On a small mountain near Elise's house, under the same big tree where Elise opened Winifred's mana circuit and where Winifred was training,
Winifred and Elise were standing, looking at each other from a short distance.
"Are you ready?" With a serious look but a smile on her face, Elise asked while standing a bit of distance from Winifred.
"Yes, I'm ready," Winifred replied, taking a stance, raising her arms toward Elise, and opening her hands as if preparing something, her expression serious as she looked straight at Elise.
Elise stood relaxed opposite Winifred, who was raising her hands toward her like she was ready for action, but Elise's hands were both pointing toward the ground as though she was Winifred's target.
Suddenly, flames started emerging from Winifred's hands and began blending in the middle of her hands, creating a fireball. As more flames emerged from Winifred's hands, the fireball started getting bigger, generating small flames around it, making the area around Winifred increasingly heated and giving the appearance of glowing flames rising from her.
"I'm ready," Winifred shouted, signaling to Elise.
"Do it," Elise responded with a smile.
"Shoot....."
With rapid force, the fireball in Winifred's hands shot toward Elise, pushing Winifred slightly back.
In the blink of an eye, the fireball hit Elise's chest, spreading crimson flames all around her body, making a devastating sound and producing dark smoke that filled Elise and her surrounding area.
"What..." Winifred reacted with shock upon seeing the fireball directly hit Elise.
'She said she would block it with a spell,' Winifred thought, remembering that Elise had told her she would block the fireball before it hit her.
Seeing the fireball hit Elise, Winifred ran toward her, thinking the fireball had injured her. As she started running toward Elise, looking straight ahead, she suddenly heard a voice from within the black smoke.
"Don't worry," Elise called out.
Hearing the voice, Winifred suddenly stopped and looked at the dark smoke with worried eyes. Elise emerged from the dark smoke as if nothing had happened, with not a single scratch on her or her clothes. Suddenly, the black smoke around Elise was repelled upward by a strong air current. Seeing Elise's open hand pointing toward the ground showed that she had cast an air spell.
"Even after seventy years, Miss Elise never fails to shock me," Leon said from above the sky, looking down at Elise in human form. Beside him, the prince also watched Elise and Winifred with no emotion on his face.
"It's no wonder; you know how powerful she is," the prince replied coldly.
"Yaaa, I know, but taking a fireball on her without any shield barrier and not even a single scratch…" Leon trailed off, looking at the prince.
"I know... But you know why. You know who they are."
Elise started walking toward Winifred. When she got near, Elise gently ruffled Winifred's head with her hand.
"You did a great job," Elise said, looking at Winifred with a smile.
Winifred was completely in shock. Her widened eyes reflected the fear of losing someone, which could easily be seen on her face. She quickly looked down to hide her emotions, but Elise already knew.
"You okay...?" Elise asked, looking at Winifred, knowing how much she cared about her.
"Please don't do that again," Winifred said, still looking down, hiding her tears.
"Okay," Elise replied.
It became hard for Winifred to control her emotions. She didn't know why she couldn't show them to Elise and remained confused as more tears came to her eyes.
"I'll start running," she muttered, trying to hide her emotions, she quickly began running toward home.
Seeing Winifred running away, Elise felt that taking the fireball on herself was a bad idea. She quickly teleported and emerged in front of Leon and the prince, watching Winifred run with super speed toward home.
Seeing Elise appear in front of them, Leon bent his head toward her, while the prince quickly spoke with a smile.
"You just made her cry. It's your fault..."
"I'm happy that you're starting to care about her," Elise replied, still watching Winifred.
"What...! No, I don't care about her!" the prince said in shock at Elise's comment.
"Her speed is increasing," Elise observed.
"Yes, at this speed, she will reach home in three and a half minutes," Leon remarked, watching Winifred's super speed.
As everyone watched Winifred running, Elise suddenly vanished.
"Such control," the prince muttered.
"Indeed..." Leon added.
Winifred stopped near the house and started walking at a normal speed toward it. As she continued walking, she thought about her connection with Elise. Winifred knew Elise was like family—the family she had always dreamed of. As she began accepting her emotions, her thoughts became clearer. The shock and fear she had felt were gone, and she started feeling better again.
When Winifred reached the house, the door opened automatically. Elise was standing inside, waiting for her. Seeing Elise there shocked Winifred, as she hadn't expected her to already be home.
"Welcome home," Elise greeted her with a gentle smile.
"I'm back," Winifred replied with a big smile. Seeing Elise waiting for her made her truly happy. Elise knew Winifred was no longer hiding her emotions.
"Yaaa, come in..." Elise said with a smile.
Winifred entered the house. Looking at her and Elise, the doll spoke, "You two look happy today. Is there any special reason?"
Hearing the doll, Winifred suddenly realized something. Seeing Elise smile made her genuinely happy. At that moment, Winifred understood inside herself that she had declared Elise a part of her family. She looked at Elise with a smile.
"Elise," Winifred said softly.
"Yaa? What is it?" Elise asked, smiling back at her.
"My dream... it's just started. I see it starting to come true, and I know one day it will be complete," Winifred said, looking straight into Elise's eyes with a gentle smile.
Hearing Winifred and seeing her different behavior suddenly, Elise was a bit confused, but she was happy for Winifred.
" Well, that's a very good thing then. How about I make something special for today's dinner? "