In the café, Xia Li and Luya sat facing each other.
The girl with pale blue hair sat upright in the rattan chair, sunlight streaming through the glass and casting a warm glow on her pale face, giving her a faint flush.
“The Earl’s black tea here tastes pretty good,” Luya said, twirling the little spoon between her fingers as she stirred the black tea mixed with sugar.
Though she was clearly young, she exuded a mature aura.
But Xia Li’s attention wasn’t on her at all.
Her eyes kept scanning the café menu.
Forty copper coins for a cup of black tea, fifty for a coffee…
Is this really a café in the city center? It must cater only to nobles!
“Xia Li sister, I want to ask you something,” Luya put down the spoon.
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your relationship with the Kafus family?”
“Hm! I’m just friends with a few people my age from that family,” Xia Li said nervously, waving her hand as she thought about what she had just done.
That hardly seemed like something friends would do.
“People your age, huh…” Luya sipped her tea lightly, her fingertip tracing the rim of the cup, a faint smile curling her lips. “Maybe that’s my betrothed I’ve never met.”
“Haha, that’s possible…”
“Xia Li sister, have your friends ever mentioned the betrothal?”
“Well, to be honest, yes,” Xia Li lowered her head and stirred her fifty-copper coffee. “She’s actually quite troubled by the betrothal.”
“So, you invited me out to talk about this?”
“Something like that…”
“Seems like she already knows about me. I understand—someone like me as a betrothed is really hard to accept.” Luya glanced at the wheelchair nearby and lowered her eyes.
“That’s not it! She doesn’t even know that the betrothed is you, and I haven’t told her… What troubles her isn’t the person, but the betrothal itself,” Xia Li shook her head.
“It must be the family putting a lot of pressure on her,” Luya’s fingers curled. “I know it’s despicable to use family power to force someone, but…”
This was the only chance she’d seen to stand up again after losing consciousness all these years.
“If I can help you recover, would you be willing to propose to your family to cancel the betrothal?” Xia Li saw the inner conflict in Luya’s eyes.
“Yes, I definitely would.” Luya hesitated a moment. “But Stein and the Kafus family have other agreements. This relationship isn’t something I can change on a whim.”
“That’s true…” Xia Li sighed.
“Xia Li sister, do you really have a way to help me recover?”
“It’s possible, but we have to try first to be sure.”
“Will it cost anything?”
“No, but it requires some physical contact…”
“Could you please try? Even if there’s only a one in ten thousand chance, I want to try.” Luya reached out her hand to Xia Li.
“…Are you really willing?”
“I am.”
Over the years, Luya had tried countless magical rituals and drunk endless bitter and painful potions, but her body hadn’t improved in the slightest.
If she could recover just through physical contact, it would truly be a miracle granted by the Goddess of Night.
“Then I’ll start…” Xia Li glanced around the café—there weren’t many people—and took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions as much as possible.
It’s okay.
Luya said she had no objections!
Xia Li grasped Luya’s outstretched hand; it was cool and delicate, the fingers slender and fair, making her want to hold it warmly in her palm.
“Do you feel anything?” Xia Li asked softly.
“Feels like… your hand is warm, Xia Li sister. Does that count?”
Do I need to take it further…? Xia Li had only done two mana replenishments with Enis recently and wasn’t sure how far she needed to go to complete the magic.
Since she’d started, she might as well see it through!
Xia Li moved closer to Luya and placed her palm against her cheek.
“Eh? Is this… part of the process too?” Luya’s pale face flushed.
“Yes.” Xia Li brushed Luya’s hair aside, caressed her ear, then leaned down to her shoulder and pressed her lips to the base of her neck.
“?!” Luya’s pupils contracted. The sudden warmth against her sent her mind blank; she never expected Xia Li to do something like this.
Shame, confusion, anger, fear—
A tangle of emotions filled her heart. Instinctively, Luya raised her hand and pushed against Xia Li’s chest, using all her strength to shove her away from her soft touch.
“Xia Li sister, don’t…”
Biting her lip, tears of shame welled up at the corners of her eyes.
How could she have expected Xia Li, whom she’d only met once, to do such a thing?
How was this even related to recovering her body?
…Is this what tonight holds for me?
After announcing the betrothal, she would have to do far more intense and intimate things with an unknown fiancé.
So this is how it really feels.
Terrifying…
Luya hugged her arm with her right hand, brow furrowed slightly, forcing a smile, “Um… Xia Li sister, your method doesn’t really suit me.”
“Uh… sorry.” Xia Li covered her mouth with her fingers.
“No, I should be the one apologizing for not explaining properly beforehand…” Luya stood and moved toward her wheelchair. “Um… I have some things to do…”
…Huh?
Why is my perspective so high now?
Luya looked down, her vision blurred from tears, and saw her legs—long thought numb—trembling uncontrollably from standing for the first time in a long while.
The stagnant, dead pool of mana in her body was like a new current flowing through.
Why…
Did my mana and body actually recover?
“Xia Li sister, what is this…” Luya’s body was as fragile as a leaf blown by the wind. She tried to take a step forward but her legs gave out and she collapsed into Xia Li’s arms.
“This is because… my constitution is a bit special,” Xia Li scratched her cheek. “I only need relatively simple intimate contact to achieve mana fusion.”
“Ugh… what kind of thing is this!”
Luya grabbed Xia Li’s clothes, tears uncontrollably swirling in her eyes, wetting the fabric over Xia Li’s chest.
She had lost her mana for so many years, tried countless methods to no avail, and even chosen the path of betrothal.
And now she recovered so simply?
What the hell!
Even Luya could show such a childish side… Xia Li cradled Luya’s head, letting her sob into her arms.
“Sorry, I was rude…”
Luya’s briefly restored mana gradually faded. She wiped away her tears and resumed her usual smile. “Xia Li sister, I will listen to you. I’ll ask Mother to cancel the betrothal.”