Chapter 23: Mini and Butterfly in a Private Bath...
You and Xia Die said goodbye at the entrance of the private bathhouse.
You drank a lot of honey along the way. You wanted to have a sip of everything that looked fresh, from strong liquor and colorless distilled water to even grape-flavored juice... You drank until you were full of water.
Not long ago, you ran into Aglaia, who was on her way out to run errands. She said that everyone in the Golden Family has different tastes, so the brewers have made different flavors of honey wine. Knowing you might be curious, they sent a little of each one to your private bathhouse.
Even though we're already full, who would complain about having too many drinks?
After Xia Die left, you happily opened the door to the Bath Palace. The opening speed of the gates on Onpharos was designed to be slower than on other planets, like some kind of intelligent sensing. However, if you occasionally misplaced the door, it would reload back and forth, making it seem more like a mentally challenged device than an intelligent one.
You're probably a bit dizzy from drinking too much today. You tried several times but couldn't get it right, and the door lock kept making a rattling sound, but it wouldn't let you in.
Hearing the noise at the door, Danheng knew it was you who had returned.
He took off his headphones, put down his notebook, and rescued you from your elbow-to-elbow struggle with the door.
You stammered, still a little dazed, "Teacher Danheng can not only fix elevators, but also front doors...! Broken bookshelves?... He can fix them. Train parts?... You can fix those too. Hmm, let me think, but there's one thing you definitely can't fix—"
Danheng calmly supported you, already used to your constant ramblings, and asked casually, "What is it?"
You chuckled, "My heart!"
Danheng: ...
He sighed. He helped you to the bedside, and only felt slightly relieved after watching you let go of his arm and grope your way down onto the bed.
"When are you going to drink the wine Aglaia sent you?" he asked. "...But it's so late today, you should try it later. I'll go make you some hangover soup."
Your cheeks sank into the soft blankets, and you mumbled a response, half asleep.
The footsteps faded into the distance, and the empty room gradually quieted down. For a moment, only the sound of water flowing quietly in the private bathtub could be heard. Several unidentified birds flew onto the windowsill, buried their heads in their wings, preened their feathers, and made rustling sounds.
The previous adventures were too rushed, leaving no time to rest. Occasionally, you would sleep with Danheng and March 7th.
Conditions weren't great back then; there weren't soft blankets like they are now, nor a quiet environment. If you were unlucky enough to be wanted by the authorities, sleeping on the floor was a common occurrence.
March 7th said she wasn't sleepy, but she actually fell asleep in your arms after only a few breaths. Her pink hair fell on her knees, making you sleepy too.
When you look up again, you see Danheng's coat wrapped around your shoulders, while Danheng himself sits beside you, alert to any movement around him.
Little March is still sleeping. You ask him, "Isn't Teacher Danheng sleepy?"
He'll shake his head and instead ask if you're cold, or if the heat of March is making your legs numb. Then he'll say, "I'm here, you can sleep peacefully."
...I wonder how things were in March.
Your eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. The god of dreams is beckoning you.
"……fan."
...It must be a little bird.
“Mimi…”
You suddenly open your eyes.
What's that noise?
You sat up abruptly. The curtains were already drawn; Danheng had gone outside to make you a hangover soup. The dim sunlight filtered through the curtains, making your head feel heavy.
You stand up and grope your way toward the bathtub.
On the table next to the bath were the wines that Aglaia had sent. The wines were in various shades of purple, served in exquisite gold cups, each carefully covered with a glass dome to prevent oxidation or accidental spillage.
This one, made with the flavor of the violet... has no alcohol taste; it's distilled water. The one from the butterfly... is a deeper purple, reminiscent of the tranquil River Styx. The one from the tibo is a fruit-flavored milkshake that smells like it's been loaded with sugar.
Aglaia's is on the far right, the most mellow and finest. You can smell a slightly pungent alcoholic aroma as soon as you get close, but it doesn't seem out of the ordinary at all.
However, once you actually walk over, you'll find a touch of pink lying quietly inside the glass, taking up the space where the wine was originally.
you:……?
What is this? Does Aglaia like to add jam or fruit to her honey?
The alcohol blurred your vision, making it hard to see the specifics of the situation. You rubbed your eyes hard, moved closer, squinted, and reached out a finger to try and poke the pink patch.
—Alive!
"*Starry Sky Train profanity*" You were startled. "What the hell!? A cat? A dream-eating beast???"
The first thing my fingertips felt was the warm, furry touch, as if I had poked the thing’s belly, which was rising and falling with its breath.
Startled, you looked closely and realized it was the little pink fairy you had seen when you first arrived in Onphalos!
The little creature slept soundly in the golden cup, the wine inside long gone, leaving only her large tail sweeping back and forth along the rim, the tip still glistening with wine, wetting her fur into wispy strands.
Her face was rosy, and her fluffy body curled up.
"Hiccup." She let out a satisfied hiccup. "Dizzy...dizzy!"
...This is terrible. The alcohol content of Aglaia's honeyed brew is so high that even a non-drinker would be completely drunk after downing a whole glass, losing all sense of reason. This little imp drank so much in one go; she probably won't wake up anytime soon.
Regardless of why she appeared in your palace, you decided to retrieve her and settle her in first, then ask the all-knowing Teacher Danheng when he returns.
—But no sooner had you pulled her out of the cup than she suddenly opened her eyes.
"fan?"
"Holy crap...!"
Startled again, you lost your footing—
"Splash!"
You and this little pink fairy fell headfirst into the bathtub next to you.
"..." You're really out of ideas this time. At least you remembered to hold the little fairy in your arms the moment you fell, preventing the cold tiles from hurting her.
Thankfully, I had switched to the Protection Path beforehand and hadn't switched back, so my defense was ridiculously high. I didn't feel much pain when I tripped and fell.
You sat up in the bathtub, panting. "...Who are you? What are you doing in my house? Don't you know trespassing is illegal? I'm calling Aglaia to arrest you—"
This is what Danheng saw when he returned to the Bathing Palace.
The gray-haired girl held up a pink, unidentified creature with large ears, stared at her, and half-jokingly threatened her.
The girl's clothes were completely soaked, clinging thinly to her body. Her hair was also completely wet, partially obscuring her vision as it covered her eyes, but this did not stop her from staring intently at the creature with great spirit.
What's your name?
"Mimi?"
"Where did you come from???"
"Confused! Confused, confused, confused..."
Danheng: ...What do you mean by talking at cross purposes? You two actually started chatting?
Luckily, I helped her take off her coat before we got into bed, otherwise we would have had to wash it all again. He thought sluggishly.
*
Teacher Danheng—a reliable god!
You changed your clothes, and the little fairy was also held and had her fur dried. The two of you each drank a cup of hangover soup before you finally came to your senses from the chaotic scene.
You all sat in a row on the sofa, heads down, as obedient as radishes in a hole, not daring to look up at him.
"You fell into the water, are you feeling cold?"
Surprisingly, Danheng's immediate response was not blame or inquiry, but concern.
You blinked and looked at him. There was no impatience in his eyes, only focused attention, as if he really only cared about whether you might catch a cold. His light-colored eyes gave people a cool and aloof feeling.
...The warm fabric of his clothes had been dried by baking beforehand, and it clung softly to his skin, bringing warmth.
"What if it's really a bit cold?" you tease him.
He stared at you silently for a while, as if to make sure you weren't joking.
“…There’s nothing I can do, I’ll go see a doctor if I’m sick,” Danheng said. “But don’t make jokes like that, it will worry me.”
"..." You didn't expect him to be so direct this time, and for a moment you didn't know how to respond.
All I could say was, "Okay, it's not cold at all."
Dan Heng was relieved and nodded, looking at the little imp who wouldn't leave your arms.
You guessed, "Did it sneak in while we were away...? After all, the balcony door wasn't closed. I've actually seen this kind of creature before, in the game where you raise Bai E, but it should only be limited to the Ai Li Secret Pavilion map, it shouldn't be here...?"
Upon hearing the words "Bai E" and "Ai Li Mi Xie," the little fairy's ears twitched, but quickly lost their focus.
Surprisingly, you can actually understand what her long string of "mi mi mi" means.
[I don't know why I suddenly appeared here! Hmm, you smell nice... I really like it. Maybe I came here by following your scent!]
"What do you mean by the smell on me..." you said, "You clearly came here smelling alcohol, didn't you!? You little drunkard. You're small in stature but have a huge capacity for alcohol."
[People thought it was juice—and their name is Mimi! They're not some "alcoholic"!]
However, from Danheng's perspective, it's just that you say something and the little fairy replies, and the two of them chat seriously. If you didn't know better, you would think this was a movie set where people use Poké Balls to tame Pokémon for battle.
He began to have some doubts. Why could you always do such unusual things? Logically speaking, even if it were interspecies communication, a pure human shouldn't be so savvy. On the contrary, he, who possessed the power of [immortality], was completely baffled...
...Wait, why is he starting to think about this question so seriously?
Mimi clung to your collar with her two paws, her fluffy cheeks pressed obediently against your chest like a little ball of fire, as if your scent made her feel safe.
You thought for a moment, "I still remember the village chief of that fairy village saying that no one was allowed to leave the village... Oh right, I also have photos!"
You take out your phone, open your photo album, and find the group photo from that time in the screenshot section.
The background of the photo is a cave with fertile soil, intertwined tree branches, and magical mushroom houses, like a world from a fairy tale.
A golden sphere of light was located in the very center, with two boys, one with pink hair and the other with white hair, standing on either side.
The pink-haired girl put her finger to her lips and chuckled, while the white-haired boy blushed deeply, looking very shy and unable to face the camera directly. His mouth was wide open, as if he were saying something.
The surrounding area was filled with little fairies of the same kind. Silver, yellow, blue... they filled the entire scene, creating a spectacular sight.
Mimi's nose twitched.
She climbs up, her tail curls around your arm, her soft belly tickles your skin, and she stares at the screen with curious eyes.
Danheng leaned closer for a look, "I still can't see it."
He frowned. "But it seems... this little imp can see?"
You have doubts in your heart.
Logically speaking, this game should have been tailor-made for you by [Pleasure]—though I don't know their purpose. But why can this little guy see it too?
She looked up: [Although I don't know why, I feel like this photo is familiar—hmm, it has a warm feeling? And, and...]
A hint of doubt appeared on Mimi's face:
[And...why do I feel...like I want to cry...?]
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Author's note: Thank you everyone for the nutrient solution and congratulations!
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