Chapter 2184: A Dream of Childhood

As Xia De and Amelia continued to run hand-in-hand through the snowy forest, the dream became even more stable. Xia De was quite puzzled, having no idea what he had done:

"But this is fine... So, Amelia really loves to run."

However, the relic's awakening effect on Amelia continued to subtly influence the dream's evolution. Because the two of them had been running forward, a vast lake that could not be bypassed suddenly appeared ahead in the forest. Amelia slowed her pace, and the scenery around them blurred once more:

"No, it won't work, I can't go into the water!"

The elf girl instinctively felt that their shared run had come to an end, but Xia De rushed forward without hesitation, pulling Amelia along:

"Trust me, as long as you are still willing to hold my hand and move forward, the path beneath our feet will continue to extend."

Xia De, who had received basic dream knowledge from Doctor Schneider, used his mental strength—far superior to Amelia's—to induce her to imagine that there was actually a path across the lake. He had expected this to be difficult, but to his surprise, the girl who had been running heard his words and immediately smiled:

"Yes! I am willing."

"Shouldn't the answer be: 'Yes, there is a path ahead'?"

Xia De wondered. As he pulled Amelia's hand to the lakeshore, a path... constructed of giant yellow biscuits with small holes in them, actually rose from beneath the featureless lake.

"Look, a path really appeared!"

Amelia said with delight, and the dream stabilized further, allowing the two to step onto the row of biscuits and continue running across the lake.

Amelia seemed even more excited. Under the moonlight, the elf girl's golden hair trailed sparks behind her, and her beautiful emerald eyes were also emitting a faint glow. Her soft little hand gripped Xia De's large hand tightly. The dream was now so stable that Xia De suspected even if he told Amelia it was a dream, she wouldn't want to wake up.

"Things are going so smoothly here; I hope Miss Belindell isn't encountering any trouble in reality."

The lake was much smaller than it had initially appeared. Beyond it lay more forest. As Xia De lingered in this dream—which was almost completely undefended against him—the abnormally large silver moon overhead began to cast more moonlight into Amelia's dream.

Moonlight was not like sunlight, which illuminated everything; instead, it granted the wind more gentleness, the earth more stability, and the forest a more serene atmosphere. At the same time, the moonlight granted the elf's dream more stable spiritual power. Amelia smiled; perhaps she was simply enjoying the moment, but Xia De noticed that after leaving the lake and entering the forest, something even more unusual was happening.

For instance, he saw the pinecones hanging from the trees around them turning into chocolate, and the snow on the ground and trees turning into sugar frosting. The trees, originally twisted and strange, were gradually taking on orderly shapes, but in reality, the wood was transforming into biscuit material.

"What's happening now? Wait, could this be because..."

【The blessing of a childhood dream. Amelia Sinod's mental world has no defenses against you, and that blessing is taking effect.】

The two ran faster and faster through the forest, as if they had merged with the wind, as if they had turned into air. That blessing, originating from a god, was shaping the dream into an even more bizarre form, following the dream owner's memories and subconscious.

This indirectly stabilized the dream, even giving physical form to the unknown thing that had been chasing them. Xia De took a moment to look back while running; it was now a "lava giant" the size of a small hill, composed specifically of chocolate syrup, hot cocoa, sugar frosting, and milk.

"Look, there's a cliff ahead!"

Amelia said suddenly, but she didn't look surprised at all. Without waiting for Xia De to guide her, she said happily:

"Will you fly with me?"

Xia De could indeed transform into a dragon and carry her, and there was no need to worry about being unable to transform back within a dream. But before fully digesting that drop of dragon power, he hoped to avoid using it as much as possible:

"Not me, little Liana is already waiting for us ahead... Oh, Amelia!"

The elf girl pulled Xia De into a great leap at the edge of the cliff, then laughed as they plummeted toward the forest covered in white snow below. But the next moment, a large group of white unicorns carried them into the high sky.

They weren't real unicorns, not even young ones like little Liana; they were unicorn plushies. Some of them even looked chubby because they were stuffed with too much cotton. If Xia De had the chance to visit Amelia's dormitory at the academy, he would find that the design of these plushies was basically identical to the one on her bed.

The elf girl giggled, sitting with Xia De on the central one among the group of unicorn plushies, drifting above the mountain forest. Suddenly, the group of unicorn plushies exploded into pink smoke in mid-air. But after the smoke cleared, Xia De and Amelia didn't fall toward the forest, because white little wings had sprouted from Amelia's back.

She laughed and flew through the air, holding Xia De's hand. Xia De's body didn't fall due to gravity; instead, it felt as if it were being supported by an invisible force, following closely behind Amelia.

"This... is indeed a good dream. I'm very glad that wings didn't appear on my back."

【Few people can directly influence your consciousness in a dream without your consent.】

"She" said, her voice becoming even gentler under the moonlight. Riding the wind and holding Amelia's hand, Xia De had to admit this was a good dream—in fact, it might be a little *too* good.

(Little Mia is running...)

"Oh~"

With a reluctant groan, the golden-haired elf girl, who had been forced into a deep sleep in the dark basement by a strange potion, opened her eyes.

Because the dream had been overly magnificent and beautiful, she remained immersed in its final moments even after opening her eyes to see the unfamiliar dark ceiling. It wasn't until she heard a voice that didn't belong to her that she gradually regained conscious awareness.

"You're awake? What's wrong with Amelia? The effect of the sleeping potion should have been neutralized by the antidote. Come, can you see how many fingers this is?"

Miss Belindell said with concern, waving three fingers in front of Amelia. But because the elf girl's spirit was still somewhat dazed, she didn't answer immediately.

"How many is this?"

Xia De's steady voice appeared, and Amelia instinctively saw the hand Xia De was holding in front of her:

"One."

"And this?"

Next were two fingers.

"Two."

"Then what is one plus one?"

Next were three fingers.

"Three... Oh, Xia... Mr. Watson!"

She became completely clear-headed, and out of embarrassment and shyness, she almost shouted Xia De's real name. Even Xia De was surprised that she had managed to hold it back.

The witch looked suspiciously at Xia De. She was certain that the girl on the bed had almost said a name she was very unfamiliar with. However, because Amelia had only uttered half a syllable, and in the Delarion pronunciation, the witch still couldn't know what that name actually was.

With a soft *pop*, the gas lamp on the wall was turned on. Amelia instinctively squinted, then heard footsteps and a familiar sound—

"Ang~"

The figure of the little unicorn appeared by the bedside, looking very happy to accept Amelia's petting. The maids also walked in, helping to tidy up the basement that had been damaged on a small scale. The whispers that had appeared along with the footsteps had vanished. The basement looked as if it had experienced a small-scale battle, but the countess's aura was stable; it seemed that while Xia De was in the dream, she had handled things quite well in reality.

"After you fell into a stable deep sleep, I found the source of the footsteps in the moonlight. Speaking of which, although I had seen what the relic looked like in the archives, but... never mind, I won't describe how terrifying that thing actually was. In any case, I have become the third person in history to completely defeat the relic 【Midnight Footsteps】 through a frontal expulsion. At the very least, for the next ten years, this thing won't appear in the material world."

Bella Belindell said with considerable pride.

"Well done, thanks to you this time."

Xia De also offered his thanks, then said to Amelia on the bed:

"Get up quickly, go out and walk in the sunshine, but don't leave the manor. Just bask in the sun and forget about this."

As he said this, he reached out to pull her up from the bed, and Amelia, looking at the hand she was holding with Xia De, blushed instantly.

She fled the basement almost at top speed, and the confused little unicorn neighed at Xia De before trotting after her on its hooves, causing the maids to laugh. The little beast probably thought Amelia was playing a game of tag again; the elf girl was very good at that.

"I'm very curious about what you two did in the dream."

The witch asked slowly, her eyes full of curiosity.

Xia De thought about it, feeling it wasn't much:

"At first, we were running hand-in-hand through the snowy forest, then we crossed a vast lake on a biscuit path, and continued running through a forest decorated with chocolate and covered in sugar frosting. We jumped off a cliff, were carried by a group of white unicorn plushies flying under the moonlight, then grew wings and flew together toward the starry sky, and finally fell onto a rainbow. We slid down the rainbow like a slide to the ground, and the source of the rainbow was a pudding lake, where pink octopus plushies in the lake sent us to the shore..."