“Fina, what are you doing?”
When Liuli found Fina, she noticed her scrolling through her phone. An uneasy feeling rose in Liuli’s heart.
Could Fina really be helping her find someone she knew?
“Liuli, didn’t you want to buy a pet? I’m helping you find a suitable seller.”
As expected, Fina was indeed helping her find a seller. This made Liuli feel both touched and embarrassed. However, at the thought of having to tell her the truth, Liuli felt a bit reluctant.
“Uh, actually, Fina, you don’t need to go through all that trouble. I just chatted with Aili, and she told me there’s a type of magic beast called a Forest Elemental that might be suitable for me. So, I’m a bit curious about it.”
“A Forest Elemental? Although they are very cute, they can be quite a nightmare when they get mischievous. Are you sure, Liuli?”
To Liuli’s surprise, Fina did not show any dissatisfaction. She didn’t seem to mind that her efforts might have been for nothing.
“I haven’t completely decided yet. I’ll give it a try first.”
“If you really want to raise one, Liuli, my advice is to find one that is well-behaved and sensible. Even if you have to spend a large sum of money, look for a well-behaved one. Trust me.”
“Is it really that terrifying? Everyone seems to be telling me how incredibly mischievous Forest Elementals are. Is it really that serious?”
“Hiding things is just the norm. These little things are even smart enough to know what you like and what you cherish, and they will hide those cherished items only to reappear after you’ve searched until you’re frantic. Or they might hide somewhere to jump out and scare you. Because of this, the Forest Elemental has become a pet with a very high abandonment rate. So, if possible, I hope you can be well-prepared before raising one, Liuli. If you can, it’s best not to abandon it.”
Strictly speaking, mischievous pets always had high abandonment rates. Overly active cats and dogs were also major disaster areas for abandonment.
More importantly, people often knew the personality of the pet they were about to raise but chose not to take it seriously, which led to high abandonment rates.
‘I… I can only say I’ll do my best.’
After all, her initial plan was to understand their personalities first and only commit after confirming the one she wanted to raise had a good enough temperament.
Although being mischievous was the nature of a Forest Elemental and likely unavoidable, she should at least be able to minimize it, right?
“However, Forest Elementals are not easy to find. There are merchants who sell them over where the elves are. Let me look…”
“Fina, you even have connections like that?”
“Well, a merchant couldn’t possibly sell only one type of pet. Plus, since the Forest Elemental itself isn’t a sought-after species, a reasonable merchant would definitely choose a variety of pets to sell. They also travel to different places to do business. That being the case, it isn’t strange that I would know merchants from the Elf Race, is it?”
Fina continued searching for something on her phone, then suddenly asked as if she had thought of something, “Liuli, do you need a trainer? They can help you train your pet. Although the results might not be great, having one is better than nothing.”
“Um, let me decide on the pet first…”
It wouldn’t be too late to look for a trainer once she actually found a pet with a good personality.
Besides, maybe that pet’s personality would be good enough that she wouldn’t even need a trainer.
“So, Liuli, did you come to see me just to talk about this?”
“Yes, I felt it was necessary to tell you, Fina. Otherwise, I was worried your efforts would go to waste…”
“They aren’t wasted. It is an honor for each of us to be able to help you, Princess. Of course, I would be even happier if you could accompany me to the market when the time comes.”
“Fina, you really are an angel!”
In her excitement, Liuli hugged Fina directly. She had thought Fina would be petty about it, so it was wonderful that she could be so understanding.
“Hehe, there’s no need for the Princess to be like this toward me. This is all just my duty.”
Fina seemed to enjoy Liuli’s hug very much, and she even happily hugged her back.
“It would be nice if I could always hold you like this, Liuli. Your body is so soft and has such a nice scent. It’s really comfortable to hold.”
“Just let me know whenever you want to hug. I’m always here anyway.”
“Princess — never mind…”
Fina seemed like she wanted to say something, but after a moment’s thought, she ultimately kept it to herself.
However, Liuli could clearly sense that Fina’s mood wasn’t as good as it had been just a moment ago.
‘Girls’ moods really are hard to guess…’ Liuli thought to herself.
After some consideration, she decided not to ask Fina what was wrong.
Although she didn’t think there was anything wrong with what she had just said, who was to say there wasn’t something inappropriate in Fina’s ears?
“Fina, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head out first?”
“Ah, okay. Liuli, you must go shopping with me once we get back.”
“Yes, definitely.”
Every time she encountered such a suffocatingly awkward situation, Liuli would subconsciously want to leave.
She didn’t know if this habit of escaping was appropriate.
……
“Little Fox, what are you thinking about?”
Hearing Serveyia’s question, Liuli thought for a moment and decided to tell her what had just happened.
At the very least, she wanted to know why Fina’s mood had changed.
“Sigh, I don’t even know what to say to you, Little Fox. Why are you acting like such a straight man right now? Do you really not understand what Fina meant by those words?”
“Uh, actually, no…”
To say she had no idea wasn’t entirely accurate.
Deep down, Liuli had a faint inkling, but she had subconsciously pushed that intuition to the back of her mind.
To be honest, when facing emotional issues, she still instinctively looked for direct communication.
“Really nothing? Forget it. Little Fox, have you truly not sensed Fina’s feelings at all?”
Serveyia observed the Little Fox’s expression and, seeing her still looking bewildered, continued helplessly, “A hug in itself doesn’t represent much, but one doesn’t just hug anyone casually. There must be a certain bond between two people to be able to hug freely, just like I am doing now — “
Serveyia reached out and pulled Liuli into her arms, habitually stroking the Little Fox’s head.
“So, that was a different kind of confession?”
“It doesn’t count as a confession, at most it was a hint. However, seeing your blank expression, she probably gave up on the idea of hinting.”
“Uh, really?”
Although Liuli had similar thoughts in her heart, having Serveyia point it out like this still made her feel a bit embarrassed.
“I am not Fina, but based on my understanding of her, that’s likely what she meant. After all, Fina isn’t the type of girl who is very direct.”
“How is she not direct? I didn’t feel like there were any twists and turns when Fina hugged me.”
“You can’t say it like that. While there weren’t many twists and turns when she hugged you, most of the time there was a specific reason for it. Basically, there was always a justification for the hug. Fina shouldn’t have hugged you without any reason at all, right, Little Fox?”
“I suppose not…”
“Then that’s it. It shows that Fina still cares about the so-called status. Given the personalities of you two, if there isn’t something to push things along, I’m afraid you won’t be able to take a step further for the rest of your lives.”
“No, Serveyia, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by being unable to take a step further? Since I already know Fina’s feelings, wouldn’t taking a step further be a very simple matter?”
“Is that so?” Serveyia looked Liuli up and down, then let out a bit of a chuckle.
“Then if I asked you to go and confess to Fina right now, could you do it?”
“Con-con-con-confess? Me?”
“Yes, a confession. That way, your relationship with her could take a step forward. As you said, it’s a very easy thing, isn’t it?”
“Can… can you give me some time to prepare?”
“See? It’s clearly a simple matter involving just a few words, and you already know Fina wouldn’t refuse. So why not go try it?”
“I don’t know…”
Indeed, her heart was very conflicted.
Especially when facing Serveyia — she had already established a relationship with her, yet now she was discussing her relationship with another woman right in front of her.
This situation felt absurd in itself. Not to mention, she was far from being prepared.
It wasn’t just Serveyia, there was also Aili, and now Fina had to be added to the list.
Although one of the duties of a Princess was to accept love and pampering, the love between friends and the love between couples was different.
Liuli was clear on this point. She never considered herself to be a particularly resilient field.
Serveyia alone might already be more than she could handle. If two or three more people were added, what would become of her?
“In that case, do you want me to provide a little boost?”
“For — forget it. I think things are fine as they are now…”
Liuli’s thoughts were simple. She wanted to sort out her relationship with Aili first before discussing Fina’s matter.
Actually, being liked by Fina didn’t surprise Liuli.
Generally speaking, the appearance of androphobia in many works was a huge flag in itself.
Either they would find the one male they didn’t hate for a passionate romance, or they would give up entirely, let themselves go, and fall into the embrace of Yuri.
For Fina, who had grown up under almost constant surveillance and protection, choosing the path of Yuri could almost be considered a natural progression.
Moreover, Liuli suddenly thought, could she — who had turned from a boy into a girl — also be considered to have androphobia in her emotional choices?
Thinking about it that way, it seemed like she and Fina were a very good match. Uh, was that something worth being happy about?
“Since you think so, Little Fox, I won’t say much more. However, watching the two of you pull back and forth like this, even I am starting to feel a bit tired. Little Fox, do you really not plan to make your true feelings clear?”
“I… I will. I’ll find an opportunity to make it clear…”
Now look at what happened. Someone was constantly rushing her.
Did Serveyia really see official business and duties as being that important?