The faint light quickly burrowed into the giant wolf’s forehead, and Luna collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Hua Mu felt utterly drained. In that single moment, it was as if a pump had sucked all her strength away. Her head throbbed with a needle-like pain, worse than when she used to stay up all night reading novels.

She was so tired. She wanted hugs and kisses… or maybe licks would do.

The black unicorn panted, its little tongue lolling out.

“Wuu wuu wuu…” Why wasn’t the big white wolf waking up? She had tried so hard.

Luna sobbed quietly, so sad she started hiccupping. Can spirit animals hiccup? Hua Mu wondered incredulously.

In the brief moment her mind wandered, the giant wolf slowly opened its eyes, gazing down at the unicorn from above.

It seemed to be observing and identifying her. After a short while, it tentatively extended its tongue and licked Luna’s back.

A shiver ran through Hua Mu. The tingling sensation where she had been licked strangely alleviated some of her earlier fatigue and discomfort.

What was that? It felt better than a massage.

The unicorn looked up at the white wolf, her tear-filled eyes shining with joy.

“Yiyi~” She scrambled to get up, wanting to nuzzle against the wolf’s fur, but her limbs were weak. She trembled and fell back down.

The white wolf quickly lowered its head, using its nose to support her, and gently licked the unicorn’s glossy black coat.

“Wuu wuu wuu…” Luna cried tears of joy, squinting as she leaned into Hati’s embrace.

Hua Mu finally understood how good being licked felt. If it were her, she would give up struggling too. The soft, slightly cool tongue was powerful, and it felt so good whether it was licking her neck, her back, or her horn. It wasn’t just Luna; she was enjoying it too…

Hua Mu finally realized the source of the strange feeling she’d had all along.

Why was she here? Why was she… inside Luna’s body? Why… Hey, stop licking, stop licking!

Just as Hua Mu was trying to think, a flurry of licks from the wolf’s tongue shattered her concentration. She looked up at Hati in frustration, but her breath caught when she met its dark eyes.

She recognized those eyes—dark, deep, with a faint green glint. Usually sharp and cautious, they could also hold moments of tenderness.

Just being watched by that gaze made her feel weak all over.

That Sentinel, that idiot, that big fool, why couldn’t she rely on her more, trust her more, and… and show that she liked her more?

She was willing to sacrifice her life for her, but was it just because she was the heir to the throne? Was it just because of a Sentinel’s loyalty?

The giant wolf seemed to be fighting a fierce internal battle. After a long, steady gaze at the unicorn, it finally suppressed its stirring desires and lowered its head in a posture of submission.

A sudden wave of sorrow washed over Hua Mu.

She didn’t know if this sorrow was for the Sentinel or for herself; she only knew that she didn’t want to blame her right now. If it were Luna, would she be more direct? If she liked someone, she should just say so. If she wanted someone to like her, she should just say that too.

She didn’t want to marry someone else. She wanted Bai Zhen to have a stronger reaction when she heard about the matchmaking. She wanted her to treat her as more than just her master.

Bai Zhen, have you forgotten everything? Six years ago…

Luna, impatient with her long-winded, sentimental ramblings, cheerfully stuck out her tongue and began licking the sharp line of the giant wolf’s lips.

“Yiya~”

Big white wolf, why won’t you lick me anymore?

Hua Mu felt she had no control over Luna. It must be the result of years of neglecting her training! Look how well-behaved Hati was.

The giant wolf trembled, curling up and pressing its face into its forepaws, letting out pained whimpers that rumbled deep in its throat. Its cries were so pitiful that Hua Mu’s heart tingled—she had never seen Bai Zhen look so vulnerable.

Perhaps, licking her back wouldn’t be so bad? After all, it’s a matter of courtesy… No, no, maybe this was just a form of grooming?

That’s right! She was here to bring Bai Zhen back, so there was nothing wrong with grooming her spirit animal! Besides, they weren’t in their human forms right now. What was wrong with animals licking each other?

Nothing at all!

“Awooo…”

The giant wolf retreated under the unicorn’s licking, almost scrambling to hide its head. It wasn’t just Hua Mu; it seemed Luna was also finding some fun in this, relentlessly licking the wolf’s face.

Hua Mu thought with a touch of pride that she had finally subdued Bai Zhen.

Bai Zhen didn’t know how long she had been asleep. The moment she opened her eyes and saw the black unicorn, she recognized it as Hua Mu.

The glossy, smooth fur, the elegant build, and the beautiful long horn—every part of it displayed the unicorn’s nobility, a quality that only the Young Lady possessed.

Why was the Young Lady here? Why had she woken up?

Bai Zhen couldn’t think for the moment, because a powerful desire was disrupting her thoughts.

The unicorn had a wonderful scent—even though, from her experience, the sense of smell shouldn’t work in a mental landscape. The scent felt familiar, but she couldn’t recall it no matter how hard she tried.

But that wasn’t important. All she knew was that she wanted to get closer to the unicorn—or rather, the Young Lady. She wanted more intimate contact with her, wanted to hold her, wanted to do things she had never dared to do, or even dared to think about.

In this landscape of ice and snow, a fire seemed to be burning in her chest.

Then, she saw the unicorn’s eyes, clear and green, pure and beautiful.

How had the Young Lady been living since she left? What kind of effort had she made to finally reach this place?

Because Hati was in a deep sleep, Bai Zhen had no way of knowing what had happened. But she could think, and she had roughly guessed that the unicorn was the form of Hua Mu’s spirit animal.

It was extremely dangerous for a Guide to enter a Sentinel’s mental landscape when the Sentinel was in a state of Eternal Night. The worst-case scenario was that neither of them would be able to return.

Bai Zhen could not offend Hua Mu, who had made such a great sacrifice for her. No… even without this, she would never offend the Young Lady.

Bai Zhen lowered her head, expressing her loyalty to her.

“Yiya~”

But for some reason, the unicorn licked her lips at that moment, an intimate gesture completely unlike the Young Lady.

“Awooo…” Bai Zhen wanted to beg Hua Mu not to do this to her, but what came out was a series of whimpers.

She had forgotten. Communication in a mental landscape required establishing a mental link.

But no other Guide had ever entered her landscape before. After all, it was a very private matter, and she had never actually practiced it.

Bai Zhen tried to establish communication with Hua Mu, but the other party completely ignored her retreat and gave no response to the message she sent out.

The unicorn just kept licking her, as if she were enjoying some delicious candy, never tiring of it.

The fire in her heart burned hotter and hotter, until Bai Zhen was trembling all over. She knew where the problem lay: compatibility. Bai Zhen had undergone professional training and could roughly estimate the range of compatibility even without instruments.

When soothing a spirit animal, a compatibility of over fifty percent was enough to make a Sentinel feel comfortable. Over seventy percent would bring a pleasant sense of euphoria, and the soothing effect would be more significant. Over eighty percent required some caution; one should not engage in overly deep grooming—if one did not wish to bond. If it was over ninety-five percent, even the slightest contact between spirit animals would trigger a binding heat.

And if it reached one hundred percent absolute compatibility, an awkward situation would be triggered the moment the two hosts came into contact.

Bai Zhen was almost certain that her compatibility with Hua Mu was over ninety-five percent. This was a situation she had never encountered before, which was why she was triggered into a “binding heat” even with Hati asleep.

This wasn’t a “binding heat” in the true sense, as that term referred to the standard required for physical bonding. Since they were currently in a mental landscape, they couldn’t actually experience a physical binding heat. However, besides physical bonding, there was also a form of mental bonding. This was a temporary bond created by a spirit animal “nesting” in the other’s landscape. During the observation period before a Sentinel and Guide truly bonded, they would typically establish this kind of relationship first.

Bai Zhen had never mentally bonded with anyone before, so she didn’t know if this feeling was normal, but she was genuinely frightened by this intense desire.

Her most prized endurance seemed so fragile and useless at this moment. Every lick from the unicorn was like a caress on her nerves.

This wasn’t right.

Mental bonding was the act of a spirit animal “nesting,” so it was merely leaving a mark in the other’s landscape, not… not something that happened when the host’s consciousness entered the landscape.

Moreover, Hati was still asleep, so a mental bond was fundamentally impossible. What on earth was happening right now?

Bai Zhen tried to use thinking to distract herself, but the situation was already unavoidable. The unicorn kicked its hind legs and pounced onto the white wolf, rubbing against it coquettishly.

The stirring feeling grew stronger, especially when the unicorn’s horn touched her. Bai Zhen was, after all, an extremely outstanding and experienced Sentinel. Even in this state of near-total loss of reason, she still maintained extreme control over her actions and deduced the cause of this situation.

The compatibility might indeed be very high, but the root of the problem lay in the unicorn’s ability.

The rumors that members of the royal family possessed special abilities were not just baseless tales. As far as Bai Zhen knew, the Queen’s abilities included healing, resonance, and absolute defense. There were even rumors in their circles that Her Majesty could manipulate people’s minds and alter memories.

So, it was not impossible for the Young Lady, who shared the same royal bloodline, to possess one or two such special abilities.

This ability could perhaps be called “Attraction,” and it was the culprit behind the “Fall of the Tower” incident six years ago.

Bai Zhen’s thoughts were not confused, but she was beginning to lose control over her actions—or rather, the actions of Hati’s spiritual body.

Luna clung to the giant wolf for a long time, but seeing it retreat step by step, not treating her with the same enthusiasm as before, she finally couldn’t bear the grievance in her heart and began to cry softly.

Hua Mu wanted to cry too: even at this point, that big idiot Bai Zhen still wouldn’t lick her!