Sephirena closed the door to her tree house. “Alright, Your Highness Liana, no one can hear our conversation now, so there’s no need to address me formally anymore.”

“I don’t really care about these titles. Let’s just keep it as it is for now. You call me what you want, and I’ll call you what I want. It’ll be troublesome if we slip up later,” Liana said.

“Alright...” Since Liana had said so, Sephirena couldn’t really refuse.

“Your room seems a bit too simple,” Liana said, looking around Sephirena’s room. There was only a bed, a table, and chairs, and nothing else.

“Because I just came back not long ago. Besides, we elves don’t have high requirements in this regard. We don’t need to eat regularly, nor do we need to clean...”

Sephirena seemed to realize that this way of speaking could easily lead to a misunderstanding and quickly corrected herself. “It’s not that we elves don’t love hygiene, it’s just that the mana in the air will clean our bodies for us, so there’s no need to bathe.”

“Mm, I know,” Liana nodded.

“That’s really the reason...”

“I really do know,” Liana said with a smile. “Looking at it this way, being an elf is really convenient in many ways. You can save a lot of time.”

“I suppose so.” Although it was a bit unexpected, Sephirena had gotten used to Her Highness Liana’s unconventional way of thinking.

“Very well then. It’s a pleasure to serve you, Princess Sephirena. What do you require of me?” Liana gave Sephirena a standard maid’s curtsy.

Although this was the first time Liana had performed one, she had seen Loraviel do it many times, so she naturally knew how.

Loraviel...

Liana suddenly froze for a moment. Finally, a gentle smile hung on the corners of her lips. We’ll be meeting soon, Loraviel.

She wondered how Loraviel was doing lately. Although Minoga had said her condition was quite good, that was just hearsay. She hadn’t actually seen her.

And... the matter with Erinna.

The smile on Liana’s face began to fade slightly.

This is a bit of a headache...

“Just speaking normally is fine. There’s nothing that needs to be done right now.” Sephirena was still a little unused to this version of Liana.

“Is that so?” Liana poured Sephirena a glass of water.

“The matter of the alliance has been more or less settled. I wonder if you have any interest in the Ibett Magic Academy in the Lisat Kingdom, Princess Sephirena? There are many books inside, and perhaps some of them record things you would like to know,” Liana said.

“The Ibett Magic Academy... I will probably have to go there soon.” In the future, Sephirena would definitely go, whether it was an arrangement by the Elf Forest or her own idea.

“Then you can contact Mephilia at that time, alright? I’m not sure if I’ll be living or dead by then... no, wait.” Liana suddenly thought of something.

“No matter what state I’m in, it seems we’ll have to pretend we don’t know each other. After all, you haven’t told your sisters about the matter between us, have you?”

“I will explain everything clearly to Sister Avira and Sister Nimeris,” Sephirena said.

“Princess Avira is fine, but let’s forget about Princess Nimeris,” Liana said.

“Your Highness Liana, you seem to have some opinion of my Sister Nimeris?”

“It’s for personal reasons. Oester is the main culprit who made me this way, so I find it a bit hard to accept others getting too close to him. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) I’ll subconsciously think that they’re up to no good. Could they be trying to frame me?” Liana said.

“Your Highness Liana, your worries are understandable, but Sister Nimeris would not collude with Oester. She is a very outstanding elf. Moreover, she originally disliked humans very much. The alliance is already the biggest concession she could’ve done. Let alone having a deeper cooperation with a human,” Sephirena explained.

Liana also knew very well that if she told Sephirena these things now, it would be difficult for her to accept. She would definitely try to explain things for Nimeris.

“I know this very well, but some things can’t be resolved just by knowing them in your heart. It’s like, I know I can’t fall to my death, but I’m still very afraid of heights. Do you understand?” Liana said.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t afraid of heights, Your Highness?” Sephirena smiled helplessly. “It seems you really do have a huge psychological trauma, to even admit to the fear of heights you kept denying before.”

“Besides, Princess Nimeris seems to be very interested in me, doesn’t she?”

“The reason Sister Nimeris is interested in you, Your Highness, is because you have received the blessing of Mother Tree of Life. This is very normal,” Sephirena said.

“Is it normal? But the other elves didn’t seem to ask too many questions. I could clearly feel that Princess Nimeris’s gaze on me was a little different. It’s not that I’m narcissistic, it just felt like... she was a little envious, or perhaps jealous of me?” Liana hesitated for a moment, but still said it.

“...” After hearing this, Sephirena was silent for a while.

“I’m sorry.” Liana thought Sephirena was angry. After all, in her eyes, there was nothing wrong with Nimeris.

For her to say such things in front of her was very impolite.

“Perhaps... Your Highness Liana’s feeling is not wrong,” Sephirena said.

“Hm?” This confused Liana. Not wrong?

Which feeling? That Nimeris is not a good person, or that Nimeris is jealous of me?

That’s impossible, right? Why would Nimeris be jealous of me? Isn’t this the first time we’ve met? Could it be that she also has some strange hobby? Does she want to be a maid?

“Perhaps Sister Nimeris really is a little jealous of you, Your Highness,” Sephirena said.

“Me? Jealous of me? Really?” Liana pointed to herself. An elf princess would be envious of a common elf?

“Yes, because you have received the blessing of Mother Tree of Life,” Sephirena explained.

“What’s there to be envious of? Don’t you all have it?” Liana asked with some curiosity.

In Liana’s perception, elf princesses should generally have the blessing of the Tree of Life.

Sephirena shook her head. “Sister Nimeris has only received the acknowledgment of Mother Tree of Life, not her blessing.”

“...I see. Did something happen?” Liana asked.

“This, I’m not too sure about. The blessing is not something you do anything for, it is entirely Mother Tree of Life’s choice. Perhaps... Sister Nimeris hadn’t reached that time yet before Mother became like this,” Sephirena said.

“Mm.” Liana nodded. “What about Princess Tarashil? Did she receive the blessing?”

“Yes.”

After receiving an affirmative reply, Liana understood everything.

“...Sister Tarashil and Sister Avira also comforted Sister Nimeris, but she acted very optimistic, smiling and saying ‘Perhaps I’ll receive Mother’s blessing in a few days? I will work harder.’ Even when Mother Tree of Life began to wither and fall silent, she was still very optimistic, even joking with us, ‘Looks like my luck isn’t very good. Mother was just about to give me her blessing, but then this happened. It seems I’ll be able to get her acknowledgement as soon as she’s healed.’ ”

Sephirena seemed to be worried that Liana would misunderstand something and quickly explained.

“The princesses of the Elf Forest all have such personalities. They’re much better than the ones in our Lisat Kingdom,” Liana said, sitting on the sofa.

“Apart from me, they are all very outstanding and kind princesses. I’m the only one who isn’t very popular in the Elf Forest.” Sephirena had originally wanted to sit next to Liana, but then thought, Wouldn’t that be a bit too intimate? So she simply generated a chair opposite Liana.

“You are also a very outstanding princess. Don’t belittle yourself so much, Lady Sephirena.” Liana looked at her. “Everyone makes mistakes. There’s no need to live in the past forever. Princess Tarashil certainly wouldn’t want you to be like this. Of course, I’m not trying to make you forget the past...” Liana felt as if she had said this to someone else before.

“And in the end, you didn’t do anything to wrong anyone. At most, you just had more of a childish temper than the other princesses. You’re far behind me in comparison. You should learn from me, understand? This is also my command, Princess Sephirena.”

“What a strange way of addressing me...” A commanding tone, yet she calls me “Princess”, it’s too strange.

“Is that the main point?” Liana said irritably.

“I understand, Your Highness Liana.”

What I did is nothing compared to what you’ve done in the past. When it comes to being a real animal, you’re more of one, Your Highness.

However, Sephirena was a little curious. “Why does Your Highness Liana know about my past?”

“Er...” Liana’s brain worked at high speed. She had to find a pot-carrying hero.1背锅侠 (bēiguōxiá), a modern slang for a “scapegoat”  from the phrase 背黑锅 (bēi hēi guō), “to carry a black pot”.

Princess Avira? It’s not impossible, but it might arouse her suspicion.

Although it’s a bit impolite, but... I’m sorry! Princess Tarashil, could I trouble you to take the blame for me one more time!

“Princess Tarashil told me, the last time I entered your illusion.”

Sephirena’s lips trembled slightly. It was clear she had many questions she wanted to ask, but in the end, she didn’t say anything, only nodding. “So that’s how it was.”

In her illusion, only Sister Tarashil, the holy sword, and the demon race were things she could not control or master.

Or rather, she was avoiding Tarashil, so it was normal for her not to know about this.

“She told me with great confidence, ‘I have always believed that Sephirena would come back.’ ”

Sephirena bit her lip, her blood-red eyes shimmering, looking as if she were about to cry in the next second.

“...” Don’t do this. The thing I’m most afraid of is someone crying in front of me.

“Um...” Liana felt a bit awkward, but she hadn’t lied to Sephirena about that sentence. Tarashil had indeed said so, and her face had been full of trust for Sephirena.

“Alright.” Liana patted her own thigh.

“I’m fine.” Sephirena held back her tears.

“Come here. This is an order. Aren’t you supposed to listen to me, Sephirena?”

So you’re not a maid now?

Sephirena came to Liana’s side.

And then...

Liana pressed down on Sephirena’s head, making her face her thighs and lie down.