“Is that really true, Winnie? Are your sexual preferences really that rigid?” Shikondell grinned.

“Really! Truer than pearls! Don’t test me, Dell, or else…”

“Or else, you’ll collapse at first touch?” Shikondell chuckled. “Could it be that you humans only care about appearance, and don’t mind anything else? Hmm, that’s degenerate enough. I like it.”

“Besides, haven’t you heard the saying? ‘Homophobia indicates being in the closet.'” (1)

“What homophobia are you talking about?!” Winnie couldn’t help but exclaim. “Where did you learn these strange things?!”

Winnie was confused, were these concepts something Shikondell inherently understood, or were they unique to Dark Shikondell?

Judging by everything, it definitely seemed like the latter. Winnie couldn’t imagine how the innocent, blank-slate version of Shikondell could possibly know these things.

Moreover, was he really homophobic? He was only reacting this way because he knew Shikondell was female, not male! Completely different!

So… did Dark Dell actually enjoy constantly pretending to be a boy and playing these games with him?

That really was kind of degenerate!

“W-well, what about you?! After all that talk, aren’t you the weird one here?!” Winnie snapped back.

Since the other party insisted on playing this role-playing game, pretending to be male in front of him, he’d play along too. Let’s see who cracks first!

“Dark Dell, you keep saying things like ‘You’re my prey’ that cause serious misunderstandings, and making these suggestive moves. Aren’t you the abnormal one? Trying to drag this perfectly normal male into your degeneracy?!” Winnie complained.

“Ara, Ara? Human, you’re really slow, aren’t you? Only realizing this now?” However, Winnie’s words didn’t embarrass Shikondell at all. Instead, she laughed freely, openly admitting it with a look that said, ‘Can you say something nobody knows?’

“I never hid it. Are you only just realizing now that I swing that way?” Shikondell grinned wickedly, pinching Winnie’s chin and bringing his face even closer to hers. (2)

Wait, what?!

Hearing this, Winnie was utterly shocked.

Dark Shikondell was still a girl, right? No matter how domineering or assertive her personality, she was still a girl!

Winnie never expected a girl to disguise herself as a boy and openly declare herself a Gay.

This was way too shocking!

“Human, you’re really slow to react. Only realizing this now?”

“No, Dark Dell, don’t mess around! We’re not only different species, but our genders are mismatched too!” Winnie suddenly remembered something. As far as he knew, elves were extremely disgusted towards outsiders. Marrying outside the race wasn’t accepted in elven culture, especially not for royalty, but even among ordinary elves it was frowned upon.

“So what? I just enjoy these thrilling games. Is that not allowed?” Shikondell pinched Winnie’s chin again, moving even closer. Their breaths now brushed against each other’s faces.

Although Shikondell used a disguise gem, it only altered certain essential features. Her face, skin, and figure remained unchanged, she was clearly an elf boy pretender, prettier than most girls.

Winnie stared at the Shikondell so close to him. The timid, gentle expression she was used to now radiated dominance and mischief. Those dewy almond eyes that used to seem so innocent now showed strong aggression.

This stark contrast made his heartbeat accelerate uncontrollably. Winnie felt his cheeks growing warm.

W-what’s wrong with him?!

“Oh? Looks like you’re not as resolute as you thought, huh?” This subtle change was caught by Shikondell, who mocked with a smile. “Mind your behavior. Remember, that little one has been watching the whole time. Your current performance is quite embarrassing, human.”

“If you know that, then get up already?!” Winnie shot Shikondell a glare. “Can you stop feeding strange ideas to a child?!”

“Get up? No way.” Saying this, Shikondell blew gently on Winnie’s cheek.

“Wait, what are you doing now?!” Winnie swallowed hard.

“Human, didn’t I tell you earlier? You’ve been far too disobedient.” Shikondell’s fingers lightly traced circles on Winnie’s chest.

“What disobedience? You need proof for your accusations! I’m an honest guy!”

“So, where exactly did you go today?” Shikondell curled her lips, tugging at Winnie’s collar.

“Didn’t I already say? I went to help at the student council. Mirexia asked me. If you don’t believe me, go ask her yourself?!”

“Oh? So now anything you do can be covered up by your childhood friend, right?” Shikondell raised an eyebrow.

“So what are you implying?” Though Winnie’s thoughts were exposed, he maintained a perfectly composed expression.

“Human, your scheming mind is as active as ever. You can fool that little fool, but you can’t deceive me.” Shikondell tilted her head. “Ah, I really should leave a mark on you, so you won’t cause trouble everywhere.”

“Woah?! Stop it!” Seeing Shikondell’s forehead about to touch his, Winnie’s pupils shrank in alarm.

But at that very moment, Shikondell broke into a grin, then suddenly stopped all movement.

“??” Confused, Winnie looked up at Shikondell, only to see a timid, bashful face. Those aggressively gleaming eyes had reverted to the cute, soft deer-like eyes he remembered.

“U-uh…” Shikondell sat beside Winnie like a startled duck. Her slender hand still held Winnie’s chin, their faces remaining extremely close. An awkward silence filled the air.

Instantly understanding what had happened, Winnie fell silent. Looking at their awkward position, he wanted to speak but couldn’t, feeling extremely embarrassed.

“T-t-that wasn’t m-me… I didn’t mean to…” Then, like a steaming train, Shikondell’s head started emitting imaginary vapor. Blushing furiously, she stammered incoherently.

“I know, Dell. It’s not your fault. Just… let go of me first, okay? Let’s talk after you get up.” Winnie pursed his lips. Seeing Shikondell like this made things much easier to handle.

Truly worthy of her.

The ambiguous, tense atmosphere Dark Shikondell had created completely vanished. Winnie’s mind cleared from its earlier haze and excitement.

“Ah, r-right!” Hearing this, Shikondell quickly released Winnie and scurried to the sofa, sitting upright with her head bowed, blushing and silent.

“Phew.” Winnie stood up, watching Shikondell’s reaction with inexplicable amusement.

So what was Dark Shikondell’s intention? Leaving them in that situation and disappearing, was it intentional?

Or did Dark Shikondell simply log out when her time was up, allowing Light Shikondell to take over?

Regardless of the reason, Winnie breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. The previous atmosphere had already started feeling strange. If Dark Shikondell had continued…

Ugh, better not even think about it.

“Dell, long time no see. You’re already home?” Seeing Shikondell too shy to speak or even look at him, Winnie knew he had to break the ice, or the atmosphere would stay awkward.

“Ah, y-yes, I’ve been home for a day now.” Shikondell clasped her hands tightly between her legs, nodding rapidly like pounding garlic.

Only then did Winnie notice a full plate of shelled peanuts on the table, and the nearby trash bin overflowing with peanut shells.

Clearly all peeled by Shikondell.

Winnie instantly realized Shikondell must have returned home early today, found him gone, finished her chores, and waited for him. She’d waited all day with no sign of him, so she sat on the sofa, peeling peanuts while lost in thought.

That made sense, otherwise why would Dark Shikondell have appeared?

Considering Shikondell’s personality, Winnie immediately understood. Dark Shikondell probably saw Light Shikondell anxiously waiting, overthinking and mentally exhausting herself, so she took over control.

After all, Dark Shikondell existed solely to protect Light Shikondell.

Poor Dark Shikondell, she was already the main operator in that mysterious cube space, and now she had to step in again because Shikondell was emotionally distressed and mentally drained.

“Sorry! Winnie, earlier it was… it was ‘him’ controlling me…”

“I know. It was Dark Dell, right? ‘He’ appeared again.” Winnie explained for the flustered Shikondell.

“Y-yes.” Shikondell weakly nodded. “But please don’t blame ‘him’. ‘He’ meant no harm, ‘he’ just wanted to…”

“I’m not blaming him. Dark Dell is a bit mischievous, but I know ‘he’ means well.”

“And… this time too, we owe ‘him’ alot ?” Winnie asked.

“Y-yes. Earlier when I was in that strange cube space and got into trouble, I owe ‘him’ for that.” Shikondell recalled. “When I was in danger, ‘he’ appeared just in time and saved me.”

“Of course, I also owe Winnie. If not for you, I definitely…”

“No need to thank me. As I just said, it wasn’t really my specialty. I actually asked others for help. Senior Luna, Fanya and Amisa are really nice people.” Winnie said.

“Y-yes, still very grateful to Winnie.” Remembering her dreams, Shikondell instinctively glanced at Winnie, then quickly lowered her head.

She was still pondering the dream events. Judging from Dark Shikondell’s conversation with Winnie earlier, she couldn’t make much sense of it. Dark Shikondell’s thought process was simply too erratic, jumping straight to conclusions without any intermediate steps, almost like random guessing.

“Are you… feeling okay now?” Winnie asked.

“I’m fine. Senior Luna and others have basically healed me. Physically, I don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere.” Shikondell shook her head.

“What about… your inner demons?” Winnie asked. “Earlier, the nuns said your problem wasn’t physical, but in your heart.”

“Y-yes, it’s better. Winnie, please don’t worry.”

“Oh? So it’s not cured at the root, then?” Judging from Shikondell’s tone, expression, and body language, Winnie immediately understood, adopting a thoughtful expression.

“N-no! I’m completely recovered!” Shikondell quickly shook her head.

“Sigh.” Seeing how terrible she was at lying, Winnie could only sigh helplessly, wondering what Shikondell’s future would hold.

But not curing it at the root was indeed understandable. The pain of losing her country and home, how could that possibly be easily overcome?

Even Winnie himself still couldn’t let go, let alone an elf like Shikondell.

If left uncured, should another incident like today’s occur, she might relapse.

However, Winnie thought there might still be a chance for complete recovery. He’d thought of a possible solution.

Help Shikondell reclaim her kingdom.

If Shikondell successfully restored her nation, drove away the tribes ravaging her homeland, ascended the throne as Moon Elf Queen, and rebuilt Misty Moon Forest, then perhaps her heart ailment could be thoroughly cured.

But… Shikondell becoming the Moon Elf Queen?

Winnie couldn’t even picture that scene.

For Shikondell now, these thoughts might be premature. Besides, with what resources would she reclaim her kingdom?

Winnie himself was still in hiding, unable to purge the Church of Radiance. How could he possibly help Shikondell reclaim her kingdom?

These thoughts only led to another sigh.

He and Shikondell were truly in similar situations, their homes both usurped by others.

“So, Winnie, please don’t take seriously what ‘he’ said earlier.”

“Mm-hmm, I’m not taking it seriously.”

“By the way, Winnie, are you hungry?”

“Ah, I—” Winnie was about to say he’d already eaten dinner outside, even had dinner with Mirexia. But seeing Shikondell’s almond eyes sparkling with gem-like luster and hope, he changed his mind.

Shikondell was worried he might be hungry and really wanted to cook for him.

Never mind. What’s one extra meal?

“Yeah, I’m hungry.” Winnie nodded.

“Then, I’ve already bought the ingredients! I’ll go cook for Winnie right now!” Hearing this, Shikondell immediately brightened, excitedly rushing to the kitchen.

Seeing the kitchen filled with baskets of vegetables, Winnie realized Shikondell had been waiting for him to come home for dinner, waiting until now.

She’d just recovered from illness, went to the business district to buy groceries, then waited for him to come home for dinner, waiting until now. She hadn’t even cooked for herself.

All for him.

Something touched Winnie’s heart. He silently watched the busy figure in the kitchen, saying nothing.

“By the way, Winnie.”

“Hm? What is it?” As Winnie stood silently lost in thought, the usual kitchen-clad Shikondell emerged from the kitchen, wearing an apron.

Yes, this was her most familiar appearance.

Compared to the Moon Elf princess dress made of high-quality Misty Moon Forest silk he’d seen in her memories, this outfit was the one Winnie remembered most vividly.

It was only after returning from Shikondell’s dream that Winnie consciously realized, the one who had always cooked meals, done chores for him, was once the Moon Elf princess.

“Just now… I forgot to tell you.”

“Although ‘he’ already said it when we came in, I haven’t personally told you yet.” Shikondell appeared somewhat bashful.

“Welcome home, Winnie.” With slightly shy hands clasped in front of her apron, her innocent, youthful voice brimmed with sincerity and warmth.

######

1 – “Homophobia often reflects hidden same-sex attraction.”

2 –  弯的 = Its meaning is “Bent”

Informally, it means “gay”

The original will be “I never hid it. Are you only just realizing now that I’m bent?” But I

wrote “I never hid it. Are you only just realizing now that I swing that way?”

But I am a little bit confused. We can also go with “I’ve never hidden it. Are you only

just realizing now that I’m gay?” But I think what I wrote is good. So tell me.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep