Yiyi stared intently at the holy sword “Dawn” right in front of her.
The cold light shimmering off the silver blade dazzled her eyes, and her throat bobbed as she swallowed unconsciously.
She quickly glanced at Xamiel again.
His golden slit pupils were full of indulgence, not a hint of trickery, so she steeled herself, and suddenly broke free from Xamiel’s embrace.
Her little short legs went “deng deng deng” on the stone floor, the soles of her shoes scraping out a fine “da da” sound.
She pounced to the counter, reached out, and grabbed “Dawn” straight from the glass display case.
The weight in her hand was much heavier than she’d expected.
Her wrist shook before she managed to grip it tight, and her forearm trembled slightly with the effort, but the pride in her eyes couldn’t be hidden at all.
“Got it! Hahaha!”
Yiyi raised the sword high, the silver-white blade making her small face shine, and even her tail couldn’t help but perk up, the pink heart at its tip swaying gently.
She spun around, her crimson slit pupils blazing with the “flames of vengeance,” and shouted at Xamiel: “Prepare to die, Xamiel! I’m going to execute justice right now—kill you, you hateful, damnable Dragon Emperor, you bastard, scoundrel! I’ll let you see the power of me, Noel Hades!”
After shouting, she charged at Xamiel with the sword raised, her short legs running so fast her toes nearly left the ground, still yelling: “I’ll stab you! I’ll slice off all your dragon scales!”
But “Dawn” was just too heavy, and on top of that, she’d drunk too much dragon’s milk earlier, making her belly feel heavy and dragging.
After only two steps, her body wobbled, like a little sapling swaying in the wind.
Yiyi hurriedly grabbed the hilt with her other hand, trying to steady herself, but her feet suddenly got caught by the loose hem of her dress.
It was the skirt she’d ignored when breaking free just now, and now it was wrapped around her ankle.
“Aiya!” she cried out in alarm, pitching forward and landing heavily on the cold stone floor, a sharp pain shooting through her knees.
To make matters worse, she lost her grip on “Dawn.”
The hilt swung down with a “thud,” landing squarely on her perked-up little tail.
The tip, with its **-colored heart, was smashed down instantly.
A fine, stinging pain shot like a jolt of electricity from the base of her tail up her back, making even the soft fuzz atop her dragon horns tremble.
“Ah—ah—aaaah!!!”
In the next second, a piercing, miserable scream echoed through the entire study, making even the night pearls in the ceiling seem to tremble.
Yiyi lay face-down on the floor, one hand clutching her smashed tail, the other still gripping the hilt of “Dawn” for dear life.
Tears gushed from her eyes, crimson slit pupils full of grievance and pain, her cries laced with a thick sob: “It hurts, it hurts so bad! My tail! Xamiel, you jerk—this is all your fault! If you’d helped me hold the sword, I wouldn’t have fallen! Ah~!”
Xamiel hurried over, squatted beside her, and looked at her curled up in a ball, the tip of her tail red and swollen, laughter glimmering in his eyes that he tried to suppress, but still softened his voice: “Oh dear, how can you blame me for this? Yiyi, didn’t I say it already? You’re still just a tiny little hatchling, you haven’t even finished weaning properly, where are you getting the strength to wield ‘Dawn’?”
As he spoke, he carefully reached out a hand, but as soon as his fingertips brushed Yiyi’s tail, the little one warily pulled it back.
Xamiel smiled helplessly, his voice even gentler: “Look, your little tail’s all red now. If you don’t rub it out, it’ll be swollen tomorrow and hurt so much you’ll cry. Let me rub it for you, I’ll be gentle and avoid the sore spots, all right?”
Yiyi bit her lower lip, tears still streaming down, but she didn’t dodge again.
She only gripped “Dawn” even tighter, and muttered sullenly: “Mm… uuuu… f-fine, but you have to be gentle… If you hurt me again, I-I’ll poke you with ‘Dawn’!”
Her words sounded fierce, but with her sobbing tone, there wasn’t a shred of threat—if anything, it sounded more like she was acting spoiled.
Xamiel chuckled softly, letting his fingers gently press on the reddened part of Yiyi’s tail, using an extremely light touch, as if kneading a ball of soft cotton: “All right, all right, if I hurt you, you can poke me with your ‘little toy.'”
He deliberately called “Dawn” her “little toy,” watching as Yiyi’s eyes immediately rounded in outrage, then added: “Really now, after all that fuss, in the end you’ll have to call your mother for help anyway. If you’d just behaved from the start, you wouldn’t have bruised your knees or hurt your tail, would you?”
Yiyi’s face flushed red at being seen through, but she didn’t argue back.
After all, the pain in her tail was gradually easing under Xamiel’s massage, and the warm, gentle touch made her inch closer to his hand without realizing it.
Even her grip on the hilt loosened a little as she muttered quietly: “I-I just slipped… It’s not like I need your help…”
She tried to push herself up off the stone floor, but as soon as she lifted her arm, Xamiel grabbed the back of her collar and gently pressed her onto his thigh.
Xamiel’s palm rested on her back, holding her steady, while his other hand continued to rub her reddened tail, his voice firm yet impossibly tender:
“Be good, don’t move. If I knead it well now, it won’t swell tomorrow, otherwise you’ll have to drag your sore tail around when you walk.”
“Let go of me! I don’t want you to rub it! I can do it myself!”
Yiyi twisted and struggled, her little short legs kicking at Xamiel’s thigh, but with her collar gently held, she just couldn’t break free.
She puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away, but didn’t resist any further.
After all, Xamiel’s fingers carried warmth, and the tingling, numbing touch on her tail felt much better than her own clumsy rubbing.
She just refused to admit it, and could only mumble softly: “Hmph… th-this is the last time I’ll let you help me…”
Xamiel chuckled again, his touch gentler than ever, and even his tone wrapped in laughter: “See? Isn’t this better, silly little one. You’re still so small, it’s a struggle just to lift a sword. If you don’t let your mother help, what, you want that ‘little toy’ of yours to rub your tail instead?”
As he spoke, he lightly pinched the pink heart at the tip of Yiyi’s tail.
Watching the little one stiffen instantly, he added: “Next time you want something, or don’t feel well, just tell me directly. Don’t try to tough it out and throw a tantrum, okay?”
The tips of Yiyi’s ears quietly flushed red, and she buried her face even deeper.
Her grip on “Dawn” slackened, and she said nothing more.
Her tail, however, kept inching closer to Xamiel’s hand unconsciously, and even her breathing grew softer, just like a little beast quietly accepting its kin.
But the “flames of vengeance” in her heart hadn’t been extinguished.
She secretly clenched her tiny fists, her nose still dotted with tears not yet wiped dry, while shouting madly inside: I won’t yield, I won’t yield, I must stab her, stab Xamiel to death tonight!
I’ll use “Dawn” to jab her dragon scales! I’ll make her hurt so much she howls, let her know Noel Hades isn’t so easy to bully!
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