Chapter 97: Peiya Visits the Grand View Garden

She had thought that one of them would be the first to break and look away.

Because before, it had always been like this, whenever they looked at each other for too long, one of them would usually turn away first.

But today, surprisingly, neither of them looked away.

“Was the trip here smooth?”

Elise reached out and gently touched Peiya’s cheek.

The warmth from her palm passed through the skin, like sinking into soft cotton. There was even a faint plant-like scent.

Her soft voice felt like a mint leaf brushing away all the tiredness from the journey.

Peiya closed her eyes in comfort, only leaving a small gap so she could faintly see Elise’s gentle smile.

After resting like that for a while, Peiya suddenly remembered she hadn’t answered yet. She quickly opened her eyes.

“Yeah, it went smoothly. But I saw a lot of noble mercenaries on the way here today. Do you know anything about that?”

“Mercenaries?” Elise pulled her hand back and her expression turned serious as she thought about the clue Peiya gave her.

“Do you remember what their family emblem looked like?”

“Let me think…”

Peiya tried hard to recall the people she had seen today. She started from the little limping boy and slowly searched her memory backward.

With soldiers clearing the road, the riders she saw felt very clear in her mind, as if they were standing right in front of her again.

She focused carefully, trying to remember the clothes and symbols on their waists.

The fog in her memory slowly cleared, and the truth began to appear.

“There was an eagle shape… and one of them had a scar on his face.”

“Eagle, scar… Are you talking about the Rosent family?”

“Rosent…?”

Peiya blinked. The name felt familiar, like something Anna had mentioned many times before.

“They’re a newly risen noble family in recent years. Their head was a war hero who expanded the kingdom’s land and was granted nobility. But that honor mostly belongs to the old lord.”

“Oh… so his relatives aren’t that important?”

“Yes. I’ve heard my father mention them before. They’re not a major concern. If they’ve appeared in the capital, it means Lord Saines has returned from the front lines. Soon, my father will probably learn about the situation there too.”

“Oh… so you’ll also go to the battlefield in the future? That sounds dangerous.”

Peiya rested her hand on the white railing, her thoughts drifting far away to the battlefield.

“Not for now. What, are you worried about me?”

Elise asked softly, her voice like a breeze brushing across a lake, creating gentle ripples.

“Of course.” Peiya bit her lip. “A little, I guess. The battlefield is so dangerous, even a small cut can leave a scar. You’re so pretty… it would be ugly if you got hurt.”

“So… would you not want me anymore if I got scars?”

Elise also placed her hand on the railing. From her position, she could see the distant mountains.

“Eh?”

Peiya looked over in confusion and met Elise’s eyes.

Elise looked relaxed, as if she had just said something completely unimportant.

But Peiya couldn’t stay calm at all.

She gripped the railing tightly. Her nails dug into it until it hurt.

Her blood rushed to her head, making her feel lightheaded. She turned her head away, only then noticing Elise’s slightly dreamy eyes.

Her mouth felt dry, like it was stuck together with glue. It hurt a little when she tried to speak. She didn’t know if it was emotional pain or physical pain, or both.

The words finally came out from deep in her throat.

“Don’t say things like that. That’s bad luck… you’re mean… you just like making me worry.”

“You do care, don’t you?”

Elise stepped behind Peiya, casually kicked off her crystal shoes, and let her bare toes touch the sun-warmed stone floor.

She stood on her tiptoes, stretched out her arms, and gently wrapped them around Peiya’s neck from behind.

Her whole body weight pressed down onto Peiya’s back.

“If you don’t want me to get hurt, then you’d better catch me properly.”

Peiya’s heartbeat sped up.

There was a light wind sound beside her ear. If she focused closely, she could even hear soft breathing.

It sounded very real.

She turned her head and saw that Elise was really breathing softly right next to her ear.

This… this was way too unguarded.

And most importantly, it was heavy…

But soon, all these thoughts were melted away by the warmth from Elise’s body.

Even through their clothes, she could feel that burning heat, like a torch. Even though Elise used ice magic, her body felt strangely hot.

Peiya let out a warm breath. Even with her body reacting like this, she didn’t lose ground mentally. She even had the mood to fix her messy hair and look at Elise with a teasing smile.

“Now I caught you… so what about next time?”

“I don’t know. We’ll just try again next time.”

Elise stood up from Peiya, picked up the bag the maid had placed earlier on the ground, and acted as if nothing had just happened.

“Do you remember Nair?”

“Nair?”

Peiya searched her memory.

“Oh… the one who made clothes last time?”

“Yes. The clothes I asked him to make for you are ready. Come on, go inside and try them on.”

So fast?

Peiya was a bit surprised. In her memory, tailors shouldn’t be this quick. It had only been less than ten days since they ordered the clothes.

Could they really finish a dress in such a short time?

Peiya stayed doubtful, but still followed Elise inside.

She noticed Elise had already taken the clothes out.

It was a dress, just like the one she had seen in the picture before.

But the color was slightly different. The originally pure white dress now had blue decorations on the skirt folds. From far away, it almost looked like a jellyfish.

And the trim was placed along the hem, which could easily cause misunderstandings.

“Here, try it on. There are three sets of clothes. One formal dress, everyday clothes, and also that maid outfit you liked before. I had someone prepare it too. But it’s not the kind of maid outfit servants usually wear.”

Peiya’s eyes widened.

“Since when did I say I wanted a maid outfit?”

This is slander. Completely, absolutely slander.

“You said it.”

“I did not.”

For some reason, when Elise had been leaning on her just now, Peiya hadn’t reacted this strongly, but now she was fiercely denying it.

“No, you did.” Elise said.

“I did not. Last time.”

Peiya stared straight at Elise and tossed the maid outfit aside.

“If you want to wear it, you wear it. I don’t want it.”

Elise looked Peiya up and down, her gaze stopping on the clothes.

The outfit was made exactly to Peiya’s size, so Elise definitely couldn’t wear it.