IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE:

This chapter was rewritten (merged with the Archived Chapter 68) on May 25, 2026.

This is the old version of the chapter, which has been preserved for archival purposes.

Please move on to the new “Chapter 68 - Tell Tail” unless you wish to compare versions or see my earlier writing style.

Thank you. <3

“You seem… unusually chipper,” Bella starts, eying me curiously.

Cari swiftly interjects.

“Oh no you don’t,” she begins, pointing right at me. “Wipe that grin off your face. If you’re going to go delving, you’re doing it in moderation!”

I quickly school my face and shrug, trying to seem ambivalent.

“Emi…” Cari threatens, seeing right through my facade.

I deflate with a dramatic sigh. “Fine.”

She glares at me for a moment longer, then seems to decide I am being earnest enough and relaxes back into the couch.

“Did I miss something?” Bella suddenly asks, and Cari jumps.

“Oh, uh… just making sure Emi here doesn’t do anything reckless. Like delve to the twentieth layer in one go,” she says.

“I’m not an idiot,” I huff quietly into the couch cushions, tail twitching.

Cari gives me a narrow eyed look, silencing me.

“I see… well, it might offer you some comfort to know that all students are required to form teams,” Bella says, shocking us both once more.

“What?!” we both shout at once.

As solo Delvers, neither of us expected to be in a party… well, ever. Except maybe as a duo.

“For some reason, I’m getting the distinct impression that you’re both displeased,” Bella chuckles. “But keep in mind—this is a school. They don’t want their students dying just because they want more experience. Besides, it’s a valuable opportunity to connect with our peers.”

Cari scoffs and starts to make herself a cup of tea, but I just shrug. I’d been a Carrier for years, so I’ve long since learned how to work with strangers. Usually by staying small, quiet, and as unnoticeable as possible… but still. I know I can work with a team.

I just don’t know how I can work with a team as a Delver. My experience clearing the Temple of the Fallen Dungeon with the elite teams of Bephis isn’t exactly standard operations.

Hells, my Mana Surges at the time disrupted half of their Skills. That’s hardly proper teamwork.

Guess I’ll just have to learn…

“Which actually brings me to a question I’d been meaning to ask you, Emilia,” Bella continues, drawing my wandering thoughts back to her. “If you’re not against the idea, would you like to form a party with me?”

Cari’s head snaps toward Bella, eyes wide with instant interest. At the same time, Bella’s scarlet irises peer into my icy blues.

My core practically sings at the offer, traitor that it is, sending tingles straight into my tail. The urge to accept is overpowering, but the rest of me knows that I can’t trust myself right now.

Not until my estrus is over, or at the very least until I get the new medicine.

But my mind meanders along the thought process like molasses, stopping by every single excuse I can conjure up.

We’ve already worked together rather well once, what’s the harm?

I can obviously trust her, given all we’ve shared, so why say no?

She’s also Tier One, so it’s not like she’ll fall behind, right?

I’m a healer and a fighter, and she’s a mage. It’s basically the perfect combo, isn’t it?

With a monumental effort of will, I shake off the temptation. Instead of voicing the words I desperately want to speak, I say the words I should speak.

“Can… can you ask that again in a few weeks?” I ask, the question squeezed out through a wince of instant, instinctual regret.

A momentary look of hurt flashes across her features, but realization wipes it away in an instant. She flushes a bright crimson, her cheeks almost matching her hair.

“O-of course. Sorry for asking at such a… precarious time,” she says, nodding and looking away.

Cari hums mischievously beside her, glancing between us with a knowing smirk.

“Then in the meantime, let’s get situated in our new rooms. I have bags to unpack,” she quips, sending me a mock jealous glare.

That’s when I remember the surprise I left in her bags. A letter from the Nyra and Lyra, the orphan twins she’d grown attached to.

My tail swishes back and forth in graceful, measured movements as I try to hide my growing anticipation. In no time at all, she’s gathered her bags from where she’d left them near the entrance and carries them to the door with her initials.

She lets out a gasp when she steps inside, and I take that as my cue to check out my own room. I spare a glance at Bella, not wanting to just leave her alone out of nowhere, but she seems to pick up on my hesitation and waves me off.

“I had time to get situated already, so don’t worry about me.”

A treacherous thought crosses my mind, and before I can think better of it, words are slipping from my lips.

“Would you like to join us when we head into the city?”

My tail betrays my sudden bout of nerves, swishing uneasily behind me.

What the fuck am I doing?!

She pauses for an instant, cheeks warming just a hint, teacup half raised to her lips. “You’re going out today?”

Despite my inner turmoil, I nod with a grin, knowing full well that when Cari reads the letter, she’ll demand we go see them right away. Plus, we still have to deal with the legendary dagger we’d taken from the assassin. Preferably before school actually starts.

“Then… I suppose I will look forward to it,” Bella says.

For a moment, I just bask in the small, happy smile she offers me. Then I catch myself.

“Perfect! I mean, great. I… look forward to it too,” I blurt, making a butchery of everything.

I decide now is as good a time as any to disappear, so I quickly flee into my own room, chased by an increasingly dangerous smile.

Unlike the main entrance to our dorm, there’s no obvious security for our individual rooms—though I do notice several ancient looking runes discreetly etched into and around the door. Stepping inside, I can’t help but mimic Cari, letting out a breath of surprise.

There’s obviously some spacial enchantment shenanigans going on here, because straight across from me is an open balcony, peering out into the open air all throughout the girls dormitories. Wind rustles through the opening, shifting the curtains to and fro, carrying the distant sounds of chattering girls outside.

The space smells of fresh linens, and the air coming from the balcony mixes in the scents of cedar and grass, giving the whole space a life of its own.

The room itself is also far larger than it has any right to be, nearly half again as large as the lobby area itself. Still, the space is beautifully decorated, just as I’d expect from a place meant for nobility.

On the left is a vanity desk of beautiful dark red wood, and a matching wardrobe that I couldn’t imagine filling in my dreams. What really catches my eye though is the massive canopy bed on the right.

I immediately leap into it.

There’s a soft woomph as the blankets deform under my sudden presence, and I all but melt immediately. I thought the beds at the Tylean Leaf Inn were incredible, but this?

This is heaven.

“Oh, gods, yes…” I moan, letting myself sink into it.

For a few minutes, I’m unable to will myself to move at all, and I quickly consign myself to to a future full of endless attendance troubles.

It’s not my fault they make the beds so comfy. Yeah, definitely…

I jolt awake with a start at the sound of a squealing Cari. It rapidly grows louder, until she’s suddenly there, standing over where I lay drooling on the mattress.

She vibrates with excitement, holding an all too familiar envelope in both hands. What was once a crisp, clean letter is now gripped so tightly that its edges are little more than crinkles.

Then she leaps at me.

Half asleep as I am, and sudden as it is, I don’t get a chance to react. She lands on my back, squishing my tail and pressing the fur at odd angles. Her arms wrap around me in a ultra-tight embrace, squeezing whatever air I had left from my lungs.

Little giggles and noises of delight are mixed in as she squirms against me. Meanwhile, I focus on trying to get the breath she just knocked out of me back.

For nearly a full minute, I’m at her mercy as she rolls us around on the bed, intent on sharing every speck of her inner glee. Somehow, she manages to perfectly avoid abusing her spectacles the whole while.

I laugh as I’m all but manhandled, ignoring the fleeting moments where my tail is bent at weird angles.

Then I catch Bella at the doorway with a conflicted look on her face. She stands very still, hands folded, like she’s unsure what the etiquette is for walking in on a sibling wrestling match.

“You can… come… in… if you want…” I manage in the moments my face isn’t being smushed into too soft blankets.

She startles a little, as if she hadn’t expected the invitation, then smooths her sleeves and enters.

As she comes in, Cari finally stops, blurting, “We’re going right?!”

She somehow squirmed her way to straddle me from the front. Flushed with excitement as she is, with her shirt riding halfway up and exposing her slim waist…

Past me’s brain would have outright broken here. Current me, though?

Current me pokes her exposed belly button.

She leaps off me with a yelp of surprise, hands covering her vital weakness defensively. I drag myself upright with a groan, finally freed of my sisterly shackles.

The look of indignation she gives me is priceless.

I ignore it, giving Bella a very ‘I told you so,’ smile. It wipes the conflicted expression from her face entirely, huffs out a laugh.

“Hey! Answer me!” Cari complains, still covering her belly.

I laugh. “Yes, of course we’re going. I’m—”

Cari all but sprints from the room before I get another word out.

“—glad you like the surprise,” I finish, chuckling.

Cari vanishes down the hallway, shouting something about needing ‘real clothes.’ Bella lingers by the doorway, hands folded neatly, eyes following Cari’s retreat with an amused little tilt.

“You two really are close,” she says, sounding almost wistful.

There’s a tiny note of envy in it though, and it tugs at my chest. I want to hug her, to offer some kind of comfort. To share the mirth I was just gifted so she doesn’t feel that way anymore.

Instead of giving in to my unruly instincts, I flop back into the mattress with a grin, trying not to melt into it again.

“Yeah.”

I don’t say any more, because that’s all there is to it. I love Cari to death, overprotective wheedling and all.

“I should get changed as well,’ Bella says softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “If we’re going into the city.”

I nod, trying not to shiver under her gaze. “Same.”

She slips away then, closing the door behind her, and I start rummaging through my inventory for something less formal. Cari and I both decided to wear our best, to give the Academy a good first impression.

It didn’t end up mattering all that much.

I look down, privately enjoying the professional look. My top is cream colored, with frills around my chest and long sleeves connected under my arms to expose my shoulders. My pants are black and all sharp, deliberate creases, giving them a very put together look. They rest just shy of touching my shoes—a pair of black heels.

Ironically, the shoes are the only piece of the outfit that are enchanted—and even then, only with Lesser Comfort and Lesser Support. Over the months, the girls at Tails and Temptations insisted I get used to wearing heels.

And because heels are awful, I cheated a little.

Needless to say, this getup is probably a bit more than I’d need to visit merchants.

It doesn’t take long to find a comfortable set of clothes. A simple, well fitted blue crop top, black shorts that expose enough leg to make me seem taller than I really am, and my most comfortable boots.

The look mixes well with my hair and eyes, and they’re enchanted with Self Repair and Self Clean to boot. Thanks to my Starlight Bangle, the swap is instant, and I’m resting on the bed again in record time.

I fidget for a bit, straightening my tail fur after Cari’s most recent assault. Then a knock on my door rouses me from my dozing a few minutes after I’d finished.

“Emilia? Are you ready?”

When I hear Bella’s voice, it brings with it the tiniest scent of spices in the air, mixing with the cedar, grass, and linen. My tail flicks excitedly at my side.

Treacherous thing.

Looking up, I find Bella peeking through the door. She steps in with a smile after seeing me situated in bed, already changed.

And every thought I’ve ever had promptly disintegrates.

Bella stands framed in the lobby’s light, wearing a flowing sundress in deep desert red, the fabric draping off one shoulder and leaving far more skin exposed than I’ve ever seen on her. Her hair is down, but there are small braids decorating the sides of her head.

The rest cascades in soft waves, brushing her delicate collarbone.

She shifts under my stare. “Too much?”

My tail lashes wildly.

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.

I nod. I shake my head.

Then I make an embarrassing noise that falls somewhere between a whimper and a moan.

I swear then and there that I will deny ever having made such a sound until the day I die.

Bella laughs, delighted, and holds the door open for me.

“Shall we?”

***

Authors Note:Tying up some loose ends, finally! I’m excited to see Lyra and Nyra again. They’re so heckin’ adorable! :D

Also, Bella’s been a lot more openly interested ever since Emilia admitted what’s going on with her cycle. I’ve been having a lot of fun writing their dynamic.

I’m really curious to see how long it takes for things to come to a head between them. I’ve always aimed for a slow burn romance, but not a secretive one, if that makes sense. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out…