"Lady White Night, Lady White Night, where are you?"
"Lady White Night, please come out, okay?"
At dawn, inside the Holy Radiance Empire's palace, countless maids and attendants called White Night's name. They wove through the vast halls, searched every corner of the colossal palace, and found nothing.
On the throne sat a stunning golden-haired girl—Angelie, Queen of the Holy Radiance Empire and the supreme ruler of the land.
And this supreme queen was now frantic because White Night had vanished.
"Still nothing?"
Angelie's voice was sharp; the kneeling maid trembled, as if the queen might swallow her alive at any second.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty! We've scoured every inch of the palace, but there's no trace of Lady White Night!"
The maid on the floor shook from head to toe, voice quavering; she knew Her Majesty's temper and feared a single wrong word would provoke her.
"Your Majesty, perhaps…"
The maid hesitated, words catching in her throat.
"Spit it out—stop stammering!"
Angelie's patience was exhausted. These useless trash couldn't even locate someone inside the palace!
Today had been blissfully free of state affairs, time she'd planned to spend "lovingly" with White Night, yet these incompetents had wasted her precious hours!
"Calm your wrath, Your Majesty!"
The maid, who had served Angelie for years, could already hear the fury and dissatisfaction in her voice.
"I only wondered… should we search outside? Perhaps Lady White Night left the palace."
"Left the palace? Don't be absurd."
Angelie's delicate brows drew together.
"With so many checkpoints and magical wards, are they all just decorations?"
"Forgive me, Your Majesty! But you know Lady White Night's strength; the palace barriers can't stop her!"
"…"
Angelie knew full well the wards couldn't halt White Night. Both were peak tenth-rank saints; she understood White Night's power.
Yet if White Night had forced her way out, Angelie should have sensed it.
How could every checkpoint stay silent, every ward un-triggered, as if White Night had simply evaporated?
Angelie asked herself: she couldn't achieve such a feat; how could White Night, equal in rank, manage it?
White Night, my Little White Night… you little rascal.
You love making me frantic, don't you? When I find you, I'll "educate" you properly.
You are mine—your beautiful silver hair, your porcelain skin, your crystalline eyes, all belong to me!
White Night, my Little White Night… you alone must remain with me forever… Angelie's eyes lost their luster, her face darkened. She could not endure a single day without seeing White Night!
"…Mobilize everyone in the palace. Keep searching. If you fail, you know the consequences."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The maid had just risen when a guard entered the great hall.
"Your Majesty, we have new information regarding Lady White Night."
…In an alley not far from the palace lay a Silver-haired Girl whose beauty beggared description.
Her silver lashes sparkled exquisitely, eyes as bright as sapphires; a faint blush tinted her delicate oval face. Though without a trace of cosmetics, she radiated an other-worldly loveliness.
No word of praise could suffice for her.
She seemed an angel fallen to earth, breathtakingly pure.
Porcelain skin and fine features gave her an icy, aloof air, yet beneath that calm surface lingered a hint of gentleness.
Her name was White Night—the very person the Queen of the Holy Radiance Empire sought.
"Uu… nn…"
White Night's eyes slowly opened.
"Did… did I succeed?"
She looked around; she was definitely no longer inside the palace.
After months of planning an escape that would leave no trace, it seemed her efforts had not been in vain.
"Why does my chest feel so heavy?"
The moment she woke, White Night sensed something wrong with her body.
She glanced down—and froze. Two proud "peaks" rose from her chest!
"Eh?! Eh?! Eh?!"
Shouting in shock, White Night reached out and squeezed.
"This feels real… they're genuine!"
Touch and weight alike confirmed what stood on her chest was no padding or steamed bun, but the real thing.
"And my voice—"
White Night clapped a hand over her mouth. The sound she'd made was soft and melodious, clearly a girl's voice.
"How can this be?!"
She looked around and spotted a full-length mirror among some discarded moving boxes in the alley.
Hurrying over, she finally saw her reflection.
"This… is me?"
In the mirror stood a girl in black.
Sapphire eyes, milk-white skin, features so delicate they seemed carved by nature, and a figure that curved in all the right places—everything told White Night that she… had become a girl.
'Could this be the array's doing? I knew it would have unexpected side-effects, but turning me into a girl?'
To slip out of the palace unseen, White Night needed the help of a teleportation array.
Ordinary arrays, however, were useless under the palace's layered magical wards.
So White Night had unearthed an ancient spell in an old tome: a formation powerful enough to break through those wards and let her vanish without a trace.
The array had one drawback—it would inflict an unknown change on the user's body.
Until now she hadn't known what that change was; now she understood: it turned the user into a girl.
Whoever designed this array had a twisted sense of humor!
Using the array without knowing its exact effect had been risky, but White Night had run out of time.
She had much to do in the coming month, and Angelie would never let her leave the palace; desperate measures were her only choice.
'I'm sorry, Angelie, but I have my reasons. I hope you can forgive me.'
For some reason, over the past half-year Angelie had tightened her watch, forbidding even brief excursions beyond the palace walls; otherwise White Night wouldn't have gone to such lengths.
'And why did my clothes change along with my gender?'
She now wore a black pleated miniskirt and a sleeveless black crop-top. Simple, yet against her fair skin the effect was striking.
'This skirt is way too short—it's drafty.'
Before activating the array she'd had on trousers; now the hem floated ten centimeters above her knees.
'If it had to be a skirt, couldn't it at least be a long one?'
Even if the spell insisted on women's clothes, couldn't it conserve fabric? What happened to the law of conservation of mass?
'Forget it—no time to complain. I need to move.'
The array was bizarre, but she was out of the palace now; there was no turning back.
Time was short and her tasks for the next month were many; she had to hurry.
'First things first—food.'
Despite the tight schedule, she would eat; she couldn't function on an empty stomach.
Resolute, she ignored the cool breeze on her legs and stepped out of the alley.
She stopped at a morning stall and ordered a two-copper bowl of noodles.
It was the cheapest item on the menu: generous portions, thin tasteless broth—filling but far from delicious.
She could afford better; the money she'd brought from the palace was ample. She simply hated waste.
Greater expenses lay ahead; every coin saved now might matter later.
Before meeting Angelie she had known hardship; plain broth noodles were enough.
'Heard the latest palace gossip?'
As she ate, a middle-aged customer chatting with the stall owner caught her ear.
'Gossip? What gossip?'
The owner looked puzzled.
'The Black Night Knight—haven't you heard?'
Black Night Knight. The words made White Night pause and listen.
'Of course I've heard of the Black Night Knight—who in the Holy Radiance Empire hasn't?'
The Black Night Knight, the empire's most mysterious warrior; most had only seen her in heavy armor, few knew her true face.
All they knew was that she led imperial armies to victory, and her Black Night Knights, though few, were called the continent's strongest.
Half a year ago the knight had been summoned to the palace—and had not been seen since.
Some whispered of retirement; others claimed the Queen, fearing her power, had secretly executed her.
Whatever the truth, the knight vanished, and the Black Night Knights were sidelined, no longer sent to the front.
'Latest rumor says the knight's still in the palace, but the Queen keeps her as a private pet, refusing to let her lead troops again.'
Pfft!
White Night spat broth across the table; the remark shocked her.
She was the Black Night Knight.