Starting the Strategy from Frieren

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"Huff, huff..."

After Ivan dispelled the divine miracle, Frieren felt a bit lightheaded from laughing so hard earlier. She was breathing heavily, even to the point where tears had welled up in her eyes. Beneath her slightly trembling eyelashes, her emerald-green eyes sparkled.

To make matters worse, the blanket had slipped off at just the wrong moment, revealing the white dress she was wearing. One of the loose shoulder straps had fallen, exposing her smooth, pale shoulder. The disheveled folds of the fabric further accentuated the delicate, fragile aura of her slender figure.

Bent at the waist, her legs curled, and with Ivan pinning her arms down, the scene from Zanse's perspective was undeniably filled with an overwhelmingly ambiguous and intimate atmosphere.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

Her gaze grew colder, especially with the slight droop of her eyelids, making her look exactly like Serie.

"Why did you tackle a silver-haired elf girl who's blushing and breathing so heavily? Why are you looking at me with such a terrified expression... Can you explain?"

If Ivan had been given a knife at that moment, he could have fought his way through a street full of enemies without blinking. But seeing the light fading from Zanse's eyes, his heart was in complete disarray.

Finally, he mustered the courage to speak. "Zanse, do you believe in gravity?"

"Oh? Are you saying that men and women are drawn to each other, leading to this situation?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's not about attraction between genders, but the pull of fate. It always turns trivial matters into scenes that are easily misunderstood. In short, this is just a misunderstanding."

"How long are you two going to keep talking through the window?" Frieren, completely oblivious to the tension, simply thought it wasn't good to leave a little girl outside in the cold. She wrapped herself back in the blanket, opened the window, and invited Zanse in to warm up by the fire.

"Thank you, Sister Frieren."

"You know me?"

"Yes, Mom and Flamme have both told me about you." Zanse curtsied, lifting the hem of her skirt. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Zanse."

She then explained her background—how she was the child of Ivan and Serie in an illusionary world. After extracting her soul from that world, Serie used her own flesh to clone and modify her appearance, creating this body. This also clarified for Frieren why Ivan, who was only 17, had such a grown daughter.

Although there was no blood relation, the emotional bond was very real.

"I see. Everything else makes sense, but the family hierarchy feels a bit confusing."

If calculated from Serie's side, Zanse would be her elder. But from Ivan's side, Zanse would be her junior.

What a tangled web.

"Don't overthink it," Zanse suggested, seeing Frieren deep in thought. "Just go by our apparent ages. I'll keep calling you Sister Frieren, like I did earlier."

"Sister... This is the first time someone has called me that."

Frieren's mood brightened, a faint smile appearing on her face. She reached over and handed Zanse some snacks. "Want some cookies? I made them myself. They're pretty good."

"Thank you."

Zanse took the cookies and began nibbling on them, feeling the distance between the two girls close significantly.

This eased Ivan's tension a little.

I should really find a chance to put up curtains on that window. If something like this happens again, my heart might just give out.

"Dad, why are you standing over there? Come sit down." Zanse's hair moved as if caught in an invisible breeze, extending and morphing into several small hands that pulled Ivan over and sat him down beside her.

"How's your mother's injury?" Ivan asked, trying to make conversation.

"Since we accelerated the time flow inside the ancient elf tree, she's almost fully recovered now," Zanse replied. "Mom specifically sent me here to install a teleportation array for Flamme and you."

A teleportation array? Finally, they had one!

Although Ivan could teleport on his own, the range was short, and it consumed a lot of mana. Having a teleportation array would make things much more convenient.

"Once the teleportation array is set up, Serie can easily come over, and we'll finally be reunited as a family."

"That won't work," Zanse shook her head. "The teleportation array is still in the beta testing phase. For safety reasons, it can't be used for human teleportation yet. But instant letter delivery is still pretty good. Mom often complains that you haven't written to her."

She complains about me not writing to her? So Serie does care about me!!

Ivan quickly urged Zanse to set up the teleportation array while he headed to the newly renovated study. He took out paper and pen and began writing a letter.

This was actually the first time he had written a letter outside of a language class, and the recipient was Serie. After some thought, he decided to write a love letter.

Just like the highest level of writing about rain without mentioning the word "rain," the highest level of a love letter wouldn't include the word "love."

He racked his brain, trying to come up with beautiful phrases, but in the end, he gave up.

Instead, Ivan began writing in neat, clean handwriting about his recent experiences, detailing some fun and interesting events. He concluded by saying how happy he was to see Zanse again and how much happier he would be if Serie could come too.

He paused, then started a new line.

"I miss you."

After finishing the letter and blowing on the ink to dry it, Ivan noticed Frieren had quietly approached him. He quickly covered the letter.

Frieren quickly explained, "Don't worry, I didn't peek at the letter. I was just observing you."

"What's there to observe? It's not like I have flowers on my face."

"You were so focused on writing the letter that you didn't even notice me approaching. This is the first time I've seen you so absorbed in something, so I got curious and started observing."

"And what's your observation?" Ivan asked. "Surely you didn't just conclude that I was focused on writing? That's a given."

"My observation is... Ivan, do you and Serie share a romantic relationship?"

This was the first time Frieren had seen Ivan's expression shift from troubled, to silly grins, to looking genuinely happy. It intrigued her.

"What kind of conclusion is that? Ending with a question like that would make any thesis advisor furious."

Ivan folded the letter, slipped it into an envelope, and then pulled out a drawing he had made during a moment of boredom. It was a doodle of a family portrait from the illusionary world, featuring a young Zanse. He had recreated it from memory.

"Feelings... who knows?"

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