Exposed!

Seeing that her younger sister was about to end the conversation, Qinna hurriedly said, "How about I set a quota, then? A thousand times... five hundred times, just five hundred! I've already conceded half! If we're fast, it can be done in three months!" "Qinna, are you out of your mind!?" Nona could not help but scold. "Can't you just—" "No, I can't." Qinna set down her spoon and said, "I'm getting a bit tired of this cake. I won't eat any more." "To me, many things in this world are just like this cake. The vast majority aren't even qualified to pique my interest, and the things that do interest me quickly grow tedious. Over all these years, the only ones who have brought me lasting pleasure are you and Annan." "Now that someone who actually catches my interest has finally appeared, of course I have to enjoy myself thoroughly before I let him go," Qinna said. "But besides that, there's an even more important reason." Nona was taken aback, then immediately caught on. "The clan's future?" "Since Gospel wants so badly to put Yaxiu and me together, then together we shall be," the elf clan head said, resting her chin on her hand. "If this allows Sennheiser to safely weather the chaotic era ahead, I don't mind putting Annan through a bit of grievance." Whether on the formal Family Board or the runaway Happiness Board, Gospel had closely bound Sennheiser, Qinna and Nona, and Yaxiu together. Now that the future had dissolved into chaos, Yaxiu was indeed the official lifesaver designated by Gospel. Nona found herself utterly unable to refute Qinna's excuse—compared to Sennheiser, Annan's weight in her heart was indeed somewhat lesser. "Wait," Nona suddenly realized something. "I'm in the future woven by Gospel too!" "Which is why, when I heard you say earlier that you wanted to take Annan and Yaxiu away, I thought you wanted to hog them all to yourself." "Get lost! I'm not like you!" Nona's pointed ears flushed red with indignation. After all her painstaking persuasion, not only had she failed to convince her older sister, she had practically convinced herself instead. "Speaking of which, do you really not plan to experience romance?" Qinna said. "If things develop the way the first three boards predicted, we don't have many peaceful days left. I actually wanted to give you a year off. You've given far too much for Sennheiser. Before doomsday arrives, go out and travel, appreciate the scenery you've overlooked in the past, savor the bliss of flesh melding with soul—who knows, maybe you'll break through to the Sanctuary even faster." "I'm not you." "I'm not criticizing your celibacy, just expressing familial concern," Qinna chuckled. "You have traveled the rolling waves of the Sea of Knowledge and trodden the ends of the Time Continent, yet you've never truly enjoyed life." Nona fell silent for a moment. "Actually, I'm not a celibate. I just... Do you remember the story Mother once told?" Qinna said, "She never told me any stories." Interestingly, their mother had not been an elf, but a human; their elven bloodline came from their father's side. From childhood, Qinna had never been close to their mother. Not only was it because she was the first child and they had not known how to get along, but also because Qinna had simply been 'uninterested' in an ordinary mother. In contrast, Nona had been very attached to their mother. When their mother's white mist threshold reached its critical limit and she was sent to the Mermaid Fish-Mint Farm to meet her end in sweet dreams, the already grown Nona had, for the first time ever, crawled into her older sister's bed for several consecutive nights—while Qinna had remained calm the entire time. "Mother wasn't from Fanmula. When she met Father, Father was working as a thief..." "A thief?" Nona decided to ignore her sister's question, as there would only be more questions to follow. "Back then, she was a young lady of a prominent clan attending a party at another family's mansion, when she accidentally caught sight of Father, who had snuck in to gather intelligence. But Mother harbored ill intentions of her own; she had always been looking for an opportunity to ruin this rival clan that competed with hers, so she and Father hit it off and colluded together. To ensure Father did the work, and as the price for sparing him, Mother signed a contract with Father requiring him to do everything in his power to bring down the rival clan, while she assisted from the sidelines." Nona said, "Father agreed readily: 'Just do what you can; I will give it my all.'" Qinna listened intently. "And then?" "And then they ended up together," Nona said. "Neither of them cared about the rival clan anymore." "...What is the point of telling me this story?" Qinna asked. "Do you yearn for love at first sight?" "No. I wish I were the rival clan in the story," Nona said. "It was just love, after all. Without me, didn't they get along just fine?" ...... ... When they arrived at the gates of the imperial palace, a court deacon was already waiting for them. "Lady Qinna, Lady Nona, your private dressing room has been prepared, complete with various tailored evening gowns made specifically for you. Would you like to freshen up and change?" Both Qinna and Nona were wearing their Red Hat uniforms, and neither had any intention of changing. "No need." "Please follow me." Passing through complex after complex of palace halls, before the two even had time to admire the interior scenery of the imperial palace, they were led by the deacon into a resplendent hall. "This is the banquet hall. Please make yourselves at home. Should you have any needs, nearby deacons will attend to your requests immediately." The people in the hall looked over at the sound of their arrival. Qinna recognized many familiar faces: Mercury, Kasri, Roland, Laplajin... Every city in Gospel had sent representatives of its ruling class, and Qinna had come as Fanmula's representative. Such a social occasion was naturally a sacred ground for cross-pollinating intelligence, and Qinna was tempted to seek out those clan representatives to discuss upcoming urban development. Amidst the polite, well-mannered clinking of cups and murmurs of conversation, two solitary figures stood out conspicuously—one a blue-haired loli, the other a red-haired maiden. They were none other than the Berdette sisters. Even though everyone learned afterward that it had all been Igola's scheme, the Mercury clan and others had nonetheless fallen under Berdette's domination back at Berdette Manor, so resentment toward the Berdettes was inevitable. On top of that, making deals with the Berdettes required extreme caution. Without a mind sorcerer supervising nearby, no one dared approach a Berdette in private. Qinna had been a victim that night as well, and had used it as leverage to extract considerable compensation. Although she was eager to dive into cultivating intelligence, Qinna's gaze was involuntarily drawn to a massive cake at the banquet that resembled an erupting volcano. A waiter stood right beside the cake, wearing a face mask—likely out of fear of saliva splattering onto it. It was obvious that in an occasion like this, no one would bother trying such a cake; up to this point, it remained completely intact. When Qinna walked over, the waiter actually hesitated for a moment. Only after a beat did he carefully slice off a portion from the volcano cake and place it onto a plate. Qinna took a few bites, the sweetness making her narrow her eyes. As she ate, she felt cream get on her cheek. Trying with her tongue, she found she couldn't reach it, so she looked at the waiter. The waiter hesitated for quite a while before realizing he should take out a napkin. Flustered, he raised it to wipe the cream from Qinna's cheek. Qinna didn't flinch or pull away, letting him wipe her face, then lowered her head and continued eating the cake. When she finished, she handed the plate over, and the waiter took it with visible relief— At that moment, Qinna suddenly poked her tongue out at him. The waiter instinctively jerked his head back, but the elf clan head didn't lick his face; she merely licked the cream clean from her lips. Noticing the teasing mockery in Qinna's eyes, how could Yaxiu not realize that his cover was blown? Σ(っ°Д°;)っ *Damn it! My disguise was so good, how did she see through me!?*