The tendrils of crimson energy danced around Emilia’s fingers like playful little children, and obediently went back to their home with just a thought. “Oh… you’re more obedient than your ‘mother’, aren’t you?”
The orb seemed to vibrate a little in protest, but Emilia didn’t worry about its rebellion at all as she turned her sight to the cubical structure floating below the orb. “So this is where she holes up, huh…”
A few clingy little tendrils of the crimson energy tried to stick themselves to Emilia’s hair as she floated away from the orb, but could only part from her under the invisible attraction force of the core.
Emilia seemed unperturbed by everything as she passed right through the metallic-looking walls of the dark cube and floated down till her toes touched the ground.
Carpeted and luxurious, the room she entered seemed to be much larger than the size of the cube had seemed to indicate. It was even larger than the largest palace hall in her previous world, with ominous, dark marbled floor and black pillars lined with gold.
At the center of the hall lay a cozy little nest of soft cushions and velvety blankets on a giant red carpet, on top of which a petite girl in black gauze seemed to be dozing off without a care in the world.
Her peaceful sleep seemed to have been disturbed by Emilia’s sharp gaze as the girl scrunched her brows in displeasure and scratched her exposed belly before continuing to sleep.
Looking around, Emilia noticed a few curious little gadgets lying around on the carpet, including a giant candy dispenser, a big screen, and a few alarm clocks that were carefully labeled ‘low energy’, ’emergency’, and ‘mission’.
She pointedly ignored the crimson-haired doll that lay next to the girl on the giant cushion. Knowing Cynthia, it was far more likely for it to be her punching bag when she was angry with her than a cuddle buddy.
Emilia chuckled as she poked the raven-haired girl’s soft cheeks playfully. “Wakey wakey~”
”Mhm???”
The crimson-haired girl couldn’t help but giggle when the annoyed little slacker tried to slap her hand away, only to keep missing.
It took Cynthia a few moments to realize that she wasn’t in her own inner world now, but inside Emilia’s, which hadn’t even started germinating. So… how could there be any insects?
Forcing herself awake, the gem-like emerald eyes squinted at the ‘intruder’ blankly. “Huh…?”
Emilia couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the petite girl’s dumb expression. “Hi, cutie. Missed me?”
The fogginess instantly evaporated from Cynthia’s pupils as she jolted back in shock. “E-Emilia?!”
The crimson-haired girl giggled as she pulled her dumbfounded partner onto her lap. “My, I thought you would be delighted to know that I’ve learned such a cool trick by myself, but why do you look so terrified?”
Cynthia hurriedly shook her head in denial. “W-Who’s scared? N-Not me, no!”
Looking at her partner’s teasing smile, the raven-haired girl coughed in shame. “I-I just didn’t expect you would… No, why were you trying to do such a thing in the first place, why not tell me?!”
Unfortunately, her efforts to move out of her partner’s lap and back to her comfy pillow were swiftly rendered ineffective by Emilia’s gentle but firm embrace around her waist.
Cynthia could only grit her teeth angrily.
Emilia chuckled as she rested her chin on the petite girl’s fair shoulder. “I wanted to give you a pleasant surprise, obviously. And…”
The raven-haired girl gulped. “A-And…?”
Emilia sighed sadly. “And… haven’t you been ignoring me a bit too much lately?”
Cynthia’s head rattled from side to side in panic. “I-Ignoring you? W-Why, no! I-I haven’t—!”
The crimson-haired girl pecked her partner’s cheek playfully, instantly striking her dumb. “While I understand everyone needs their alone time once in a while… some of these days you barely spend a few minutes with me, and I don’t think you’re just silently observing, either?”
Cynthia, who was still trying to process what was happening, could only wonder if she was still asleep. “Uh, I-I… um…”
Emilia tapped her partner’s forehead, smiling gently. “Don’t be so nervous. Do you think I’m going to eat you? This is your home, so be comfortable. Anyway… what do you usually do here?”
Now that she was slightly less panicked, Cynthia couldn’t help but look away in shame. “I-I… n-nothing, really….”
Emilia grinned playfully as she pointed at the big wooden box with a screen on the left. “Does that TV have any entertainment channels?”
Her ‘trick’ of distracting her seemed to work as Cynthia rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Do you think any cable providers provide connections to ‘Emilia’s Inner World’?”
Emilia made an ‘ohh’ sound as she nodded, as if enlightened.
Before Cynthia could be smug, however, she was immediately dumbfounded by her partner’s next question. “Then don’t tell me, you just… sleep?”
In the end, she could only grit her teeth and confess hatefully. “That’s right! But so what?!”
Emilia couldn’t help but be stunned for a few moments before she shook her head ruefully. “What’s the TV for, then?”
Cynthia coughed. “… After the first few days, I felt really strange sharing all your senses, so I just cut it off and share only the vision on TV when we’re connected.”
”Oh…”
The raven-haired girl couldn’t help but gulp when her partner turned silent, only rubbing their cheeks together intermittently.
Since the clothes on her body had the same appearance here as the ones right before her ‘death’, even barefoot, Emilia’s form unconsciously exuded a sense of regal majesty, completely different from her usually mischievous and seductive self.
The only thing missing was the crystal crown on her head, or she would have looked like a queen.
In contrast, Cynthia knew that she must look like a child on her lap, wearing only a casual black gauze on her petite frame.
The picture was a bit too shameful for her to imagine, renewing her determination to struggle out of her partner’s lap. “I-I feel uncomfortable, c-can you let me go?”
Surprisingly, Emilia really let her spring out of her embrace just like that, and collapsed right next to her on the big pillow with a sigh. “I don’t blame you for holing up here, honestly, it’s really comfy.”
Had it not been for the fact that the girl had been holding her tightly throughout her previous struggles, Cynthia would really have been fooled into thinking she just didn’t notice!
’W-What is this little villainess of mine playing at now…?’
Seeing how the crimson-haired beauty seemed content to just lie there and stare at her, eyes glinting mysteriously, Cynthia could only nervously bite the bullet and ask. “W-Why do you keep staring at me like that? I-Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
Emilia grinned. “Actually… yes. Since you’ve been avoiding me for so long, there are too many things we need to talk about, you know? As for why I stare at you… obviously, isn’t it your own fault for being so cute?”
Cynthia coughed. “W-What is it, then?”
The crimson-haired girl smiled as she snaked her fair hand around the petite girl’s waist again. “Why don’t I just show you?”
And to Cynthia’s surprise, the two of them started floating right out of the hall they had been in, and passed right through the ceiling to emerge in front of the crimson orb of energy.
Her surprise didn’t stem from the fact that such things could be done, but that Emilia was capable of doing them.
How could it be possible for a girl who was less than a century old to be able to do things like this? It made no sense at all!
”N-No… this… how can you do this?! This body was formed by me for you, but I am also its master in essence… even if you can do some things on your own, it’s impossible for your control over it to be greater than mine already!”
Cynthia didn’t even realize she had mentioned such an absurd thing out loud.
In her mind, it should have taken Emilia at least a few transitions and breakthroughs in her cultivation to even start realizing that her ‘inner world’ could be entered, and even then, her ‘access’ would only be what she decided was appropriate.
At that point, Cynthia planned to create a small garden for her partner to play around in, and directly send her there when she entered her inner world.
As for the rest of the space… well, she would keep some for herself to play around in, and let the girl slowly increase her jurisdiction along with her abilities.
Now, however, her expectations had been completely subverted, and Emilia seemed to already have full control over her inner world. At least, it wasn’t any less than what she herself had.
With their equal levels of authority in this inner world, it was truly an inconceivable thought. Comparing their age, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Emilia was like a broken grain of sand in front of her endless desert.
Had she not fiddled with the very core of Emilia’s soul not long ago, Cynthia would even wonder if this girl wasn’t some old monster who had been staring at her for a long time without her knowledge, and had managed to fool her somehow.
But no matter how strange she found it, the facts were presented in front of her eyes, and Cynthia could only set her disbelief aside.
Emilia had obviously heard what her partner had unconsciously blurted out, but at this point, how could she be shocked?
With Cynthia’s loose mouth and careless expressions, she already had most of her ‘ins and outs’ figured out by now, after all.
”Look carefully, okay?”
Cynthia’s already slack expression turned even more dumbfounded when tendrils of crimson energy started dancing around them as Emilia approached the giant orb. ‘N-No, h-how is this possible?!’
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