Chapter 51: A Warm Morning

As the first rays of dawn pierced through the curtains, Seele awoke from her slumber. The gentle warmth of the morning sun softly caressed her cheeks, which were as smooth and warm as fine mutton-fat jade.

"Mm..."

Seere let out a soft murmur, her butterfly-wing-like eyelashes fluttering slightly as she opened her eyes a crack. Instantly, she reached out to her side, only to meet empty space.

"Swish!"

The young girl's eyes snapped wide open, all lingering sleepiness vanishing in an instant. The memories of the previous night rushed back into her mind like a surging tide. Only now did she realize just how crazy of a thing she had done under the instigation of her other self.

"Big brother?"

Looking at the empty bed beside her, Seele ignored the soreness throughout her body and struggled to sit up. Her panicked gaze swept around the room, yet she could not find the figure she longed to see.

A wave of panic surged in Seele's heart, instantly filling her entire being with anxiety.

"Big brother... Big brother must be angry with me!"

Thinking this, Seele's large, azure-blue eyes gradually filled with a mist of tears.

In the past, whenever she woke up, the first thing she would see upon opening her eyes was her big brother. Even if he woke up before her, he would quietly wait for her to wake up and be the very first to say good morning.

Yet today, her big brother had left her behind and gone off alone. This—this must mean he was furious with her!

Sob, sob... She was truly so foolish, actually listening to the nonsense of her other self. With her big brother's intelligence, how could such a simple trap ever fool him? He must have realized something was wrong the very moment his mind cleared, and that was why he had left in anger.

The mere thought that her big brother might be angry with her, might treat her with cold indifference, or might ignore her for a long time made Seele feel as though her heart had been shattered by a hammer. The suffocating anguish left her unable to catch her breath.

"No, I can't let that happen. I... I have to find big brother. I must find a way to make him forgive me."

Seere shook her little head vigorously, as if trying to shake away the horrifying images in her mind. Then, she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, her expression turning resolute as she prepared to get out of bed and search for Ling Feng.

She could not accept a future devoid of her big brother's pampering; just imagining the look of cold indifference he might cast upon her made the pain so intense she wanted to end it all.

At this moment, only a single thought remained in her heart: no matter what, she had to win her big brother's forgiveness. Whatever punishment he wished to inflict upon her was fine, as long as he would stop being angry with her!

However, before she could even swing her legs over the side of the bed, the sound of the doorknob turning echoed from the doorway.

"Click!"

Seele's movements froze. Raising her head, her tear-misted eyes caught sight of Ling Feng pushing the door open and walking in.

Ling Feng entered the bedroom, carrying a bowl of steaming, hot porridge in his hands.

Seeing Seele attempting to get out of bed, Ling Feng felt a jolt of panic. He hurried over, placed the bowl on the bedside table, and then gently placed his hands on Seele's shoulders, carefully helping her sit up straight and lean against the headboard.

His movements were exceptionally gentle and cautious, as if he were handling a porcelain doll that might shatter at the slightest touch, terrified of causing her any accidental discomfort.

Seeing that she was safely settled, Ling Feng offered a gentle note of reproach: "Seele, your body is still very weak, you shouldn't be moving around carelessly. Just stay properly tucked in!"

However, Seele could no longer process a single word he said. Acting as though she had lost her soul, she simply stared blankly at Ling Feng the moment he appeared, not even daring to blink, as if afraid that doing so would make him vanish from her sight once again.

"Eh? Why are you crying? Did big brother hurt you?"

Noticing that Seele was just staring straight at him while large tears began to stream down her face, Ling Feng asked with a tone of self-reproach. He picked up the handkerchief from the bedside and gently helped the little girl wipe away her tears, his heart aching for her.

"There, there~. Don't cry anymore. If Seele cries and turns into a little crybaby, she won't be cute anymore."

Yet, these soothing words meant for a child not only failed to comfort Seele, but actually made her tears fall even faster.

Seele could no longer suppress the emotions within her heart. Throwing caution to the wind, she plunged straight into Ling Feng's arms and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Sob, sob, sob... I-I'm sorry, big brother! Sob, sob, sob... I'm sorry..."

Seele buried her tear-stained face deeply into Ling Feng's chest, her tears flowing like a broken dam and instantly dampening the fabric of his shirt.

She choked back her sobs, continuously apologizing to Ling Feng as though she had committed some unforgivable crime.

"Sigh~" Ling Feng let out a soft sigh, gently stroking the back of the little girl's head and spine while speaking in a soothing voice: "It's alright, it's alright. It's not Seele's fault, big brother isn't angry with you. Won't Seele stop crying now?"

As he comforted the little girl, his heart was filled with helplessness.

Just as Seele had suspected earlier, when he woke up that morning, he had found Seele sleeping in his arms, her complexion faintly pale and tear tracks still lingering at the corners of her eyes.

In that instant, the frantic events of the previous night flashed through his mind like a cinematic reel.

Realizing what had happened last night, Ling Feng's mind went completely blank for a long while.

He... he had actually done that with Seele last night...

At first, his instinctive reaction was that he simply hadn't been able to control his desires. But as his thoughts cleared, he quickly began to piece together various unusual details from the previous night.

The matter itself was not complicated; once he connected all the pieces, how could he fail to deduce the full picture?

After sorting through the sequence of events, Ling Feng's inner feelings became overwhelmingly complex.

Was he angry?

Perhaps a little, but not because he felt he had been manipulated by the little girl, but rather because she had been far too reckless.

Recalling his own madness under the influence of medicine the night before, and looking at the pale complexion of the young girl in his arms, how could he not be angry?

Yet, alongside his anger, an even greater part of his heart was filled with heartache, and a nameless sense of... joy?

*(Am I actually feeling happy about having shared such an intimate experience with Seele?)*

Realizing this, Ling Feng stood stunned for quite a while, completely at a loss for how to feel about it...

………………

After a long while, Seele finally stopped crying. Ling Feng helped her settle comfortably against the headboard once more, picked up the now-warmed red date porridge, and fed it to her spoonful by spoonful.

Seele's eyes were red-rimmed and her eyelids slightly swollen from her recent bout of crying. She sat obediently against the pillows, accepting Ling Feng's feeding while keeping her gaze fixed entirely on him, the joy of having recovered what she feared lost overflowing within the young girl's heart.

One sitting upright, the other half-reclining, the two shared a tacit silence, neither willing to break the warmth of the moment. Bathed in the morning sunlight streaming through the window, the scene within the room appeared remarkably tranquil and serene.