Chapter: 22. Admit It? (4K)
Tick-tock—tick-tock—
The droplets of water, eternally condensed on the stone wall, were illuminated by candlelight and suddenly fell to the ground, echoing with the unchanged sound of splashes.
Although there were rare visitors in the usually desolate Forbidden Library at this moment, it felt as though the silence of the usual emptiness had returned.
The silence was due to Xue Fei’s momentary shock.
What she originally wanted to say suddenly became difficult to express.
When she turned around, her younger sister, who had been leaning against her, was already gone.
Looking back again, she had circled to the front, crouching before her with a tilted head and a smile—she even used her delicate fingers to brush aside the silver strands of hair from Xue Fei’s forehead, her palm moving along her forehead upwards, finally resting on her head, gently stroking.
Belis had always loved the floral scent of her elder sister’s hair since childhood, cool and smooth like snow, yet not melting upon touch.
Feeling the warmth suddenly enveloping her head, Xue Fei’s mouth quivered, and a small murmuring tinged with annoyance slipped out unconsciously.
“Oh…? Not small in courage, are you? Belis, did I say you could touch my head?”
“I’m not your subordinate; I’m your family, so even if I’m just petting your head, I don’t need to seek your permission, right?”
“Just a little sister… can’t you recognize your position? Knowing I’m your sister, there’s no need to go through the motions.”
Xue Fei raised her elbow and gently pushed Belis’s hand aside, guarding her dignity as the elder sister.
In fact, there was no dignity to speak of.
If Xue Fei truly felt her dignity was being disrespected, she would have undoubtedly punched Belis in the face at the first moment.
Belis had just been comforting herself.
Xue Fei forgot her words, not because of Belis’s sudden admission.
But rather because mentioning it suddenly brought fire back into Xue Fei’s eyes.
[Queen Sister… I don’t want to die… please save me… I beg you…]
These memories, in Xue Fei’s consciousness, were originally meant to be forgotten along with Belis’s oblivion.
But when Belis acknowledged that she still remembered…
In that instant, the burning anxiety swept over Xue Fei’s vision and emotions.
Belis slowly placed the book back onto the stone shelf.
Then, with a more gentle gesture, she laid her palms on the knees of the precious person before her.
The crouching position gradually shifted into a kneeling one, with her little legs stretching out behind her, the body leaning forward.
She slowly embraced Xue Fei’s trembling and delicate form.
Two similar but equally dazzling silver locks intertwined, as if giving rise to a second sun in the dim Forbidden Library beyond the light magic.
“Queen Sister, you’re still as sentimental as before… you get upset for a long time over the smallest of matters.”
“You think this is a small matter…?” Xue Fei symbolically resisted by shaking her shoulders, but ultimately didn’t push Belis away from her embrace. “And also, stop saying random things. I’m not that emotional; I won’t stay sad for too long over trivial matters.”
Belis hugged her a little tighter.
Indeed… Queen Sister’s emotions were quite sensitive; she would feel sad, yet she never showed it.
And the things that could make her sad—signified that they weren’t trivial in her heart.
As they embraced, Belis’s slightly developed chest pressed against Xue Fei’s ordinary body. This tangible contact made Xue Fei acutely aware of Belis’s growth.
She was no longer that impulsive and willful child from before.
“But Queen Sister is still that stubborn sister who likes to put on an elder sister’s airs, disobedient and irritating when she speaks.”
“Hey, are you taking this chance to insult me with a long string of complaints?”
“Isn’t Queen Sister always scolding me~?”
“That’s true… but I’m the elder sister. When I scold you, it’s fine. If you scold me, it’s not.”
“Pfft… see? Queen Sister just loves to pull out her elder sister title to suppress me.”
“I enjoy it; it’s none of your business.”
Because they are family, they could scold each other.
Because they are family, there was no burden in acting superior.
Xue Fei initially didn’t understand why Belis had suddenly irritated her.
But when Belis’s silver hair brushed past her nose, the words she’d said echoed in her ears.
Thinking it over, everything became clear.
Just now, the thoughts of those unpleasant things in her heart had vanished.
Belis, you… I already said there’s no need for you to “go through the motions”!
Though she muttered and complained, when Xue Fei used her hands to separate Belis from her embrace and faced her, she didn’t apply any force.
The small face that had calmed down no longer bore the pallor of fear, only the humiliation of feeling displeased at being comforted by her younger sister.
“Tsk… enough with the uselessness. At the end of the day! If it weren’t for you always pretending to be confused, would I need to probe for so long? Let me tell you, Belis, don’t think you can just brush today off; you just admitted it yourself, you still remember!”
“Mm-hmm, I did admit it. Uh… Queen Sister’s hands are so small… they smell so good…”
“!”
You’re grabbing my hand and bringing it to your mouth, and you’re sticking out your tongue, what are you trying to do?!
Today, I rarely don’t want to call Xial a dead pervert; don’t take this honor for yourself!
Protecting her fingers, Xue Fei had just finished reading and was tired, so she relaxed her legs and, like Belis, sat face to face, both adopting a sitting-duck posture while gazing at each other.
In truth, Xue Fei was feeling some anger.
“Finally admitting it now… I don’t understand. If you remember, then you remember, what is there to hide? Did I exhaust myself trying to probe for so long?”
“Mm? But I was probing too, you know?”
“Not at all. What were you probing for?!”
Were you trying to test if I’d be mad enough to hit you?!
Belis smirked knowingly and pushed herself up with one hand against the stone floor.
She turned back to sift through the books on the shelf.
Her fingers flicked through one book after another.
Finally, she settled on a dark volume with a green gilt edge.
Xue Fei’s eyes widened upon seeing that book—it was the “deadly enemy” she hated.
That was the cursed magic tome recording the Forbidden Spell of “Origin” that Belis had yearned for power with, which could strengthen one at the cost of draining one’s life.
It almost burned Belis to death; that’s one thing.
And Xue Fei bearing the curse for Belis was what truly stopped her own growth—that was the root of their enmity!
“Queen Sister, burning this book won’t work, you know? Weren’t you the one who burned this entire Forbidden Library back then? But these books seem to have the protection of ancestral magic; they restore themselves to their original state. Even if you burn them again, all you’ll get is a scolding from Father King.”
“Damn it… ancestors are truly unkind. Wait, can you stop speaking halfway? I’m asking if you remember or not. You said you don’t remember, so what are you probing for?!”
“I’m probing whether Queen Sister hopes I don’t remember.”
“?”
Belis, in a disdainful manner, pinched the book she had once held high hopes for and sat back down before Xue Fei.
She placed the ominous Forbidden Spell book between them.
Ignoring the book.
Focusing only on the person before her.
“Because I know… If I say I remember, Queen Sister will be like earlier, recalling many unpleasant things. You’ll worry if I still have psychological scars and think a lot. After all, Queen Sister has always been protecting me… So I’m probing whether you would think, ‘It would be better if Belis didn’t remember this matter.'”
“You, you’re simply… overthinking everything, aren’t you? Always maintaining such high intelligence in your lifestyle, don’t you fear it will tire you out?”
“Ahahaha… Who told me I’m the Second Princess of the Demon Race? The things that Queen Sister doesn’t want to do, I’ll do. The burdensome things that Queen Sister finds annoying, I’ll handle. Moreover… actually thinking about things for Queen Sister not only isn’t tiring but is also very fulfilling, you know?”
“Stop talking, you… your little mouth is chattering away, it’s so noisy…”
“Queen Sister is shy?”
“No! So—! After trying to probe for so long, you still decided to speak out. As expected, you made me feel uncomfortable for a while. Isn’t this probing utterly pointless? You might as well have pretended to be confused to the end?”
“Mm, because based on my probing result, Queen Sister doesn’t hope that I forget. The opposite is actually true.”
This time, Belis grasped Xue Fei’s fingers without bringing them back to her mouth.
Just holding them.
Holding, giving her warmth, so she wouldn’t have to worry.
“Queen Sister hopes Belis remembers these things… Only one person knows, bearing it alone is exhausting and painful, right…?”
“……”
Tick-tock—
Not knowing if water droplets from the stone table splashed into her eyes, Xue Fei felt a momentary blur before her.
The experiences the two of them had gone through.
In the end, only one person remembered.
How could this not be a lonely and desolate thing?
This was a monumental signpost on Belis’s growth journey.
Xue Fei didn’t expect Belis to thank her, but she cherished every bit of companionship she had grown alongside.
Xue Fei just hoped… that Belis would know she was not someone who only put on airs.
Your sister once acted recklessly to save you; as an elder sister, she is genuinely cool.
If you could remember these… how wonderful!
This was what Xue Fei truly felt in her heart, and Belis had already read it.
“I don’t have the piercing gaze that sees through illusions like you do, nor the ability to discern good and evil like Mother Queen. I’m quite ordinary, but fortunately… I can uniquely perceive my sister’s joys and sorrows, and for me, that is the most powerful ability!”
So, after confirming this point, I didn’t hesitate to admit that I remembered.
Queen Sister doesn’t need to worry about Belis being scared, it’s just that I almost got burned to death—these pains have long been soothed by Queen Sister.
And the one truly hurt is actually the Queen Sister who took on the side effects of the magic.
Magic can’t harm you.
But the heart can.
And to heal this emotional wound, Belis didn’t belittle herself—she knew she was the remedy.
Thump.
Once again, it felt like her heart skipped a beat.
Xue Fei frowned; this disordered heartbeat complicated her mood.
Just a Belis… just Belis ah ah ah!!
It felt like everything was being led by Belis, and Xue Fei quickly moved her little elbow to interrupt the topic!
“I get it, but how exactly did you remember? The magic’s side effects, isn’t it very clear? If the caster fails to cast the magic, they cannot remember the process of casting.”
Xue Fei, in a Powerless Rage, slapped the pitiful book; this book had once been burned by her and now had to endure unnecessary pressure being slapped again.
Belis glanced at the book out of the corner of her eye.
Her expression darkened slightly, as if she looked down on the once ignorant self that had caused trouble for Queen Sister.
“Queen Sister didn’t translate the appendix of ‘Origin’, did you?”
“Of course not… I practically wish to burn it again, what do you mean by looking at it? Absolutely impossible.”
“That’s exactly it; the magic’s side effects are not impossible to counteract. For instance, ‘absolutely will not remember’—after I translated the subsequent text, it turns out it was not so ‘absolute’.”
“You said you translated the subsequent text… does that mean you…?”
“Yes, I always felt like I forgot something, and it made me feel uncomfortable and sad. Mother Queen often said, right? Things the Demon Race doesn’t know can always be found in the Forbidden Library. So I came back here again, um… probably about two years ago. This book has traces of your magical power, so I found it and translated the subsequent text. I speculated that I might have a memory that was sealed.”
“So you found a way to liberate that memory… but how did you do that?”
“Just like wanting to become stronger and activating ‘Origin’ requires the dangerous price of life. Similarly, to restore a memory, as long as you pay a certain price, it can also be done.”
“Huh?”
“I sensed that this memory involved Queen Sister, and it made my heart ache.”
“Huh…?”
“So since there is a possibility to restore memories, I am willing to take the risk once. Moreover, this time the price doesn’t require gambling on life and death.”
“Huh… Hey, Belis.”
“Mm? What is it, Queen Sister?”
“Do you know, right now I really want to hit you, really want to kick your butt until your bones shatter and you can’t move, so you just stay quietly in your room and sleep instead of doing all this flashy nonsense!!”
“Eh?!”
You little rascal!!
From childhood to now, you’ve always been so disobedient and mischievous! Who did you learn this from?!
So what is the price of your memory restoration?!
Tsk, don’t say anymore, the magic book is right here, I’ll look at it myself!
