Then, out of the corner of her eye, she accidentally noticed a white figure standing by the doorway, smiling as she watched the two of them.
Ye Xingyao’s expression stiffened for a moment. She continued comforting her sister without missing a beat, silently urging the white-haired girl watching at the door to hurry up and come rescue her.
Xiaoyue, Xiaoyue, why are you just watching?! Are you really enjoying watching me suffer as my sister’s punching bag?!
Ye Xingyao’s silence was deafening. Yi Shiyue responded with curved eyes: “It’s plenty interesting.”
Gulp…
A look of grievance crept into Ye Xingyao’s beautiful eyes. Truth be told, all those little girl gestures and expressions were moves she herself had used back when she crossdressed for her part-time job.
But what Yi Shiyue truly enjoyed wasn’t just the girl’s usual performative demeanor, but rather those rare moments when her genuine emotions slipped through.
That was what truly tasted delicious.
“Alright, since Xingling is awake now, she needs to recharge properly. Ahem, not that I’d say anything about you two sisters being so affectionate with each other.”
Yi Shiyue spoke half-jokingly, half-seriously. In the end, she couldn’t bear to leave Ye Xingyao to endure her sister’s “criticism” alone, so she interrupted the two sisters still embracing on the bed.
Ye Xingling lifted her head and saw the white-haired girl walking into the room with a smile, holding a bowl of steaming hot porridge in both hands, a cream-colored apron tied around her waist. Her nose tingled again, and she quickly buried her face back in her sister’s chest, only poking her head out after a long moment.
“Sister Shiyue…”
After venting all her emotions at her sister, Ye Xingling suddenly felt shy in front of Yi Shiyue.
Putting everything else aside, whenever she couldn’t talk to her brother about certain girly topics, she would confide in the white-haired girl before her… To Ye Xingling, Yi Shiyue felt like a naturally superior, genuinely gentle older sister, one she couldn’t bring herself to oppose.
“Come on, Xingling, open wide. Ahh~”
Yi Shiyue scooped up some porridge with a spoon, gently blew on it by her pink lips, then smilingly brought the spoon to Ye Xingling’s mouth. After the obedient girl drank it, she patted her head softly.
Hey hey hey, Xiaoyue, this is completely unfair! How can my little sister still ask you anything when you’re acting like this?!
Ye Xingling struggled out of her sister’s bedcovers, staring at Yi Shiyue with a complicated expression as the latter employed her roundabout tactics. She couldn’t help but sigh—the feeling of her feet touching the floor was immensely reassuring.
“Um, Sister Shiyue, maybe… we could eat at the table?”
Seeing Yi Shiyue about to feed her another spoonful, Ye Xingling waved her hands frantically, insisting she had mostly recovered and didn’t need to be fed like a baby anymore.
The truth was, her physical exhaustion from Mana Depletion and her mental fatigue from everything she had experienced had compounded, causing her to collapse only after Ye Xingyao had finished off that elf.
Back then, being held in her sister’s arms had felt so reassuring, so safe. Before she knew it, she had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep…
Ye Xingling’s pretty face flushed red. She quickly shook her head, making sure neither of the two older girls at home could see her.
This absolutely, positively cannot let them know. Otherwise, knowing my sister’s old personality when she was still my brother, she’d laugh at me to death!
“Sister Xingling? Are you still feeling unwell? If not…”
Yi Shiyue, who had already moved to the dining table, called out worriedly to her sister still in the room. Ye Xingling jolted in fright and hurriedly replied, “No, I’m fine! I was just spacing out. I’ll be right there!”
She scrambled out of bed, slipped her little feet into her slippers, and rushed out of the room in a fluster.
Huh, when did I change into my pajamas?
Ye Xingling looked down. Her school uniform had vanished without a trace, replaced by a set of pajamas she had barely worn at home. More than that, the pajamas felt unfamiliar—she was absolutely certain they weren’t hers.
Usually, she just wore a shirt with her legs bare.
“Sis, Sister Shiyue, these pajamas…”
Ye Xingling sat properly on her chair, taking the spoon Yi Shiyue handed her, and asked curiously.
“Oh, they’re your sister’s. She’s wearing a shirt and pants now, so I changed you into these. They might be a little big.”
Yi Shiyue explained with a smile, sweeping a glance at Ye Xingyao’s disheveled appearance after returning home. She gently pushed her toward the bathroom.
“Hurry up and get cleaned. How can an older sister be such a mess?”
“Okaaay.”
Ye Xingyao dragged out the word as she walked into the bathroom, starting to clean herself up simply, bringing along a more feminine hoodie she planned to change into.
Seeing that Ye Xingyao wouldn’t be out anytime soon, Ye Xingling slurped her porridge while cautiously glancing at Yi Shiyue’s face.
“Hm? Sister Xingling, feel free to ask anything.”
Yi Shiyue noticed her gaze and smiled warmly.
“Um, Sister Shiyue… are you an elf?”
The image of the gentle, slightly mischievous girl-next-door from Ye Xingling’s memory quickly overlapped with the white-haired woman before her.
Even her brother could go through something and become her sister… So her Sister Shiyue being an elf… didn’t seem that hard to accept, did it?
After all, Sister Shiyue was still Sister Shiyue. Unlike her brother—now her sister—which she only managed to call that by forcing herself mentally. Truly seeing her as a “sister” still felt a little awkward.
“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the types of elves, but I’m a Moon Elf. Your sister, mm, is a Star Elf.”
Yi Shiyue nodded gracefully, sitting on a stool as she combed her hair.
These things weren’t some earth-shattering secret, and there was no need to hide them.
“Oh… Moon Elf, Star Elf… I haven’t really heard of those. Are they strong?”
Ye Xingling blurted out instinctively, only to receive Yi Shiyue’s ambiguous smile.
“Strong or not… that depends on your new sister, doesn’t it?”
Yi Shiyue smiled at the girl who had just walked out of the room, emphasizing the words “new sister” as if reminding her of something.
“Hey, what’s with this ‘new sister’ nonsense? Makes it sound like I died or something…”
Ye Xingyao walked up to them, rolled her eyes, and helplessly pulled out the chair next to Yi Shiyue, plopping down onto it.
The black-haired girl’s wet hair hung loosely behind her back. Too concerned about what the other two girls were discussing, she hadn’t bothered to dry it, simply changing clothes and coming out.