Firefly: For the Sake of My Wish, Are You Really Going to Beat Up Every Aeon? (1W4, continued)

Immediately afterward, as if she had lost her balance, Firefly's soft body toppled uncontrollably toward Chen Li.

As expected, Chen Li caught Firefly in his arms with quick reflexes, holding her steady.

"Are you okay?!" Chen Li lowered his head and asked Firefly with concern.

"I-I'm fine... I just accidentally stepped on a piece of gravel and slipped." Firefly shook her head with a flushed face, her gaze darting away.

To prove her point, she lightly extended her foot and kicked away the piece of gravel that had caused it all.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The gravel bounced crisply across the floor and rolled into the distance, as though proving that Firefly had been telling the truth.

"...That really was careless of you." Chen Li looked at the kicked-away stone and remarked meaningfully.

Snap!

Chen Li snapped his fingers again.

The drifting golden memory essence around them instantly gathered, turning into a soft, comfortable European-style high-backed chair.

Chen Li carefully helped Firefly sit down. Then, beneath her surprised yet expectant gaze, he slowly crouched.

He reached out with one hand and gently held Firefly's ankle, clad in torn stockings. With the fingers of his other hand, he carefully felt around the sole of the foot that had stepped on the pebble.

His fingertips brushed across the skin of her sole, bringing a tingling sensation like a mild electric shock.

"Ahaha... that tickles~"

Firefly's body jolted, and that foot began flailing uncontrollably as she tried to evade Chen Li's touch.

Firefly had expected Chen Li to show concern, but she had not expected him to express it so directly.

The warmth spreading from the sole of her foot seemed to rush straight to her head through her blood.

"No wounds, and the skin isn't red or swollen. That's good."

After confirming that