Chapter: 24. That Flower Bed
Wow… I’ve caused trouble.
Belis never expected that her words would actually make the fearless Queen Sister cry.
Actually, it wasn’t that she couldn’t have predicted it…
Belis herself wasn’t a strong person.
Giving up the possibility of a future sounds easy to say.
Though she didn’t regret it, Belis was indeed carrying a lot of psychological pressure.
Bearing these pressures alone felt too heavy, and now that she had spoken about it to the Queen Sister, she felt much more at ease.
Thus, in this cave at the bottom of the lake, which hadn’t seen sunlight in a thousand years, such a “comical” scene unfolded.
The sister, who was about the same height as her elder sister, was patting the head of the petite sister as a form of comfort.
The two sat opposite each other, huddled together as if to keep warm.
Even though the Forbidden Library had excellent insulation, it wasn’t cold at all.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry~ Ah… Queen Sister, really, I already said I’ve come to terms with it, so don’t put any psychological pressure on yourself.”
“Woo… you little rascal… take your hand away… who needs your advice… how annoying, you just create trouble for me on your own!”
“Trouble…? I didn’t! Ah no, no, no, I did, I did! Queen Sister, don’t shed tears! But I really didn’t mean to…”
If it was about creating trouble, Belis felt truly wronged.
After all, giving up on progress or always moving forward was her own choice; she understood the Queen Sister’s concern for her, but she absolutely wouldn’t add any substantial trouble for her.
In the future, she might not be able to help her sister face troubles on the battlefield, but when it came to strategy and tactics, she could still contribute!
But little did she know, the “trouble” that Xue Fei said didn’t mean that at all.
It had been many years since she had cried so bitterly.
Perhaps she was crying due to hunger; her stomach was acting up.
—Grrrr~~
Instantly, the warm atmosphere they shared became somewhat stiff.
Her tears stopped, and Belis’s comforting smile froze.
It was okay.
“Poof… Hahaha! Queen Sister, why do you always manage to make me laugh for no reason when you’re sad?!”
“Is that my fault?!” Xue Fei couldn’t take it anymore. She performed a backflip and stood up, pointing at Belis while holding her hungry stomach, accusing her, “It’s all because we wasted too much time here! And you… Woo… I still feel like crying… No, I need to make myself clear. When I say you’re creating trouble for me, that means you’re creating trouble!”
“Even Queen Sister has to be reasonable…”
“You’re driving me crazy…! You silly head, everyone says you’re the intellectual hub of the Demon Race, but I think you’re just dumb! You didn’t even think about it; you gave up your future, giving up your growth space, of course I must find a way to help you lift this cursed price! And you say you’re not creating trouble!”
“!”
Belis opened her eyes wide, unable to hide her surprise, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her skirt.
She was initially looking forward to the Queen Sister saying reassuring words like “It’s okay” and “You can shine without strength.”
But she didn’t say those words.
Her determined expression and the words spoken were all about helping her regain the possibility of a future.
So, do you think that’s why the sister is a sister? Because in critical moments, she never dropped the ball!
Belis’s smile could hardly be described as sad or happy.
She could only say, using the back of her hand to wipe her tears, that the usually dignified and calm Second Princess of the Demon Race now resembled a child desperately seeking comfort from her sister—so fragile, yet so resilient.
“Queen Sister… how come you’re thinking this way at this moment? Shouldn’t you say I’m hopeless and then comfort me instead?”
“Huh? Who taught you to give up when facing a little trouble? Didn’t I tell you before? There’s no such thing as a big fish that can’t be caught in this world. Didn’t you see there are so many books in this Forbidden Library? There must be a way to counter the curse’s price! Even if there’s none here…”
As Xue Fei’s emotions heated up, her wings naturally unfurled.
The soft glow of her eight wings enveloped Belis’s face, and the proud smile of her sister, crouched in front of her, seemed like the blazing sun melting the glaciers.
As long as she was there.
Belis would never know what it meant to be fearful.
“Even if there isn’t one in the Forbidden Library, the world is vast, where there is a cause, there is an effect, where there is poison, there is an antidote. If there’s none in the Demon Territory, we can go out and find it. I refuse to believe we can’t find a solution. Why should I be unable to untie the knots that ancient people could tie?”
“Queen Sister… you’re so beautiful…”
“Ah?”
“Nothing.”
Belis exhaled a breath that was warm and mixed with a crying tone as she stood up, suddenly taller than Xue Fei. Xue Fei, with her arms wrapped around herself, had to look up slightly to see her half-grown sister.
While feeling a bit uncomfortable because of this, Belis just so happened to touch upon this topic.
“Queen Sister is right… it’s too early to give up now. Speaking of which, I’m not the only one who likes to act recklessly, right? Aren’t you the same, Queen Sister?”
“What do you mean?”
“The price. Queen Sister, back then, to save me, didn’t you also pay a price?”
“You’ve found that out too…! Tsk, where are you looking? How rude!”
“Sorry, sorry~ I couldn’t help it.”
Belis’s gaze was, of course, fixed on the small and pitiful chest of her sister, which had hardly any curvature.
In her usual gaze, there was a sense of bitterness.
But now, besides the bitterness, there was another emotion—gratitude.
“Queen Sister, why have you always stayed so small? I only realized this after recovering my memory… To save me, Queen Sister transferred the curse onto herself. The curse’s flames couldn’t burn you, but it made you stay like this forever.”
“Don’t talk about such sad things, I really want to jump up and hit your head. Hey…!”
Xue Fei stepped back a few paces to stabilize her stance, barely avoiding being knocked over.
Without saying a word, Belis embraced her tightly again, nearly toppling her small frame to the ground.
You’re just a half-grown girl, one head taller than me… no one is developing better than the other!
Thinking that Belis might be under some psychological pressure, sensing her trembling arms, Xue Fei spoke in the most natural and teasing tone.
“Well… don’t overthink. When I saved you, how old was I? Back then, I could only grow one centimeter taller each year. Mother Queen already said I was hopeless, so this curse might have been futile for me. Alright, alright! Don’t cry, your Queen Sister’s height doesn’t lack those few centimeters!”
“Queen Sister… you always talk like this… You didn’t even plan to tell me about the curse. If I hadn’t investigated… you were just going to say nothing, right?”
“Uh… because there was no need?”
“That’s not true.”
Queen Sister said she would help me find a way to lift the curse, so I wanted to help her too.
Perhaps, as the Queen Sister said, even if the curse was lifted, your height wouldn’t change much, but that’s two different matters.
Belis understood it right away.
When the curse was on her, it didn’t matter; she could just endure it, after all, life would go on.
But when the curse was on someone she loved the most…
No matter how small the problem was, she wanted to help you eliminate it.
No wonder the Queen Sister’s conclusion just now came so decisively; if it were me… I realized I had the same idea.
—Stop.
What a coincidence.
Belis stopped her magic growth, while Xue Fei stopped her physical growth.
This difficult sisterly duo played a little joke with time, and they never compromised with time.
Move forward.
The relationship between the two transcended the inconsequential curse, and until today, it had never stopped, but was forever moving forward.
Proof is…
I couldn’t see you before, and you couldn’t catch me.
But now we are embracing each other like this, neither hating the other, but filled with joy!
—Splash!!
“Hm?”
Being embraced by Belis, Xue Fei caught a glimpse of shining flowers flickering in her peripheral vision.
As her little face rubbed against Belis’s silver hair, the grandeur of the scenery was such that even Xue Fei couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.
A garden.
The cave at the bottom of the lake was suddenly filled with blooming flowers.
Even without the illumination magic that had previously been cast, the flowers in the garden emitted a soft, colorful light, illuminating the space.
If one looked closely, each flower here resembled the boundless flower field outside the Demon King’s Castle, where Xue Fei and Belis had once happily run hand in hand in their childhood, leaving behind memories.
What a nostalgic scene…
“Materialization.”
“Is it magic? Belis, do you know?”
“Um… that book is called [Materialization], which temporarily transforms the desired environment from the caster’s mind into reality. This flower field won’t last long, but… each flower is a real one. Perhaps… there’s even that flower I gave to Queen Sister in my childhood.”
“Is that so…?”
Xue Fei could see that among the scattered books on the ground, there was one open, glowing faintly from the magic’s activation.
Ancient magic is not only about danger and gambling.
There also exists such romantic, warm, and safe magic.
It seems Belis had translated this wonderful magic in advance.
Compared to her previous focused research on [Origin], she might actually yearn for such a flower field the most.
But when was this magic activated?
Tightly embracing Xue Fei’s body, with nearly enough strength to pull her into herself, Belis softly replied.
“The condition to activate this magic is tears. When you cried just now, your tears fell on the book, activating the magic, right?”
“Smart.” Xue Fei was in a good mood, but still pointed out the insincerity in Belis’s words, “Tears are just a medium; this type of magic requires imagination, so this flower field is a scene you often recall in your mind, and you still won’t admit it~”
“Not that I won’t admit it, but that I haven’t finished speaking yet?”
“?!”
Flowers flew everywhere.
That’s because Belis leaned forward naturally without force, pressing Xue Fei down into the flower bed, petals scattering around.
Thus, Xue Fei saw Belis’s eyes.
Sparkling, reflecting the flowers, yet all the flowers remained in the corners, and in the center of her gaze, there was only Xue Fei herself.
Belis’s heartbeat, at such a close distance, conveyed every beat to Xue Fei.
And her tone, her blushing cheeks, her warm breath.
Even Xue Fei had never heard such flirtation before.
And this was the first time Belis felt such uncontrollable emotions.
Queen Sister… Queen Sister… Belis really likes you…
“Queen Sister, don’t treat Belis like a child anymore… Belis has grown up… What’s there to deny? This flower field is the materialization of my hopes in my mind! I like Queen Sister… I like every path that Queen Sister has walked with me.”
“Be… Belis?”
“I wanted to tackle you down since I was a child! I’ve held back for so long!!”
“You finally said it!! You little rascal! I knew something was off since you were little! You…! Wu…?!”
Queen Sister, you don’t need to say anymore.
Belis’s lips, which could no longer endure, pressed down onto Xue Fei’s lips.
Usually, Xue Fei would kick Belis away with one kick.
But this time… although her eyes were surprised and bewildered, they were soon drowned by tenderness and acceptance.
Her two small legs also stretched out, and she didn’t stop Belis’s little hands from beginning to wander unrestrainedly.
Queen Sister… I know, this time, you finally acknowledge Belis’s willfulness.
Because this materializing magic of the flower field… cannot be activated by my imagination alone.
We both thought of this flower bed at the same time.
We both recalled those precious pasts together.
We both gazed at that future within reach.
“Queen Sister… Huh…”
“Uh… what… what are you doing…”
“That ribbon on your dress… it’s still the birthday gift I gave you back then… Queen Sister still keeps it?”
“Is that a problem…?”
“Belis is really happy… but… we don’t need it for now, okay? Maybe I’ll accidentally ruin it later… It doesn’t matter… I’ll give you a new one!”
“!”
