When Xuan Xi opened her eyes, she found the space beside her was empty. The bedsheet still held a faint warmth from her body, and the gentle sound of water came from the bathroom.
She turned over, facing the bathroom.
A moment later, the water stopped. The door opened, and Sigrdrífa walked out of the bathroom. Her long hair was still un-dried, loose on her shoulders, and she had changed into a light-colored home dress. When she saw Xuan Xi’s eyes open, her steps paused.
“You’re awake.”
“Mm.”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Xuan Xi thought for a moment. She seemed to have had a dream—there was a lot of water, and a five-clawed golden dragon coiled among the clouds. Its long body seemed capable of summoning wind and rain. But the dream’s images were blurry, leaving only a faint outline upon waking.
“It was okay,” she said. “I think I had a dream, but I can’t remember the content.”
Sigrdrífa didn’t press further. She walked over to the bed and sat down.
“Your hair isn’t dry yet,” Xuan Xi said.
“It’s fine, it’ll dry in a bit.”
“Then let me dry it for you.”
Sigrdrífa was silent, her ears simply turning red. Seeing that, Xuan Xi curved her lips, sat up in bed, picked up the folded towel from the nightstand, turned around, and faced Sigrdrífa.
“Turn around.”
Sigrdrífa glanced at her, then turned. Her silver-white long hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Xuan Xi draped the towel over it and gently wiped. The strands slid between her fingers—cool, soft, carrying that cold fragrance from the tips to the gaps between her fingers. She wiped very slowly, because she wanted to stay a little longer.
“When did you sleep last night?” Xuan Xi asked.
“…I don’t remember.”
“Did you sleep before me?”
“No, actually.”
Xuan Xi’s hand paused. “You slept later than me?”
Sigrdrífa didn’t answer. Xuan Xi moved the towel from her ends to her tips, then back again, droplets of water being absorbed one by one into the towel.
“What were you doing, staying up so late?”
Sigrdrífa still didn’t answer. Xuan Xi looked at those dark red earlobes, and even as dense as she was, she understood something. She didn’t ask further, just bowed her head and continued drying Sige’s hair.
A while later, “It’s done.”
Sigrdrífa turned her head. Her silver-white hair was half-dry, scattered over her shoulders.
“Change clothes. Let’s go downstairs for breakfast.” She stood up and walked toward the door.
Xuan Xi curved her lips, got out of bed, folded the towel neatly, and placed it back on the nightstand. After changing clothes, the two walked out of the room hand in hand. When they reached the stairs, Xuan Xi noticed Veralis was already standing downstairs.
She was wearing a light blue dress today, embroidered with a few white ice crystal flowers at the hem. She stood by the dining table, arranging the tableware. Hearing their footsteps, she looked up, her ice-blue eyes watching them descend the stairs.
“Morning,” she said.
When her gaze fell on their interlocked fingers, she paused for a moment. Those ice-blue eyes seemed to carry a very faint, very subtle smile.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked, her tone a bit lighter than usual.
Xuan Xi nodded. “Very well. The bed was big and comfortable.”
Veralis’s gaze shifted to Sigrdrífa, but Sigrdrífa didn’t look at her. She pulled out a chair and sat down. Veralis sat across from her, picked up her teacup.
“Eat breakfast.”
On the table were a few things: white congee in a porcelain bowl, still steaming; a small dish of finely cut pickled vegetables; a plate of fried eggs with a few slices of toast on the side; and finally, a pot of light golden tea, with tendrils of heat rising from the rim of the teacup.
“What about your mother?” Xuan Xi asked.
“She’s already eaten. She went to the flower fields.” Veralis scooped a spoonful of congee, blew on it, and brought it to her mouth, her movements elegant as if completing some ritual.
Xuan Xi picked up her congee bowl. The congee was very hot, so she stirred it with her spoon. It was cooked quite thick, the grains softened into the liquid. “Did your mother make this?”
“I made it~.”
Xuan Xi looked up. Veralis’s expression hadn’t changed at all.
“You can cook?”
“Living alone, one must learn to take care of oneself,” Veralis said lightly, as if stating something very ordinary. “After my father passed away, my stepfather was away on business all year, and my mother’s health wasn’t very good, so these things had to be done by me.”
The table was quiet for a moment. Sigrdrífa picked up her teacup, took a sip, and set it down.
“Not bad,” she said. Though only one word, it was already a considerable compliment.
The three finished breakfast. Veralis stood up to clear the dishes, her movements practiced as if she had done them countless times. Xuan Xi wanted to help, but she stopped her. “You’re a guest. It’s not right to let the guest clean up.”
They left the estate together, walking the same path.
Morning light filtered through the gaps in the clouds, casting patches of gold over the flower fields. The ice-blue flowers swayed in the wind. Veralis walked in front, Xuan Xi in the middle holding the notebooks, and Sigrdrífa at the very back.
The Teleportation Array was right ahead. Veralis stopped and turned around.
“I’ll see you off here,” she said, her ice-blue eyes fixed on Xuan Xi. “Return the notebooks to me when you’re done reading them at school. No rush.”
Xuan Xi nodded. “Thank you, Veralis. And thank your mother for me.”
Veralis’s gaze shifted from Xuan Xi’s face to Sigrdrífa’s, pausing for a moment.
“Take care of her, Sige.”
Sigrdrífa didn’t answer, but the hand holding Xuan Xi’s tightened.
Veralis turned and walked away. Her braid swayed in the morning light, and the hem of her ice-blue dress lifted in the wind, elegant, restrained, and just right.
Sige watched her retreating figure. “What kind of person do you think she is?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Xuan Xi said. “But I think she’s probably a good person.”
Sige curved her lips and tightened her grip on Xuan Xi’s hand. The runes of the Teleportation Array lit up beneath their feet. Pale blue light rose from the ground, enveloping their bodies.
The light grew brighter and brighter. Everything around them became blurred—the gravel path, the flower fields, Veralis’s shrinking silhouette, the morning sky.
Then everything dissipated, and a new scene emerged from within the light.
The Teleportation Array’s light faded.
Xuan Xi opened her eyes. The afternoon sun was sharp enough to make her squint. The place they had arrived at was a small teleport station built on a hill.
“There’s still a ways to the castle. We’ll wait for a carriage,” Sigrdrífa said, her gaze fixed on the main road in the distance.
“Wait for a carriage?” Xuan Xi began to ask, but then suddenly spotted a black carriage approaching from the end of the road. The body was entirely black, trimmed with silver emblems, and drawn by four white horses. Their hooves struck the cobblestone road with a crisp sound. The carriage’s curtains were deep blue, embroidered with the Edelstein family’s dragon crest. The driver was an elderly man in a silver-gray uniform, his silver-white hair drifting slightly in the wind, his back straight as a rod.
The carriage stopped in front of the teleport station. The driver jumped down, bowed slightly to Sigrdrífa, and said, “Milady, the Duke and Duchess sent me to pick you and your guest up.”
Sigrdrífa nodded, pulled open the carriage door, and stepped aside to let Xuan Xi board first.
The interior was more spacious than Xuan Xi had imagined. In the corner was even a bouquet of fresh flowers, their fragrance filling the air. Xuan Xi sat down, placed the notebooks on her lap, and let her gaze wander from the bouquet to the curtain, from the curtain to the delicate embroidery on the seat.
“Your family has a carriage?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t we? My home is far from the teleport station; even walking fast takes a few hours.” Sigrdrífa sat down beside her and pulled the curtain closed. “Mother doesn’t like me waiting too long, so she bought me one.”
The carriage started moving. The four horses’ hooves fell in perfect unison, and the carriage hardly jolted. Xuan Xi peered through the gap in the curtain. On both sides of the main road were vast fields. Golden waves of wheat rolled under the afternoon sun. In the distance, she could make out the outlines of farmhouses and barns. Several simple-looking Dragon Race people were working in the fields, and when they saw the carriage pass by, they paused their work and bowed their heads slightly toward the carriage.
“Those are the residents of House Edelstein’s domain,” Sigrdrífa’s voice came softly from beside her. “Our family’s territory is very large. Besides the castle and the army, there are farmlands, villages, pastures. That’s how it’s been for thousands of years.”
The carriage drove past fields, through villages, and over a stone bridge. The river beneath the bridge was crystal clear, showing the pebbles at the bottom and the small fish swimming by. Xuan Xi pulled her gaze away from the scenery and rested it on Sigrdrífa’s profile. She was looking out the other window, her silver-white hair lifted by the wind seeping through the curtain gap, a few strands drifting onto Xuan Xi’s shoulder.
“Did you used to ride in this carriage when you were little?” Xuan Xi asked.
“Mm.”
“Did you go to school in it?”
“No.” Sigrdrífa turned her head, her amethyst-colored eyes reflecting the afternoon light. “When I was little, Mother took me out in this carriage. We’d go to the city market, have picnics by the river, fly kites in the fields.”
“You can fly kites?”
Sigrdrífa nodded.
The carriage entered the castle gates. Through the window, Xuan Xi saw the walls, towers, fluttering banners, and silver-armored guards standing at the gate. The carriage didn’t stop but drove straight through the outer city and into the inner city.
It stopped before the main building of the castle. The carriage door was opened from the outside.
“Milady, we have arrived,” the driver’s voice came.
Sigrdrífa got off first, turned around, and extended her hand.
Xuan Xi looked at that long, fair hand, placed hers on it, and held tight.
The two stood side by side in front of the castle’s main building. Their silver-white and ink-green hair was lifted by the afternoon wind, intertwining in the air.
The castle’s great doors slowly opened before them. The heavy iron gate emitted a low, rumbling sound, like some ancient call. The hallway beyond was very long, so long that one couldn’t see the end at a glance. Along the walls hung portraits of the successive heads of House Edelstein, each framed in gold. Most of the people in the portraits wore magnificent clothes with solemn expressions.
Xuan Xi walked down this hallway, holding the notebooks, feeling as though she had stepped into another world.
At the end of the hallway was a double-leaf door. Sigrdrífa stopped, turned to face Xuan Xi, her amethyst eyes carrying a seriousness Xuan Xi had never seen before.
“Are you ready, Xuan Xi?” Sige said.