“What should I do…? If something happened to Dahlia, I… What do I do?!”
Elsa was very anxious. Normally she was always calm, rarely angry or sad even when people bullied her, but now she looked like the world was crashing down around her.
Yvonne could tell that she was truly worried.
Elsa had lived a harsh life, but the one highlight was that she had met many kind individuals. Dahlia was one of the most important among them. When Elsa had been living alone on the streets without a single source of support, Dahlia had extended a helping hand, bringing her to take a bath, given her clothes and food, given her warmth, and given her hugs. She was family to Elsa, maybe even something like a mother.
“This won’t do. I have to go back right this-”
“Hold on, don’t get so worked up.” Yvonne grabbed Elsa before she could run off. She was likely to get herself into trouble along the way if she was this frantic. “We can’t tell what happened solely from one letter. Things might not actually be as bad as you think. Don’t act rashly just because you’re worried. We should always think before we act, okay? Even assuming you do go back, you’ll still need to think about how you’ll get there.”
Though Yvonne was doing her best to soothe Elsa, she herself was feeling troubled.
What they had lived through had not occurred in the original plot, and now something had happened to Dahlia. Yvonne couldn’t help but look at it more critically. She was deeply disturbed once she considered the implications. It was almost like some inscrutable force was pulling the story back to where it should be
“I-I’d take a carriage there, of course…”
A set schedule of dragon carriages ran between neighboring cities, just like modern long-distance coach services. Elsa planned on first heading to Red Crag City and then transferring to another line.
“It takes at least three or four days to reach Capella from here.”
“Then just what I should do…?” Elsa pressed a hand against her chest, so upset that she was on the verge of crying. She felt absolutely powerless, unable to immediately reach the person she cared about even at a time like this. If she couldn’t make it back before the worst-case scenario occurred… Then she might never see Dahlia again!
“Like I said, don’t work yourself into a frenzy.”
A warm hand took hers. Elsa looked up tearfully and saw Yvonne gently gazing at her.
“Let me handle these sorts of things. I’ll come up with a solution with you.”
▲
The two returned to their residence, packed lightly, and immediately headed towards Emerald Harbor’s port.
“‘Leinster’? Is this Mr. Garth’s family trading company?” Elsa suddenly understood Yvonne’s intentions in bringing her here when she saw the blue lion symbol.
“Yeah, we’ll have to ask him for help.”
Yvonne held Elsa’s hand tightly the entire way, unconsciously wanting to calm her down.
They passed through tall stacks of cargo boxes before finally finding Garth conversing with the company’s bookkeeper. As the marquis’s successor, Garth became responsible for sorting out various errands for the trading company once he turned sixteen.
“Oh hello, Sis, Miss Dorothy. What brings you here?” Garth was pleasantly surprised to see Yvonne and Elsa. He signaled for his subordinate to leave them for the time being and strode towards them. When he saw their clasped hands, he almost spun in a circle and prostrated himself in prayer. “I’m so glad you two made up!”
“Don’t think you’re off the hook for last time.” Yvonne was still mad about the stunt the two of them had collaboratively pulled. She felt like she had to remind him that she was his elder, so he would stop giving Elsa weird ideas. “Hmph, but luckily for you, we need to make a long-distance trip after some things came up. We specifically sought you out in the hopes that you could help us.”
“Just let me know if there’s anything you need, Sis. I’d be delighted to help you two.”
He performed a gentleman’s bow-and-scrape, as if he were ready at their beck and call. Standing beside her, Elsa also hurriedly bowed back.
“Is Sphynx here? The company should have brought her over, right?”
“Of course, my father specifically instructed me to bring her over. Said she might be of use.”
“My uncle thinks of everything as always.” Yvonne smiled wryly. That was just like the House of Merchants. She lagged far behind when it came to possessing that analytical foresight. “I am indebted to your family. Please pass on my well-wishes to your parents.”
“Of course.”
“How is Sphynx doing?”
“Not bad. She’s just the same as before and won’t listen to anyone besides you.”
“Um…” Elsa hadn’t been able to follow their conversation for some time now. “Who are you talking about exactly…?”
She looked at Yvonne and then at Garth, but neither seemed in a rush to explain the situation.
“You’ll understand once you see, Miss Dorothy. Come on. I’ll show you two the way.”
▲
Garth called over the trading company building manager for the keys and brought the two of them out the back door of the building. After roughly ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the doors of an extensive wooden structure with open ventilation. Garth opened the heavy lock.
Elsa realized what this place was when she heard the muffled sounds through the wooden walls and smelled the stink of excrement.
“Alright, we’re here. This is our company’s dragon stable.”
When the door opened, Elsa couldn’t help but gasp. It wasn’t just because the inside looked even larger than on the outside. More shocking was that upwards of a hundred landwyrms were situated inside.
The rows upon rows of landwyrms eating hay were separated by hemlock tree stall walls. They had rough skin that were primarily muddy yellow and mossy green. These enormous creatures looked up for one second when the trio entered and then resumed leisurely munching on their meal. They appeared wholly unafraid of humans, likely because they had become accustomed to people walking in and out of the stable.
“They’re majestic… Do these landwyrms all belong to the Leinster Company?”
“Yes. Although landwyrms are slightly slower than horses, they have greater endurance than horses and can bear a heavier load. They’re the better option for long-distance transportation.”
While Garth was happily explaining to Elsa, Yvonne had already walked quickly into the dragon stable. She immediately saw the reliable companion she had been parted from for too long amongst the rows of landwyrms.
“Sphynx!”
Hearing a familiar voice, a white dragon reared its head out of the mass of landwyrms.
“Sssz!” it excitedly hissed at the sight of Yvonne, waving its tail side-to-side as it got up from its pile of straw.
“Ahhh, I haven’t seen you in so long! Have you been well? Eating properly? Not getting into fights with other dragons?” Yvonne hugged Sphynx, who had bounded over to lick her, and continuously stroked her head. “Good girl, what a good girl. Okay, that’s enough. Haha, don’t keep licking me. I see you still want as much attention as before.”
Sphynx grumbled, as if complaining that Yvonne had taken too long to pick her up.
This dragon named Sphynx was different in appearance from the other landwyrms. Landwyrms had a wide torso with four thick limbs, but this white dragon instead had a long, nimble torso as well as uncommon golden vertical pupils. Its majestic body and streamlined tail were both spectacularly beautiful, though its silver scales that were as glossy as feathers were its most extraordinary feature.
“Is this Sphynx? It’s the first time I’ve seen a dragon with this coloration…”
Elsa felt unhappy even as she marveled at the dragon. What a sneaky little thing; she wanted Yvonne to stroke her gently like that too!
“Haha, not a common sight, right? Sphynx is a galewyrm that my cousin tamed from a young age,” Garth explained enthusiastically. “This type of dragon is blessed by the winds and is named for its blistering gale-like speeds. Due to what happened to the Smolletts, she’s been entrusted to us for now.”
“A galewyrm?” Elsa was secretly surprised. “I heard that it’s really hard to ride these dragons, and only the elite of the Imperial Knights are able to.”
The fame of Ozland’s elite unit of Dragon Riders had reached her ears. Through the galewyrm’s blessing, those soldiers were as fast as a gale on the battlefield, flashed by like lightning, and could cross vast distances in a single day. But besides those riders who had undergone multiple rounds of screening and professional training, people who could ride dragons were far and few in-between.
“Yep, this is one of my cousin’s strengths.” Garth began listing out Yvonne’s accomplishments, “You probably wouldn’t know, Miss Dorothy, but my cousin excels at riding, swordsmanship, archery, and more. She’s practiced these since she was young, and back in the day, none of the guys training with her could beat her.”
“Wow, Evie’s amazing!”
“Don’t exaggerate things. That’s all in the past!”
Yvonne’s cheeks warmed at the adoring look Elsa cast at her. Feeling embarrassed, she implored the beaming Garth with her eyes to shut up.
As the villainess for whom only a bad ending awaited, she had to learn some skills for self-preservation and running away!
She couldn’t be like a certain other Villainess who only knew how to farm!
▲
In order to prepare to ride, Yvonne borrowed two seats of riding gear from the trading company. Garth thoughtfully showed them to a changing room. She hadn’t thought the Leinster Company would host a hotel for merchants. They certainly provided a wide range of services.
“You should change into this too. Or else your butt’s going to hurt, you know.”
Elsa had worn her regular dress when she came here. It was fine for short walks and rides, but they would be going on a long trip afterwards, even journeying through forests and crossing a mountain range. Wearing a dress to ride a dragon would be very uncomfortable.
“Okay…”
Yvonne handed Elsa the bottom half of the knight uniform made of leather. Elsa hesitated for a moment. Then she put it on below her dress under Yvonne’s watchful gaze, red in the face. She didn’t need a complete set of gear though, being a mere passenger. Therefore, for the rest of the time, she sat on the bed and watched Yvonne put on each piece of gear.
Yvonne adjusted the suspender strap, tied the rope around her waist, and finally put on riding boots and gloves. She then held a hair tie in her mouth as she pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail.
Done getting ready, the two of them walked out of the hotel’s main entrance, where Garth brought over Sphynx saddled with seating for two.
Yvonne put one foot on the stirrup and easily leapt onto the dragon’s back.
Though Elsa was still uneasy, she felt secure seeing Yvonne reliably sitting up there.
“Get on, Elsa.”
Morphed into a knight, Yvonne reached out a hand to Elsa.
“I’ll take you back.”
Elsa’s heartbeat raced when she placed her hand in Yvonne’s.
This must be what a genderbent version of the fairy tale prince on a white horse would look like.
Actually, no…
She was even more handsome and kinder than a prince.
At this moment, she was Elsa’s personal knight.
▲
The dragon was taller than she imagined. If it hadn’t been for Yvonne pulling her up and Sphynx using its head to support her back, Elsa wouldn’t have been able to climb up with just her own strength.
“Maybe you should sit in front, Elsa?” Yvonne was worried, seeing how Elsa appeared unused to being on Sphynx. It was easy to be thrown off the back during someone’s first time riding a dragon. Sitting in the front was relatively safer.
But Elsa was insistent on sitting in the back. “I-I’m good! I would get in the way of your steering, so I can be in the back. That’s fine.”
If Elsa sat in the front, Evie would essentially be holding her the entire time, which would certainly make her feel secure. Not to mention she would get a generous feel of that pair of soft orbs against her back, orbs that were even more prominent after being girdled by the knight uniform leather. But Elsa didn’t want to make things harder for Yvonne, so she reluctantly turned the idea down.
“…”
Yvonne watched Elsa perched on the dragon, so nervous that she didn’t dare move an inch. She thought for a moment, then took Elsa’s hands and placed them on her own waist one at a time.
“H-Huh?!”
“Then, be sure to hold on to me tightly. You must make sure you don’t fall off, got it?”
Elsa’s entire body was pressed against Yvonne’s back after following her directions. Her heart rate spiked once more.
“Y-Yeah…” Blushing, Elsa actively wrapped her arms around Yvonne to hug her.
She could feel her warmth through the fabric of her shirt.
Yvonne smelled like the leather gear. Though it wasn’t the most pleasant smell, it still made her feel at ease.
“Alright, we’re heading out. Thank you for helping us so much, Garth—Garth…?” Yvonne wordlessly stared at Garth after she looked up.
The yuri knight had put his hands together in prayer at the sight of this precious scene.
“I thank the goddess of lilies for bequeathing such a gift!”
“You’re blowing this way out of proportion!!!”
▲
“Take care on the road!”
They said goodbye to Garth. After Sphynx built up to a dead run, the town and its buildings rapidly vanished in the distance. Following the setting sun, they thus reached the plains outside of town.
Elsa didn’t say a word along the way, still appearing perturbed. Yvonne felt compelled to speak up, “You’ve been silent this whole time. Are you still worried about her? Well, I guess you’re bound to feel uneasy after receiving that sort of letter. But don’t worry. Miss Dahlia is definitely alright.”
“…How can you be so sure, Evie?”
“Er, well… Call it intuition? Maybe just trust me this once.”
After all, she couldn’t say that she knew each character’s fate, right? The system explicitly forbade revealing the plot.
Yvonne envisioned Sister Dahlia. She always had a sunny smile in the game artwork, like the Virgin Mary. Nothing bad had ever happened to her in the main story, nor was she ever involved with the more dangerous plot threads.
Yvonne had vaguely noticed before that there seemed to be an invisible power adjusting the equilibrium of the world.
In the past, she had attempted many times to deliberately change where and when she ran into the heroine and other characters, but despite her extraneous influence, the original plot points still occurred. Even if she, the villainess, didn’t bully Elsa, new oppressors and a villainous support cast would appear to bully her.
Or at least, that’s how it was before she entered the exile route.
Rescuing Elsa appeared to have been an important turning point, given that Yvonne hadn’t observed any major plot changes before then. Her choice to save rather than bully the heroine set off a cascade of changes like a butterfly effect.
Those changes had been for the sake of preserving the progression of the game storyline, so that should also be the case this time.
If this matter had been sprung on them to force the heroine back to where she should be, then nothing should have happened to Miss Dahlia.
Stepping back for a moment, even if the system really was up to something, it wouldn’t kill a character who’d originally been alive the whole time, right? Yvonne truly couldn’t think of any reason the system would do that, which was why she was convinced the nun was safe and sound.
Of course, to be safe, and even more importantly, to reassure Elsa, it was better to bring her back.
“Hehe, that’s a huge relief,” Elsa giggled, smiling like normal again, despite Yvonne’s absurd confidence being based on her “intuition”.
“…You believe me?”
“Yeah, after all, your intuition has always been on-point.”
When else had her “on-point” intuition come into play…?
“You’re so dependable, Evie.”
There was no time to think about what she meant by that. Yvonne felt Elsa lean her head against her shoulder and the pressure against her back increased. Elsa was practically wrapping herself around Yvonne, which made her entire body feel hot.
The embarrassment building up from the continuous contact on the road finally reached a tipping point. “Y-You don’t have to hold me that tightly! You’re distracting me!”
riverFlower 
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