little girl she had rescued in the forest not long ago?

It seemed to be...

“Coco, right?”

Coco was now wearing a warm coat, and her spirit seemed much better than before. With dark eyes and shoulder-length black hair, she looked very cute.

Coco suddenly knelt before Liana.

“...” Honestly, this kneeling almost made Liana cry. No, what are you doing now?

No matter how hardened Liana’s heart was, she couldn’t withstand this kind of treatment one after another.

But Coco’s next words almost brought tears to Liana’s eyes.

“Thank you, Princess Liana, for saving my life in the forest. Thanks to Princess Liana’s food and the wolf’s fur, my mother and I have been able to survive this severe cold.”

“That day, I was too scared to properly thank Princess Liana. When my mother learned about this, she scolded me. I thought I might never have the chance to see Princess Liana again and express my gratitude.”

“If it weren’t for you, we mother and daughter would certainly not have survived this winter. I truly, sincerely thank you.” Coco’s head was buried in the snow. No matter how cold the snow was, she had to express her gratitude to Princess Liana.

She had also witnessed everything that had just happened. Perhaps...

They had really misunderstood Princess Liana?

How heartbroken Princess Liana must be.

“...” Liana’s hands were trembling. Since coming to this world, this was the first time a stranger had acknowledged her and thanked her in front of so many people.

Liana suddenly felt that all those previous things didn’t matter anymore. Everything she had done was worth it. Even if she was viewed with strange looks, it didn’t matter now. At least someone thanked her. That was enough.

Liana approached Coco, reached out to lift her up, and then hugged her. “Thank you...”

“Princess Liana saved me. Why are you thanking me?” Coco didn’t quite understand, but she could feel that Princess Liana, who was hugging her, was trembling.

“Nothing... thank you.” Liana didn’t expect this little girl to understand anything, but it was the words from such a little girl that were healing for Liana.

“...” Coco was a bit confused, but she remained quiet and let Liana hug her. She was willing to believe in Princess Liana.

After a few minutes, Liana released her. Coco looked at Liana curiously. Liana’s eyes seemed a bit red.

Then, she remembered something. “I remember clearly what Princess Liana said to me that day. I told them too, that Princess Liana saved me. But they wouldn’t believe me. They even said I had been bought off by Princess Liana because of the extra food and fur I had, and they wouldn’t play with me.”

“...I’m sorry.” Liana had forgotten this point. People associated with a bad person would more or less be affected.

“It’s alright. I need to help at home most of the time, so I don’t have much time to play anyway,” Coco shook her head. “Besides, I’m the one troubling Princess Liana, asking for your help. If it weren’t for Princess Liana, I wouldn’t be standing here now, nor would I be wearing warm clothes.”

Coco understood very clearly that no matter how much others bullied her or gave her the cold shoulder because of Princess Liana, she could never look at Princess Liana that way. Because Princess Liana was her life-saving benefactor.

What a sensible little girl. Liana couldn’t help it—the more she looked at Coco, the more she liked her. This little girl was too adorable. She was simply an angel.

“I also remember very clearly what Princess Liana said to me.”

Coco looked at Liana and said, very seriously, word by word, “Princess Liana is the cutest!”

“...” That didn’t need to be remembered!

Liana was now dying of embarrassment. To have those words repeated so seriously and loudly—she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Liana could also feel that Sephirena beside her was about to laugh.

Liana crouched down and rubbed Coco’s head. “Don’t worry. I came here today to resolve this matter. You don’t need to worry anymore. I’ll handle Count Ige’s affair.”

“Princess Liana...” Coco’s fear of Count Ige was far greater than her fear of Liana.

After all, Liana was mostly just hearsay, while Count Ige had made Coco directly experience fear.

“You don’t need to be afraid anymore. After today, everything will be over,” Liana said gently in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Mm, thank you, Princess Liana.” Coco clenched her fist excitedly.

Liana patted Coco’s little head. Seeing Coco’s adorable expression filled Liana with motivation. Count Ige, you’re dead! So you’re the beast who’s withholding people’s wages.

Originally, she had just planned a simple sweep, but it seemed she needed to give Count Ige a little surprise.