An Elf's Body Feels Just as Warm and Soft as a Human's

And so.

In the quiet Forbidden Library, only the rustling sound of turning pages rose and fell.

But Natsuki Subaru could still feel, from time to time, an elusive gaze cast from across the room.

Whenever he looked up, he could always catch the instant Beatrice hurriedly averted her eyes.

"Beatrice, this girl, is really straightforward," Natsuki Subaru chuckled to himself, yet he found this mode of interaction exceptionally warm.

"Strange, why… why do I always keep looking at him?"

On the other side, Beatrice muttered to herself, a hint of imperceptible panic flashing across her exquisite face. Even she couldn't understand why she frequently peeked at that human.

She should have kicked him out, yet she always couldn't control this inexplicable impulse.

"This strange feeling… what exactly is it?"

As a Great Spirit who had lived for over four hundred years, Beatrice should have disdained a mere human.

But whenever that black-haired youth barged into the Forbidden Library, her heart, usually as calm as still water, would ripple.

"Why should I care about one person?"

Beatrice bit her lower lip in confusion, something seeming to break through the earth in her heart, making her both expectant and fearful.

What troubled her even more was why she would unconsciously overlap Natsuki Subaru with the person she had been waiting for in the contract.

"Is he… really the person Betty has been waiting for?"

The moment this thought emerged, Beatrice forcefully shook her head.

Four hundred years of waiting had already taught her not to hold onto hope, but whenever Natsuki Subaru appeared before her, that long-dormant heart would begin to beat restlessly.

Just as Beatrice was caught in a whirlpool of thoughts, Natsuki Subaru's voice suddenly pulled her back to reality.

"...Crusch... li..."

"—I told you to be quiet!"

Beatrice abruptly closed the ancient tome in her hands, her voice feigning anger to conceal a trace of inner turmoil.

"Sorry, sorry, I accidentally read aloud..."

Natsuki Subaru scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, a smile of apology on his face, "By the way, Betty, I've almost memorized this book. Do you have any books written with basic characters suitable for beginners that I could borrow?"

He's clearly just an ordinary human, yet he's always pushing his luck like this… What an infuriating fellow!

Beatrice grumbled to herself, awkwardly turning her face away, not wanting Natsuki Subaru to see her slightly flushed cheeks.

Speaking of which, the Forbidden Library indeed housed countless volumes, from the most basic introductory readings to profound magical tomes, covering everything.

"This one, take it."

Although Beatrice frowned, looking reluctant, she still gently waved her finger, using magic to make a book fly from a shelf deep within the Forbidden Library to Natsuki Subaru.

"Wow… It seems, Betty, you know all the books here."

Natsuki Subaru exclaimed in amazement, reaching out to catch the book floating in the air.

"Hmph, in the Forbidden Library, Betty knows the location of every single book like the back of her hand."

A trace of pride unconsciously seeped into Beatrice's tone, gradually revealing her attribute as a veteran shut-in otaku.

She actually remembers so many books so clearly.

Come to think of it, in over 400 years, she has probably read every book in the entire Forbidden Library more than once or twice.

Natsuki Subaru inwardly clicked his tongue.

It was worth mentioning that this Forbidden Library was personally created by the Witch of Greed, Echidna, housing the vast knowledge she had collected throughout her life.

The texts here covered magic, history, and other core secrets of this other world.

It was no exaggeration to say that even the royal library of the Kingdom of Lugnica could not compare.

"Can you read quietly now?"

Beatrice crossed her arms, looking very serious.

"OK, I'll definitely keep quiet."

Natsuki Subaru smilingly assured her, then opened the thick, brown-covered book. He found that the content inside was indeed written using basic characters, the difficulty just right for his current level.

Although Beatrice had been complaining, she had still thoughtfully chosen a book he could understand.

Thinking of this, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but mutter softly:

"Hmm… Isn't this a typical tsundere moe point? A blonde, twin-tailed tsundere l0l!, truly lives up to her reputation."

"Although I don't know what nonsense you're muttering, it's infuriating just listening to it, shut up!"

Beatrice keenly caught Natsuki Subaru's self-talk and immediately shot him a sharp gaze.

"Ahem… Alright, alright, I'll concentrate on reading now."

Sensing the anger in Beatrice's gaze, and fearing being blasted out by magic, Natsuki Subaru quickly stopped talking, lifted the book to cover his face, and began to read seriously.

Speaking of which, this other world's writing system was quite interesting.

The most basic was the I-script, similar to the Nordic runic alphabet from his previous life, composed of straight lines and sharp angles.

The RO-script and HA-script were advanced versions, usually learned only after mastering the I-script.

Currently, Natsuki Subaru had basically mastered the I-script and had no problem reading ordinary books from this other world.

As for the RO and HA scripts, they were mainly used to record magic, contract documents, and historical texts. Some of these characters themselves contained magical power, and high-level magic often needed to be triggered by writing specific Lugnican characters.

"This one is about… recipes for bread and thick soup? So it's a cookbook."

Natsuki Subaru's eyes lit up,

"Finally, something different."

"But this is..."

Natsuki Subaru's gaze stopped at a string of complex words; these were precisely the few characters he often wrote incorrectly during practice.

He tried hard to recall the pronunciation he had learned a few days ago, and stumbled through it:

"Ba... er... Ba..."

"You're so noisy!"

Beatrice lightly leaped down from the high stool, stomping her shiny little leather shoes as she walked towards Natsuki Subaru. The hem of her deep red dress swayed gently with her movements, and her violet stockings gleamed softly under the light.

Seeing Beatrice looking exceptionally cute with her ruffled feathers, Natsuki Subaru deliberately held the book high with both hands, pretending to sincerely ask the blonde elf standing before him for guidance:

"Respected Teacher Betty, could you teach me how to read this character?"

"Betty thought it was some difficult word, but you don't even know this one. Is your brain just for decoration?"

Beatrice stood on her tiptoes, merely glancing at it before snorting dismissively, "This is—"

"Wait..."

Natsuki Subaru suddenly noticed an interesting detail.

Although he had raised the book high, from a sitting position, a normal person would have to bend down to see the page clearly.

However...

Natsuki Subaru looked up from above the book and found that Beatrice, standing straight, was actually able to meet his gaze.

Those sapphire-like clear eyes were staring straight at him, their gazes meeting in mid-air, so close he could see the fine shadows cast by Beatrice's long eyelashes in the candlelight.

After several seconds of eye contact, Natsuki Subaru finally understood and couldn't help but tease:

"Sigh, I told you a long time ago to sleep early and drink more milk, otherwise you really won't grow taller."

"That's enough out of you, Betty! You're asking for it!"

Beatrice, in her exquisite dress, turned red with anger, lifted her skirt with both hands, and kicked fiercely at Natsuki Subaru.

Oops, I overdid it!

Natsuki Subaru thought to himself, but surprisingly, he didn't feel the expected pain.

It turned out Beatrice's little leather shoe had kicked the bookshelf in front of him, and she lost her balance due to the recoil.

"Kyaa—!"

"Careful!"

In the instant Beatrice was about to fall, Natsuki Subaru, relying on the agility several times that of an ordinary person after his upgrade, reached out with astonishing reaction speed and caught her.

"Phew… That was close…"

Natsuki Subaru let out a long breath, but suddenly realized the touch in his arms was exceptionally soft, and there was a faint, unprecedented fragrance, like violets mixed with the scent of parchment.

Huh?

An elf's body… feels as warm and soft as a human's.

"Wh-What are you doing! Let go of me, quick!"

Beatrice's shriek instantly pulled Natsuki Subaru back to reality.

"Ah, sorry…" Only then did Natsuki Subaru realize he was still holding the blushing girl, and he hurriedly let go in a fluster, "I didn't mean to…"

Boom—!

Before he could finish, a powerful magical impact directly hit Natsuki Subaru's forehead. The intense pain made him see black, and he staggered back a few steps, bumping into a bookshelf.

"Ouch… I already let go, why hit me so hard…"

Natsuki Subaru clutched his throbbing forehead, wincing in pain.

If it weren't for the upgrade enhancing his body's defense, this blow might have really knocked him out.

Thinking of this, Natsuki Subaru resentfully glared at the violent, blonde, twin-tailed l0l! before him:

"Seriously, I kindly stopped you from falling, held you, and I still get hit?"

"Hmph—!"

Beatrice proudly turned her face away, her golden twin-tails drawing a beautiful arc in the air, "You asked for it!"

"Damn it! I'm going to get you back for this."

Natsuki Subaru narrowed his eyes, a mischievous smile appearing.

"If you can get Betty back, then try it, a mere human."

Beatrice crossed her arms, looking down condescendingly at Natsuki Subaru sitting on the floor, her exquisite face full of disdain.

Just then, in her moment of arrogance.

"Good chance!"

Natsuki Subaru suddenly reached out and grabbed Beatrice's wide sleeve, then pulled hard—

"Kyaa—!!"

Caught off guard, Beatrice shrieked, lost her balance, and fell sitting beside Natsuki Subaru.

"You… Betty should have just blasted you out of here from the start."

Beatrice shouted in exasperation, her little face flushed red.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Natsuki Subaru waved his hand, quickly changing the subject, "Sitting together like this, doesn't it feel more like a study group? It's so warm."

"Why would Betty do this with you…"

Although Beatrice was still complaining, she surprisingly didn't get up and leave immediately.

"Alright, alright, you still haven't told me about that word."

Natsuki Subaru quickly changed the subject again, pointing at the page, "How do you pronounce it?"

"It's Great Rabbit."

Beatrice pouted, still sharp-tongued, "You don't even know such a basic word, you're hopeless."

"Got it, then let's continue the study group. There are still quite a few words I don't understand in this cookbook, so I'm counting on you."

Natsuki Subaru said with a grin, looking at Beatrice's pouting profile.

Although Beatrice is over 400 years old, her personality is completely like a child's, both kind and tsundere.

"You're so annoying!"

Although Beatrice complained incessantly, she still didn't refuse Natsuki Subaru's request, just sat to the side, huffily holding another profound magic book.

"The cooking method for Great Rabbit…"

Natsuki Subaru continued to study the recipe in his hand, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he saw the unique cooking methods of this other world.

"What's there to be surprised about, boring."

Beatrice frowned, suddenly scooting aside a bit, "And, you're too close to Betty! Move further away!"

"Is that so…"

Natsuki Subaru pretended not to notice her reddening earlobes and secretly glanced at the ancient tome in her hands.

Although Beatrice always spoke harshly, she would patiently answer whenever he asked a question.

Thinking of this, Natsuki Subaru silently added in his heart:

Don't worry Beatrice, l0l!s are really not within my scope of conquest, I can guarantee that!

"Hmph! This is, of course, a very profound tome, a fool like you wouldn't understand it at all."

Beatrice proudly lifted her chin.

"Hahaha…"

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but laugh out loud, and amidst Beatrice's annoyed glare, he quickly pretended to cough to cover it up, "Um… what does this step mean? Can you explain it again?"

"Honestly, this is..."

Beatrice explained impatiently.

And so.

Natsuki Subaru and Beatrice leaned shoulder to shoulder against the ancient bookshelf, holding their exclusive study session in the quiet Forbidden Library.

Some time later.

Beatrice gently closed the ancient tome in her hands and turned her head to ask:

"How are you learning?"

"Thanks to Teacher Betty's guidance, I've pretty much finished this otherworld cookbook."

Natsuki Subaru stretched lazily and replied with a smile,

"But, the cooking here really has many unexpected methods."

"What about it?"

Beatrice pouted, but her eyes unconsciously darted to the cookbook in Natsuki Subaru's hand.

"But they all look super delicious."

Natsuki Subaru deliberately flipped to a page with an exquisite dessert illustration and said to Beatrice, "For example, this dessert, the outer layer is a crispy thin pancake, wrapped with rich cream and fresh fruit, the texture must be amazing."

Although elves didn't need to eat to sustain life, he knew Beatrice liked tea and sweets.

"Betty is different from you humans, I don't need..."

Beatrice was halfway through her sentence, but her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the picture.

"I can tell by your expression, you definitely want to try it, right?"

Natsuki Subaru winked mischievously.

"Betty didn't say she wanted to eat it!"

Beatrice hurriedly turned her face away, but her reddening earlobes had already betrayed her thoughts.

In this Forbidden Library, completely isolated from the outside world, time flowed by unknowingly.

Continuous study and bickering with Beatrice made Natsuki Subaru's eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

"So sleepy…"

Natsuki Subaru murmured softly and slowly closed his tired eyes.

Just as his consciousness was about to drift into a light sleep, a gentle touch suddenly came from his shoulder.

The weight was as light as a feather, yet it carried a warm body temperature and the sound of even breathing.

"This is?"

Natsuki Subaru forced himself to open his drowsy eyes, wanting to confirm the source of this touch.

"Hmm…"

What came into view was Beatrice's peaceful sleeping face.

Her usually wide-open large eyes were now quietly closed, her habitually furrowed brows had relaxed, her long eyelashes cast fine shadows in the candlelight, and there was even a faint smile on her lips.

"So it was this girl who fell asleep leaning on my shoulder…"

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but smile,

"So even elves get sleepy?"

"Hoo… Brother…"

Beatrice murmured softly in her dream, unconsciously rubbing against Natsuki Subaru's shoulder.

"I never expected, usually so fierce, she looks like a cute girl like this."

Gazing at this unguarded cute sleeping face, Natsuki Subaru also felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He tried his best to maintain his current posture, afraid of waking the elf girl leaning on his shoulder.

"If Beatrice finds out we fell asleep like this, she'll definitely use magic to teach me a lesson tomorrow…"

Sleepiness surged again like a tide, Natsuki Subaru gently lowered his shoulder, allowing Beatrice to lean more comfortably.

"Forget it, whether I get scolded tomorrow or blasted by magic, that's all for after sunrise…"

"For now, let us lean on each other and spend this quiet night."

In this Forbidden Library, isolated from the world, their even breathing gradually synchronized, echoing softly among the bookshelves piled high with ancient tomes.

___

Greetings! ✨ Walnut here!

🔥 AN INCREDIBLE OFFER IS ON THE TABLE! 🔥

We're only 13 members away from our 65-member goal! 🎯

The second we hit it, 10 BONUS CHAPTERS for ALL STORIES will be released to everyone. No exceptions!

🪦 Your membership is the key. Let's make it happen!

100 powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone! 5 reviews = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone!

Secure your early access before it's too late!

👻 patreon.com/Walnutchan