Inside the Palace of Serenity, one lady in silver dress stood at the window with her smooth, naked back turned towards Iris. The glittering fabric parted way and revealed her soft shoulders and her bare skin that glowed from the light emitted by the hanging lamps. The Great Lady turned to Iris, who smiled at her.

Iris strolled into the room. She pressed her feet on the grey carpets and laid her eyes on the contemporary aesthetic. The chairs and the table and the bookshelves were created with the vision of unity in simplicity. The varying colours merged into a singular atmosphere that uplifted the spirit of the modern office.

Watching Iris's impassionate eyes, the Great Lady took off her bonnet and gave it to the Silk Revenant, who carefully placed it on the wooden stand and went into the backroom to prepare a casual drink.

Iris wasn't sure what to do. Though the Shadow Heart Core was still pulsating, it was clear that the Great Lady wasn't someone who had a Shadow Heart Fragment. The resonance came from the outside, somewhere inside the Labyrinth of Love.

"You don't look impressed, Dear," the Great Lady said. "I can sense the nostalgia from you, but you are too young to have that air of antiquity."

"To describe it as nostalgia is misleading." Iris nonchalantly walked in and sat opposite the Great Lady. Though her soul was trembling under that gaze, Iris condensed all her suffering and discomfort inside her mind and revealed only placidity. "It's just intimacy born from experience."

"Forgive my insolence, but what kind of experience, exactly?" The Great Lady tapped her fingers on the table. An invisible wave of Corruption Power wrapped the room, preventing everything outside from intruding. "My expertise is divination, but I can’t see through your fate."

The pair of silver eyes gleamed as the Corruption Power of impossible purity manifested into countless intertwining arrays. The sparkling vapours flowed around the room and branched off into a sea of magical symbols that spun and danced, generating the power akin to divinity.

The pressure assaulted the surrounding and Iris, who froze in her place. The Great Lady's spell was beyond the power of the Transformation Phase. She was a mysterious Monster Girl who ascended past that!

Before Iris could succumb to the wild influence, the Shadow Heart Core quivered and extended a string of foreign power, mixing inside her slime and regulated the Corruption Power that invaded her body.

A powerful urge to devour and violate all things erupted in Iris's heart, tainting her grey soul with droplets of blackness. Her body faintly trembled as her membrane shifted its shape to resemble flesh, turning soft and alluring. She frowned as her consciousness stretched and contracted.

Still, she maintained her imperturbable composure as her body revealed little to no sight of the struggle. She unconsciously placed her hands on the table and leant on the chair, closing her eyes.

Watching Iris's subtle transformation, the Great Lady narrowed her eyes and commenced the great formation. It creaked and summoned a floating eye that stared down at Iris, peering into her soul, scraping for her destiny.

Inside the floating eye, a scene flashed. It was in the absolute darkness between the void of the plane, where a lady in a red oriental garment floated. She turned to the eye and stared into the Great Lady before reaching out.

The muffled, dignified laughter echoed soundlessly, and then the formation was no more. It crumbled and dispersed into a string of silvery threads that seeped into the Shadow Heart Core.

A warmth gushed over Iris, who gradually relaxed and let the Shadow Heart Core regulated her body. The pressure from the Great Lady hammered her soul until it was sturdy enough to assimilate with a strain of Lilith's power. Though she felt exhausted and dizzy and confused, she endured everything like she always did and sighed.

To the Great Lady, everything suddenly shattered. She wasn't sure what happened. Something occurred inside Iris. It was an oppressive, ominous secret, a secret that no one should unearth. A mistake!

As the Great Lady contemplated her apology and eyed Iris's still expressionless face, the door to the backroom gently parted.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, but the drink is ready," the Silk Revenant announced. Because of the concealment array, she didn't notice anything. "Please enjoy your taste, Dear Ladies."

The scentful drink permeated the air with a sweetness that restored vitality inside Iris. She delicately took the glass then savoured the fragrance. Her action finally broke the tension as the Great Lady raised her drink, drawing it toward Iris.

Submerging her senses under the striking aroma, Iris made the Great Lady wait until she finished breathing the mystical drink and noticed the gesture. She smiled and clicked her glass against the Great Lady's, then casually enjoyed the taste that softened her tongue. It dissolved inside her body, painting her pink and red and orange and purple.

"Dear Lady, the drink is a new recipe I derived from your appearance," the Silk Revenant said. "To exalt your azure colour and status as a Slime Girl, I used the Elemental Crystals of various colours and distilled them into pure vitality and magic, creating the drink that imbued your tastebud with unforgettable dynamism and pleasure."

"This is your impression of me?" Iris said. "Colourful indeed."

"If you appreciate my modest effort, please give the recipe a name to commemorate the occasion."

Iris placed the glass on the table, closed her eyes, and leant on the light backrest. As she contemplated on the name, the room stagnated with the cold wind which carefully coursed around and tapped lightly on her flesh-like skin.

The silence permeated the mind of the Silk Revenant and the Great Lady, who remained motionless, not to disturb Iris's moment of reflection. They subtly placed their expectation onto her image, which glowed lofty, absorbing the fleeting faith. The world halted and silently waited for her who radiated the elegance of spirit and the divine of self.

"It is a strange world away from home." Iris opened her eyes. "This drink has given me the impression of home, of family. I'll call it the Wistful Longing."

"Your choice is very sentimental, Dear Lady," the Silk Revenant said. "The drink shall be the Wistful Longing."

"May I ask where your home is?" The Great Lady said and lightly bent down her head. "I hope you wouldn't take offence to my inappropriate curiosity."

Iris shook her head. She almost fainted if not for the help of the Shadow Heart Core, but the Great Lady had misunderstood her position and convinced herself that Iris was of an enigmatic origin. Maybe she was, but her origin was too delicate to be discussed.

"I shall not mention anything," she said, dryly chuckling. "My home is somewhere far away, too far to reach. Fortunately, I found a part of me here."

"Speaking about the home origin, I too have a fond memory of my birthplace. Before the corruption, our empire is one of the greatest protectors of the land." The Great Lady puffed up her chest. A smile crept on her face. "Her Second Highness selected me to be her assistant. Even after the fall, I remained her most devoted servant."

"May the Broken Empire prosper," the Silk Revenant said.

Iris finally realised to whom she had been talking. Her eyes gleamed with hope and excitement, for the dream of getting her sisters to somewhere safe was within reach. The mysterious Great Lady of the Silver was the ambassador of the Broken Empire.

"So you're from the great Broken Empire," Iris said. "Forgive me for my lack of introduction, Lord Ambassador. You can call me Iris, a wandering Slime Girl."

"Please call me Amplicia or just Amplia, Sister Iris. The Broken Empire will always keep our gate open for you." Amplicia gracefully glowed as she repeatedly nodded at Iris, expressing her admiration. "If you have any requests, please don't hesitate to ask."

Iris perked up, held the glass of Wistful Longing, and drank the last bit, letting the cold liquid diffused inside her. She placed down the glass and made up her mind to ask for a favour.

Before she could open her mouth, the Shadow Heart Core trembled. The chill flooded her body, which tensed and compressed her inside. A new ocean-like presence permeated and enveloped the Main City Layer.

The dome of fog surrounding the Layer shook as the hidden magical formation shone in blue light, expressing its eternal loyalty to its creator. The greenery and the lakes and the hills quivered under the overwhelming power, and the Main City stopped their activity to gaze upon the ceiling of the Layer, where a spiral of ocean waves spun into a majestic whirlpool.

A magical screen manifested inside the Palace of Serenity, hovered around and above the table. It displayed a distortive static that slowly reformed into a comprehensible silhouette of another powerful Monster Girl, who detected the anomaly and rushed in to see who caused the commotion in her realm.

Outwardly, Iris merely frowned and directed her gaze at the screen, though her mind was screaming. The Shadow Heart Core violently vibrated and exuded a large amount of Corruption Power and Lilith's legacy. It was telling her that the owner of a Shadow Heart Fragment was in front of her.

"The Ambassador of the Broken Empire, did you intend to wreak havoc inside our haven?" the Monster Girl said.

GDLiZy

The sisters must have missed Iris dearly.

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