The sun’s rays had just begun to turn the outside white when Claire, with her silver hair spread across the pillow, opened her eyes and propped herself up on the bed.
Claire wasn’t waking up early because she was an early riser; she hadn’t slept all night, unable to fall asleep no matter what.
“Sigh…” Claire let out a long breath, furrowing her brows and holding her forehead with her right hand.
The consequences of a sleepless night were immediate: her head felt heavy and slightly aching.
Although she could use ‘Revitalization’ or a fatigue-relieving magic potion to instantly eliminate the negative effects of staying up all night, her mind was too preoccupied to think about such things.
Just as Fia was unsettled by that kiss, Claire was the same.
Sitting on the edge of the bed in just a white nightgown, her fingertips unconsciously brushed her lips, and then her elegant face gradually turned crimson, to the point where she couldn’t help but hold her breath.
She couldn’t believe she had done such a thing.
It was truly shameless.
It was unbelievable that Fia hadn’t slapped her or left in anger at the time.
Even though she wasn’t male—no, precisely because she wasn’t male, it was even more nerve-wracking.
Fia might think she had some strange fetish and distance herself.
Although the elves, due to the presence of magic surges, could reproduce with the same sex and thus didn’t reject same-sex relationships, Fia didn’t seem like an elf with such preferences.
Moreover, considering the age of elves, Fia wasn’t even an adult, still in the juvenile stage.
If Anastasia found out, she would definitely come to settle the score with her.
“Out of my mind…” Claire muttered blankly, recalling Fia’s surprised expression and soul-lost look from yesterday, and her anxiety deepened.
At the time, she hadn’t thought much, simply feeling that it was more appropriate to use gentle means than to let Fia’s hands be stained with blood.
As soon as this thought appeared in her mind, her body acted accordingly.
It wasn’t until she came to her senses that she realized how offensive her actions were.
Because Fia was too kind and pure, she couldn’t hold back—of course, that was just an excuse.
Avoiding the paladin’s search was just an external reason; the internal reason was that she had finally met someone immune to the curse, a destined person she could entrust her feelings to.
Coupled with Fia’s words, “Don’t use the curse as a means to an end,” all these emotions mixed together, causing her to lose control for a moment.
If she had to describe it, it was like a traveler about to die of thirst in the desert seeing an oasis.
The traveler’s first reaction would be to grab this lifeline and not let it slip away.
To her, Fia was that lifeline, like a lighthouse in the night, appearing just when she was about to give up on finding a solution, treating her as if the curse didn’t exist, giving her hope.
If it were anyone else, their reaction would surely be the same as hers, wanting to keep Fia by their side, not wanting Fia to leave.
Because of the inherent affection, she acted without thinking, doing something unimaginable under normal circumstances.
But even if anyone else would do the same, there is a right and wrong to things.
Clearly, kissing without Fia’s permission was wrong.
Seemingly remembering something, Claire quickly stood up and got dressed.
Anastasia hadn’t come to find her, which meant Fia hadn’t told Anastasia about it yet.
If she went to apologize to Fia now, it might still be in time.
If Fia or Anastasia got angry and left the clinic, going elsewhere, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
To Fia, she was just one of many humans, but to her, Fia was the only one in the world.
Quickly tidying her clothes and hair, Claire snapped her fingers, and a blue orb of ‘Cleanse’ magic attached to her body, removing dirt.
Then, Claire opened the door.
And then.
Almost simultaneously, the door to Fia’s room diagonally opposite also opened from the inside, and Fia and Claire met.
Comically, both had dark circles under their eyes, and upon seeing each other, they instinctively averted their gazes, retracting their bodies from the door, only to extend them again upon realizing it was impolite.
Fia was waiting for daylight to calm down in the living room on the first floor, while Claire was there to apologize to Fia.
The first to speak was Claire.
“Yesterday—” Click.
Before Claire could finish her sentence, the sound of a doorknob turning interrupted her, and Anastasia, dressed in a short dress convenient for movement with a golden ribbon tied around her waist, appeared before the two.
Notably, Anastasia also had noticeable dark circles under her eyes.
The already comical scene became even more so.
Not expecting Claire and Fia to be standing at the door, Anastasia was momentarily breathless, especially her right hand, which unconsciously hid behind her back.
Fortunately, Anastasia was a professionally trained captain of the guard, and she quickly hid her embarrassment, asking with a straight face.
“Your Highness, Miss Claire, what are you… Your faces don’t look well, did you not sleep well last night?”
“I remembered I forgot to prepare the herbs yesterday, so I got up as soon as it was light.” Following Anastasia, Claire quickly adjusted her emotions and replied with a smile, “Anastasia too, you look tired.
I remember you came back early yesterday.
Is it because it’s not your own bed, so you didn’t sleep well?”
Hey, that’s not a question you can ask! Knowing the truth, Fia quickly shouted in her heart.
Sure enough, Claire’s question made Anastasia pause, but thanks to her strong mental fortitude, she didn’t show any surprising small movements.
“I just remembered things from my hometown, so I slept a bit late.
It’s not appropriate to talk here, Your Highness, have you washed up? If not, let me—”
“No, no, I can do it myself.”
Fia quickly responded with a shy smile.
What a joke, having just seen Anastasia doing that while chanting her name, pretending nothing happened the next day and letting Anastasia dress her, how strong must one’s mental fortitude be to do all that without changing expression?
Of course, Fia didn’t hate or intentionally distance herself from Anastasia; she just didn’t know how to face her.
At least give Fia some buffer time to ease the shock from last night’s scene.
In fact, after seeing that scene last night, Fia herself was also stirred, unable to calm down.
“Then I’ll go prepare breakfast.
Little Fia and Anastasia, go wash up first? The water is in the well in the backyard.”
Claire pointed towards the backyard.
Although leaving Fia and Anastasia together might risk exposure, there was no other reason to send Anastasia away at this moment.
More importantly, she was in the wrong in this matter, and making more moves would be too disgraceful.
“Um… okay.”
“Then I’ll tell Your Highness the results of yesterday’s investigation once we’re at the table.
But Your Highness, you look like you haven’t rested well.
Do you need to go back to bed for a while? There’s still some time before the sun fully rises.
The plan to destroy the Unsinkable Moon can be implemented later, you don’t need to be too hard on yourself.”
“Huh?” Faced with Anastasia’s earnest suggestion, Fia slightly opened her mouth, a series of question marks popping up in her head.
