“Eiya, do you think I dare or not?”
Lilia let out a soft chuckle, her fingertips gently scratching at her waist.
Watching her body tense up in an instant, the smile in her eyes deepened.
“Little Yibao… I won’t tease you anymore. Since you don’t want to get up by yourself, I have no choice but to carry you off.”
With that, Lilia lifted the blanket, reached out, and grabbed the tip of Yiyi’s Heart-shaped Tail—the tip was still warm to the touch, trembling slightly as if protesting.
She gently dragged Yiyi to herself, picked up the somewhat sticky towel nearby, and wrapped her up like a soft, glutinous silkworm cocoon.
Then she bent down, hoisted her onto her shoulder, and strode out of the room.
Yiyi was wrapped tightly, her cheek pressed against Lilia’s warm shoulder.
The fabric rubbing against her flushed skin made her whole body burn with embarrassment.
She could only grumble in protest: “Lilia! Put me down! This is so humiliating!”
“Humiliating? Who was it just now refusing to get out of bed?”
Lilia patted her round, bundled bottom, her touch gentle but filled with an undeniable assertiveness.
“If you don’t get washed up soon, do you want to go have a meal with Aunt Xiamier all sticky and smelling strange?”
“Put me down, I can walk by myself…”
Yiyi twisted around, her voice full of grievance.
“And there were so many towels, Lilia, why did you have to grab such a sticky one…”
She could feel the lingering slickness on the towel, sticking to her skin and making her even more uncomfortable.
Her cheeks burned hotter.
“Did you use it last night and not wash it?”
Lilia chuckled softly, the vibrations in her chest passing through her shoulder to Yiyi’s cheek, making her even more embarrassed: “Injustice! It was you who got it dirty last night.”
She purposely paused, then lowered her voice to tease into Yiyi’s ear.
“Someone clung to me and wouldn’t let go last night, got the bathrobe all wet, and this towel was used to wipe it off—did you forget?”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
Yiyi’s voice shot up and then hurriedly dropped, afraid someone else would hear.
“I didn’t do that!”
But blurry images flashed across her mind, making her cheeks even redder.
She could only bite her lip and stop retorting, only the tip of her Heart-shaped Tail trembling slightly in silent protest.
“Yibao, we’re almost at the bathhouse.”
Lilia’s pace slowed, her tone softening a bit.
“In a moment, you wash first. I’ll go get you clean clothes, and switch out this sticky towel, okay?”
Lilia pushed open the wooden door to the bathhouse, and a rush of warm steam greeted them, carrying the cool fragrance of white plum blossoms and herbs.
She gently placed Yiyi on the soft couch beside the pool, reaching out to undo the knot in the towel, her movements tender: “Be good and stay here. I’ll go get your clothes, and I’ll be right back.”
Yiyi nodded, watching Lilia’s back as she walked away, her cheeks still burning.
She raised a hand to tidy her messy hair, her gaze falling on the rippling water shimmering with light.
Her heart quivered a bit—her whole body was sore, and even bathing by herself would be a struggle, not to mention walking.
A while later, Lilia returned with clean clothes, and also brought a fresh bath towel carrying the scent of sunshine.
“Come on, be good and don’t move, I’ll carry you in, Yibao.”
She spoke softly, bending to lift Yiyi up in her arms.
Yiyi instinctively wrapped her arms around Lilia’s neck, her cheek pressed against her warm shoulder.
Feeling her steady heartbeat, the uneasiness in her heart gradually faded away.
The warm water lapped over her ankles, calves, and finally slowly up past her waist and belly.
The soothing heat wrapped around her, and all her aches seemed to melt away in the water, more than half of them dissolving.
She let out a comfortable sigh, her lashes trembling gently in the steamy air, her voice carrying a hint of lazy reliance: “The water is so warm…”
“As long as you like it.”
Lilia let out a soft laugh, gently setting her down onto the cushion at the bottom of the pool, reaching for a bath puff and dipping it in a plum-blossom-scented body wash.
“I’ll help you bathe. Just lean on me—you don’t have to move at all.”
Yiyi nodded, obediently nestling into her embrace, feeling her gentle touch at her fingertips.
Lilia’s movements were especially gentle, her fingertips gliding over Yiyi’s skin with just the right pressure, washing away the sticky residue without hurting the red marks on her shoulders.
The bubbles slid along with the water, spreading ripples of white plum blossom fragrance.
“Does it still hurt?”
Lilia’s fingertips paused on the red marks on her shoulder, her voice feather-light.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore…”
Yiyi’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s, her cheek buried against Lilia’s shoulder burning even hotter.
“Lilia, be gentle…”
“Little Yibao, did you get a little bigger?”
Lilia suddenly chuckled, deliberately pinching her gently at the waist.
“When I carried you over today, I felt you were heavier than usual.”
“Maybe… I don’t know…”
Yiyi’s voice instantly dropped, tinged with barely-noticeable grievance.
She even sniffled softly.
“Are you saying I’m heavy?”
“Hehe, I never said that, Yibao—you were the one who said it~”
There was a sly glint in Lilia’s eyes, but her fingertips eased, gently massaging Yiyi’s waist with a tenderness that treated her like fragile treasure.
“I’ll massage your waist. After this, it won’t be sore anymore.”
“Hmph…”
Yiyi turned her face away, the tips of her ears turning bright red, her tail sweeping gently underwater and sending out little ripples.
“I’ll take responsibility for you in the future, little Yibao~”
“Who wants you to take responsibility?!”
Yiyi suddenly raised her head, her eyes shimmering with water, cheeks flushed so red they could bleed, her tail thrashing under the water and splashing tiny droplets.
“I don’t want that at all… It was you and that stupid herbal remedy who forced me!”
“Stupid herb?”
Lilia chuckled again, her fingertips still gently caressing her waist, but her eyes flashed slyly.
“But last night, when someone was clinging to me and crying about the pain, she sure didn’t say that.”
She deliberately leaned in, warm breath brushing Yiyi’s reddened ear, her voice dropping even lower.
“You told me to be gentle, to hold you…”
“Shut up!”
Yiyi quickly covered Lilia’s mouth, her eyes shy and angry, her fingertips trembling slightly.
“Don’t say another word!”
Uncontrollably, images from last night flashed through her mind—the warmth of the herbs, the aching in her body, Lilia’s gentle comfort and deep voice—making her cheeks so hot they almost steamed.
The smile in Lilia’s eyes deepened.
She gently bit Yiyi’s fingertip, her tongue just barely brushing against it.
Yiyi pulled her hand back as if scalded, her whole body stiffening as she shrank back.
But Lilia’s arm wrapped firmly around her waist, holding her securely.
“What, getting shy?”
Lilia’s voice was laced with amusement as she gently pinched Yiyi’s chin, forcing her to look at her.
“But I’m telling the truth, little Yibao.”
“That’s not true!”
Yiyi turned her face away, not daring to meet her eyes, her voice tinged with a barely noticeable choke.
“It’s all because you made me take that stupid herb—I was weak all over, and then you…”
Her voice trailed off, growing quieter, with a hint of grievance at the end.
Even the tip of her tail drooped, gently rubbing against Lilia’s arm under the water, as if seeking comfort.
Lilia looked at her reddened eyes and tightly pressed lips, the smile in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by a flood of tenderness.
She lifted her hand to gently wipe the tears from the corner of Yiyi’s eyes, her fingertips softly smoothing through her wet hair, her voice gentle as water: “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore.”
“Besides your waist, where else hurts, little Yibao? Tell me, okay?”
Lilia’s fingertips softly wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, her tone so gentle it could drip water, though a faint, unnoticeable tension hid in her eyes.
Yiyi turned her face away, her cheeks still flushed hot, her voice choked with shame and anger: “No… just—just my waist…”
Though she said so, she unconsciously shrank her shoulders, the tip of her tail quietly wrapping around Lilia’s wrist, as if seeking comfort.