“Sis, sister!”
Aurora instinctively pushed Laura Belle away, putting some distance between them.
She covered her mouth, her fair cheeks already tinged with the color of a red apple.
Did my own little sister just kiss me?
And this was her first kiss, taken away so easily just like that.
Still in disbelief, her mind kept replaying everything that had just happened—what she saw, what she smelled, and, most of all, the sensation on her lips.
In that brief moment, she didn’t know how many times she recalled it, and each time, it told her the same answer—she had been forcefully kissed by her own sister.
“Big sis, you said before that adults can kiss like this.”
As if sensing Aurora might get angry, Laura Belle instantly changed back to her younger girl form.
From just now until now, she had already transformed back and forth countless times—when she shrank, it seemed like she was trying to please, and when she grew, it was as if she was reminding her sister not to forget that she was already an adult.
“Doesn’t big sis like doing this?”
“Then kissing the cheek should be fine, right?”
Saying that, Laura Belle leaned in, about to plant another kiss on Aurora’s cheek.
“Wait!”
Aurora finally snapped out of her shock, and seeing Laura Belle’s face so close, she hurriedly reached out and pushed her away.
“You don’t like kisses on the cheek either?”
“That’s not the point!” Aurora said angrily.
Back then, when her little sister asked her about things like this, it was because she was too embarrassed to explain what kissing meant, so she vaguely told her it was something only close adults did.
She thought Laura Belle would surely understand the meaning of such a kiss by now, but unexpectedly, she was still clueless about this, and even misunderstood because of her earlier words.
“Then what’s the problem?” Laura Belle tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s… ahem, kisses here…”
She pointed at her own lips, then said, “You’re only supposed to kiss someone you like, you know?”
“But I like you, big sis.”
“Oh, not that kind of like, it’s…”
Looking at the girl-form Laura Belle, Aurora wanted to be more tactful, but suddenly remembered that her real body was already an adult. She couldn’t keep explaining so ambiguously, so she spoke directly, “It’s the kind of thing only two people who are going to get married and have children can do, understand?”
“I see, I understand, big sis.”
Laura Belle nodded as if she finally got it.
But did she really misunderstand what kissing meant?
If Aurora looked a little closer, she might have noticed the sly smile hanging at the corner of Laura Belle’s lips.
Aurora let out a sigh and said helplessly, “You’ve already grown up, haven’t you? Then why do you still use this girlish form?”
Always looking like this would make her subconsciously think Laura Belle was still a child. Why couldn’t she use her real appearance to be with her? Clearly, that would help her accept the fact that her sister had grown up much faster.
“Because…”
Laura Belle’s eyes suddenly dimmed a little, then she continued, “Because you missed the most important moments of my life. I want to let you see what I was like at that time… in this form.”
Hearing these words, Aurora was stunned for a moment.
She really had missed the most important years of her sister’s life, and even now, the reality of it all still felt unreal.
Even now, deep down, she couldn’t believe she had slept for more than a decade. She had asked for the reason, but the answer was always a perfunctory “a witch drugged you,” and she could never be sure if it was true.
But even so, the fact that she had unknowingly lost decades was real—no matter how unbelievable it was, she had to accept it.
Not wanting to see her sister so sad anymore, Aurora hurriedly changed the subject, “By the way, aren’t you a Paladin now? I want to know how you became one!”
Laura Belle had always been frail since childhood and never attended the Knight Academy. The most physical work she did at home was helping move some clothes—of course, that kind of labor was nothing compared to a knight’s standards, let alone becoming a Paladin with supreme strength.
“I…”
She hesitated, unsure how to explain it, since becoming a Paladin was really just a coincidence.
If she hadn’t been chosen by the previous Paladin, Crohn, she probably would have died in that forest long ago.
But that was one thing; saving her life was something she was grateful for, but erasing her memories was another matter. If not for him, she might have reunited with her sister much earlier—she wouldn’t have needed to wait nearly two hundred years.
After thinking it over, she decided she had to lie.
But she would lie as Laura Belle Crohn the Paladin, not as Laura Belle Eve, her sister.
With that in mind, she silently chanted the shaping spell in her heart.
Her figure began to grow again—Aurora had lost count of how many times this had happened already.
Why did she have to keep shifting back and forth during conversations? Did some things really have to be said in a certain form?
Aurora didn’t ask, simply waited quietly for her to speak.
“Actually, after you fell asleep, I went to the capital to look for a way to save you. There, I was chosen by the Paladin at the time. He told me he had a way to save you, but the condition was that I had to stay by his side and be trained as his successor.”
“I see… so that’s how it was.”
With just a simple sentence, Laura Belle brushed over the whole thing, and Aurora didn’t find anything odd about it.
When it came to lying, Laura Belle was a natural.
She knew that if you added too many details, the story would sound forced, so unless people kept asking, short and clear answers were more convincing.
There were still so many things Aurora wanted to ask. Right now, she was like a newborn child, curious about everything around her.
Who knew how long the two of them talked in this world of only wind and wilderness? In this timeless place, it felt as if they could talk forever. Only when their throats were dry did they finally stop.
Laura Belle had no idea how many lies she had told during their conversation. To ease her conscience, she simply stayed in this form the entire time.
“You must be tired, big sis. Why don’t you rest for a while? I’ve arrived at the castle, and I need to have a good talk with that researcher.”
“I see, then… I hope it goes well.”
“Mm.”
With a snap of Laura Belle’s fingers, the world instantly turned to night. Outside the door, not even the faintest chirp of insects could be heard.
After doing all this, she looked a little shyly at Aurora and whispered, “Big sis… tonight, can I sleep in your arms again…”
She smiled sweetly, teasing, “Didn’t you just say you’re already an adult?”
“……”
Aurora lifted the corner of her own blanket, and gently said, “Who told me I’m the older sister, right?”