Chapter: 27. Worth Reflecting Upon
There is no problem with family members getting along harmoniously.
But please don’t do it at the cost of my ears, that’s too presumptuous.
This time, Belis has also restrained herself quite a bit. She walked over to Mother Queen’s side, and although she didn’t say anything, her eyes, which reflected Princess Xue Fei’s silent expression, were full of life.
— It was just like the expression Princess Xue Fei had when she saw a donut.
Princess Xue Fei’s small fists were primed and ready, but under the pressure from the Mother Queen, she couldn’t unleash this righteous iron fist.
After this little interlude, Princess Xue Fei almost forgot the reason she had come here.
She nearly turned to leave, but suddenly her footsteps faltered.
Only then did she remember…
There were still questions that she hadn’t asked!
“Wait, Father King and Mother Queen, what are you doing here?!”
The late question was answered patiently. Until just now, Demon King Dizna had been sitting on a large stone, gazing at the sunset, and he could see that Herlith seemed to have calmed down.
Only then did the Demon King dare to throw off his cloak and casually walk among the crowd.
“Hahaha! Xue Fei, that’s such a foolish question! Since we’ve come here, obviously it’s for a reason, why ask so many questions!”
“Father, could you speak in a human manner…? Honestly, this is really annoying.”
“Wha…!”
Dizna initially intended to play it cool.
But he didn’t expect that his performance would actually be disliked by his daughter!
Ignoring Herlith’s suppressed laughter beside him, Dizna quickly coughed lightly into his closed fist, trying to salvage his image in his daughter’s eyes.
“Ahem… Xue Fei, you asked a good question. Your mother and I came here with no other purpose than to see how you’ve been doing.”
“Oh… then that’s simple. Look at me, I’m bouncing with energy, I’m doing great, Father. Your mission has been accomplished, please return home without seeing me off.”
“Ah? Why are you so cold-hearted, child? Is your heart made of stone?!”
“You’re the one to talk?! Father, you know I have to participate in this gladiatorial arena match, and you’re going to sit up there? Isn’t that supposed to be a fun outing turned into a parent-teacher meeting?! How uncomfortable!”
“Fun?! You consider this gladiatorial match a fun outing? You ungrateful brat, how can you have such a big heart?!”
“Are you scolding me?!”
Not a family, don’t enter the same door.
The back-and-forth insults between the Demon King and the Princess sent ripples of dust flying off the ground with their overflowing magical power, making the distant trees rustle.
It was like two mad dogs meeting on a narrow path; since neither would give way, it had to be decided who was crazier.
But the next second, they quickly withdrew all their magic, whistling as if nothing had happened while looking out at the scenery.
The reason was simple.
— Because Herlith stood smiling between the two.
Some people, he feared a kick.
Some people, she was protecting her ears.
Herlith sighed helplessly; she was also troubled by how this father-daughter duo had never gotten along, often arguing even in the palace. Could they not be a little more harmonious?
If her husband could not explain, then she could only explain herself.
“Xue, our main reason for coming here is definitely to see you. You are indeed strong, but as your parents, we will worry if our daughter is away for so long without any news. Right?”
“Hmm… but I ran away from home. Bringing back news feels too shameful… Besides, you must have guessed that I’m pretending to surrender.”
“Two different things. Just because we guess doesn’t mean we aren’t worried. Sigh… Your father and I indeed set our expectations for you too high in the past, and we have reflected on it.”
“……”
A warm hand began to stroke the top of her head.
Xue Fei looked up in surprise to see Mother Queen gently patting her head.
With her prideful personality, Xue Fei wanted to take a step back to avoid it, but…
In this world, which child can refuse mother’s love?
Not taking a step back, she instead lowered her head and squinted her eyes forward, leaning in a bit to better feel the warmth of her family, even if she herself might not have realized this small action.
What Xue Fei didn’t know was that as she was lowering her head to feel, the hand resting on her head had quietly changed.
Herlith subtly signaled to Belis to come over, and Belis immediately understood her mother’s meaning.
Unbeknownst to all, in this peaceful tranquility, Herlith slowly moved her hand away.
While Belis’s small hand gently replaced the spot on Xue Fei’s head.
To prevent her sister from noticing anything unusual, Belis even tried to stand on her tiptoes to keep her height equal to her mother’s.
As she stroked the silk-like silver hair, Belis’s lips trembled, and unshed tears swirled in her eyes.
She might have thought of the four-leaf clover.
Remembered the childhood kite.
Remembered the big fish that her sister had handed to her but that she had thrown away.
But she couldn’t choke up or make a sound; she had to hold it back, so that her sister wouldn’t find out that the one stroking her head was that annoying younger sister.
Sister…
I’m really sorry…
All these years, Belis has never been able to be your emotional support, always being foolish and drifting away from your heart.
Even now when you have left home and run away, I can only pray for you from afar like this.
By the time I realized how foolish I was in the past, you no longer wanted to consider me your confidant…
It’s okay.
Belis absolutely will not give up…?
Whether you say I’m annoying or shameless.
Anyway, just like fish cannot live without water and birds cannot leave the sky.
I too, at some point, have become unable to live without you, Sister.
Who told you to take my heart with you when you left alone?
As Xue Fei frowned and looked up, there was no longer a hand on her head.
In front of her, Belis stood with her hands behind her back, still smiling.
While Mother Queen made a gesture to retract her hand, clasping her hands before her and continuing to speak.
“On one hand, we came to see you; on the other hand, we wanted to investigate the situation personally.”
“The Pope…?”
“Hmm? Haah… that’s quite a coincidence! It seems my Xue Fei going into battle is also to probe the intentions of that Corea Pope?”
“Well… after all, I’m hoping for a peaceful life, and if an uninvited guest wants to disturb me, I don’t have to indulge him.”
Dizna rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment.
It seemed that in response to his displeasure, the dark six wings extending over two meters behind him flashed with ominous dark light, and his dark red boots crushed the pebbles on the ground.
“The human race, these ants, don’t know their limits. The demon race hardly lets them off lightly, and by chance, we have this period of peace. But they don’t know how to cherish it… Ailer has sent back news that the Church State seems to have some uncertain existence… The human race poses no threat to us, but it seems the Corea Church State has some hidden secrets… Heh, interesting, very interesting! If I don’t see what tricks that old thing is up to, what’s the fun in staying cooped up in the Demon King’s Castle all day? If there’s really some fun, that suits my taste perfectly!”
Dizna clasped his hands together forcefully.
An ordinary action seemed unremarkable.
But if one were to look up—above him, the clouds in the sky had already broken through to form a circular opening that could not see the top of the dome.
Herlith frowned and reminded him to not create too much of a commotion; this was not the Demon King’s Castle.
Xue Fei pondered briefly; the situation her father mentioned just now did align with her own speculation.
The Ailer her father mentioned was the last of the Six-Winged Demon Race besides her parents and Jeffrey.
He has strength but doesn’t interfere in politics, preferring to travel the world, occasionally sending valuable information back to the demon race.
“Ailer didn’t say what that ‘existence’ of the Church State specifically is?”
“No.” Dizna replied casually, “It’s probably the trump card the human race wants to hide desperately, not so easy to uncover. But since I’m here, I must see what that old thing is planning! Hahaha!”
The demon race is aggressive, and the Demon King is even more so.
Xue Fei could tell that her father came here largely wanting a fight.
Dealing with political affairs all day has nearly suffocated him in the Demon King’s Castle, and now that he has the chance to get out, he couldn’t miss the opportunity.
Sigh… perhaps Xue Fei’s pursuit of freedom is due to inheritance; it really does run in the blood.
Regarding the trump card of the Church State, Xue Fei had also speculated before.
The kingdom has three great treasures: the brave Xiya, the Holy Sword Xial, the Light Family, and the vast territory, with a large army.
With such rich national resources, compared to the kingdom, the Church State seems on the surface to be the weaker party.
Although they have three Tenth Stage warriors, if that’s all they have, they are not worthy to use the kingdom as a shield, especially since they have remained leisurely in the background for so long.
If they really had nothing, the kingdom would have likely taken the opportunity to first teach this “vampire” a lesson and force it to deal with the demon race together.
Since the kingdom has not dared to act against the Church State for so many years, remaining compliant, even accepting someone like Philex to become the Prime Minister of the kingdom, it indicates that the Church State must have something that compelled the kingdom to compromise.
Moreover, this existence has a high level of confidentiality.
Unless you are at the highest leadership level of the kingdom, no one else could possibly know.
Perhaps that old man, King Celtic, knows something…?
Just as Xue Fei was considering various possibilities and furrowing her brows…
Mother Queen extended her finger, gently tapping her brow to ease this train of thought.
“Hmm?”
“Xue, don’t overthink it. Since your father and I are here, we will handle this matter, so don’t worry. And you~ just focus on enjoying the fun of the gladiatorial arena, okay? Didn’t you just say that the gladiatorial arena is an entertainment activity for you? Don’t let these irrelevant things affect your mood~”
“I didn’t mean to, but you came here to steal my fun! If you handle everything, then I won’t have anything left to play with…”
“Don’t always think you have to take everything upon yourself, okay?”
“!”
Mothers always understand their daughters best.
What Princess Xue Fei said earlier sounded like “being greedy for fun.”
However, Herlith could tell that she merely wanted to take everything upon herself again out of stubbornness.
Ha… having this mindset is good, but Xue, you must realize that…
The demon race is one of the apex predators in this world.
And your father and mother are the kings of the demon race.
The six wings, like blue roses scattering light points, spread out on both sides, and Herlith’s purple pupils shone elegantly, like frost and seeming extremely cold.
“Just be a child for now; enjoy yourself. Compared to these boring matters, Xue, I want to ask you another question.”
“What?”
“Hmm… rather than me asking, why don’t you let your sister ask? Belis, don’t you have something you want to ask your sister?”
What are they talking about?
Why is our topic jumping around so much?
Xue Fei’s puzzled gaze was directed at Belis, who stepped forward.
Belis walked to within a meter of Princess Xue Fei.
In her eyes, only her sister’s face was reflected; even the distant sky couldn’t find a corner in her gaze.
Belis tilted her head gently with a smile, her voice ethereal and clear.
“Sister, during this time… have you been well among the humans? Are you happy?”
“……”
Hiss…
Honestly…
Don’t be so nice to me… I really can’t handle it!
Having been a left-behind child in her previous life, Princess Xue Fei had the least resistance to this kind of situation.
Her father, mother, and Belis were all looking at her, waiting for an answer.
This made Xue Fei feel a bit shy…
She gathered her wings to wrap herself and block the sight, then shrank her neck and glanced to the side.
Subsequently, she spoke her reply at a rapid pace.
“Anyway… it’s much happier here than in the demon territory… much happier.”
“Is that so?” Herlith smiled with her lips slightly covered, “Since that’s the case, we can rest assured.”
Those who didn’t understand Xue Fei would definitely think her words weren’t very warm.
But everyone present was Xue Fei’s family and understood that little streak of pride within her heart.
If her earlier words were translated using normal syntax, they might actually mean:
— That she’s quite happy with the human side, but when she was in the demon territory… having all of them together was also very joyful.
With that, how could one not feel reassured?
Herlith and Belis exchanged smiles, clearly satisfied with this answer.
Rather, this was entirely within Herlith’s expectations.
“I knew Xue wouldn’t have a hard time among humans. After all, you said when you were a child that some humans are really interesting, didn’t you?”
“Eh? Did I say that?”
“Don’t you remember? Back then, you were still little, flew to the border of the demon territory and the human realm to play, saw bandits robbing and saved a human girl. When you returned, didn’t you say she looked like a human princess? Also said she was very interesting, her eyes sparkled, and she would definitely achieve great things. Oh right, have you run into that human princess you mentioned during your time among the humans?”
“Is there really such a thing…? Let me think… Hmm? Now that you mention it, Mother, it seems I really did! I actually saved a royal child. I remember her appearance… her eyes… um…”
Princess Xue Fei suddenly fell silent.
“Xue Fei?”
“Nothing… I just suddenly recalled some details and felt… the world is really small. Fate plays tricks, huh?”
“This child, why has she suddenly become sentimental again… Sigh… our family really is full of oddities.”
Please don’t belittle our family, Mother!
My sentimentality surely has its reasons.
Since I’m sentimental, it proves that in fate, some coincidences are indeed worth reflecting upon!
