Vol 4. Chapter 89: The Conflicted Pipi

Fuck.

How the hell did my fucking vacation disappear again...

Although he had agreed to accompany Lingluo to the Crimson Leaf Empire, after leaving the training ground and returning to his luxurious “boudoir,” Pipi immediately became listless and collapsed weakly onto the bed.

As for the armor he had brought back, as well as the coat, underwear, stockings, and other clothes he had just washed, Pipi casually tossed them aside without a care, allowing them to join the huge pile of clothes and books already scattered across the floor and together form this uniquely chaotic “boudoir.”

If those little maids outside who admired the purple-haired girl saw this scene, Pipi’s elegant and beautiful image in their hearts would probably shatter into nothing on the spot...

Well,

not that Pipi cared about any of that.

The only reason he disguised himself like this was so that he could legitimately remain beside this candidate for Imperial Sovereign.

...

Leaning against the headboard with one leg crossed over the other, Pipi let out a somewhat helpless sigh.

“Sigh... looks like I can’t go back again...”

The purple-haired girl lamented in a somewhat gloomy voice.

Having been away from the Great Winter Forest for so long, Pipi naturally missed his homeland greatly. He missed his gentle and loving Mother, as well as his adorable younger sisters. Unfortunately, because he had to protect Lingluo’s safety, Pipi had never found an opportunity to return during this period.

Some time ago, through a secret letter sent by that girl Karina, Pipi had already learned about the various recent events in the Great Winter Forest and the Snow Night Empire.

The downfall of the Child of Destiny, Xue Tianao, had made Pipi practically clap his hands in delight.

Mother gaining a human form, as well as the birth of his new little sister Yuan’er, filled Pipi with intense anticipation. He desperately wanted to hurry back to the forest, take a good look at Mother’s new appearance, and let little sister Yuan’er meet her mighty, imposing, devastatingly handsome, and dependable big brother. Hehehe~

Of course, while he was there, he could also play with his other little sisters again after so long.

He wondered what those little girls had become like after not seeing them for so long?

Enmm,

although Karina had repeatedly warned him in the secret letter not to come back recently... What had she said? That if he came back, his ass might be in danger?

Pipi did not believe that at all~

He had obviously been so well-behaved lately and hadn’t done anything bad! Why would Mother hit him? After seeing her son again after such a long separation, she would be too busy hugging him, wouldn’t she? Why would she beat him with a feather duster?

It had to be that girl Karina deliberately using such a laughably flawed excuse to fool him because she wanted to monopolize Mother’s love and scare him away from coming home~

“Such a petty little trick, and you think you can fool your big brother? I’m not falling for it again. Hmph~”

However,

whether that really was merely an excuse, Pipi had no way of knowing.

After all, as things stood now, it seemed he could not return to the Great Winter Forest anyway.

Although it was quite regrettable, Pipi could not help feeling strangely relieved deep down.

Naturally, the reason for this feeling was not because Pipi feared the feather duster.

It was because he needed to preserve his dignity.

As the older brother, Pipi had always done everything he could to maintain his authority as the eldest sibling. He wanted to present Mother and his younger sisters with the image of someone steady and dependable.

To prove how reliable he was, Pipi had unconsciously begun comparing himself with his sisters, as well as with the children Mother had adopted.

Comparing strength.

And comparing achievements.

In terms of strength, there was absolutely no doubt that he was incredibly powerful.

But when it came to achievements...

Well...

It seemed like his weren’t quite impressive enough?

Putting everything else aside,

right now on the Anqieka Continent, his little sister Karina had established the terrifying mercenary force known as the Ghost Star Flame Corps, Shuoyue had secretly built an enormous merchant association, while Xiao and the other adopted children had developed the Black Rose Family into one of the dominant powers of the south.

And him?

It seemed like aside from causing some destruction... he hadn’t accomplished anything at all?

To preserve his image in the eyes of Mother and his sisters, Pipi planned to achieve something first and develop a powerful force of his own before returning home!

“Maybe it’s actually better that I haven’t gone back yet...”

Staring at the chandelier overhead, Pipi muttered to himself.

Once he supported Lingluo into becoming Saint Lomari’s Imperial Sovereign and brought the entire Saint Lomari under his control, then he would make his glorious return home!

When that happened, Mother and his sisters would definitely look at him in a whole new light!

As for now,

he had already worked overtime for this long anyway, so he might as well accompany that woman Lingluo on one more trip to the Crimson Leaf Empire.

He had already pushed her all the way to her current position. He absolutely could not let all that effort go to waste...

Thinking this, Pipi gradually suppressed the disappointment caused by losing his vacation, and blazing fighting spirit once again ignited within his dark-purple eyes.

At the same time, a sharp gleam suddenly flashed through the purple-haired girl’s eyes.

Hmm?

Come to think of it...

She wants to get her hands on the Sacred Dragon Heart?

If Lingluo returned to Saint Lomari with something like that, it would be an enormous achievement. Maybe her position as Imperial Sovereign would even be practically secured!

In that case...

“Why don’t I... just help her steal the Sacred Dragon Heart directly?”

Hehehehe~

All of a sudden, Pipi shot upright from the bed.

An extraordinarily punchable grin appeared on that beautiful and charming face.

A “grand” plan gradually began taking shape inside Pipi’s head~

--

Meanwhile,

in the eastern region of the Great Winter Forest,

after Karina dragged the sniffling and crying little sisters Liyu and Shuoyue away for their hellish training, only several members of the Black Rose Family, including Xiao, remained inside the enormous barrier, along with a certain wolf girl who was preparing to return home with them.

To be honest,

after Karina left, everyone from the Black Rose Family, including Qiu Mingtong, could not help breaking out in a cold sweat.

Because,

with both Lady Yumo and Lady Karina absent, if Lady Limo started causing a huge fuss and refused to leave with them, they genuinely had no idea what they were supposed to do.

Normally,

when dealing with disobedient members of the Sadik imperial family, elven friends, or their good brothers from the Dragon Race, the Black Rose Family was accustomed to persuading people with reason.

Whether that meant reason in the verbal sense or reason in the physical sense, they used both.

A two-pronged approach usually cured the problem instantly and solved everything.

But now, facing Lady Limo, they could not use that method.

First of all, trying to reason with Lady Limo was basically a complete waste of time.

And obviously, using physical methods was inappropriate as well.

Lady Limo was Lady Yumo’s daughter. They would never dare lay a hand on her, even if Xiao was capable of suppressing the wolf girl...

So what exactly were they supposed to do?

Qiu Mingtong and the others racked their brains but could not come up with an answer.

However,

reality proved that perhaps they had been thinking too much...

“Uh...”

At this moment,

watching the silly little white wolf sprawled across Xiao’s thighs, wagging her tail happily while gnawing on a chicken leg, Qiu Mingtong’s brows twitched slightly.

She never would have imagined that Lady Limo, who just moments earlier had looked utterly miserable, acting as though life itself had lost all meaning and crying her eyes out, would suddenly sweep all of that sadness away?

And just start eating a chicken leg?

This...

Her heart was way too carefree...

In a certain sense, Qiu Mingtong finally understood perfectly why the Duke always described Lady Limo as utterly carefree and lacking any sense of worry.

And also,

why Lady Yumo was so worried about Limo’s future.

With this personality,

someone with bad intentions might genuinely be able to kidnap her with nothing more than a chicken leg someday...

And they seriously wanted to raise her into a proper lady?

That road was probably... going to be a very long one.

After sighing inwardly several times, Qiu Mingtong put her giant hammer back into her spatial ring and respectfully approached the carriage.

“Duke, shall we depart now?”

“Mm.”

Already feeling mentally exhausted, Xiao nodded weakly.

“While Lady Limo is still relatively calm, let’s hurry and leave.”

As she spoke, Xiao lowered her head with mixed emotions and glanced at the little white wolf happily gnawing on a chicken leg in her arms.

Although they were currently using food to temporarily divert the wolf cub’s attention, once the chicken legs ran out, or once the wolf cub was full, she would definitely come back to her senses and start making a scene about wanting to return to the Great Winter Forest or go find Lady Yumo.

And then things would become troublesome.

So before Lady Limo started causing trouble, they had to bring her to the designated teleportation point and quickly return to Sadik Empire territory.

Once they got there, even if Lady Limo started throwing a tantrum, Xiao would have ways to deal with it.

“Let’s hurry. I don’t know how much longer this meat can keep that bottomless pit occupied.”

“Mm.”

Qiu Mingtong gave a slight nod, agreeing with Xiao.

“But Duke, returning to the Sadik Empire from here... even with teleportation points constructed using spatial magic stones, we’ll still need to pass through four teleportation points to reach our destination quickly. No matter how much Lady Limo can eat, she’ll probably be full after we pass through two teleportation points...”

Looking at the wolf cub happily enjoying her food, Qiu Mingtong voiced her concern.

“That is true.”

“If she really starts causing trouble, then wouldn’t that be...”

“Forget it. Just to be safe, notify Xizhi. Have her arrange the third teleportation point in the Elven Forest. If Lady Limo starts causing trouble, we can use the Elven Forest as cover and prevent outside forces—especially those people from the Asumos Church or the Holy Tower—from detecting anything. We’ll just have to trouble those long-eared fellows a little.”

“Understood, Duke. But how should we explain Lady Limo’s situation to the elves?”

“Contact Prince Audom. He’ll know how to handle it.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s depart.”

“Mm... Oh, right, Duke.”

“Hmm? What is it now?”

“I still have one question.”

Qiu Mingtong spoke somewhat hesitantly, her adorable eyes filled with worry.

“If ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) we bring Lady Limo back with us like this... how exactly are we supposed to accommodate her? Miss Luowei just sent word that the children Lady Yumo rescued before, as well as the orphans adopted from the Snow Night Empire, have all already been sent to Sabelius. If Lady Limo arrives there... wouldn’t that basically turn the place into an all-you-can-eat buffet...?”

“...”

Faced with that question, Xiao was, for once, rendered completely speechless and had no idea how to answer.

“This...”

“Duke.”

“Hmm?”

“Seriously, I’m begging you. In the future, whenever Lady Yumo asks you to do something, please think carefully about whether the mission is actually feasible first. I know it’s difficult to refuse Lady Yumo’s requests, but if you keep accepting missions without thinking them through like this, something really is going to happen. You are the Duke. You have to remain rational at all times. You can’t just completely surrender because Lady Yumo says ‘please’ a few times.”

After briefly imagining the complete chaos that would inevitably erupt throughout their territory in the future, Qiu Mingtong could not help complaining.

However,

the pink-haired loli’s complaint caused Xiao’s brow to twitch slightly.

“Say, Little Tong.”

“What is it, Duke?”

“I don’t think you’re exactly qualified to lecture me about that... When Lady Yumo made this request earlier, the person standing beside me nodding nonstop and enthusiastically agreeing with her... seemed to be you, didn’t it?”

“Please don’t concern yourself with such minor details, Duke.”

“...”