Blood Realm, Royal Capital.
“Bring it here,” Xueli said.
“Understood,” her secretary replied.
“Mm,” Xueli responded coldly.
After a moment of silence, the old secretary finally spoke up. “However, Your Highness, is it not somewhat inappropriate for you to return with a photograph of yourself and a demon girl?”
“This is part of the record. You do not need to concern yourself with it; I know what I am doing,” Xueli said calmly, without looking at him.
“But Princess… at that time…” the old secretary said urgently.
“I said, you do not need to concern yourself with this matter.” Xueli gave the secretary a cold look before walking deeper into the palace.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Xueli returned to her room. Her living quarters were notably simple, essentially devoid of any superfluous items, containing only the most basic furniture.
Sitting in her chair, Xueli pulled out that half of the photograph.
‘Fufu.’
Xueli smiled slightly. The smile was faint, and its meaning remained obscure.
***
Over the following period, Flora Vilantia returned from her holiday rest to her usual daily routine: eating, studying, and sleeping every day.
The content of her studies had undergone some changes.
The time spent on learning etiquette had decreased significantly; after all, Flora’s manners were already quite good, and there was no need to dedicate so much time to them anymore.
She began studying subjects oriented toward politics, ranging from the characteristics and members of various noble factions within her own race to the relationships and current status of all the different races.
The difficulty of these subjects was on par with her etiquette lessons, primarily due to the sheer complexity and the vast range of information she had to cover.
At the same time, the hours dedicated to practicing the use of mana increased. Truth be told, Flora’s current ability to manipulate mana was quite lacking for a demon princess.
If she continued like this, it would become a laughingstock if the princess of the demon race—a race famous for their immense mana—possessed such poor magical capabilities.
Now, she had also begun practicing the control of the Ice Element.
Finally, Ilya required Flora to occasionally assist her in reviewing official documents and offering suggestions.
In reality, this was also a way for Ilya to slack off a bit.
The documents given to Flora were all trivial matters concerning small regions. Ilya found them somewhat annoying herself—she couldn’t believe such minor issues were being reported all the way up to her.
However, it was precisely because Flora could handle these things that she had to start with the simple tasks.
Therefore, it was all for the sake of the Princess’s great cause of growth!
During this time, Flora had indeed grown a great deal.
In this manner, three weeks passed.
“Mother, you wished to see me?” Flora pushed open the door to Ilya’s office.
By now, she was extremely familiar with this office; walking in felt almost the same as walking into her own room.
“Yes. In three days, we will be holding a banquet with the Blood Clan.” Ilya stopped writing and turned to look at Flora.
“A banquet with the Blood Clan?”
“Mm. It is held once every year to celebrate our friendship. Many nobles from both sides will attend.”
“Oh, so it is a banquet to celebrate friendship.” Flora nodded, showing her understanding. “Where will the banquet be held?”
“We take turns hosting it every year. This year is the Blood Clan’s turn, so in three days, we will take a carriage to the Royal Capital of the Blood Realm,” Ilya said matter-of-factly.
“Is there anything extra I need to prepare?”
“No, nothing in particular. Oh, right—the banquet includes a gift-giving segment between the two parties. According to tradition, you need to give a gift to Xueli.”
“That child, Xueli, has not received a gift in many years,” Ilya added with a slight sigh.
‘A gift for Xueli?’
“Alright.”
“Though this is your first time participating in such a large-scale event, there is no need to be nervous. Believe in yourself; you have done well enough. You have understood and learned a lot during this time,” Ilya said earnestly, looking into Flora’s golden eyes.
“Okay. Thank you, Mother.”
Flora left Ilya’s office and returned to her room.
She sat in her chair, resting her chin on her right hand.
‘A gift for Xueli?’
What should she give?
While an ordinary gift was still a gift, she did not want to give something commonplace.
She wouldn’t give jewelry or magical items; those were far too ordinary, and Xueli surely already had too many of them.
So, what exactly should she give her?
She thought back to Xueli. When Xueli had first arrived at the castle, she had appeared somewhat cold and distant, everything about her being excessively perfect.
Then there was the awkwardness she showed when facing the harassment in White Stone City; the fondness that slipped out when she saw the kitten ring; and that extremely faint yet visible smile when they took the photo.
In White Stone City, although there was still a sense of distance, it was different from the feeling in the castle. To summarize… well, the difference was likely—
‘Reality.’
Flora suddenly remembered what Ilya had just said.
“That child, Xueli, has not received a gift in many years.”
Reality, huh?
Then, she would give her this.
She would make her a bat doll.
Back when they were watching the magic show, Xueli had naturally mentioned that her favorite thing as a child was a bat doll.
Her expression at that time suggested she definitely liked them very much, yet was unwilling to say it out loud.
But why was she unwilling to say it?
Forget it, there was no point in overthinking it. She would just spend these three days making a cute bat doll for her.
“Lena,” Flora called out.
Lena entered shortly after and walked to Flora’s side.
“I am here, Princess. Is there something you need?”
“I need some gray velvet of good quality, and please prepare some cotton stuffing as well.”
“What does Your Highness need these for?”
“It is nothing. I just want to make something.”
“Very well, Princess. Roughly how much do you need? Please be specific so I can prepare it.”
“Mm, alright.”
***
For the next two days, aside from her daily lessons, Flora spent almost all her time in her room completing the “bat doll” gift.
Various materials sent by Lena were spread out across the table. Flora’s hands gently handled the needle, thread, and cotton, stitching them together bit by bit.
Though her hands were a bit clumsy, she was exceptionally focused.
Gradually, those materials transformed into a gray bat doll slightly larger than a palm.
It had a soft, gray body that felt smooth and delicate to the touch. Silver thread outlined a smiling mouth, making it look gentle and cute.
Two rubies were set into the eyes; these were special rubies that would emit a faint, soft glow if a bit of mana was channeled into them.
Although there were still some minor flaws and the stitching was not perfectly neat, it was enough.
After all, she had made it with her own hands.
Flora performed a final check on every seam and gently squeezed the soft body; the gray fabric slowly bounced back.
‘Mm, it is soft and elastic enough.’
The corners of Flora’s mouth curled up slightly.
‘This should be fine.’
She took out a blue box she had prepared beforehand and carefully placed the bat doll inside.
‘Finally, one last note.’
Flora took out a neat slip of paper and wrote in elegant script:
[To Princess Xueli:
May it accompany you in every moment you need warmth.
—Flora Vilantia]
Alright, mission accomplished.
Flora placed the note inside the box and gently closed the lid.
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