This was the elven city.
The roads were gentle and spacious, thronged with people yet never feeling crowded. Buildings rose directly from the ground along the streets. As one of the largest cities in the Elf Kingdom, it created the illusion of life in a modern metropolis. On the Camiran Continent, though, the term “modern” felt a touch out of place. By the reckoning of that former world, it resembled a city from the nineteenth century.
To the right of the road lay the docks, where leaf-shaped sailboats and steamboats—simple in design—let out crisp whistles as magic propelled them forward.
The elven soldiers stood apart from the others, who wore revealing garments that bared fragrant shoulders and graceful backs. They were clad head to toe in armor that gleamed with silver light. Most eye-catching of all were the bows and arrows slung across every soldier’s back. Among the Demon Race, only the elite of the soldiers carried such weapons, but here in the Elf Kingdom, every city guard on duty bore them.
“Could riots really break out in a place like this?” Xuefei murmured, entranced.
“Probably some races deliberately stirring up trouble,” came the reply. “After all, the Elf Queen’s disappearance has sent shockwaves far beyond the ordinary.”
“Hmm… Speaking of which, those ships—are they really made from plants? I don’t remember the Elf Kingdom having anything so advanced back then.”
“Xuefei, bear in mind we haven’t been on the Camiran Continent for a full year yet, but the world has undergone restarts numbering well over a hundred. It’s less a true restart and more like hurling most matter back a century in this plane, while souls touched by divine power retained fragments of their prior memories.”
“Speaking of which, how exactly did you pull off looping the entire Camiran Continent?” Xuefei turned her head from the window toward Leia. The latter sat with regal poise on the carriage seat, hands resting naturally on her thighs sheathed in black silk stockings. Together with the passing scenery outside, they formed a flawless tableau.
“The god I devoured—the Light Envoy overseeing the Camiran Continent—possessed that very ability. All I did was channel most of my surplus power into restarting the plane. Its limit was one hundred fifty years.”
“So… why advance the world all the way to one hundred fifty years back, instead of just a few months?”
Xuefei locked eyes with Leia, who offered no swift reply.
“Hey, you two young ladies in the back!”
“Have we arrived?”
“Looks like it.”
The coachman’s call cut their conversation short. Xuefei pushed open the carriage door and stepped down, stretching languidly despite her head being concealed beneath a white hood.
In the next instant, Leia tugged the hood away.
“Xuefei, don’t be scared. These elves won’t see through our true identities. Races without horns or pointed ears won’t draw their scorn.”
“I’m not bothered by scorn…” Xuefei’s gaze flickered evasively as she touched the dragon horns that were still there, if invisible. “It just feels like something’s missing.”
“Is Xuefei still a little kid?”
“You’re the kid! It’s just a personal quirk, okay!”
Xuefei’s fist lashed out in mock fury toward Leia’s chest, only to bounce off lightly, as if striking soft tofu. A boy pulling that stunt would be branded a pervert without question, but for one girl to deliberately cop a feel on another…
Well, that made her a girl pervert.
Ahem…
Xuefei figured it evened out, anyway—Leia had groped her far more often than the reverse—so she let it slide without a second thought.
“You know, elves are loyal and optimistic, but arrogant to a fault. Humans can stroll freely down elven streets. Even human beggars receive warm food and basic shelter. Yet scarcely any other race commands true respect in the Elf Kingdom.”
“Respect? I couldn’t care less,” Xuefei said with a shrug.
After all, she could barely muster any semblance of dignity in the palace itself. Out here in the wider world? Forget it. She’d long since faced facts: this world’s denizens had a weakness for soft, petite girls. Her looks were perfectly calibrated to send those lovesick women into a frenzy. Not a single man had ever shot her a flirtatious glance—not that she’d have hesitated to slay him on the spot if one had.
Unbeknownst to her, the Evil Dragon’s Curse hadn’t just lavished her with a woman’s lush form; it had also tacked on an effect rendering her “unappealing to men.” To the outside world, Xuefei was pretty enough, but in any man’s eyes, she remained utterly unremarkable.
Even Leia had no inkling just how popular Xuefei was with girls!
Had they known she was already spoken for, they might have held back. Otherwise, they’d have showered her with flowers and bold advances in a heartbeat…
After passing through several streets, with Sophia and Setra trailing behind her, Xuefei arrived at the spot Laer had identified as the “most likely location for an attack” and settled in to wait. But before that…
“Is that a cake shop? It’s so fancy…”
“We’ll have a few built next to the Palace later. Come on, let’s go take a look~”
“Mm-hmm!”
Leia patted Xuefei’s head as if she were a child, then followed her indulgently into the cake shop, where the air was thick with enticing aromas. What drew in most of the customers wasn’t the enormous bread sign hanging outside, nor the shop’s pristine interior and refined ambiance, but the irresistible scent of fresh bread wafting through the entire street.
The moment Xuefei burst inside, her eyes locked onto the “white castles” displayed behind the counter’s glass case. These cakes were shaped like towering spires, their designs eschewing ostentatious decoration in favor of delightful arrangements of fruits, jams, and cream that were a feast for the eyes.
Take, for instance, the seven-inch cake on the far left of the counter: cream flowers paired with chocolate hearts, topped with a few glossy cherries. It was more than enough to captivate this ravenous little dragon.
After all, she needed plenty of nutrition now that she was going to have a child. A little hunger was nothing to worry about.
Leia patted her wallet with a beaming smile. At the same time, Sophia looked unusually excited by the sight, leaving Setra to sigh helplessly as she slipped a hand into her pocket and felt for the few gold coins she’d brought along.
“Oh, miss, aren’t you just the cutest thing? Let me help you pick something out! I’ll give you a fifty percent discount—no, make it thirty!”
“Huh?”
Xuefei glanced up at the shop owner who had emerged from the back.
The woman had her orange-red hair tied up in a neat bun. Her tall, slender figure was clad in simple attire that revealed not a single flaw, and dangling from her pointed ears were earrings made from preserved green leaves—every bit as cheerful and uplifting as she and her cakes.
“If you’d like, I could even give it to you for free~”
“Um, that’s really not necessary…,” Xuefei replied awkwardly, lifting her head with an embarrassed smile. “I’ll pay for it properly. I couldn’t just take it otherwise.”
Their exchange drew the attention of those around them. The elves who had come to buy cakes turned curious gazes toward this silver-haired, red-eyed unexpected visitor, sizing her up with open wonder.
“Who’s that? She’s adorable~”
“Oh my god, how much would it cost to take her home? Lulu, I’ve made up my mind—I’m buying her!”
“She’s like a work of art…”
Xuefei let out a sigh.
This wasn’t the first time she’d felt troubled by just how popular she was.
