Chapter 63: You Are a Man, Aren't You?

"I thought she lived at the very spire of the tower. You cannot hold me to the common sense of your world."

Deciding to postpone her punishment for now, Lu Xing crossed the aerial corridor, stepped directly onto the second floor, and entered a sitting room.

"Has Annie arrived?"

A lazy and slightly husky voice drifted down from upstairs. "Come up quickly and let me give you a hug!"

Lu Xing looked at the maid. The maid maintained a blank expression, handed over the box of blueberry tarts she was holding, and made a polite gesture to indicate that she would not be following them up.

Taking the pastry box, Lu Xing walked up the carpeted stairs to the third floor.

Behind him, the maid reminded him, "You must lift your skirt when walking, especially when going up and down the stairs."

"A maid should respect her master, especially when outside."

Lu Xing offered a brief reply, but nevertheless lifted Annie's voluminous hem with one hand to prevent himself from actually stepping on it.

Upon reaching the third floor, he discovered that the entire upper level was undivided. The large room was crowded with numerous bookshelves, while scattered books, clothing, jewelry, and magical items were everywhere.

Fortunately, this world possessed magic; despite the clutter, nothing was dirty, and several alchemical dolls were busily and diligently tidying up.

This was Lu Xing's first time seeing such a contraption. They were absent from Annie's family castle, presumably because employing human maids was cheaper.

"Is anyone here?"

There were too many bookshelves, and Lu Xing could not tell where she was.

"I'm right here, come quickly, Annie!"

Following the voice, Lu Xing finally located the half-elf archmage.

She was half-reclining in a wide armchair, reading a book. She wore a loose, light-yellow nightgown, with her fair, well-rounded legs draped over the armrest. Her slender figure was tall and graceful, possessing a breathtaking fullness at first glance. Because of her posture, the curve-filled beauty belonging to a woman—or rather, to an elven maiden—was entirely on display.

Yes, Phyllis was much younger than Lu Xing had imagined; her cheeks even carried the natural flush unique to a young girl.

No wonder Annie claimed that she and Phyllis were friends.

"Miss Phyllis?"

Lu Xing stopped in his tracks. He was not Annie.

Phyllis shifted her gaze away from the book, stared at him for a long moment, and then smiled. "What's wrong with little Annie today? So distant with me. Come here quickly and let me give you a hug!"

Right at that moment, Lu Xing desperately wanted to call the maid back up and punish her!

How on earth had she delivered the message?!

"Miss Phyllis!" Lu Xing was forced to correct her. "I am not Annie right now. Are you aware of this fact?"

Phyllis, the half-elf with soft, light-green hair, looked at him in utter confusion. After staring blankly for a good while, she smiled again, saying, "Annie, you're being mischievous again. If you're not Annie, then who else could you possibly be..."

Only then did realization slowly dawn on her, and she reacted abruptly. "You're that mysterious man from the unknown place?!"

"Yes. Did Catherine not mention it to you?"

"It seems she did... I had just woken up when I heard her say Annie..."

Phyllis rubbed her long hair, trying hard to recall.

Lu Xing noticed that despite looking thoroughly indolent, the half-elf high tower mage had surprisingly soft and beautiful hair. Her long strands cascaded down behind her head, the ends pinned beneath her full hips.

"I'm so sorry, my memory is a bit hazy!"

Phyllis offered an apology.

"It doesn't matter."

Lu Xing glanced around the room and, finding no suitable place to set the box down, was forced to continue holding it. He said to her, "I'll go downstairs and wait for you."

With that, he turned to leave.

"No need to go down, let's talk right here. I have some matters I wish to discuss with you concerning Annie." Phyllis called him back, her gaze falling upon the box he was carrying. A look of pleasant surprise crossed the pointed-eared maiden's face. "Is that pastry Annie asked you to bring me?"

Since she had put it that way, it would seem overly prudish of Lu Xing to head downstairs now.

Even though it was undeniably strange for two people meeting for the first time to converse while one was wearing a nightgown.

"Annie said you liked them, so I brought them along."

Lu Xing walked over, placed the box on the table, and pulled his skirt together with one hand before taking a seat.

Stepping into Annie's identity—especially clad in her voluminous gown—forced Lu Xing to learn a few basic habits of women.

The two sat facing each other.

At first, under the half-elf mage's direct, unblinking gaze, Lu Xing suspected she was examining him with magic. It was only a moment later that he realized something was amiss. "Miss Phyllis, is there a problem?"

"This is so amusing."

Phyllis covered her cheeks with a chuckle and pointed at him. "Annie, the way you're acting... forgive me, but I'm far too familiar with Annie. She would never act so elegant and reserved with you. Just thinking about Annie... I'm sorry, do you understand what I mean?"

Lu Xing understood completely: the sheer contrast!

"You've misunderstood. I am a man. The reason you find this behavior elegant and reserved is simply because I am currently using Annie's body."

"A man...?"

Phyllis grew pensive. She looked at Lu Xing, her brow furrowing slightly, before sitting up properly and asking, "How should I address you?"

"Just call me Lu Xing. My surname is Lu."

Through their conversation, Phyllis learned that Lu Xing had just met the Duchess, and that Annie was currently over on Earth.

"Now I believe you aren't Annie; your temperament is completely different from hers. Hello, Mr. Lu Xing. Let's make a formal acquaintance. I am Phyllis Essoren, hailing from the Imperial Capital."

Having confirmed Lu Xing's identity, Phyllis adopted a much more formal tone. She greeted Lu Xing anew, saying, "Please wait a moment while I brew a cup of tea for you. What flavor do you prefer?"

She did not share much about her family background, which, according to the conventions of this world, usually required stating one's family name.

However, Lu Xing did not mind.

"Anything is fine, as long as the flavor isn't too peculiar."

| "Very well, just a moment, Mr. Lu Xing."

She stood up, her nightgown falling to cover her tall, slender figure. Slipping into her indoor shoes, she walked over to a nearby table and began boiling water to brew tea.

Lu Xing allowed his gaze to linger for a second. When Phyllis bent down to retrieve the tea leaves, the heavy swell of her bosom was even more breathtaking than he had imagined.

How on earth had she—an elf, even if a half-elf—developed such an impressive figure?

It completely defied his stereotypes, or rather, the continent's prevailing stereotype of elves as tall and slender. Perhaps precisely because Phyllis was not a pure-blooded elf, her physique was not willow-thin, but instead delightfully plump, voluptuous, and full of charm.

Phyllis straightened up quickly, her soft, light-green hair veiling her full back. Moments later, she returned carrying two cups of tea, bending down once more to serve Lu Xing.

This time, those heavy, swaying mounds were right before his eyes.

The magnificent snowy scenery was dizzying enough to make one's head spin.

Lu Xing even felt a momentary sense of suffocation.

It wasn't that he lacked restraint; rather, it was Annie's perspective. Annie was much shorter than Phyllis, and viewed from her vantage point, the half-elf Phyllis simply appeared overwhelmingly large.

"You are a man, aren't you?"

Phyllis suddenly looked up, casually using her hand to obscure the expanse of white visible at the neckline of her nightgown while fixing her eyes on him.

"Yes!" Lu Xing replied.

"No wonder that ever since you entered my room, your gaze has lingered on me four times!"

With a swift turn and a ripple of magical resonance, Phyllis summoned a black cloak that flew through the air, completely covering her tall, voluptuous maidenly figure from the neck down. When she looked back at Lu Xing, her expression had turned sharp and severe.

As expected of a high tower mage, her perception was exceptionally keen.

Lu Xing confessed with a hint of shame, "That's precisely why I said earlier that I would wait for you downstairs."

It was exceedingly difficult not to look at a comely elven maiden dressed in a nightgown with nothing underneath for concealment.

Lu Xing considered his gaze to fall well short of lewd; at most, it was an involuntary appreciation, an expression of sheer awe at her beauty.

Phyllis studied him for a long while, seemingly pondering what on earth had caused the bizarre situation before her.

"I'll head downstairs first."

Lu Xing stood up.

"Wait!"

Phyllis called him back. "A few days ago, Annie came to me full of anxiety and hesitation, stammering about how she might have a fiancé... That fiancé—is it you?"

"To be precise, a quasi-fiancé."

Lu Xing briefly outlined the situation.

Since Phyllis already knew his identity and held a position of no small standing within the Swinton family, there was no need to keep the engagement a secret from her.