*Pant… Pant… Pant…*

Nier panted heavily. Ling Yue licked the wound on her leg. Her blood trickled from her wound. Ling Yue lay to the side. Her fur had become somewhat messy. Nier's sword was still stuck in her leg. The victor of the duel had been determined.

"Why did you make my husband stand at the front when you can fight so well? Why didn't you drive them away with this form of yours?"

Ling Yue narrowed her eyes, and then snorted: "Because I had no intention of fighting that time. I was planning to flee. I can't just transform whenever I like, either. I need to have an adequate amount of mana to transform into this form. I won't transform unless I need to save my life."

Ling Yue slowly reverted back to her small size. Nier's long sword dropped onto the ground. Nier watched the huge fox transform back into the small girl. She had to deal fatal wounds to her limbs to bring the fox down and incapacitate her. Ling Yue didn't actually intend to kill her. It was very obvious that Ling Yue was holding back when she counterattacked.

However, Nier felt as though her body was falling apart after getting whipped once by her tail. Fortunately, Ling Yue wasn't being serious, because if she was, Nier would most likely be dead right now. Nier knew that it would be very difficult for her to win against Ling Yue. She wasn't confident she could hit her, while she knew that she'd die if she got struck.

Ling Yue swung her tail around and frowned a little as if her tail was annoying her. She walked up to Nier's side to pick up her clothes and slowly get dressed again. She looked at Nier with her eyes narrowed, "Miss Nier, can you help me do up the tie at the back of my dress?"

"I'm not your maid!"

"Can't we be friends?"

"Be friends with you?!"

Ling Yue smiled. She replied, "I thought that we're friends after our duel, because as somebody who fights often, I'm sure you're aware you'd be dead already if I was serious, right? You're a mother, and you've given birth, right? I'm a mother, myself. I won't harm another mother. Further, you wouldn't do something that would make my husband sad, would you? I wouldn't, either. Though I'm very reluctant to admit it, I know that my husband might be even sadder if I hurt you."

They looked at each other for a moment. Nier then walked over behind her and looked at her tail that was curled up. In a soft voice, she remarked, "It must be your tail that my husband likes."

"I think that it's me that he likes."

"You sure are narcissistic."

"What about you? Do you think it's that s.e.xy body of yours that my husband likes?"

Ling Yue narrowed her eyes and glanced at Nier. Ling Yue's body was frankly quite nice, too. Her body was just marginally inferior to Nier's. Nier's body was without question very good; that wasn't just in comparison to elves, but also compared to Ling Yue of the Moon Fox Tribe.

"I think he likes me."

Nier smiled a little when she mentioned it. She helped Ling Yue wear on her dress properly. Ling Yue dusted her dress then turned looked behind. Nier looked back at her and pouted: "What now? Okay, I admit it. I certainly can't defeat you if you transform."

Ling Yue shook her head: "But that's meaningless. Miss Nier, I really want to get along with you and Lucia, as I share a common factor with you two. We all love the same man and most likely for the same reason. Since we all love him deeply, we shouldn't need to compete with each other. Physically fighting with each other should be the last thing we do. That man may be a bit of a philanderer, but you could say that he loves all of us. I admit that it would be pointless for us to get injured."

"Come to the palace, then. What are we supposed to make of you staying here? You don't have any t.i.tle. What are we supposed to make of my husband leaving the palace to come see you? What? Mistress hunting or you seducing him?"

Ling Yue shook her head with a smile: "No. I think that it's fine. He knows I'm not going to the palace. Indeed, I don't have a t.i.tle. Although there is very little difference between you two and I, the reality is that I can only be considered a mistress. I have a responsibility to my tribe. If I go to the palace, then my tribe's estate would become a ruin."

"Freya is the same as you, but she's still in the palace!"

Ling Yue shook her head and, in a soft voice, chuckled: "Do you think Freya still remembers about her household's revival? Let me break it down for you, Miss Nier. Freya can stay in the palace, for she has already given up on her household. Her father was the one who led their household to ruin. As such, she has no complaints. That doesn't apply to me, though. My tribe shouldn't have been exterminated. My entire tribe was exterminated. My tribe was originally renowned and was one of the four largest tribes. I, therefore, must grow return my family to its former glory so that it may have the respect it deserves. As such, I must stay. This is where my tribe used to reside. This is my tribe's estate. My lover is very important, but my family is just as important."

Nier took in a deep breath. She grabbed her hair feeling somewhat frustrated. She asked, "Are you really not planning to come with me? Are you not going to let your child see his or her father? Do you want your child to stay here, instead of growing up around his or her family?"

"He will come to see me. He won't abandon us. If others consider me his mistress, let them have at it. Miss Nier, do you think it's unreasonable for a King to have a mistress? Do you think that it would negatively affect peoples' evaluation of him? I, personally, don't think so. I believe that everybody likes stories of heroes and beauties." Ling Yue tilted her head. She laughed and added, "Miss Nier, the journey here must've been very rough. Let's end the discussion about you here."

"But!"

"It's nothing. It's just that our bottom lines collide with each other. None of us will back down, so it's better to just maintain how things originally were," stated Ling Yue, then spinning around. "I will treat you to a nice dinner, and then let's have a bath together. My bathroom is very big, but I never have the chance to bath together with anybody. You're here, so why not bath together? I think we can be considered good friends. I am so envious when I see the Queen bath together with Leah every day."

Nier followed behind Ling Yue feeling hopeless. Nier remarked, "What sort of weird fetish is that?"

"It's probably because I quite like you, Miss Nier. Though you look very aggressive, you are quite easy to talk to," answered Ling Yue. She turned her head around and revealed a bright smile: "After all, you are so pure, and so is your love, which is the same as mine. I guess we are the same kind."

"You're the least modest person I've ever come across."

"If you're talking about my love for him, then I'm confident that my love for him is surpa.s.sed by no one's. My love for him is by all accounts pure and deep as yours is. He gave me everything he had when I had nothing, after all."

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