Chapter: 78. Snowfall on the Return Journey
It was clear that she was not joking.
Well… there’s no hurry to discuss this matter. It’s too early to talk about the next Demon King; Dad is still very competent, and we don’t need to worry about these troublesome things yet!
The real trouble lies in the situation at hand.
Xue Fei looked straight ahead.
The otherworldly moonlight enveloped Princess Belis, who was kneeling beside the stream, her head held high.
Her clear and trusting gaze struck Xue Fei as quite surprising.
Uh…
Did Belis always… look this delicate before?
Her beauty rivaled that of precious jade, her spirit-filled eyes clear and boundless.
It might sound a bit boastful to say this since Xue Fei resembled her quite a bit.
She had always regarded her as a child, but… lately, Xue Fei really felt that her sister might actually be quite a beautiful girl, huh?
“Is Queen Sister thinking of something improper…?”
“No, stop framing me. Ugh… alright, alright, get up quickly, there’s no one else here. I get what you mean, and you’re not phased by the stones underneath you…”
Xue Fei casually waved her left hand while saying this, but her gaze did not directly meet Belis’s.
Recently, she was increasingly unsure of how to view her.
Especially after that day in the Gladiatorial Arena, where they shared heartfelt truths, and today’s astonishing actions by Belis.
Belis stood up while patting her black dress with a wry smile, just as she heard her beloved call her name.
“Belis.”
“Queen Sister, I’m here.”
“Can you explain the reason?”
The stream rushed by, splashing against the stones at the creek’s edge.
In the profound silence, a cry of splashing water echoed mournfully.
Since there was no one else in this deep forest, Xue Fei wanted to share some heartfelt words with her.
When people want to express their true feelings, they often hope someone else can articulate what they cannot see in themselves.
Upon hearing this question, Belis first froze in thought, as Xue Fei’s inquiry was somewhat sudden.
But the clever Belis quickly grasped the implications of the question.
Queen Sister wanted to ask… why do I like you.
Or rather, the reason I like you?
Being asked like this was perhaps something she should feel a bit disappointed about.
After all, her asking “Why do you like me” meant— I currently do not like you.
But upon hearing these words, Belis didn’t feel sad at all.
On the contrary, she was overjoyed.
The underlying meaning of this question was not solely “I currently do not like you.”
There was also— “I currently do not dislike you.”
Because if she disliked her, why would she even ask such a question?
Only Belis, who has been hated by her true love, would know how precious the term “not disliked” is.
She did not rush to answer this question.
Because…
Just like her mood now, it was as pure as snow.
She looked up at the sky.
“Queen Sister, it’s snowing.”
“Hmm…?”
The two sisters reached out their hands simultaneously, spreading their palms to the dark evening sky.
It was hard to imagine that such a pitch-black sky could shed angelic feathers.
Two snowflakes landed in their palms, the icy crystals melting under the warmth of their hands, quickly turning into glistening droplets that rolled away.
From this starting point, sparse white snow began to flutter down gently, playing a symphony of wind and snow through the forest.
Xue Fei brushed the snowflakes hanging on the tips of her silver hair, thinking that indeed, it was that season now…?
Autumn had already deepened, and winter was approaching.
There would always be a snowfall to herald the changing seasons, as time slipped away.
She didn’t dislike snowy days.
After all, her name “Xue Fei Ya” originated from snow.
The angel that descended upon the world on a snowy day, the meaning given to her name by Queen Mother.
As Xue Fei was thinking this… she unexpectedly found that Belis voiced exactly what was on her mind.
“I really like snowy days.”
“Oh… how coincidental, I know you like snow. Didn’t you always do that as a child? Every winter you’d lean on the windowsill asking me when it would snow, asking until I was quite irritated… I’m not a deity; how would I know when it would snow?”
“Queen Sister is Belis’s deity.”
“Come on, I don’t have the ability to be any deity. Just like that year of drought, when there wasn’t any snow at all; who could have predicted that?”
“But it did snow that year.”
“……”
Some things weren’t that important to Xue Fei, so she might have forgotten.
But the same events were a love song for Belis.
The snow fell more and more abundantly.
Belis lifted the hem of her black dress, spread her black wings, and danced gracefully in the snowy forest.
Beautiful like a dark fairy of winter.
Unknowingly, Xue Fei sat on the chilly stone, silently admiring Belis’s dance, not in a hurry to call for her to stop.
In fact, even she found herself slightly surprised.
She hadn’t planned on watching her dance that much, but upon seeing her smiling face…
She felt that a little patience was worth it.
And this scene felt oddly familiar.
In the past… didn’t Belis also call for me to watch her dance, in a similar snowy place?
But that year, wasn’t it snowless?
As elegant steps halted, swirling snow particles were raised. Belis lightly bent her knees, delicately holding the sides of her skirt and exhaled a warm breath, indicating the conclusion of her dance to Xue Fei.
The princess in the snow, Belis raised her beautiful eyes, reflecting back a silver white that was not the overwhelming snow.
But the purer-than-snow silver hair of Queen Sister.
“That year there was no snow, but I was always looking forward to it. As I watched the weather warm and lost all hope, I lay on the windowsill and cried.”
“Seems like that was the case… what happened afterward?”
“Queen Sister said I was being childish and troublesome.”
“Right~ I guessed that’s what I should say. You used to love crying as a child.”
“And then, Queen Sister used magic to bring down heavy snow in the Demon King’s Castle, and that year, I still saw the snow.”
“……”
The grand snow, tender and joyful dance.
The snow came.
But back then, when she danced gracefully, was it still the snow she saw?
It was snow.
But perhaps, it was already a different kind of “snow.”
You asked me why I love you.
I’m sorry, Queen Sister, but I can’t give you a definite answer.
Because love is etched into the daily routine of every snowy day, and unfolds in every sunny day without snow.
Thinking of you, missing you, contemplating every worry of yours, is the answer.
With so many answers… what does Queen Sister hope for me to say?
“And my initial reason for liking snowy days… is because Mother told me the origin of Queen Sister’s name, right? Ahahaha… so every year if I can’t see snow, I feel empty inside, which is why I ended up crying in frustration as a child.”
You are an angel.
A gift of pure white snow bestowed upon me by heaven; I am the parched land, always waiting for your boundless arrival.
Memories gradually resurfaced, striking Xue Fei’s mind.
So intense that her cheeks felt slightly warm, the snowflakes falling on her delicate face quickly melted.
Her emotions a bit chaotic, she easily overlooked the sounds around her.
Belis had unknowingly danced her way to Xue Fei’s side.
Seeing that Belis had quietly sat down next to her, Xue Fei finally realized why the stone felt suddenly less cold.
“Am I satisfactory with the answer I provided… Queen Sister.”
“You clearly said nothing at all…”
“Then I’ll tell Queen Sister again now…?”
Leaning her face closer to Xue Fei’s ear.
As if to whisper her secrets.
But…
“Ah?! You…! You’re doing that again!”
“Sorry, Queen Sister… but if I don’t do this, I can’t express my true feelings~”
Xue Fei jumped up like a spring, covering her damp ears with her hands, her face filled with panic.
The state of her ears wasn’t because of melting snowflakes.
Looking at Belis’s triumphant smile after licking her lips… she knew well what she had done when she leaned in just now.
Queen Sister, who was this nervous and shy, did Belis also quite like?
Belis pushed off the stone with both hands, her silver hair soaring in the wind and snow, swaying backward.
Above her light smile, the flickering emotions in her eyes were fiercer than the wind, whiter than the snow.
“Queen Sister doesn’t think that since you are with that detestable Hero now, you cannot accept Belis’s confession, right? Ugh… I can’t handle thinking about that Hero actually being with you… Ah, I truly can’t accept it!”
“Wow, you’re bringing this up again! Xiya and I are currently lovers, right out in the open.”
“But the snowflakes that can dye the sky white are not just one.”
“Ah?”
Belis scoffed coldly, her disdain seemingly directed at the absent Xiya.
She looked up at the sky, the wind and snow could not suppress her oath, the cold could not freeze past memories.
Queen Sister…
You want to “escape,” to run away from home, but it won’t be that easy, oh?
Roaring dragon whispers and mythic pages
Standing face-to-face with Xue Fei.
Belis intentionally bent her knees to lower her stance, bringing her and Xue Fei’s gazes to the same level.
Belis had grown up.
But if growing up means being far from your sights, then I’d rather maintain this height, so it’s easier to love you.
“Queen Sister will certainly be a greater existence than the Demon King in the future, right…? Even if the Hero has made the first move, it doesn’t mean I have to surrender and leave because I know… Queen Sister’s sky has always kept a place for me.”
Queen Sister has always been tolerant of all my wilfulness.
I know I should become strong, to take away your worries.
But…
Since I’ve already been willful.
Why not be willful to the end?
“It’s my task to gain a position in Queen Sister’s heart that’s more important than that detestable Hero, but loving Belis well in the future… is Queen Sister’s task, okay?”
“Even if my answer may disappoint you…?”
“Not possible.”
Belis could assert that confidently.
Just like the snow created by magic.
Before spring arrives, it dispels tears, parting the clouds to reveal the mist.
You see.
The sky has cleared.
The sky after the snow, incredibly clear, making the stars shine brightly, illuminating the path that is free of snow.
At the end of the path should be the direction of home.
Gently holding Xue Fei’s hand, brushing off the snowflakes on her head.
After talking for a long time, the morning sun had slowly risen.
The early morning sunlight fell on the finger that Belis raised, and the direction of her finger pointed to the path home.
“Hehe~ Queen Sister, you can take your time to think about it, but it’s dawn, remember our promised matter, right?”
“That’s obvious… how could I forget?”
“Mm!”
A very simple agreement.
When dawn breaks, we will return to the Demon King’s Castle.
— Together, we go home.
