Even though that jealous skirmish in the bath left me a little wiped, the hot spring steamed the fatigue away like mist lifting off a pond. I stepped out clear-headed, mood bright as noon.
Hill had played too wild earlier, so she was asleep in my arms, a warm kitten curled to my chest. That, of course, stirred a small storm of resentment from the sisters.
I tried to pass Hill to Lixue, hoping Lingxiao and Lingsaki would settle like leaves after rain. But Hill clung to me like a vine on a tree and wouldn’t let go. I could only sigh. What a sticky child.
Hill’s sleeping face was lethal-level cute. Her tiny mouth opened and closed like a fish in a quiet stream. Her pale, soft cheeks begged for a playful pinch.
Thought met action. I reached out to gently pinch that impossibly cute cheek. But she suddenly parted her lips and took my finger, dreamily nibbling and suckling, like tasting a sweet in her sleep.
Mm. That soft, tingling numbness spread like warm bubbles in spring water. Comfortable.
“Stare...”
“Stare...”
Alright, the sisters’ gazes hit me harder, like arrows of vinegar. Even Lixue looked at me with a slightly strange moonlit glance.
Feeling prickly under the stares, I tried to pull my finger back. The moment it left Hill’s mouth, the drowsy girl grabbed it with a little hand and guided it back, nibbling and suckling again.
...
Too cute. My heart melted like sugar on the tongue. Hill is dangerous-level adorable.
“Staaare... Dear big brother, you spoil Hill way too much.”
“Yeah. It feels like you enjoy playing with Hill more than with us.”
Uh, seriously? These two sisters get jealous faster than summer clouds. I had no strength to complain. Back then, they basically ran away because I spent most of my time on Littlesky—she needed care. They felt neglected, then got acknowledged by the Dual Daynight Tomes and stayed in the Daynight Sanctuary for years to inherit them.
“Looks like Emperor really likes little ones.”
Lixue came to my side and stroked Hill’s cute little head, her smile soft as dawn.
“Mm-hmm. She’s adorable, after all. And, Lingxiao, Lingsaki, don’t keep competing with a child like autumn sparrows pecking at rice.”
Back in the room, the sisters still wore stormcloud faces. I sat down with a helpless sigh, laid Hill on the bed like placing a feather, then pulled the two into my arms.
“But dear big brother always plays with Hill...”
“Yeah. We know Hill’s a kid, but she clings to you like ivy.”
They looked up at me, a touch of complaint in their eyes like rain beads. Headache material.
No helping it. To soothe their moods, I kissed their delicate, beautiful cheeks, then stroked their still-damp, silky hair like smoothing ripples. “To Hill, you’re the adults. Getting jealous of a child makes you look a bit unripe.”
“Mm... We’ll reflect properly.”
“Right. Hill needs dear big brother’s care. That’s only natural.”
A sudden blush bloomed on both faces, like evening glow on snow. They buried their heads into my chest, shy as fawns.
Eh? Shy already? I was speechless. Usually they pounce whenever, and at night they hug me like koalas. Now a cheek kiss turns them quiet... Hm. Something feels off.
Well, at least they calmed down. A little, quiet pond at last.
“Emperor, you’re pretty good at coaxing girls. Honestly, it’s only natural.”
Lixue sat beside me and glanced at Lingxiao and Lingsaki nestled in my arms.
“Why?”
I blinked. Since when is me coaxing girls “only natural”?
“Emperor, you’ve been surrounded by girls your whole life, haven’t you? I’ve never seen you hang with a male friend. Don’t tell me you don’t have any?”
I didn’t answer. Lixue tossed me two questions like stones across water.
“Well... you got me.”
Thinking it through, she was right. To this day, not even chat-and-laugh with a same-age guy. Around me, it’s always a garden of different beauties.
“It’s not dear big brother’s fault. At home, yin thrives and yang is thin. In the main Mizumi Clan, besides Father and dear big brother, there are no other men.”
“Yeah. Outside, the young men are all brainless peacocks. Not qualified to approach us.”
The sisters lifted their heads to explain, their voices like bells.
“True. Good thing the first man I met was Emperor. Otherwise, I might’ve formed a negative view of men right away.”
Lixue nodded, probably recalling all the approaches since we left the Nine Cold Labyrinth.
“I don’t get those royal scions and noble brats. Where’s that superiority coming from? A bit of status in one empire, and they act like tyrants. Baffling.”
“Exactly. Especially that ‘prince’ we bumped into when we reached the Northern Abyss Continent. Disgusting. Men outside can’t even be compared to dear big brother.”
“Hey, Lingsaki, comparing dear big brother with those mere mortals is plain rude!”
“Sorry. That’s fair.”
They finished, then burrowed into my arms again, rubbing like kittens.
“Compared to Emperor... this whole world has no match. Just by birth, it’s a clean loss. Not to mention temperament and manners. Emperor was born in the Mizumi Clan yet treats people gently, without pride. Meanwhile those low-born princes swagger like they own the skies. It really shows how upbringing and birth entwine.”
Lixue started praising me too, words like soft snow piling up.
...
“Ahem. If you compare him to Mizumi men, then every man under heaven—outside the Central Continent—should hang his head in shame.”
Celia Maya had slipped back at some point, just in time to catch our chatter.
“But Emperor’s temperament is shockingly good. Born in the Mizumi Clan, yet mild as spring rain, no aloof hauteur. That’s hard to achieve. The higher the status, the easier to get lost in it, to think you’re number one and see no one else.”
“People really think that? That obvious kind of wrong?”
World’s number one... other than Xinuo, I doubt anyone dares claim it.
“Which is why your quality is rare, Emperor. Not to mention, among our Dragon Kin, most elders’ children have noses pointing at the sky, thick as clouds. They’re far worse than you.”
Celia Maya smiled as she stroked sleeping Hill’s little head, her touch like a feather.
...
I still find it abnormal. To grow a sense of superiority just because your birth is better? What a twisted compass of values. The thought sat in me like a stone in clear water.
