She hooked the two thin cords between her toes and gave a flick, undoing them.
Next.
Her nimble toes kept poking and curling, pushing past the last bit of obstruction and slipping all the way to their "destination", clamping firmly around their "target"....
…..
"Haa… you're being naughty again…"
Ye Li slowly let out a breath, feeling that silky sensation that sometimes tickled his heart and sometimes his back, and began to close his eyes to rest in the noisy banquet hall.
Matilda, however, didn't seem to want him to enjoy it so much; her toe mischievously poked at a sensitive spot, and while he parted his lips to exhale, she shoved the candy in her hand into his mouth and stirred it around vigorously—
"Mmph…! What are you doing…?"
This lollipop-like candy poked around in his mouth, and Ye Li could only feel that the layer Matilda had left on it was scraped completely clean…
'…What is this, a COVID swab?'
"All done~"
After fiddling for a bit, Matilda satisfactorily pulled the candy out and put it back into her own little mouth to taste.
"Mm~—so good! I can taste big brother's flavor."
Ye Li spat a couple of times and complained, "Aren't you disgusted with yourself...?"
"Hmm?"
The girl, giving off a peculiar kind of charm, stopped the movement of her foot and said unhappily, "Foot massages are really hard on my feet, you know. You can't be too selfish, Big Brother."
"Alright."
Ye Li understood what she meant, turned his head to the side again, and started sucking again...
"Enning~"
....
After a while.
A beautiful Asgardian lady at the banquet passed by with a wine glass in hand; seeing Matilda sitting on Ye Li's shoulders, she greeted them with amused interest.
"You two are so close—are Midgardians all like this?"
"Oh…"
Ye Li pulled away Matilda's little hand that still wanted to stuff candy into his mouth, turned his head and coaxed the Asgardian beauty, "My little sister is a bit mischievous, so I indulge her."
Hearing that, Matilda pouted but said nothing—she just secretly rubbed harder again!—
Ye Li's hand trembled; the glass he was about to raise in a toast to the beauty spilled some wine.
"Uh… sorry…"
"Hehe~ it's fine."
Seeing that Ye Li didn't seem very free, the Asgardian beauty gave up chatting him up and walked away.
And not long after she left, Ye Li felt the back of his neck getting a little damp… it seemed the second little sister also found this quite exciting.
Tap, tap...
At that moment, someone else walked over—it was the goddess Sif.
And she even sat down right beside him...
This made Ye Li hurriedly tug at the hem of his clothes to better cover his lower body...
"Mm… what's up?"
Seeing his slightly flustered movements, Sif said with a bit of amusement, "Don't tell me you'd still get shy just because I sat over here~ I suppose that's impossible, right, great casanova?"
"Ahem… don't call me that; I'm no casanova."
Ye Li composed his expression so nothing showed. "Lady Sif, don't belittle yourself—maybe I really did get flustered by your beauty."
"Heh~ I don't have that kind of charm... If I could attract even you like that, Thor would have long since..."
Sif paused as she spoke, the corner of her mouth curling in a self-mocking smile. "Forget it… let's not flatter each other."
"I don't think you're flattering me."
Only then did Ye Li notice the flush on her face; she was clearly a bit tipsy too.
Sif glanced at Matilda on Ye Li's shoulders, found the sight a bit comical and interesting, and said with a faint smile, "With Matilda sitting on your shoulders like that, it really looks like you're wearing a tall hat... Are you planning to just carry her like this while you talk with me?"
"Why not?"
Ye Li used a fork to spear a piece of food on the banquet table that looked like a crystal bead, lifted his hand to feed it to Matilda, and said, "We can eat while we talk."
"The people of Midgard are truly interesting…"
Sif's smile became much more genuine; as she clinked glasses and drank with him, she chatted, "I saw that beauty from just now pause for a bit and then leave. What's wrong, you not interested in her?"
"That's not what you came to talk to me about, is it?"
Ye Li looked at her meaningfully. "No need to find a topic as an entry—just say what you came to say."
Hearing this, Sif was slightly taken aback.
Then.
She let out a laugh and nodded. "Alright, I'll be direct. I noticed you seem well-versed in matters between men and women, so I wanted to consult you…"
'Good grief, she's taking me for a relationship counselor?'
Ye Li's expression turned a bit odd. "Don't tell me… you want me to teach you how to win over Thor?"
If that was the case... then he would definitely choose to turn her down in the bluntest way.
Playing matchmaker, building bridges between lovers... to put it bluntly, wasn't that just handing a woman over?
No way he'd do that…
It would already be good enough if a certain someone didn't steal Sif away.
…..
"No! No!"
Sif waved her hands quickly. "I just have a bit of a fondness for him; it's nowhere near the level of actively chasing a man…"
"Then you are…?"
"I'm just a bit lost in this area…"
As she said, a trace of confusion showed in Sif's eyes. "Should I give up my feelings for him… If I do, what kind of man should I look for in the future… I don't like those like Fandral at all…"
As she spoke, her gaze involuntarily brushed over Ye Li's face, her eyes focusing slightly…
Being stared at made Ye Li feel inexplicably uneasy, and he hurried to counsel her.
"Sif, you don't necessarily have to find a man… uh, I don't mean you should go find a woman either… Actually, staying single like you are now and pursuing your ideals—isn't that pretty good?"
"Eh? That does seem right…"
Light slowly returned to Sif's eyes as she brightened. "I've always wanted to prove that women can also become Asgard's strongest warriors! Thinking about this and that… really is useless."
"Er, that's a good ideal—go for it…"
Ye Li thought silently: 'Your ideal has already been realized by Hela…'
"I didn't expect someone like you could actually say that being single is good~"
Sif's gaze toward Ye Li grew much warmer; she was clearly enlightened and truly counted him as a friend.