Where her gaze landed, even the silver-haired girl’s eyelashes could be seen so clearly.
Su Ling’s eyelids drooped gently, her hair like freshly fallen snow, her eyes like drops of green beneath the early snow’s cover. Her petite nose had a slight blush, its curve just right, and her moist lips parted ever so slightly.
The girl’s face still bore the faint flush of youth, her beauty somewhat restrained but sensitive.
Yet from the contours of her features, it was clear that when she grew up, she would be an unforgettable beauty.
Sista sat there in a daze for quite a while until Su Ling lifted her head and held a slice of orange up before her.
“Your Highness, is this level of sourness acceptable?” Su Ling blinked her eyes softly. “I’m not quite certain, so may I ask you to try it?”
Sista hesitated for a moment, then pinched the slice between her fingertips and popped it into her mouth.
At once, her expression shifted; her brows furrowed deeply, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Good.”
But she didn’t spit it out. Instead, Sista clenched her mouth tightly and, with great effort, swallowed the sour slice.
Su Ling watched from the side, a bit dumbfounded.
How determined.
The orange slice was only slightly on the sour side; even Su Ling hadn’t found it much of a bother. So why was Sista’s reaction so exaggerated?
Did this Blood Princess… truly like bitter flavors?
Thinking back, Sista always emphasized how much she hated sweets, often making Su Ling brew very bitter black coffee. Yet every time Sista drank it, she didn’t look very comfortable. It was just that the Blood Princess was used to putting on a poker face, making her expressions hard to read.
“Okay, okay…” After a while, Sista finally recovered and put her hands back on her lap. “This degree of sourness is just right. Let’s keep the oranges at this level of acidity.”
“Um, Your Highness, are you really all right?” Su Ling timidly lifted her hand, trying to take back the slice.
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Sista wiped her mouth and shot her a cold warning glance. “Do I look like I’m unwell? Keep your mouth shut and hurry up. I don’t like maids who meddle without cause.”
Su Ling obediently closed her mouth.
Sista, clearly displeased, turned her head away and ignored her. Su Ling clumsily continued cutting the slices with her knife; the two no longer spoke.
Alright, now everything was perfectly clear.
That expression left no doubt—Sista didn’t actually like bitter tastes at all. She’d just been forcing herself all along.
This contradictory and awkward princess always made the servants prepare bitter coffee or other bitter foods for her, as if punishing herself, day after day, year after year.
Su Ling really wanted to silently facepalm.
Why make things so hard on herself? It was just too twisted!
It wasn’t just the food—thinking carefully about past days, this woman seemed full of contradictions in every aspect.
Whenever Su Ling touched on the sides of Sista that she didn’t show others, Sista would respond with the sharpest and most cutting words—rude, unreasonable, and always confrontational.
Yet this princess right before her clearly cared deeply.
The one who picked up her little rabbit was Sista.
The one who defended her innocence at the banquet was Sista.
The one who wiped away her bloodstains during her period was Sista.
The one who instinctively caught her when she fell at the door was also Sista.
“Sista… actually has a bit of a fondness for me.”
It was so obvious now that even a fool could see her true feelings.
She forced herself to do what she didn’t want, ate what she hated, carried out things she disliked, bottling all of it inside.
Why make things so difficult for herself?
Su Ling quietly watched the silent Blood Princess out of the corner of her eye.
“If that’s the case, I wish she could be a little more straightforward,” Su Ling thought to herself.
She slowly shifted a little, and while Sista wasn’t paying attention, quickly swapped the small fruit basket in her hand.
The sour and sweet oranges were relative; even if the swap was secret, as long as there was no comparison, Sista wouldn’t notice, right?
In the time that followed, she tasted each orange slice carefully, placing the sweet ones in one basket, the sour ones in another, then presented them before Sista.
“Your Highness, they’ve been sorted,” Su Ling said. “These are the ones leaning towards sour.”
But what she actually handed over was the basket of sweeter oranges.
“Hmm.” Sista responded calmly.
“Thank you for the oranges, Your Highness. If you have no other orders, I will get back to my work now…”
“Wait.”
Just as Su Ling was about to stand and leave, her wrist was grabbed by Sista, forcing her to sit back down.
“Are you sure you’ve sorted them all properly?”
Su Ling’s heart fluttered slightly.
“Yes.”
Sista lifted a finger and tapped the small basket in Su Ling’s hand. “Then, try a sweet one.”
Oh no, had she been found out?
No, no! Sista hadn’t been looking over here just now. Maybe she was just testing her. Besides, Sista looked like she didn’t intend to taste it herself, so there was nothing to worry about.
Su Ling silently encouraged herself, picked up a chosen slice, hesitated, then put it in her mouth.
The moment the orange touched her lips, just as she was about to chew, Sista suddenly turned, pressed her firmly against the backrest.
“Warm.”
Su Ling jumped, too startled to move, simply blankly chewing the half-slice.
Then the black-haired girl lowered her head, leaning close to Su Ling’s face, her fragrant breath tickling Su Ling’s cheek. The two were nearly touching.
Her vivid red lips parted slightly, biting onto the other end of Su Ling’s orange slice, Sista flicked out her tongue and instantly snatched the slice away.
For just a moment, their soft lips brushed against each other, like a dragonfly’s kiss lightly touching water.
Su Ling’s mouth stayed open, her mind completely blank, her entire body seemingly frozen.
Chewing the orange in her mouth, juice trickling from the corner of her lips, Sista met her eyes and gazed at Su Ling with deep meaning.
“You lied to me.”
By her ear, her cold voice left just two words.
“Your Highness…” Su Ling mechanically responded, already at a loss for what to say.
“This time I won’t hold it against you, but don’t lie to me again,” Sista wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, then withdrew her gaze. “Go back to your work. No more dawdling.”
Su Ling hurriedly nodded, gathered her things, and hurried down the path back, her mind a complete mess.
After her hurried footsteps gradually faded, the silver-haired girl left the garden and disappeared behind the Fountain Pool. Only then did Sista pick up the basket of sweet oranges again.
Silence settled around her. The only sound in her ears was her own heartbeat, thumping like a drum against her eardrums, unrelenting.
“That maid… why did she deliberately leave the sweet ones for me…”
The flavor of the oranges wasn’t important. What mattered was that the self she had painstakingly concealed had been inadvertently revealed before that maid.
Su Ling must have noticed how much she hated bitter tastes and quietly swapped the oranges.
Not because she was ordered to, but because she saved the ones she knew Sista liked. That subtle kindness moved Sista deeply.
Ah, when did this feeling of heartbeats even begin?
Sista pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm herself, but it was impossible.
Yesterday? The day before? Serving that sweet night? Or maybe when she saw Su Ling pleading for other maids? Or even earlier…
The very first time she saw Su Ling.
Unconsciously, slice after slice of orange disappeared from the basket. Sugar was such a wonderful thing—once you tasted it, you could never stop.
Just like that silver-haired maid, she wanted to see her, to hear her voice, to have more contact with her. Such thoughts had already filled Sista’s mind, growing harder and harder to control.
“Sista, you are the Princess of Ansels. Such indulgence in yourself could destroy the fate of the entire family.”
The noisy voices began ringing in her mind again.
“You cannot show kindness in front of humans, or they will disregard the dignity of the Blood Clan.”
“Despicable creatures should remain despicable forever. You are the noblest race in this world and must maintain your status.”
Those words, which once circled endlessly and entangled her thoughts, were now gradually weakening and growing distant.
The bitter food she forced herself to eat as a self-warning, like a strict wall of ritual and law, was quietly crumbling.
All the orange slices had been eaten, yet her tongue still seemed to linger with the warmth of Su Ling’s lips.
“I want… one more time…”
Sista lightly licked her fingertips, murmuring softly, feeling as though she had become addicted.