Phrolova's Fairy-Tale House

"You want me to kiss her?"

Rover wondered if he had misheard and froze on the spot.

"That's right!"

The system's voice was utterly certain. "Look, she's suffering. Can you really bear to let her endure this torment?"

At that moment, Phrolova was curled up in a ball, trembling gently and whimpering like a kitten freezing in the winter. She looked utterly pitiful.

Even more touching was the way she clung tightly to the Rover doll despite her extreme distress, as though she couldn't bear to let go of something important.

Her face was buried against the doll's chest, a large patch of its fabric soaked with tears. She was mumbling something too indistinct to hear, but her distress and fear could be felt from far away.

Rover hesitated.

"Wouldn't that be taking advantage of her? You know, it's still my first time..."

"I'm dying..."

Even the voice in his head couldn't hold back. "Stop spreading baseless rumors about Cantarella. A few more times between you two, and the little family head will be on the way."

Ruthlessly exposed, Rover's eyelid twitched.

"You know, I'm good at being passive..."

"Hurry up. Are you taking the task or not?"

"I'll take it!"

In the blink of an eye, he had made up his mind.

He strode over and gently gathered Phrolova into his arms, his movements as tender as if he were handling a fragile work of art.

He cradled the back of her neck with one hand and supported her shoulder with the other, tilting her head up slightly.

Phrolova was still whimpering, her lips moving and tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. Rover lowered his head and leaned close, his nose almost brushing hers. He paused for a moment, as though preparing to ask for her consent, then gently pressed his lips to hers.

The instant their lips met, time seemed to stop.

Phrolova's whimpering ceased abruptly. The hand holding the doll loosened involuntarily, while her other hand rested on Rover's shoulder, its fingertips curling slightly.

Her lips were soft and tasted of tears. Rover didn't move or do anything further, holding the pose as though he had turned into a statue.

To him, the kiss was more like a ritual.

A ritual to save someone.

Phrolova's eyelashes fluttered, and her breathing gradually steadied.

Jinhsi's office.

"Don't look, Lord Magistrate. You're still a minor. This isn't good for your mind or body." Sanhua went straight behind Jinhsi and covered her eyes.

"Let go of me, Sanhua! I'm ordering you as your superior!"

"No, the waters here run too deep. You can't handle it!"

"Sanhua!"

"Lord Magistrate, please don't make this difficult for me."

In the cell, Phrolova's eyelashes fluttered more fiercely, and her fingers slowly tightened on Rover's shoulder.

"Mm... what's happening to me?"

Phrolova opened her eyes. The confusion and distress from before gradually faded, and her eyes came back into focus.

The first thing she saw was Rover's face, just inches away, his nose opposite hers.

When she realized what had happened, her face instantly turned crimson, her ears burned as if scorched by fire, and her whole body grew hot.

"Pervert..." she shouted, twisting and struggling before kicking Rover in the abdomen.

The kick came fast and hard. Her little foot, wrapped in a black stocking, was deceptive: her toes curled slightly, her ankle was slender, and her calf tensed into a graceful curve. Unfortunately, the force of the kick was completely out of proportion to its beauty.

Bang!

Rover flew backward and slammed into the wall.

This woman is strong!

"You, you, you... you actually did something like that while I was asleep! I was wrong about you. Starting today, our friendship is over!"

Her pupils trembled and her head steamed; her mouth and throat felt dry.

A voice in her heart cried, He kissed me! What is he trying to do? Even if I've written more outrageous things in my Fantasy Diary, he still can't just...

Phrolova was both angry and embarrassed: embarrassed that she was actually a little happy, and angry that Rover had taken her for the girl in the Fantasy Diary!

"You're back."

Rover offered no explanation. He simply looked into her eyes and spoke softly.

Phrolova suddenly froze, and the terrible nightmare slowly came back to her.

Blood-red meteorites had crashed down, fire and blood alternating, nearly taking everything from her.

"Uh... I fell into a nightmare, and you were waking me up. I'm sorry..." Her expression immediately turned sorrowful. That memory was a pain she could never erase.

"At least there's still a chance to save them, isn't there?"

At those words, the light returned to her eyes.

"That's right, I still have you. Triss and the others haven't completely left me after all. We'll see each other again!"

Phrolova chuckled softly and hugged the doll even tighter, gently rubbing her round little cheek against it.

"Phrolova has escaped the nightmare and returned safely. Issuing reward: granting her fifty uses of the Book of the End and awakening her Fullbring!"

"What? Isn't the reward supposed to be mine?" Rover was stunned.

"Explanation: this task is a branch of a long-term task, intended to help Phrolova achieve redemption. Naturally, the target of the task receives the reward!"

"All right!" Rover shrugged, at a loss with the voice in his head.

"Buzz!!" A special frequency appeared out of thin air and entered the space between Phrolova's eyebrows.

"Fifty uses of the Book of the End! That's wonderful!"

She forgot her earlier sorrow and nearly jumped up.

But the surprises weren't over. Immediately afterward, the doll in her arms also gave off a dazzling light.

Fullbring was a special ability awakened through something important as a medium. Clearly, this doll had become Phrolova's medium.

"How does it feel?"

"I... I got a new ability. I think it's called Fairy-Tale House." Phrolova blinked, taking several dozen seconds to grasp this reality.

"Fairy-Tale House? It doesn't sound very powerful. It sounds like something for entertaining children. It must be pretty useless, right?"

Rover shrugged. He hadn't expected much to begin with, and now he had come to terms with it.

"Is that so? Then watch carefully."

Phrolova waved her hand, and the doll stood right up. As though it had gained intelligence, it moved like a normal person.

"That's it? That's a bit childish."

Before he had finished speaking, the Rover doll suddenly looked at him and slowly opened its mouth. A white beam shot out, straight toward his face.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai!"

Rover instantly countered, canceling out the energy.

"That power was equal to a strike from a Third-Level Reiatsu expert. I underestimated this ability."

Before he had finished speaking, the dozen or so remaining dolls also began to move. That was what truly shocked him.

"Anything you create can be given intelligence?"

"That's right, but only my favorite doll can use the power you just saw."

Phrolova got off the bed without putting on shoes and slowly came up behind Rover, resting a little hand on his shoulder.

"Didn't expect that, did you? Besides the attack you just saw, my Fairy-Tale House has other uses. You bullied me so badly before, so now I'm going to pay you back a little!" Phrolova suddenly grinned mischievously.