Before Yiyi could respond, Lilia suddenly stepped forward, gently pushed away Yaoyao’s small hand, grabbed Yiyi’s shoulders with both hands, and then sat right down on her lap.
The weight of her body made Yiyi instinctively tense her back.
There was obvious annoyance on her face, her eyes surging with thick jealousy, and her voice trembled a little as she demanded: “Yibao, are you getting involved with another woman?”
“N-no! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Yiyi was startled by this sudden action, her already flushed cheeks instantly growing even redder, as if they were about to catch fire.
She waved her hands frantically, her eyes darting to avoid Lilia’s gaze, then glanced subconsciously at Aze on the bed, her voice stuttering.
“There’s nothing between us! Just now was… just a misunderstanding!”
“My, my, who would have thought! You’ve actually started fooling around with girls, I really didn’t expect this!”
Aze leaned against the headboard, arms crossed, watching with an amused grin.
Her silvery white tail even swayed on purpose, her tone full of mocking mischief, as if she was enjoying the chaos.
“Shut up!”
Yiyi snapped, both angry and anxious.
She turned and glared fiercely at Aze, her eyes growing moist.
“Who’s fooling around! It’s all your nonsense! Shut up!”
She turned to look at Lilia, grabbing tightly onto the other’s sleeves, her knuckles turning pale from the force.
Her tone was urgent and defensive, but her tongue seemed to be tied up, tripping over itself: “Lilia, let me explain! She, she’s just a fool… No, that’s not it! Listen, listen to me… there’s really nothing between us!”
Lilia’s gaze grew sharper, locking onto Yiyi’s flustered eyes, refusing to relent, “Then who is she?”
“She, she’s called Xiaobai! Yes, Xiaobai!”
Yiyi seized on this as if clutching a lifeline, nodding rapidly and explaining at top speed.
“She’s my little sister… I was just coaxing her to sleep, really, Lilia, you have to believe me.”
Lilia gazed into the panic and sincerity in Yiyi’s eyes.
The tension in her lips slowly softened, her fingertips gently caressing Yiyi’s flushed cheeks.
The jealousy in her voice faded away, replaced only by overflowing fondness:
“Alright, I believe you, Yibao.”
The moment the misunderstanding was cleared, all the shame and frustration Yiyi had bottled up burst out at once.
She jumped up, clenched her little fists, and charged straight at Aze: “Hmph! It’s all your fault! Aze, you idiot! See if I don’t beat you to a pulp!”
“Alright, enough.”
Lilia’s reaction was quick, grabbing Yiyi’s small tail from behind.
With a gentle tug, she pulled Yiyi in front of her and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight and pinning her arms down as she struggled.
Yiyi went limp as her tail was grabbed, but she still refused to back down, wriggling defiantly and shouting at Aze: “Let go! I have to beat this idiot half-dead today!”
Aze raised her brows, deliberately stepping back a couple of paces, arms folded, grinning with a face begging for a beating: “Oh, got caught, did you? Come on, come hit me, you idiot Hades! Come on.”
“You make me so mad!”
Yiyi puffed out her cheeks in anger, her eyes welling up, but trapped firmly in Lilia’s embrace, she could only glare furiously at Aze, her tail behind her thumping the bed in annoyance.
“You traitor! You make me so angry! I should have smothered you in the dungeon!”
Yiyi growled, her nose flaring with rage.
“Big sisters, please don’t fight.”
Yaoyao suddenly reached out with her soft little hand, tugging gently at Yiyi’s sleeve, her small face full of worry.
“Fighting makes people unhappy. Yaoyao doesn’t want to see big sisters sad.”
“Hmph, I’ll let you off today for Yaoyao’s sake.”
Yiyi pouted, glared hard at Aze again, but stopped struggling and obediently snuggled into Lilia’s embrace, though her tail was still sticking up slightly, expressing her last bit of dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, Aze secretly let out a sigh of relief, a barely noticeable smile appearing on her face, her tone softening a bit: “Alright, you win this round. Next time, I’ll go easy on you.”
“Come on, don’t be mad, Yibao. Go bathe with me. I worked so hard helping you look after Yaoyao today.”
Lilia said, gently pinching Yiyi’s red cheeks, her tone full of indulgent tenderness.
Yiyi’s ears turned slightly red.
She tried to act tough, but obediently stood up under Lilia’s guiding strength, subconsciously leaning closer to her.
Her tail, no longer tense, gently draped over Lilia’s wrist, showing a bit of dependence.
“O-okay…”
“If you’re off to bathe, then the bed’s mine, Hades…” Aze had just sprawled onto the soft covers and was about to stretch out when Yiyi, who had just stood up, grabbed her tail.
The silvery white tip of Aze’s tail immediately went stiff with surprise.
Yiyi applied some force, dragging Aze toward the bath, her face still tinged with anger, though her mouth kept up a stubborn excuse: “What are you thinking? Hogging my bed? You’re so filthy, don’t dirty my bed—come bathe with me!”
“Hey, hey! Let go! Let go!”
Aze was dragged off balance, scrambling to her feet, her tail going numb in Yiyi’s grip.
The fluffy tail-tip drooped, but she could only be pulled along, complaining all the while.
“How am I dirty? And who bathes by dragging someone by the tail? Go easy!”
“You shouldn’t have taken my bed!”
Yiyi’s grip didn’t loosen, but her cheeks quietly grew redder, even as she kept up her tough act.
“You’re always rubbing everywhere, who knows how much dust you pick up? And you just got out of the dungeon—don’t even think of touching my bed until you’re clean!”
Out of strength, Aze was dragged all the way from the room to the bath by her tail, her face full of helplessness, the silvery tail flopping limply in Yiyi’s hand, the tip quivering pitifully.
“Let go, let go! My tail’s going to come off if you keep pulling!”
Aze stumbled as she was dragged, barely managing to get her footing before immediately reaching to pry Yiyi’s fingers off.
“I’ll walk myself, okay? This isn’t a bath, this is an escort for a criminal!”
“Aren’t you one?! Take your clothes off yourself! Hmph…”
Yiyi suddenly let go, her face red as a beet, turning and walking to the far side of the bath, deliberately avoiding Aze’s gaze, though her tail stiffened in her nervousness.
Aze rubbed her numb tail base, looking at Yiyi’s awkward back with a trace of mischief in her eyes as she grumbled: “What a little tyrant, dragging me by the tail all the way here, and still so fierce.”
Despite her words, she obediently began to undress, her silvery tail swaying lightly, the tip still showing a bit of lingering grievance.
Yiyi walked over to the bath’s edge and began slowly taking off her clothes.
After undressing, she carefully unwound the bandage at her chest, and slowly stepped into the bath.
“Ow~ that hurts.”
As soon as the hot water reached her chest, Yiyi couldn’t help but let out a muffled whimper, her brows knitting together, hand instinctively pressing over her wound.
When she’d struggled under Aze just now, her chest injury had been pulled hard.
Now, as the hot water soaked it, a fine pain spread along her skin, making her whole body tense, even her tail-tip quivering uncontrollably.
“Yibao~ now it’s just the two of us, Yaoyao is playing in the little pool over there, so don’t worry.”
Lilia hugged Yiyi from behind, her warm palm gently covering Yiyi’s hand on her wound, softly pressing for her, her voice sweet as honey: “Don’t tough it out by yourself. If it hurts, just tell me.”
Her chest pressed against Yiyi’s back, carrying a clean scent of soap.
Her warm breath brushed Yiyi’s ear, making her cheeks burn even hotter, her heartbeat skipping out of rhythm.
Wrapped in the familiar warmth, Yiyi’s tense body slowly relaxed, the pain from her wound seeming to melt away in the gentle care, leaving only the warmth from Lilia’s fingertips.
“Lilia…”
Yiyi murmured softly, her voice tinged with a trace of barely noticed dependence, the tip of her tail gently brushing against Lilia’s wrist.
“It’s still bleeding here, does it hurt if I press like this?”
Lilia let go of Yiyi, sat in the water and gently took Yiyi’s waist with both hands, pulling her to sit on her lap so the two of them were face-to-face, soaking in the warm water.
The hot water washed around their waists, sending up gentle ripples of heat.