Chapter 3: I Have a Sister and a House

Blue flames licked the bottom of the frying pan, and a gentle sizzling sound echoed through the kitchen.

A girl with a white ponytail walked in, rubbing her eyes.

The moment she caught a whiff of the delicious aroma wafting through the kitchen, her sleepy expression vanished, and her eyes widened.

“Big sister, what’s for breakfast today?”

She trotted over to the stove, the light gold in her eyes sparkling like stars.

“Your favorite—bacon and fried eggs.”

Flipping the golden-brown bacon with her chopsticks, Luo Shuāngyuè said helplessly to her little sister, “Shuāngxīng, go wait outside. If oil splashes on your clothes, that won’t be good.”

“Eh~”

“It’d be a pain for me to wash them.”

“Tch, bad sister!”

Luo Shuāngxīng snorted softly, then ran to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of fresh milk.

She opened the cap and made a show of tilting it toward her mouth.

“You want me to carry you to the bathroom again?”

Luo Shuāngyuè’s voice rang out once more, halting her action.

Three days ago, Luo Shuāngxīng had upset her stomach by drinking cold milk and had to be carried in and out of the bathroom by Luo Shuāngyuè several times.

The mention of this old incident had an immediate effect.

Her cheeks turned red as she shoved the cold milk back into the fridge.

For a seventeen-year-old girl, being carried to the bathroom by her own sister was just too humiliating.

“There’s warm milk for you by the kettle. Go drink that.”

“Got it, big sis~” Luo Shuāngxīng replied in a drawn-out tone.

Picking up the warm milk, she stood behind her sister, eyeing her curiously.

Last night, she’d gone next door to take care of Sister Xià Mò and didn’t return until past midnight.

Did nothing really happen between them?

Her sister was twenty this year, and the girl next door, Xià Mò, was eighteen.

The two of them were a perfect match—childhood sweethearts.

It wouldn’t be strange at all if something did happen between them.

“Sister, did you really just go take care of Sister Xià Mò last night?”

Cough! Luo Shuāngyuè let out a loud cough.

Sis, what the heck are you saying?

I don’t get it.

What do you mean “really went to take care of her”?

How could it be fake?

Turning his head and meeting the slightly suggestive look in his sister’s eyes, Luo Shuāngyuè immediately understood what she was imagining.

Who in the world corrupted his once pure and adorable little sister?

If he ever found out, they were dead meat.

As for what she was concerned about, Luo Shuāngyuè could only admit that he was powerless.

Sis, you probably don’t know—your brother hasn’t really been your brother for the past two years.

Luckily, Luo Shuāngyuè had always had a soft and pretty face (commonly referred to as “little lady boy” looks), which had barely allowed him to hide the changes in his body from his sister.

“Kids shouldn’t worry about adult stuff. Your Sister Xià Mò and I are totally innocent.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Placing the breakfast from the frying pan onto a plate, Luo Shuāngyuè motioned for his sister to take it herself.

“Go eat. Your Sister Xià Mò really is sick, so I need to make her another breakfast.”

…

Watching his sister carry the plate to the dining table, Luo Shuāngyuè felt a tangle of emotions in his chest.

Last night, when he was applying ointment for Xià Mò, he clearly saw a small, delicate fist-shaped bruise on her stomach.

Small, so cute… Ugh, no, so scary!

At that moment, the guilt in Luo Shuāngyuè’s heart instantly surged.

However, Xià Mò was still gently comforting her, telling her not to worry about her and to rest early.

“…”

Not daring to tell Xià Mò that she was the one who had hurt her, Luo Shuāngyuè could only bury her apology deep in her heart and express her guilt through actions instead.

She quickly prepared a breakfast for Xià Mò, then, under her sister’s still ambiguous gaze, left the house.

Standing outside Xià Mò’s door, Luo Shuāngyuè took out a white card from her pocket and lightly touched it to the door lock.

With a pleasant chime, the door clicked open.

Yes, Luo Shuāngyuè had a keycard to Xià Mò’s house, just as Xià Mò also had a keycard to her home.

After all, they had been childhood sweethearts, so it was quite normal to be able to open each other’s doors, right?

Entering Xià Mò’s house, Luo Shuāngyuè was greeted by various magical girl posters, many of which were rare editions.

In the past, Luo Shuāngyuè would have thought that Xià Mò was simply an avid fan of magical girls. But now, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Chasing stars until you become one, only to realize that being a magical girl wasn’t such a great job.

Looking at the magical girls on the posters, how many of them were still active?

Venus Star, who five years ago, along with her companions, sealed an emperor-level monster at the cost of their lives.

Crescent Moon, who three years ago was surrounded by five king-level monsters and was severely injured, eventually retiring.

Celestial Diva, who was sabotaged, causing her vocal cords to be damaged and unable to sing the sweet songs of a nightingale ever again.

Just a glance, and Luo Shuāngyuè could already see several magical girls who had disappeared.

She sighed again, then walked to Xià Mò’s room and lightly knocked on the door twice.

“Shuāngyuè? Come in.”

Luo Shuāngyuè opened the door and entered the room, seeing Xià Mò lying against the soft cushions, her pale face staring blankly at a huge poster hanging on the wall.

The poster depicted a pure, angelic magical girl in white, with a beautiful, flowing signature in the lower-left corner:

“White Night.”

“Shuāngyuè, I found her,” Xià Mò said absently, still staring at the poster.

You didn’t find anything, Luo Shuāngyuè thought.

She sat next to Xià Mò, reached out, and pinched her face, forcibly pulling her attention away from the poster.

“First, eat breakfast. What you need now is rest.”

Opening the food box, Luo Shuāngyuè spooned some porridge and held it to Xià Mò’s mouth.

“Eat first, and then we’ll talk about other things.”

Xià Mò didn’t respond but obediently opened her mouth and drank the porridge that Luo Shuāngyuè fed her, one spoonful at a time.

It wasn’t until the feeding was done that Xià Mò shrank back a little and resumed the topic from before.

“I saw her yesterday, the magical girl who saved me from the monster ten years ago.”

“She’s still just as beautiful, pure, and powerful as she was ten years ago.”

But you probably don’t know, at that time, she was already the mother of two children…

Luo Shuāngyuè muttered quietly in her heart.

The magical girl White Night was Luo Shuāngyuè’s mother, her biological mother.

“Could it be that you mistook her? White Night hasn’t appeared for many, many years,” Luo Shuāngyuè said, feeling that she shouldn’t let Xià Mò get too caught up in the idea of White Night.

“What you saw might have just been a magical girl who looks a lot like White Night. After all, there are many magical girls in white, like the one who recently appeared, Lily of the Valley, she’s one of them.”

“Impossible. I wouldn’t mistake her. That was definitely White Night!”