“Ah, I grabbed the wrong potion! It turned you into a girl.”
Xiamir suddenly slapped his forehead, his tone a mix of frustration and helpless amusement.
“I originally meant to get you the neutral dragon blood potion, but I ended up with the female silver dragon transformation serum instead…”
“Xiamir, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Yiyi suddenly sat upright, the wound on her chest tugging painfully, yet she couldn’t hide the anger flickering in her eyes.
“There’s no way it was just a ‘mistake.’ You obviously planned this all along!”
“Little Yiyi treasure, how can you talk like that?”
Xiamir immediately put on a pitiful expression.
“What do you mean I did it on purpose? I was just clumsy! Besides, being a female silver dragon isn’t so bad!”
“Oh, I don’t know, I have a bad memory. Well, whatever, I’m off now. I still have things to handle. See you later, Little Yiyi treasure.”
With that, Xiamir turned and quickly left the room, leaving Yiyi and the dramatically changed Aze staring at each other in silence.
The magical glow in the room dimmed gradually, and the lingering scent of herbs hung in the air, an awkward tension spreading between them.
Yiyi looked at the completely unfamiliar figure before her—silver-white hair cascading down to the waist, golden eyes shining like refined light, a slender yet taut girl’s figure, and a silver tail gently sweeping the floor behind her.
She stepped closer to Aze, crouched down, and slowly let her gaze sweep from the top of the head down, looking left and right, as if inspecting something both familiar and strange.
Her fingertips instinctively rose and lightly touched Aze’s cheek.
The skin was delicate and warm, with a softness unlike before—completely different from the rough, bristly, and hardened face she remembered.
Aze stiffened all over, her golden eyes snapping wide open, filled with helplessness.
A faint blush appeared at her ear tips, and her breathing grew rapid.
The silver tail behind her froze, pressing stiffly against the floor.
While Yiyi was still stunned, her knees suddenly buckled.
Weakened from her wound, she lost support and uncontrollably fell forward.
“Ugh!” she let out a low sound as her forehead bumped against Aze’s shoulder, then her chest pressed heavily against her.
Aze instinctively reached out to steady her, but the moment her hands touched Yiyi’s back, she froze, fingers rigid in mid-air, unsure what to do.
Yiyi’s weight wasn’t heavy, but it made Aze’s entire body tense.
Her nose caught the faint scent of herbs mixed with a girl’s unique fragrance, creating a strange new aroma.
She could clearly feel Yiyi’s warm breath against her neck, trembling slightly, and the subtle, hurried rise and fall of her injured chest.
Yiyi was also bewildered, her cheek pressed tightly against Aze’s clothes, feeling the rise and fall of her chest and the strong heartbeat beneath.
She tried to lift herself, but her knees were weak and the wound tugged sharply.
Two attempts failed, only making their bodies press closer together.
“Hades… can you get up? You’re so heavy! Hey, don’t rub against me, get off!”
Aze suddenly exploded, the soft feminine voice tinged with roughness from before, unmistakably flustered and annoyed.
She instinctively raised a hand to push Yiyi away but didn’t dare use much force, afraid of hurting the wound.
Her resistance was clumsy but earnest.
The silver tail behind her thrashed uncontrollably, scales lightly brushing against Yiyi’s arm, bringing a faint chill.
Yiyi was stunned by the outburst, then flared up with anger.
Already in pain from the wound and embarrassed by the sudden intimacy, she glared wide-eyed at Aze upon hearing the scolding: “What are you yelling for? If my legs weren’t weak, who would want to be pressed down by you? Hurry up and help me up!”
“Who’s going to help you? We’re all grown-ups here, you better get off!”
Aze’s voice was sharp and agitated, her soft tone full of biting frustration.
She shouted while trying to push Yiyi away with both hands and feet.
“Grown-ups?”
Yiyi laughed through the pain, gasping sharply while also getting worked up.
“You call yourself a grown-up looking like that?!”
Her words stabbed at Aze like a needle.
Aze froze, the fury in her golden eyes instantly replaced by embarrassment.
She looked down at her delicate hands, silver hair reaching her waist, and the uncontrollable silver tail behind her.
Her face flushed deeply, then turned pale.
“I…” She opened her mouth, but the retort stuck in her throat.
After a long moment, she could only clench her fists, her chest heaving violently.
“No matter what, get up! Don’t stay so close!”
“I do want to get up! But you have to support me!”
Yiyi pushed against Aze’s shoulders, mustering some strength to raise her upper body.
“Do you think I want to be stuck to you? If Xiamir hadn’t messed up, I’d be nursing my injury right now!”
Aze was fired up by that and suddenly pushed Yiyi sideways with all her strength.
It wasn’t rough, but enough to send Yiyi tumbling onto a nearby soft cushion.
Then, she raised her slender leg and lightly kicked Yiyi’s arm with her toe, her tone full of proud disdain: “You’re so heavy. If you weren’t right about this and injured, I’d have kicked you flying somewhere already!”
Yiyi swayed from the kick, the wound tugging painfully, but the stubborn expression made her laugh.
Holding her chest, she glared at Aze in exasperation: “You think your little frame can kick me away? You never beat me before you transformed, and now you talk big.”
“Nonsense!”
Aze nearly jumped up, her soft voice suddenly sharp and frustrated.
“I held back before! If I didn’t see you’re a girl now, I would’ve beaten you until you were toothless!”
“Oh? You only see me as a girl now?”
Yiyi raised an eyebrow, the mockery in her eyes deepening.
“So, in your current form, does that mean ‘birds of a feather’?”
“You couldn’t beat me before. Now that we’re both like this, you think you can beat me?”
“Little Yiyi treasure, are you okay? I heard from Aunt Xiamir…”
A gentle female voice suddenly came from the doorway, cautious and tentative.
Lilia held Yaoyao in her arms, standing at the door.
Her concerned gaze changed subtly as it landed on the two tangled figures on the floor.
She instinctively covered Yaoyao’s eyes, her ears flushing pink.
Yaoyao, her eyes covered, made a curious coo, rubbing her head against Lilia’s chest in confusion: “Sister Lilia, why can’t I look? Why is sister on the floor? And who’s that?”
The sudden voice froze the two in the room.
Awkwardness flooded back like a tide, almost drowning them.
The smile on Yiyi’s face vanished instantly, her cheeks burning red.
She quickly tried to push herself up from the cushion but the sudden movement tugged painfully at her wound, making her gasp sharply.
Aze was even more embarrassed, her silver-white hair nearly standing on end.
The silver tail flailed anxiously before wrapping tightly around her leg, as if wanting to curl into a ball.
“Lilia, it’s not what you think!”
Yiyi’s voice trembled with urgency, the pain in her chest and the embarrassment making sweat bead on her forehead.
“I just got weak and fell. Aze was…”
She glanced at Aze, who buried her head lower, shoulders trembling slightly.
The silver tail was tightly wrapped around her leg, and her breathing was ragged.
Yiyi’s explanation died on her lips, the situation only seeming worse.
Lilia quickly waved her hand, avoiding eye contact, cheeks faintly flushed: “I-I understand! I didn’t see anything!”
She took a step back, voice lowering.
“Aunt Xiamir said your wound needs dressing changes, so I brought some clean bandages and ointment. I’ll leave them at the door and go now!”
With that, she quickly placed the bundle on the doorstep and turned to leave with Yaoyao.
But Yaoyao protested, gripping Lilia’s hand, eager to see inside, her soft voice full of curiosity: “Sister, who is that pretty lady with the long tail? So pretty!”
“Yaoyao, be good. We have to go now. Sister still needs to recover,” Lilia soothed the little one, then quickly closed the door behind her.
Before leaving, she softly said, “Yiyi treasure, remember to use the ointment on time. Call me if you need anything.”
The moment the door shut, the awkwardness in the room nearly solidified.
Yiyi held her chest, catching her breath after a long while, then looked at Aze still curled up in place and couldn’t help but cough softly: “Cough, cough… alright, they’re gone.”