The heavy snow had been falling for most of the day, and the sky grew darker and heavier.
Lina looked at the miserable weather and could only order the team to rest where they were.
After all, traveling in this kind of snowstorm was too risky—it was better to wait until daylight and make plans then.
But what really worried Lina wasn’t the lost time; she was more concerned about whether Anya, raised as a noble lady, could handle such a harsh environment.
Even though they had a bonfire to keep warm, the occasional gusts of cold wind still made everyone shiver from head to toe.
In these conditions, sleeping was out of the question. Just sitting still was enough to leave one uncomfortable for half the day.
“Anya, we’ll definitely have to camp here for the night. I’m afraid it might be tough for you, and you may not sleep well.” Lina said with some apology.
“It’s fine, Lina.” Anya shook her head gently. “Bad weather is just something we have to face out here. I was prepared for it long ago.”
Although Anya had never slept in such an environment and might have trouble adjusting, she now had free access to the System Space. She could just go visit Iris.
As she thought of this, Anya stole a glance at Iris, looking quite pleased.
“Anya, what are you smiling about?” Lina noticed her inexplicably cheerful expression and couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
“Was I?” Anya blinked. “Maybe I just remembered something fun.”
“All right, then go ahead and get some rest.” Lina didn’t pry further, patting Anya on the shoulder.
“I need to arrange the night watch. If you can catch some sleep, do it. We have more traveling to do tomorrow.”
With that, Lina turned to busy herself with the arrangements.
As soon as Lina was gone, Anya sidled up to Iris and asked, “Iris, have you finished reading the comic?”
Iris was at an exciting part and was startled by Anya’s sudden question, looking up blankly and glancing around. “Not yet. Why, Anya? Did we reach our destination?”
“Of course not.” Anya laughed and shook her head.
“So is something urgent?” Iris scratched her head, looking confused.
“I want to go into your System Space tonight, is that all right?”
Iris was stunned for a couple of seconds, the corners of her mouth twitching before she forced a smile. “Of course you can. I did promise, after all.”
How miserable, so very miserable.
In an instant, she lost all interest in reading comics, silently cursing herself a hundred times over, but she still reluctantly brought Anya into the System Space.
There was no denying it—this place really was wonderful. No biting wind, no hard, frozen ground.
Anya went straight to Iris’s bed as soon as she entered, lying down and turning her head to look at her curiously. “Iris, aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I—I’m not sleepy yet.” Iris was scheming inside, planning to wait until Anya was fast asleep before getting into bed herself.
“Anya, you go ahead and sleep.”
This time, she definitely couldn’t let herself get caught up by her again!
“All right then.” Anya spread her hands and obediently lay down, closing her eyes.
Iris, however, was left staring blankly. This wasn’t right! Anya didn’t pull her over to sleep together? Had someone else possessed her body?
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
She was sure Anya was plotting something, so she simply sat by the bedside, determined to wait until Anya was completely asleep before she rested.
But sleepiness came on too strong to resist. Before long, Iris found her eyelids growing heavy, her head feeling fuzzy, and drowsiness washing over her like a tide.
“Mmm… Where’s the bed…” she mumbled groggily, then toppled onto the bed, her body seeming to act of its own accord as she scooted right up against Anya.
“Iris, what are you doing?” Anya’s voice suddenly rang out, tinged with sly amusement. “So eager tonight?”
Iris woke with a start, eyes flying open to find herself clinging tightly to Anya, her face instantly flushing bright red.
What…what’s happening?!
“Did you miss me since it’s been so long since we slept together?” Anya teased with a sly glint in her eyes.
“I…I!” Iris was so flustered she could barely form words, searching her mind desperately for an excuse.
“I just dreamed there was a huge cream cake next to me, so I wanted to give it a hug!”
“Oh? Is that so? I find that hard to believe.” Anya held back a laugh and deliberately teased her.
“It’s true! I mistook you for the cream cake, that’s why I hugged you by accident!” Iris insisted, her face crimson.
It was only after she finished speaking that she realized she hadn’t let go. She hurriedly released Anya, trying to look as innocent as possible.
Damn it, why does my body act on its own like this? Iris was on the verge of tears.
Seeing her so flustered, Anya didn’t tease her any further. She simply said, “I’m going to sleep now,” then turned over.
Iris was stunned again. Was this really the clingy Anya she knew? She didn’t even turn around and hug her?
I see, she must have finally realized her past mistakes!
The more Iris thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. She nodded to herself, lay down in relief, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
But once Iris was asleep, her body became restless.
Before long, she unconsciously edged closer to Anya again, pressing tightly against her.
Anya slowly turned over, looking at Iris’s sleeping profile and chuckled softly. “Iris really says one thing and does another.”
As if she’d heard the words, Iris’s brow furrowed slightly, then she snuggled even closer into Anya’s embrace, her expression relaxing with the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.
Feeling the softness and gentle scent of the white-haired girl beside her, Anya slept especially soundly that night.
The next morning, Iris woke up startled by her own posture. She’d wrapped herself around Anya like an octopus, her face nearly pressed against Anya’s neck.
“I swear, I didn’t do anything last night.” Anya smiled, holding up her hand.
How embarrassing! Iris’s face turned as red as a cooked shrimp and wouldn’t cool down no matter what.
Anya cheerfully exited the System Space, while Iris wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
She would rather die than go out and face Anya.
This was just too humiliating!
Once back in the real world, Anya saw that the team had already packed up and Lina was giving instructions to the others.
Seeing Anya awake, Lina walked over. “Anya, you really slept soundly! No matter how I called, you wouldn’t wake up, so I decided to let you sleep a little longer.”
Anya scratched her head sheepishly. “Sorry, Lina. I guess I really was exhausted yesterday.”
“It’s all right, we were planning to set out a bit later anyway.” Lina waved it off.
The snowfall outside had lessened quite a bit and at least no longer blocked their view. Once everyone had packed up, they set off once again toward their destination.
Maybe it was the improved weather, but they didn’t run into many monsters on the road today; the journey was unusually peaceful.
Even the accompanying Knights began to relax, and here and there, the sound of idle chatter could be heard.
Lina, naturally, noticed this and came to a halt. “Don’t let your guard down! Our greatest enemy this mission is the Dragonkin. We haven’t run into a single Dragonkin so far, so who knows when they’ll show up to ambush us?”
The moment she finished speaking, as if some strange sixth sense had triggered, a rustling sound echoed all around.
Immediately after, a group of Dragonkin burst out of the snowy plains, surrounding everyone.