Principal Kaili’s voice drifted from not far away.
Liuli turned her head toward the sound and saw Kaili scolding Aili.
Aili’s head was bowed low, seemingly in deep reflection.
“That… That was requested by the Princess. I couldn’t exactly refuse her…”
“Couldn’t you have figured out a way to make an excuse?”
From the look of it, Aili was being reprimanded for giving her that book.
It seemed Principal Kaili had also read Aili’s “masterpiece,” though Liuli had no idea how she had reacted to it.
Liuli felt she needed to plead on Aili’s behalf.
To be honest, the fact that Aili was being scolded was directly linked to her.
“Principal Kaili, this really isn’t Aili’s fault. I was curious about what she was reading, so I sought her out and asked for the book. If you’re going to blame someone, blame me.”
“Ah, Princess, please don’t say such things. If you like it, then by all means, read it.”
Again, Principal Kaili seemed exceptionally lenient with her.
She had been scolding Aili just a moment ago, but her tone immediately turned gentle the second Liuli spoke.
Even a professional actor couldn’t change their face that quickly.
To prevent Aili from being scolded further after she left, Liuli decided to take her hand and lead her away from the Principal.
“Princess, thank you so much.”
“Aili, how did Principal Kaili find out you gave me that book?”
“I don’t know… It’s not like I would tell her the truth. Did you mention it to anyone, Princess?”
“Only Serveyia caught a glimpse when she came over earlier. I don’t know if she said anything.”
“It was probably her…”
“But why would Serveyia do that?”
Liuli was already an adult; it was perfectly normal to read an erotic novel.
Serveyia had done much more “excessive” things to her before, so why act like this now?
“Probably because she thinks my novel will corrupt you, Princess. After all, the story does contain a fair amount of heavy-taste content.”
“He—heavy-taste?”
This was certainly beyond Liuli’s expectations.
She never would have guessed that such secrets were hidden beneath Aili’s innocent appearance.
If what Aili said was true, it was understandable why Serveyia would tell Principal Kaili.
However, Liuli didn’t actually have much of a prejudice against so-called heavy-taste themes.
Truthfully, there were many varieties of such content.
Back when she had felt extremely repressed, Liuli had occasionally sought out some “heavy” material to consume.
But it was only ever a snack to satisfy a craving, never something she had for a main meal.
If she had the choice, she actually preferred to avoid heavy-taste content.
If there was normal, delicious material available, why choose something with so many uncertain, intense factors?
“Even though there’s some heavy stuff, it was published, so it doesn’t violate any laws or policies. It’s just a bit hardcore compared to the usual stuff people are familiar with.”
Aili continued to defend herself, but to be honest, Liuli felt the excuse was a bit weak.
What did she mean by “a bit hardcore”?
Were there actually different grades of heavy-taste content?
Liuli felt that the Elf Race was far too repressed.
Generally, hardcore works had a very specific niche audience.
Liuli didn’t think such works could have a broad appeal unless the entire society was incredibly tolerant of those specific themes.
“I’ll be careful while reading it.”
What else could Liuli say?
That she didn’t like hardcore works? Or that she loved them?
Although the beginning of the book hadn’t shown any specific “scenarios” yet, it was a novel.
Usually, even erotic novels couldn’t be filled with constant action from start to finish, or the readers would suffer from aesthetic fatigue.
Regardless, it wasn’t that important to Liuli.
She was only reading it out of curiosity.
Judging by the thickness, it had to be hundreds of thousands of words long.
It was hard to say if she could even maintain interest long enough to finish it, let alone whether she would encounter any strange scenarios.
There was no need to worry so much, was there?
“Little Fox, come eat.”
“Coming! Aili, should we go eat too?”
“Yes, Princess. Just please don’t let anyone else know you’re reading my novel. I don’t want to be called in for another lecture by the Principal.”
“But doesn’t everyone already know you wrote it?”
Even Serveyia knew exactly what was in Aili’s novel, down to the inappropriate parts.
There was no reason others wouldn’t know.
So, what was the point of being secretive?
“The point isn’t that people shouldn’t know I wrote it; it’s that people shouldn’t know you are reading it. In the eyes of many, the Princess should be pure and flawless. A pure and flawless Princess shouldn’t be looking at this kind of content.”
“So, in your eyes, it’s okay for me to see it?”
“Princess, you’re joking again. Didn’t you ask me for the book? I have to satisfy the Princess’s requests.”
“So, between satisfying my requests and meeting the expectations of others, which would you choose, Aili?”
It was actually a very interesting question.
At least for her, Liuli was curious to know how high her status was in the hearts of others.
Could she make someone change for her?
“That depends on what your request is, Princess. I don’t follow every single order.”
Well, it seemed the status of a Princess wasn’t always a golden ticket.
At the very least, she couldn’t just do whatever she wanted.
However, in Aili’s mind, letting her read a hand-written erotic novel apparently didn’t cross any boundaries.
Walking over to Serveyia’s side, Liuli discovered they were having barbecue for dinner.
It felt like a classic camping choice.
She just wondered if the chefs would be overwhelmed trying to cook for so many people.
“Serveyia, I’m here.”
“Mm. I saw you chatting with Aili just now, Little Fox. Are you two bonding?”
“No, I was just curious why Principal Kaili was scolding her.”
Principal Kaili’s voice had been rather loud, after all.
Liuli felt she would have heard it even if she hadn’t wanted to.
Plus, since the topic was so closely related to her, it was only natural to be curious.
“So, you know why now?”
“Yeah, I know…”
“Do you have any thoughts on it?”
“Me? Not really. I just feel like you can’t judge a book by its cover…”
“That’s normal. Aili’s appearance is very deceptive,” Serveyia said, handing her a plate of meat.
“At first glance, anyone would think Aili is a perfect ‘good girl.’ But how could someone who becomes the Student Council President of Saint Laia be just an ordinary good girl?”
“But the contrast of her writing that kind of thing is just too big.”
Liuli had seen so-called “gap moe” girls online before, but that was just on the internet.
People usually treated internet things as a joke and moved on.
Who would have thought there would be one right next to her?
“Also, is the Elf Race really that repressed? Why would that kind of novel even be popular?”
“Didn’t I tell you? The content of the novel isn’t the key; who the author is is what matters.”
“Serveyia, do you take me for a child? Even if the author is the Student Council President of Saint Laia, if the content isn’t accepted by society, it wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t even work if the author was the Elf King.”
Usually, the works of those in power could spread because they fit the social values of the time.
But this novel… no matter how she looked at it, the content didn’t seem to align with mainstream social values.
“In that case, isn’t the answer obvious?”
“No… No way?”
Although she had already suspected it, hearing Serveyia confirm it still felt unbelievable to Liuli.
If the Elf Race was truly such a repressed race, wouldn’t she be in danger if she went there?
“Instead of calling it repressed, it’s more accurate to call it open. Elven couples are quite adventurous, and regulations on related books aren’t very strict. We are a long-lived race, after all; we have our own understanding when it comes to seeking pleasure.”
Serveyia was very calm when she spoke, but Liuli couldn’t remain as composed.
In many of the works she had read, elves were often depicted as elegant and refined, sometimes even as ethereal beings who didn’t care for worldly desires.
After hearing Serveyia’s explanation, Liuli finally felt she truly understood elves.
It wasn’t that she was disillusioned.
It was simply that the idea of an entire race of beings who didn’t care for worldly desires sounded a bit too unbelievable.
This version felt more grounded in reality, even if it felt a little too grounded.
“So, in the eyes of the Elf Race, the scenarios in Aili’s book are actually considered normal? Including the… heavier parts?”
“I don’t know. That kind of thing is private, after all. But since Aili’s works can circulate within the Elf Race, they must be considered normal, right?”
“Alright—hey? Who grilled this meat?”
When it came to barbecue, Liuli had always felt that the seasoning was more important than the meat.
In her mind, there wasn’t a huge difference between types of meat; as long as it was decent quality, the result wouldn’t be bad.
You couldn’t blame her; though she had never eaten top-tier meat before, she hadn’t eaten poor-quality meat either.
Most meat tasted similar to her, and since barbecue relied so heavily on spices, you were often just eating the flavor of the seasoning.
But today’s barbecue was different.
In the meat Serveyia had given her, Liuli could clearly taste the flavor of the meat itself beneath a rich, complex layer of seasoning.
It was truly an impressive feat.