With that shout, Xiamir was completely awake.
She propped herself up and sat up.
There was still a hint of drowsy confusion in her golden vertical pupils as she looked down and saw Yiyi curled up by the bedside.
One foot was raised, not daring to touch the ground, and the other hand was clutching tightly onto “Dawn’s Break” sword hilt.
Tears streamed down her little face, and even the tip of her tail twitched in pain.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong?”
Xiamir quickly took “Dawn’s Break” off her foot and gently cradled her little foot.
As soon as her fingertips touched the instep, Yiyi, still choked with sobs, pulled away: “Don’t touch! It hurts—wuwuwuwu!”
“Alright, alright, I won’t touch, I won’t touch.”
Xiamir softened her voice and, borrowing the faint light of the luminous pearl, examined carefully.
Yiyi’s instep was red all over, even her toes tinged with pink.
She’d clearly taken quite a blow.
Xiamir felt both amused and exasperated.
She reached out and pulled Yiyi into her arms, gently wiping away the tears on her face with her fingertips: “Yiyi, you silly little thing, trying to get revenge and ended up hurting yourself first? Didn’t I tell you ‘Dawn’s Break’ is heavy, but you wouldn’t listen—now you know it hurts?”
“I—I’m not your little thing!”
Yiyi squirmed in her arms, but didn’t dare move too hard, afraid of pulling at her foot, so she could only protest with a sob: “It’s you, you moved suddenly! Otherwise I would’ve poked your dragon horns already!”
Her words were stubborn, but the tears fell even faster.
Her little head nuzzled into Xiamir’s neck, her voice softening, “My foot hurts…”
Xiamir sighed and didn’t tease her anymore, instead gently massaging her reddened instep, using the lightest touch: “Rub it and it won’t hurt, be good. Who told you to mess around in the middle of the night, waving a sword instead of sleeping? Next time you do this, I won’t help you when you’re in pain.”
“Let me go! I want to go back to my fluff nest and sleep! I don’t want you to hold me!” Yiyi twisted in Xiamir’s arms like a little fish just out of water.
Still trying to be stubborn through her sobs, her little hands pushed at Xiamir’s chest, but she didn’t dare push away for real.
But when Xiamir followed her wish and shifted her toward the bedside, the moment her foot touched the edge of the bed, she gasped in pain.
Her body reflexively shrank back into Xiamir’s arms, tears still hanging from her chin, nose red—like a little kitten bristling without the courage to lash out.
Xiamir chuckled softly, deliberately loosening her hold as if to put her down, her voice teasing: “Alright, I’ll let you go back. But if your foot hurts in the night and you wake up crying for me, don’t blame me.”
“Who—who would call for you! I would never call your name!” Yiyi immediately raised her voice, but her small body snuggled even closer to Xiamir’s embrace.
Her little claws quietly gripped Xiamir’s collar tighter, but her words were still stubborn, with a hint of coquettish fierceness: “I would never! Xiamir, let me go back, hmph💢”.
She said that, but when Xiamir really stopped moving, she didn’t struggle anymore.
Instead, she quietly nudged her reddened little foot into Xiamir’s palm.
Anyway, the “revenge” could wait until her foot stopped hurting.
“What’s this? Didn’t you say you wanted to go back to your fluff nest and sleep? Then why are you pushing your little foot over here?”
Xiamir patted Yiyi’s bottom, but as soon as her palm landed, the little ball in her arms froze up like a small animal scalded by hot water, even her tail tip straightening in alarm.
But in the next second, that reddened little foot didn’t pull back—instead, it nudged against Xiamir’s palm, as if quietly checking that she was still holding on.
“You—how can you just pat me!” Yiyi shouted, bristling, tears still hanging on her lashes, but her voice was no longer sobbing, replaced with a puffed-up grievance.
Her little claws gripped Xiamir’s collar tighter, and she deliberately turned her head aside.
But from the corner of her eye, she kept sneaking glances at Xiamir’s hands massaging her foot, afraid that the warm touch would go away.
Xiamir chuckled, her fingertips pressing lightly into Yiyi’s instep, watching her purse her lips instantly, too embarrassed to dodge, teasing: “Weren’t you going back to your fluff nest? Why is it that when I pat you, you just snuggle in closer?”
“Who—who’s snuggling! It’s because you’re holding me too close!”
Yiyi straightened her neck in protest, but her little body honestly snuggled even closer to Xiamir’s neck, her breathing softening.
The warmth on her foot, enveloped with faint dragon breath, was even more comfortable than her own fluff nest.
She would never admit she didn’t want to move away.
“Alright, alright, I’m holding you close.”
Xiamir followed her words, continuing to gently rub her instep, her voice incredibly gentle: “Then let’s not go back to the fluff nest tonight. Sleep here with me, alright? That way, if your foot hurts at night, someone can rub it for you.”
Yiyi pursed her lips, silent, her face flushed bright red.
After a long moment, she muttered, voice nasal: “…Just, just tonight! Next time I’ll definitely be able to lift ‘Dawn’s Break’ myself, I don’t need you!”
She said that, but she quietly rested her uninjured foot on Xiamir’s leg as well, even her tail curling around Xiamir’s wrist.
Anyway, revenge could wait until her foot didn’t hurt.
For now, having this “damn Dragon Emperor” serve her wasn’t a bad deal, hehe.
Listening to Yiyi’s stubborn muttering, Xiamir’s eyes brimmed with laughter.
Her fingertips gently kneaded the reddened instep, her touch even lighter: “Alright, alright, our Yibao is the strongest, you’ll definitely be able to lift ‘Dawn’s Break’ next time.”
As she spoke, she carefully adjusted her position, making Yiyi lie more comfortably in her arms.
Her other hand gently patted her back, like soothing a sulky young beast: “Go to sleep now. If you keep fussing, your foot will swell even more tomorrow—then you won’t even be able to eat dragon milk cakes.”
Yiyi nuzzled again into Xiamir’s neck, her little claws clutching her collar, tail winding tighter around Xiamir’s wrist.
She didn’t argue anymore, and sleepiness gradually filled her scarlet vertical pupils.
The warmth from her foot, the familiar dragon breath in Xiamir’s embrace, and the gentle patting on her back were all more comforting than her fluff nest.
She let out a tiny yawn, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, finally mumbling, “Who wants your milk cakes…”
Her soft, milky voice was as light as cotton, and even the pink heart at the tip of her tail gently unfurled as she drifted into sleep.
Xiamir looked down at the little one in her arms as her breathing slowly evened out.
Her fingertips brushed lightly over the tiny dragon horns atop her head, and the smile on her lips was tender enough to drip with warmth.
“What a stubborn little dummy.”
She carefully lay back down on the bed, holding Yiyi protectively in her arms, afraid she’d roll over in the night and bump her injured foot.