“Leaving already?” Lilia watched Iris’s figure grow smaller in the distance, murmuring to herself with a touch of sadness.

Disappointment showed plainly on her face; she’d really wanted to spend a little more time with Iri.

Sitting on the stool, Ling could clearly feel that trace of loss in her mother’s heart. At the same time, she could also see how bad things were between her big sister and her mother—so bad it felt beyond repair.

“Mother, can I talk with you for a bit?” Ling walked up to Lilia, smiling brightly as she asked.

Hearing that, Lilia lifted her eyes, staring blankly at Ling. She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say to you. In my mind there are only memories of Iri. Aside from her, I don’t remember anything.”

“That’s fine. We can just get to know each other again. My name’s Ling, I’m your younger daughter.” Ling held Lilia’s hand and said seriously, “I’ll stay with you for all the days to come, whether you remember me or not.”

Looking at Ling’s serious, solemn expression, Lilia froze for a moment, then gently nodded.

“Xiaoling, do you want some cookies I made?” Lilia suddenly asked.

“Yes!” Ling answered at once, happy. “As long as you made them, Mother, I’ll like them.”

Right after that, Lilia went to prepare the ingredients and start baking. Ling watched her mother’s practiced motions as she made the cookies, her heart filling with a deep, heavy warmth.

A short while later, Lilia took chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and held one out to Ling. “Here, Xiaoling. Try it and tell me how I did?”

“Okay.” Ling nodded and took the cookie.

“Crunch, crunch…”

“It tastes great!” Ling silently gave a thumbs‑up, praising her.

In truth, the chocolate chip cookie was very bitter. Ling just didn’t want her mother to feel discouraged, so she pretended it was delicious.

Seeing Ling’s expression, Lilia’s face bloomed with a radiant smile. She took out another cookie. “And this one.”

Watching Ling’s expression, Lilia’s smile grew even brighter. She placed the rest of the cookies from the oven onto a plate, set it in front of Ling, and said, “There’s plenty more.”

Ling eyed the plate full of chocolate chip cookies and started eating without holding back. As she chewed, she kept talking, “Mm, so good, it smells amazing!”

Listening to Ling’s praise, Lilia laughed happily. She reached out to rub Ling’s head and said with a chuckle, “If you like it, eat more. If it’s not enough, there’s still more.”

“Got it!” Ling replied right away.

Looking at how adorable Ling was, Lilia couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She took out two cartons of milk, handed them to Ling, and said with smiling eyes, “Xiaoling, slow down, no one’s going to steal them from you.” “Mm‑hm.” Ling nodded over and over, then took the milk and drank it in big gulps.

Ling didn’t want her mother to know that her cookies tasted awful, so she deliberately acted like they were really good. Only that way would her mother not be hurt.

After Ling finished eating, Lilia made another batch of cookies the same way as before. She packed them into a paper bag, handed it to Ling, and said, “Can you let Iri taste one of my cookies? Just one is enough.”

Ling stared at the paper bag in front of her, silent for a few seconds. In the end she still took it, speaking with a firm, oath‑like tone: “Big Sis will definitely taste the cookies you made.”

“Thank you, Xiaoling.” Lilia smiled sweetly.

“You’re my mother. I’m your daughter. Of course I should do this, you don’t have to thank me.” After saying that, Ling tucked the paper bag into her arms and stepped out of the room.

…

After leaving, Iris went to find Dugu.

“Dugu, tomorrow you’ll go to the prison and pick a group of death‑row inmates who truly wish to change. Train them into a new batch of Shadow Guards. These Shadow Guards only need to serve for two hundred years, then they can choose to retire or continue service. Those who retire will have their citizen status restored and receive a reward of two million Bella. But anything they learned or practiced in the Shadow Guard camp, and all missions they carried out, must never be leaked. Anyone who disobeys is to be killed without mercy. Those who continue serving will have their family’s living expenses covered by the state. Their children will attend the Shuowang Empire’s top Red Moon Academy and receive the best education. The state will also provide extra cultivation resources for them until they reach adulthood.” Iris laid out the plan she’d long had in mind.

“Yes, Your Highness. I obey.” Dugu nodded.

“This batch of Shadow Guards has to be trained in secret. No one is allowed to know you exist. If you need cultivation resources, just report it to me. You must ensure this unit’s loyalty and strength. There can’t be any traitors or spies. Got it?” Iris reminded him again.

“Understood,” Dugu replied.

“As for the training methods, as a first‑generation Shadow Guard, you know them better than I do. I want you to double the intensity on that basis. They have to be stronger than Lilia’s batch.” Iris added, “As for matters concerning Lilia, go find my little sister. She’ll take you to see her.”

“Yes.” Dugu answered respectfully, then took his leave.

…

Dugu planned to first have the Prince take him to see the Empress Dowager, confirm that she was healthy, and then go prepare to train the new Shadow Guards.

Once that was settled, he could focus on the training without worries.

In the afternoon, at around two o’clock, Dugu found Ling. Coincidentally, Ling was also looking for Dugu. During the New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, she had sensed an unawakened Vanquisher power inside Dugu’s body. And oblivion had said that she needed to awaken these Vanquishers.

When they met, Dugu spoke first. “Your Highness, may I ask you to take me to see the Empress Dowager?” He bowed to Ling.

“Sure. After you see Mother, I’ll need you to help me with something.”

“Please command me, Your Highness. I’ll do my best,” Dugu said respectfully.

“Let’s talk details after I’ve taken you to see Mother.” Ling nodded slightly, then led Dugu toward Lilia’s residence.

The two of them stopped in front of the gate to Lilia’s courtyard. “Do you need me to call Mother out?” Ling asked.

“No need.” Dugu shook his head. He walked over to the window and looked in, seeing Lilia reading and practicing word pronunciations.

Once he’d confirmed that the Empress Dowager was safe and sound, he quietly withdrew. He didn’t disturb Lilia, so as not to disrupt her reading.

“Dugu, you’re not going in to talk with Mother?” From under a tree in the courtyard, Ling looked at Dugu in confusion and asked.

“There’s no need. Besides, the Empress Dowager probably doesn’t remember me. I just need to confirm her emotional and physical state.” Dugu shook his head, answering in an offhand tone.

“Oh…” Ling nodded in sudden understanding, then the two of them moved on, heading toward a pavilion.

“Dugu, you’ve been with Mother the longest. Do you know why the relationship between my big sister and Mother turned out so bad?” As they walked, Ling suddenly asked.

“Your Highness really wants to know what happened?” Dugu stopped and glanced sideways at her.

“Of course. Only by knowing the root of the problem can I find a way to solve it.” Ling answered firmly.

“All right.” Dugu sighed, then began explaining. “Your Highness, you should know the Shuowang Empire used to be the Crimson Empire. Back then, Her Majesty the Empress was still a princess, and the ruler of the Crimson Empire was Lilia—your mother. The conflict between the Empress and the Princess started with the Empress Dowager’s death.”

“The Empress Dowager?” Ling looked at Dugu in confusion. This was hardly the first time she’d heard that name.

“Yes. The Empress Dowager is your grandmother. She was a very gentle woman—mild and virtuous, and very kind to the servants. When she suddenly passed away, Her Majesty examined the cause of death and discovered a dark‑red shard remaining in her body. On that shard was Princess Iris’s magic residue.”

“A dark‑red shard? Big Sis’s magic? Are you saying Big Sis was the killer?” Ling frowned, finding it hard to believe.

Dugu didn’t answer her question directly. He went on, “Magic traces can’t be forged. So it was ironclad evidence that the Princess killed the Empress Dowager. Her Majesty immediately arrested the Princess and locked her in the dungeon, where she suffered all kinds of cruel punishments and torture. Your Highness, you should’ve noticed this: no matter how Her Majesty dresses, her entire right arm is always covered with a black, fingerless silk sleeve. She never shows the skin of her right arm.”

Ling recalled sleeping with her sister and working alongside her. Whether sleeping or handling documents, her sister always covered her right arm and was especially careful about it, as if terrified someone might see.

Ling nodded. “Is that a problem? Maybe that sleeve has some special meaning to Big Sis.”

“No. I’d say that sleeve is only there to hide her right arm, to make her right hand look prettier.” Dugu’s face turned serious. “Back then, as part of the punishment, Her Majesty personally severed the Princess’s right arm and burned the severed limb to ash with fire. As everyone knows, as long as you find the severed arm, magic can reattach it. Her Majesty’s action meant the Princess would forever be missing a limb.”

Ling couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath. Shock flashed across her face; she’d never imagined Mother would be that ruthless to her sister.

“If the Princess didn’t confess the truth, Her Majesty would keep torturing her until she did. That night, the Princess’s summoned beast, Baixi, used her massive body to smash open the prison and rescue her. After a long chase, the Princess managed to escape. Her Majesty then issued wanted posters everywhere to hunt her down, promising huge rewards to anyone who provided her whereabouts. In the end, you could say those wanted posters were posted in every country.” Dugu continued, “Because Her Majesty believed the Princess killed the Empress Dowager and had no right to inherit the throne, she conceived a new child through self‑conception. That child was you, Your Highness. In other words, without this misunderstanding, you wouldn’t have been born.”

“And in the end? Was Big Sis the killer?” Ling pressed.

“No.” Dugu’s answer was firm. “After many years, Your Highness personally captured the Princess—your aunt. When we examined her, we discovered there was a Demon Emperor named Chaos inside her body. That dark‑red shard was something the Demon Emperor had placed inside the Empress Dowager. At the time, the Empress Dowager suffered from organ failure. The shard was meant to ease her passing, so that she wouldn’t be in so much pain when she died. So it was all one big misunderstanding. The harm Her Majesty did to the Princess can never be undone.”

Light flickered in Ling’s eyes. She hadn’t expected a misunderstanding to lead to such a tragic outcome. She also knew her big sister’s true identity was that Demon Emperor.

“Dugu, I want to ask you something.” Ling looked at him, her tone turning serious.

“Please ask, Your Highness.” Dugu met her gaze, his expression just as grave.

“It’s only right for a younger sister to help her elder sister, isn’t it?” Ling stared at Dugu, eyes filled with hopeful light.

“Of course. That’s only natural. Besides, you and Her Majesty are blood sisters. No one can change that,” Dugu replied without the slightest hesitation.

“Now that I’ve heard that, I’m relieved.” Ling looked at Dugu with a squinty‑eyed smile.

Dugu was puzzled. He didn’t understand why Ling would ask something like that.

Ling summoned a small strand of Vanquisher power from within her body and drew magic symbols in the air. Then she sent those symbols into Dugu’s forehead. Right after, she withdrew her hand and said, “Make sure you help Big Sis. Otherwise, I’ll be upset.”

Dugu didn’t answer. He only felt a power buried deep inside him slowly waking up.

Deep in her brother’s body, Dugu Jing could feel that same power clearly. It seemed like she could control it too.

Hidden memories kept stirring awake, fragment after fragment flashing through his mind.

In those memories was everything about demons, angels, and the Vanquisher. And the one before him now was oblivion itself—his King.

Dugu dropped to one knee and bowed respectfully to Ling. “Your subordinate, Double Soul, greets Your Majesty.” His voice carried his sister Dugu Jing’s voice as well—she too had regained her memories of being a Vanquisher.

“You’re Dugu, not Double Soul. And I’m not oblivion. I’m Ling, the beloved little sister of the current empress of the Shuowang Empire. Everything stays as it was.”

“As you command, Your Highness.”

“Mhm. You may leave now.” Ling flicked her hand lightly, signaling Dugu to withdraw.

After Dugu stepped out, Ling muttered under her breath, “So Sis really is the Demon King… But it’s fine. I’ll always be your good little sister.”

Ling didn’t care about things like oblivion or Chaos. What she cared about was her family. Her greatest wish was for Mother to regain her memories, for her sister and Mother to make up, for all of them to sit together every day, share a lively dinner, chat a little. That would be enough.

A warm home was all she yearned for.

…

The next morning, just as the sky was turning pale, Dugu was already carrying…