Lin Qingyue was awakened by a faint, rhythmic rustling sound.
Her consciousness was still hazy.
She opened her eyes, and the first thing that entered her line of sight was the huge, extravagantly gorgeous bed formed by intertwined living tree roots.
Beside her, it was empty.
Only the wrinkled sheets, retaining a faint trace of body heat, silently declared that everything that happened last night was not just an enchanting dream.
Lin Qingyue stiffly turned her neck and looked toward the subtle sound.
At the white jade round table not far away, Ilanier had already changed into a dignified yet elegant silver-white court dress.
Her flowing silver hair was gathered behind her head by an exquisite Moonstone tiara. Sitting perfectly upright with a quill in hand, she was rapidly reviewing a stack of parchment scrolls.
The early morning sunlight filtered through the garden's lush foliage, casting dappled light on her focused profile and outlining a reassuringly peaceful scene.
No way... she's already started working?
Lin Qingyue's brain was still in standby mode. Watching this scene, her heart held nothing but the purest awe for this ultimate workaholic.
'I only just woke up, and she's probably already finished a whole country's morning affairs? Does being a queen mean grinding this hard? Is there any justice left in this world?'
She quietly sat up in bed, trying not to disturb the workaholic over there.
However, the moment she moved, Ilanier's pen paused, and she immediately turned her head.
"Awake?"
Her voice still carried a hint of the aloofness of someone just pulling away from their work, but when her eyes landed on Lin Qingyue, that coolness rapidly melted into a gentle smile like spring water.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Uh, pretty well."
Lin Qingyue subconsciously scratched her messy bedhead, her cheeks burning slightly.
Sleeping in the queen's bedroom until the sun was high in the sky, only to be caught in the act by the owner... this feeling was... quite awkward.
"Come here and sit."
Ilanier beckoned to her, then softly instructed the empty air, "Prepare breakfast."
As soon as the words left her lips, two Elf maids silently appeared, bringing in a steaming hot breakfast.
Fragrant wheat porridge, soft and golden-brown toasted bread, along with a few small dishes of fresh fruit jam and crisp vegetable salads.
Lin Qingyue sat down at the table, looked at the hearty breakfast in front of her, and then at the mountain of documents by Ilanier's hand, unable to help asking: "Ilanier... did you stay up all night?"
"I slept, I just woke up rather early."
Ilanier picked up a cup of clear tea, gently blowing away the swirling steam. "Handling these backlogged official duties is my responsibility as the queen."
She gazed at Lin Qingyue, a hint of attachment she herself hadn't even noticed hidden deep within her eyes.
"However, this is the most peaceful sleep I've had in centuries."
Lin Qingyue stopped eating her porridge.
It's over, this 'humanoid soothing hugging pillow' label is probably welded onto me, I won't be able to take it off.
She complained wildly in her heart, but didn't know how to respond verbally, so she could only give a dry "Oh" and bury her head to scarf down the porridge, trying to use the food to cover up her awkwardness.
Seeing her like this, the corners of Ilanier's lips curled into a smile. She didn't continue the topic, but instead spoke in a relaxed tone:
"Oh, right, this morning, I've already given the orders."
"Huh? Ordered what?" Lin Qingyue looked up, half a piece of bread still stuffed in her mouth, asking indistinctly.
Ilanier smiled and gestured with her eyes toward the other side of the garden.
"The guest room next to this bedroom will be kept for you forever from now on."
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
Lin Qingyue almost choked to death on a mouthful of bread. She coughed violently, her face flushing beet red.
Ilanier shook her head helplessly. While gently patting her back, she gave her fair hand a light wave, and a glass of clear water automatically flew over to Lin Qingyue.
Lin Qingyue gulped down more than half the glass and finally caught her breath.
She widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief.
"Kept... forever? Ilanier, you're not joking, are you?"
"I never make such jokes," Ilanier said in a serious tone. "Whether you come to stay in the future or not, this will always be your home in Silvermoon City."
Home...
This word pierced the softest part of Lin Qingyue's heart like a scalding fine needle.
Ever since she arrived in this world, even with companions by her side, a drifting, untethered sense of alienation had always lingered deep in her heart.
Everything here, to her, felt more like a hyper-realistic holographic game where she couldn't save or load.
But now, the top-tier NPC in this world was telling her that she was giving her a "home."
This feeling was incredibly surreal.
"Wait, what kind of plot twist is this?"
"Sleeping with her for one night gets me the permanent property rights to a top-tier river-view penthouse in the Core area of the Royal Palace, right next to the queen's bedroom?! Am I about to start a life as a kept woman living off my sugar mommy?!"
She looked into Ilanier's sincere wine-Red eyes, and a strong sense of reluctance suddenly welled up in her heart.
That's right, there would come a day when the Dungeon was cleared.
Once the "Shattered Alliance" was completely repaired, they would be teleported out.
By then, the connection between this world and Earth might close entirely.
Would she be able to come back?
Would she ever again see The Queen before her—the one who would act spoiled out of loneliness, who would fall peacefully asleep from a single embrace, and who would smile and say, "I'll feed you as much as you want"?
At the thought of this, Lin Qingyue's heart felt as though it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, aching with a stifling pain.
No!
She suddenly remembered a certain piece of equipment she had recently acquired.
"Ilanier!"
She looked at the queen, her eyes astonishingly bright, as if stars were burning within them.
"I have a way that might... allow me to come back anytime!"
"What way?"
Ilanier's breath suddenly hitched. She stood up abruptly from her seat, leaning forward slightly in her excitement.
A pair of Red eyes locked dead onto Lin Qingyue, not even noticing the quill pen slipping from her hand and falling to the floor.
She had thought that once Lin Qingyue left, they would be parted forever.
This was also why she had lost her composure and made such an absurd request to share a bed.
She simply wanted to greedily hold onto the warmth that allowed her to sleep peacefully within their limited time.
But now, Lin Qingyue was saying she had a way to return at any time?
"Wait a moment!"
Lin Qingyue didn't answer immediately; instead, with a thought,
an archaic black book appeared out of thin air in her hands.
"This is...?" Ilanier looked at the book that suddenly appeared, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
She could feel a power lingering around this book that she had never seen before, a power that did not belong to this world.
"This is my new equipment, and also my unique 'magic',"
Lin Qingyue explained.
"One of its abilities is to set something called a 'Chronocognitive Anchor' at any location, much like a permanent teleportation coordinate."
"As long as the coordinate is set, I can use it to teleport myself to the location of the Teleport at any time."
Ilanier's breathing completely stopped.
Those wine-Red eyes, which were always filled with wisdom and composure, were now left with nothing but violent tremors, entirely reflecting Lin Qingyue's figure and the radiant light known as "hope".
"So..."
Lin Qingyue raised her hand, gently pressed it against the page, and showed Ilanier an incredibly radiant smile.
"As long as I leave a 'Chronocognitive Anchor' here."
"Then, even if the passage between the two worlds closes in the future, I can... come see you anytime."
"Whenever you miss me, I can come back to eat with you, chat with you, and even..."
"Sleep with you."
She blurted out that last sentence almost subconsciously.
After saying it, even she herself froze.
Holy crap! What kind of scandalous thing did I just say?! I'm doomed, my mouth moved faster than my brain!
However, Ilanier could no longer hear anything else.
In her centuries of lonely, eternal night, Lin Qingyue's words had forcefully torn open a rift leading to the dawn, radiating boundless light.
Come back... anytime?
This promise shook her soul more than any solemn vow of eternal love.
The next second, Lin Qingyue's vision blurred, and a gust of wind mixed with floral fragrance and warmth rushed against her face.
Ilanier had already closed the distance with long strides, completely casting aside her reserve and poise as a queen, and pulled her tightly into a fierce embrace!
Holy shit!
Lin Qingyue's mind instantly went blank.
Ilanier was already taller and more voluptuous than her, and the strength she exerted now out of excitement was astonishing.
Lin Qingyue's face was pressed with unerring precision into a thrilling expanse of warmth, softness, and elasticity.
The scent lingering at her nose was no longer the aroma of food, but the unique, dizzying body fragrance of Her Majesty the Queen.
She felt like she had plunged headfirst into an ultra-luxurious marshmallow trap.
Warmth.
Softness.
Sweetness.
...But, she couldn't breathe!
This wasn't a figure of speech, but a physical reality: her nose and mouth were tightly smothered by an entirely out-of-control Elf Queen using her proud assets, and she was truly about to suffocate!
Save me! A passionate hug from a rich woman has turned into a breast homicide!
Lin Qingyue's brain was frantically flashing comments amidst the blankness and the rich floral scent.
Is this the legendary suffocating from happiness?! My HP is dropping like crazy, but my soul feels like it's ascending to heaven!
"Ilanier... mph... I can't breathe!"
Lin Qingyue struggled, issuing a muffled protest from that tender embrace.
However, the Elf Queen hugging her tightly only pulled her in closer, and that body which always maintained elegance and majesty was now trembling slightly.
Lin Qingyue could feel warm liquid dripping down from above, dampening her hair.
Ilanier pressed her chin tightly against the top of Lin Qingyue's head, her voice carrying an uncontrollable mix of choked sobs and laughter.
"So wonderful... Qingyue... you have no idea... what this... means to me..."
"Truly... so wonderful..."
Just then, a series of System notification chimes flooded Lin Qingyue's mind like a cascading waterfall.
[Ding! Detected a major change in your relationship with the key plot character "Elf Queen Ilanier". Affection level has been upgraded to "Intimate"!]
[Due to establishing a deep connection with the source of "Moonlight's Embrace", a new effect for "Moonlight's Embrace" has been unlocked!]