Within the fairyland wonderland space.
Nolan was planning to take a short break as well, but then he remembered—Mona had been helping Layla move her things into the space all afternoon. Who knew if they were done yet?
So he made his way toward Layla's newly assigned room.
Right now, thanks to everyone's efforts, the fairyland space had accumulated a large collection of treasures—things similar to artifacts, weapons, and other valuables.
Whenever suitable materials were found, the girls would ask Ei to help forge weapons or tools suited for themselves, with quite a few even being of golden quality.
These were usually stored inside, so the ground floor of the fairyland space had already expanded to about twelve hundred square meters, and its height had also increased quite a bit.
Even if more girls moved in, there would still be plenty of room.
Recently, they had also reorganized the layout of the rooms, making the space feel more open; even the gaps between rooms had become more than a meter wide—practically forming little alleyways.
Nolan walked through one such small alley for a short while before arriving in front of Mona's room. Then he glanced at the next room, where the lights were on.
Unsurprisingly, this must be the room Mona chose for Layla.
The door wasn't locked. Standing at the entrance, Nolan looked inside—beds, blankets, wardrobe, desk, and storage shelves were all set up neatly, with Layla's belongings already arranged upon them.
Right now, the two were unpacking books from a large cardboard box on the floor and placing them onto a tall bookshelf against the wall.
"You! Look at you just standing there, not even trying to help!"
Seeing Nolan at the door, Mona—who had been moving things all afternoon and was nearly exhausted—immediately glared at him in annoyance.
Earlier, she dragged Layla along to move, and this guy actually didn't even show up to help. Truly infuriating!
"Ah, Mr. Adventurer—when did you get here?"
Layla turned her head toward him, her expression brightening just a little.
"I just walked over. Ahem, I had to help Tingyun move earlier too. And since Layla had a reliable senior like Mona helping her, I figured things should be fine…"
Nolan rubbed his cheek as he gave his explanation, answering Layla first while trying to defend himself.
"Hmph!"
Mona cast him a disdainful glance. His hair was still damp—clearly this guy had been off doing something shameful again.
"Here, let me handle the rest. You two sit down and rest for a bit."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Nolan took the books from their hands and let them sit on the edge of the bed, while he quickly sorted and arranged all the remaining books on the shelf.
"Is there anything else you haven't brought over?" he asked Layla.
"No, everything has been carried over already."
Layla waved her hand, softly parting her lips as she replied.
"It's all your fault—thinking about hugging and cuddling all day long, so you never came to help. We ended up having to store things in our Vision spaces and teleport back and forth multiple times. We were practically dying of exhaustion."
Mona leaned back onto the bed, sinking into the soft mattress, feeling her whole body finally relax.
"Ah—sorry, Mona. It's true that I brought a bit too much," Layla quickly apologized in embarrassment before Nolan could speak.
"How could I blame you? It's normal for a scholar to have more research material."
Mona sighed helplessly.
Layla was great in every way—except for being too soft, shy, and lacking confidence.
"Then it's definitely my oversight. As an apology, let me give you two a massage to loosen up your muscles."
Nolan smiled, sat cross-legged on the floor, and in front of him were Mona and Layla's legs dangling from the bed edge.
One wore golden high heels, the other golden open-toed sandals—the uniformity was actually quite eye-catching.
"Eh—no, no need to trouble yourself. We teleported back right after packing. We just stood around for a little bit; it's really not that tiring…"
Layla tucked her legs back slightly, resting only the tips of her toes on the floor as she shook her head in a fluster.
"It's fine. Even if you're not tired, a little massage is still good for you."
Nolan first held Mona's ankle, placing her foot onto his left thigh. Then he leaned forward slightly, gathered Layla's ankles together, and gently placed her feet onto his right thigh.
"Ah—your pants will get dirty!"
Seeing her shoe soles directly touching Nolan's pants, Layla's face showed clear worry.
"It's fine. I'll just pat it off later."
Nolan didn't mind at all.
"This perverted guy is just using 'massage' as an excuse to play with our feet. Don't fall for it, Layla."
Mona, lying down, shot Layla a warning glance—her confused junior needed proper guidance.
"Play—play with our feet…? Uu… is that what's going on?"
Layla instantly reddened, covering her cheeks shyly.
"You! You're always trying to ruin my image. If you don't want your feet played with, then move them away."
Nolan squeezed Mona's calf firmly, speechless.
Sure—he did have thoughts like that.
But the massage was still a real massage. He even coated his fingers with harmonizing energy, so every knead transmitted soothing warmth and relaxation straight into their legs and feet.
And this same Mona—when he's sitting on the sofa—always lies down beside him, stretches out her legs, and lets him "play" with them however he wants.
Now she decides to act modest?
"This is your fault—you're always touching us and groping us!"
Mona shot back without backing down. The reason they enjoyed being touched was because he kept doing it all the time.
Sitting next to him and not being pulled into his arms felt strange at this point.
"Ahem—this is part of training."
Nolan admitted he really did enjoy being close and cuddly with the girls. At home, if he wasn't holding them, something felt off.
Seeing that he couldn't win against Mona's argument, he compromised, placing both hands on her calf and kneading it gently.
Couples quarrel sometimes—that was normal. And as the man, he figured he should let her win.
Seeing Nolan finally stop arguing, Mona let out two proud little "hmph hmph" sounds and enjoyed the massage.
And to be fair, he was good at this—massaging girls had basically become second nature to him.
"…"
Nolan couldn't help thinking—fine, if you're going to be smug, I'll make sure you end up displaying some truly embarrassing poses in front of your junior later.
As a senior, wasn't it your duty to teach your junior properly?
A mischievous thought flickered in his mind.
With one hand kneading Mona's calf, he used the other to gently stroke the top of her foot—covered in shimmering, starry-patterned tights above the golden heel.
Occasionally, he even lifted her ankle for a light caress.
After a while, Nolan shifted both hands toward Layla's sandal-wearing feet.
The delicate curves of her feet inspired an urge to press one's face against them.
As soon as he touched her calf, sheathed in white, vertically ribbed tights, he felt her body shudder slightly, as if she were nervous.
Nolan gently slipped off her golden-heeled sandals and set them aside.
Since this was Layla's first time being touched like this, he felt it necessary to fully savor the perfect curves of her feet.
As the mellow softness traveled up from his hands, Layla's cheeks flushed even deeper with embarrassment.
After several minutes, having massaged both of their soft feet, Nolan had Layla lie down just like Mona had, then smiled and said:
"Leg massage finished. Next up…"
"…"
Layla, as if she'd suddenly realized what might be coming, felt her brain practically steaming, so she buried her face in the covers, turned to the side.
"For convenience's sake, I'll help you both take off your skirts."
With practiced hands, Nolan removed Mona's clothing and pantyhose, leaving her with just her slip and panties.
She rolled her eyes at him and said,
"Layla's a bit nervous. I'll train with you first, let her get used to the process. That should help quite a bit."
"That does make some sense."
Nolan, who was just about to undress Layla, thought Mona's suggestion quite good and nodded.
"…Mona, and Mr. Adventurer."
Staring at Nolan and Mona,
Layla's cheeks were burning red, but as a scholar, there was also a gleam of inquiry in her gaze.
So this is the method of training they use…
Half an hour later, in Nolan's arms, Layla's face still blushing, she showed no sign of refusal.
Now that she understood how training worked, her nerves had calmed quite a bit.
She never imagined that besides her brilliant astrology, Mona was this skilled in the ways of training. Layla thought, heart pounding, cheeks bright with color.
When Layla lay down, Nolan leaned over and first touched his lips to hers, then caressed her pointed ears with gentle fingers.
Soon his hand wandered to her back, unzipping her little dress, pulling it down until it slipped away.
Somehow the white tights had been pushed up to her thigh; Nolan propped himself above, grasped Layla's ankle, folding her snow-white legs up against her body.
An hour later, Layla, after her first training, Layla was leaning tiredly against Nolan's side, with Mona on his other.
Their joint training went well; both women's strength improved a fair amount.
"Whew, let's take a little breather."
Nolan wrapped an arm around the snow-white shoulders of Mona and Layla, speaking softly.
Only Mona responded—Layla's breathing had evened out; it looked as though she had fallen asleep.
Or so he thought—until Layla suddenly opened her eyes. The golden depths blazed with much greater intensity—there was a sense of confidence radiating off her, as though she were a different person entirely.
"She's tired, but I'm not. This time, it's your turn!"
Layla seemed a touch annoyed; she got off the bed, planting one white-stockinged foot firmly against Nolan's abdomen.
He snapped out of his post-training fog.
"Uh…" Nolan let Layla step on him, turning to Mona with a wary look. "What's up with her? Did a little 'togetherness' make her totally lose her inhibitions?"
"What are you thinking!"
Mona bit Nolan's ear and explained,
"That's Layla's other personality. She comes out when Layla is asleep. I've seen her a few times while researching with her, though Layla herself doesn't know—she just thinks she sleepwalks at night."
"Oh, so that's it." Nolan suddenly understood.
No wonder Layla had seemed so worn out when they first met—her mental state was off. With her normal self out in the day and a more assertive personality during the night, she basically wasn't sleeping at all.
"Hmph, don't tell her—no point in making her distressed over it."
The assertive Layla, apparently ready, straddled Nolan's waist, gripping his shoulders with a faintly pained expression.
"Hm? Why cover it up? Doesn't seem like it requires secrecy."
Nolan was a little puzzled.
And he couldn't help but feel a touch helpless—the assertive Layla really was completely different from her reserved self, all hesitation burned away, her passion bare for anyone to see.
Well, he thought with interest, let's see who lasts longer!
"When she wakes and finds me gone, knowing of my existence would only bring her confusion. Best let her believe the one who helps her refine her thesis is that so-called 'Blessing of the Stars.'"
Assertive Layla spoke offhandedly.
"Oh, that does sound like a bit of a problem." Nolan pondered, planning to use Yae Miko's affection skill to see if he could come up with a solution.
[Sassy and incisive Layla: She has no wish for her confident existence to be known to her reserved, insecure self, lest the latter lose even more confidence.]
Reading the skill's reply, Nolan finally got it.
It wasn't that reserved Layla couldn't see assertive Layla—it's that assertive Layla was afraid being discovered would further undermine her more timid half's confidence.
After all, Layla always felt she wasn't clever enough. If she learned that all her coursework and papers were actually completed by a second personality, she'd only feel even less sure of herself.
This assertive Layla was actually awfully considerate.
But helping reserved Layla build confidence isn't too hard—she just needs to keep studying with Mona, eventually finish work she herself is proud of without relying on the assertive side.
Then, when she learns of her other self, chances are it'll be just fine.
After all, both personalities are lovely girls—how sad not to know the other exists; the reserved Layla would never truly understand herself otherwise.
Having thought it through, Nolan shared the idea with assertive Layla.
"Staying with you all might boost her confidence, sure—but let's talk about that later; right now, there's something far more important on my mind."
Assertive Layla locked eyes with Nolan.
Layla's assertive personality was dashing and sharp, utterly unrestrained—and seeing her like this, he had to admit, she was indeed very assertive.
(End of Chapter)
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