Li Fei bent her head over her rice bowl, chopsticks flying, eating with cheerful, unselfconscious relish alongside a spread of side dishes.
The Eastern cook Lady Gneia had hired at considerable expense was genuinely talented. Rather than confining herself to traditional family recipes, she was constantly innovating — studying Loxibrook's local palates and developing new dishes to match. Last month's garlic-sautéed Fierce Tiger liver had been a revelation; Li Fei had reached for it again and again before polishing off two full bowls of white rice without pause.
Qin Zhihua rested her cheek in her palm and watched her, eyes shimmering with a soft, liquid light.
Li Fei's table manners weren't exactly refined, yet they couldn't be called crude either — there was something direct and wholly focused about the way she ate, something that turned the simple act of watching her into its own small pleasure. One could never quite get enough of it.
Su Ling'er's gaze had likewise fixed itself on the star courtesan, baffled and helpless. She simply could not fathom how someone could make eating look that adorable — make it so impossible to look away.
"Would you like another bowl?" Qin Zhihua asked as Li Fei set down her chopsticks.
"Thank you for the meal. I'm full."
The star courtesan, still not quite satisfied, gave a gentle shake of her head.
— Before becoming a Transcendent, two bowls maximum per sitting! This lady's Charisma was bought with the most precious of currencies: Morality points. If I let myself go and my figure suffers for it, that would be a catastrophic loss on investment.
"Somehow… Miss Li Fei looks even lovelier than yesterday," Su Ling'er said, her tone tinged with open envy.
"You're too kind." Li Fei adopted a bashful expression. If she hadn't just eaten, she would have gone the full distance and stuck out her tongue.
After all, her Morality had ticked down another notch today…
With dinner concluded, it was time to shower the dining livestreamer with gifts.
The generous and free-handed Miss Qin raised one elegant hand and ordered two bottles of tribute wine from the Eastern Continent. Knowing the star courtesan preferred ale, she also made a point of ordering several bottles of premium craft brew from the Dwarven Imperial Court.
The star courtesan's commission for the evening immediately cleared eight gold coins — whereupon she latched onto Qin Zhihua's arm, showering her with a steady stream of "Sister" this and "Zhihua" that, each syllable dripping with sweetness, until the normally composed and reserved Qin Zhihua found her thoughts wandering, a pretty flush creeping across her face.
Before long, a maidservant arrived to clear the table, bearing in a fruit platter, wine, and ice. Su "Dowry Maid" Ling'er, cheeks rosy, took over the pouring — robbing the star courtesan of the one task she might actually have had to perform herself, leaving her more at ease than any guest in the room.
"Ling'er, please sit down," Li Fei said, catching Su Ling'er's little hand and pulling her earnestly. "You're a guest here — I should be the one looking after you."
"Oh, no, really, it's fine, Miss Li Fei…" Su Ling'er waved both hands in rapid protest.
"We're going to be sisters in all but blood from now on — that title's too formal." Li Fei gave a light wink of her right eye. "Just call me Fei."
Su Ling'er's face burned. Exchanging glances with the star courtesan like this, right in front of her young mistress, was almost too mortifying to bear.
Though it really was rather thrilling…
Qin Zhihua sat with her wine cup cradled in both hands, her gaze growing pensive. For the first time, the fragrant sweetness of the wine carried a faint, unmistakable note of something sour.
Just how many "sisters" were there who got to call her "Fei"?
Never mind. Scholars have always had a taste for romance — to say nothing of a talent without equal in all of history…
"Sit down, Ling'er," Qin Zhihua said at last. Only then did Su Ling'er settle herself carefully into the seat to Li Fei's left.
Su Ling'er, who had never set foot in an establishment of this sort, was visibly nervous — perched at the very edge of Li Fei's sleeve, not quite sure what to do with her hands.
Seeing her stiffness, the star courtesan — renowned for her warm and attentive service — promptly leaned in closer, pressing her soft, sweetly fragrant body against her. Su Ling'er's heart immediately began leaping about in her chest like a startled fawn.
— Charge a premium, yes, but always make the client feel the price was worth it.
Even while pressing close to Su Ling'er, Li Fei kept half her attention elsewhere, turning her eyes toward Qin Zhihua:
"Zhihua-jie, I'd like to buy some mana recovery potions from you."
"I'll bring some along the next time I drop off medicine. Easy enough."
"Thank you, Zhihua-jie… Oh, and one more thing — could you put me in touch with some other apothecary shops? I'd like to expand my potion appraisal business."
"Mm… I'll ask my master about it."
"And one more thing — if you come across anything that boosts Luck, please keep an eye out for me. Even something with a time limit is fine."
"No problem."
Three requests in a row. The second one gave Qin Zhihua a moment's pause — she seemed reluctant to involve her master — but the other two she agreed to without the slightest hesitation.
The star courtesan was genuinely moved. Such grace — she hardly knew how to accept it.
"Thank you so much, Zhihua-jie! You're the best, truly — let me drink to that!"
Owing so many favors naturally meant they had to be repaid. So Li Fei first poured herself a cup of ale and drained it in one go, then tumbled into Qin Zhihua's arms — tucking herself close, cheek to cheek, temple to temple — as a small down payment on interest.
"Fei, if you're looking for a bit of good fortune, you might want to visit the 'Rainbow Altar,' the 'Clover Meadow,' or the 'Fairy Ring,'" Qin Zhihua breathed softly, making a visible effort to compose herself and not let her feelings show — though she did not forget to pass along the recommendation.
The star courtesan is so… enthusiastic…
Su Ling'er watched the two of them with a mixture of longing and quiet self-reproach.
The "pure and artless" star courtesan, the well-bred and gentle young lady — two faces of breathtaking beauty brought together, and they matched each other perfectly. If not for the fact that her young mistress was already promised to House Kong by a prior arrangement… one could almost call it a match made by the heavens themselves.
She took a quiet sip of her wine and said softly, "I've heard people mention… the 'Blessing Stone' at the 'Knight's Court' and the 'Abbey' can also bring good fortune. There's a teleportation gate, so a same-day round trip should be possible."
"Though the teleportation fees are quite steep…"
Su Ling'er had once harbored plans to make the trip herself, only to be frightened off by the cost. The memory made her involuntarily hunch her shoulders.
"Thank you too, Ling'er-jie!" Li Fei gave a happy exclamation and opened her arms to Su Ling'er with equal warmth, silently committing both locations to memory.
Su Ling'er went immediately rigid. Her flustered heartbeat rattled her chest from the inside out, and the tips of her ears turned red.
"Fei, when did you master Summoning Magic?" Qin Zhihua took a small sip of wine. "You haven't crossed into Sequence 9 yet, have you?"
"That's right, I haven't. I was planning to prepare for the advancement ritual after enrolling at the Magic Academy."
Li Fei scratched the back of her head and offered a charmingly bashful smile. "But I suppose I've always had a deep love for nature — perhaps the Nature Goddess took a liking to me. Yesterday, it just… came to me out of nowhere."
"Goodness… your aptitude is extraordinary," Su Ling'er breathed, forgetting all about her nerves and shyness in her astonishment. "At this rate, Miss Li Fei will be an absolute standout even at the Magic Academy."
Su Ling'er's eyes brimmed with undisguised admiration — and a quiet sadness.
The woman holding her was not only blessed with looks that could shame the moon and eclipse the flowers, but possessed talent this extraordinary on top of it. They simply weren't from the same world at all…
A woman of incomparable beauty and talent, like her young mistress — that's surely the only kind of person worthy of her.
"Not at all. It was just a sudden flash of inspiration — a small insight, nothing more," Li Fei said with practiced modesty. "Besides, very few people know about this yet."
"Does… Miss Bai know?" Qin Zhihua found herself inexplicably recalling the easy, intimate interactions between Li Fei and Bai Mengtian the previous day, and the question slipped out before she could stop it.
My daughter was, after all, 'born' in that woman's bed…
"I haven't told her yet." Li Fei's expression didn't flicker. "Bai Mengtian and I are just ordinary friends — it's not as though we need to be together every moment."
"I was presumptuous to ask."
Qin Zhihua, who had long been well acquainted with Bai Mengtian's rather colorful reputation, quietly exhaled a breath of relief.
...
A blazing trail of light cleaved through the night sky.
It was a war chariot of extraordinary magnificence, its entire frame cast from mana crystals, dazzling and resplendent.
Nine golden chains were fastened at the front, each one binding a great bird of noble and exquisite form, its body wreathed in golden-red divine flames.
The creatures pulling the chariot were none other than mythical beings of the Nature alignment — Phoenixes, whose names had been written across countless histories and legends. High-Sequence Transcendent creatures of the first order.
Nine Phoenixes drawing a chariot across the vault of the stars — the aura of exalted beings radiated in every direction, and every bird and beast along their path fell into utter silence.
The carriage was trembling. Strange, indeterminate sounds came from within, one after another, without cease.
Presently, the chariot descended outside the walls of Loxibrook, where several white-bearded mages had been waiting in patient attendance.
The nine Phoenixes transformed in an instant — becoming nine women of refined and graceful bearing, their skin white as snow, their hair and eyes a vivid crimson, their gold-and-red robes snapping in the night breeze. Their bare ivory feet touched the ground without picking up a single speck of dust.
All nine possessed a beauty that could cause fish to sink and wild geese to fall from the sky. Their expressions were cool and proudly distant, and an awe-inspiring majesty rolled off them in waves — only slightly undermined by the golden chains wound around their snow-white necks, lending the nine goddess-like women a rather complicated aesthetic.
The curtain of the war chariot lifted, and a young black-haired girl jumped down, pressing a hand over her short skirt, a suspicious flush still lingering on her face.
A single cast of the Anywhere Door spell could have brought her here in an instant — but Bai Mengtian occasionally found it pleasant to idle in the carriage, amusing herself along the journey.
"My Lady."
Several mages of imposing bearing and profound aura all bowed at once.
"Everything is ready?" Bai Mengtian asked.
"Yes, My Lady. We await only your hand to open the Path of Conquest," the head mage replied with respectful deference.
"Good."
Bai Mengtian was about to move forward when she suddenly frowned, pricking up her small ears as though listening for something.
"What's the matter, little sweetheart?"
The beautiful matron — the one who had come to Li Fei's rescue earlier that day, her thighs covered in writing — had somehow followed her off the carriage and now looked on with curiosity.
Apparently space had run out on her thighs, for the new writing had crept down onto her calves.
"Someone is speaking my name," Bai Mengtian said with a pout. "I thought I finally had an excuse to string up another noble from a lamppost — but it turns out my dear sister is the one talking behind my back!"
"I work myself half to death pulling a night shift, and she's out there having fun without even inviting me!"
The more she thought about it, the more indignant she became. Her small pink fist clenched.
Hard. Her fist had gone hard.
"Is it the child named Li Fei?" The beautiful matron's eyes lit up.
"You've met her?"
"Briefly, this afternoon… She looked absolutely delectable." A ripple of unmistakable interest passed through the matron's eyes.
"I'd advise you not to get any ideas," Bai Mengtian said in a flat, sulky tone. "She and I are the same kind of person…"
"Doesn't that just make her easier to approach?"
"But she hasn't yet developed the same grand ambition I have — that vision of building one great, loving family where everyone is welcome and everyone thrives together. And the rate at which her Charisma is climbing is beyond anything I can comprehend…" Bai Mengtian shook her head. "If she keeps going at this pace, I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes one of those existences — so beautiful as to defy description, the kind that drags all of heaven and earth down into ruin alongside her."
"So don't go entertaining fantasies about 'staying at her place on odd days and coming home on even ones.' You'd just be walking into her harem of your own free will, and there'd be no coming back."
"If you're truly that curious, I'll let you play host the next time she comes to visit — but you'll owe me a favor in return."
"Tickle me. I need to train my willpower."
Bai Mengtian clenched her teeth. "Thirty years the wheel turns east, thirty years it turns west — just wait and see whose turn it is to cry 'mama' next time!"
...
As midnight approached, Qin Zhihua and Su Ling'er took their leave of Li Fei with visible reluctance.
Qin Zhihua's sister-in-law kept a strict household — she was required to be home before the twelfth hour.
"Fei, you've worked hard tonight," Lady Gneia said, still in her violet gown, setting a cup of coffee before her.
"Work is its own reward — what's hard about it?" The star courtesan, who had not lifted a single finger all evening — Su Ling'er having stolen even the task of pouring wine — said this with a perfectly straight face.
"Tomorrow night's client is Margaret," Gneia said, her pipe raised, a slow curl of smoke drifting from her lips.
"Her…"
Li Fei's expression soured. She was reminded of the culprit responsible for reducing her already-meager remaining Morality to zero — the legal loli who had all the grace of a wrecking ball and not an ounce of ladylike restraint.
Feeling mildly aggrieved, Li Fei plucked the pipe from Lady Gneia's hand and took a pull herself — the fresh ring of lip prints settling neatly over the old ones.
"An indirect kiss, you know," Li Fei murmured, rising to her feet and leaning close to Lady Gneia's ear with a breath of smoke.
Gneia gave a small shiver — and then looked at her with an expression caught between pride and wistfulness.
This child's craft… grows more exquisite by the day.
And every few days, that already-flawless face of hers somehow climbs yet another tier of beauty.
Was she raised on a diet of succubi?
Lady Gneia, a seasoned veteran who had managed the Golden Kumquat Tavern for years, found herself genuinely at a loss.
She had long since stopped wondering whether Li Fei carried succubus blood. If succubi were capable of what the star courtesan could do, they would have conquered the Continent of Enlos long ago.
The most preposterous thing of all was that the star courtesan was still perfectly chaste. The other girls sat with their lady guests day after day, deploying every art at their disposal, and still couldn't match her numbers — not even close.
"I'm going to go chat with the sisters for a bit. Goodnight, Madam."
After the star courtesan bid her farewell, Lady Gneia drew a long, deep breath from her pipe and gazed at Li Fei's swaying, fragrant silhouette as it retreated, and sighed:
"Had Li Fei not been born, the world of public relations would have languished in darkness for ten thousand years…"
Li Fei pushed open the door to the break room — then froze, and immediately pulled it shut again.
She counted to ten, then opened it again. The two figures in the center of the room were now fully and properly dressed. The cluster of onlooking sisters watched the doorway with expressions of lingering, unfulfilled interest.
"Looks like I came at a bad time," Li Fei remarked lightly.
"On the contrary — you came at the perfect time."
A sister with succubus bloodline, complete with a small pair of horns, swayed her tail — the tip heart-shaped and still dripping — with enthusiastic invitation. "Come cuddle, why don't you. Wouldn't that be lovely."
"Spare me — I have to be up early tomorrow."
Li Fei reached out and patted the succubus sister's little horn. It was smooth to the touch, and pleasantly warm.
"There's a new girl at the tavern, and she's a Transcendent," said a blue-haired beauty in a white sundress with black over-the-knee stockings, who tucked a piece of pastry into Li Fei's mouth — then, at Li Fei's aggrieved little look, reached out and pinched her puffed cheek.
"Ah, I'll never make it to Transcendent myself, will I," sighed a sister with a fondness for collecting, her words pleasantly slurred with wine. "I swear — before I retire, I'm going to leave a romantic memory with a hundred different Transcendent beauties, one from every Sequence. Then I'll find myself a good, honest girl and settle down…"
Please don't go ruining the good, honest girls of this city…
Li Fei spared a moment of silent mourning for the decent women of Loxibrook. Based on her observations, at least half the sisters here intended to eventually find a sensible, upstanding, pretty girl to "inherit" them in retirement.
The sister who had been feeding her seemed to read her mind and leaned in with a damp whisper:
"What's the matter — think the sisters aren't good enough for decent girls?"
The warm breath against her ear made Li Fei narrow her eyes. She thought it over for a moment, then shook her head.
The Golden Kumquat Tavern set exacting standards for looks — only one in ten thousand made the cut. When she thought about it carefully, being taken as a wife by someone beautiful, well-dowried, socially adept, charming, persuasive, and thoroughly skilled in the domestic arts wasn't actually a bad deal for a decent girl at all…
"Tomorrow you're enrolling at the Magic Academy, aren't you," said the blue-haired beauty with a warm, knowing smile, resting her hand lightly on Li Fei's shoulder. "After that, we won't just be colleagues anymore, you know."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉