Before we knew it, Dreamsound and I had swum to the village gate, water trailing off us like silver threads, and faces turned toward us like sunflowers.

“P—Princess! Your Highness, you finally came out?” An older villager seized Dreamsound’s hand, his fingers trembling like dry reeds in wind.

‘Princess? Isn’t she the merfolk queen?’ Confusion curled through me like fog in a hollow.

“Long time no see, Aunt Chen.” Dreamsound smiled, warm as spring light through bamboo, a look she saved for old friends.

“Your Highness, have you been well? We’ve all been worried…” Aunt Chen glanced at me, her gaze snagging like a hook. “Is this your child?”

“Mm! Her name is Qingsheng Tangxue, my daughter.” Dreamsound’s voice rang gentle as a bell. “I came not only to visit everyone, but to introduce my girl.”

“What a lovely child.” Aunt Chen’s sigh floated out like steam from a kettle. “So Your Highness has been raising a child all these years. Now I can rest easy.”

“So I’m not as fragile as you think.” Dreamsound laughed, light as a kite in fair wind. “I’ve figured things out. I’m not rebuilding a nation. If I couldn’t let go before, now it’s probably just laziness.” One Little Shengsheng already wears me out; who still wants to run a country?

“That’s true. As long as Your Highness lives happy, that’s enough.” Aunt Chen’s eyes softened like dusk. “We old bones did nothing back then and still carry guilt. If you ever need help, don’t refuse. You’ve done too much for us already.”

“Eh?? It’s big sis! Princess sis is back!” A girl a bit older than me rushed in like a sparrow and clung to Dreamsound, rubbing against her like a kitten.

…What’s with this girl! Even I can’t bear to—she—how dare she!

I strode over and grabbed the girl’s wrist, trying to pry her off like peeling a barnacle from a rock.

You like stealing other people’s mom that much—are you an orphan?

I tugged hard, jaw set like a clamp, but she hugged tighter, arms looped like chains.

“Mmph, who are you, and why are you pulling me off my sister?” She shot me a wary look, then clamped down harder like a vice.

“…” A storm of swear words flashed through my head like thrown knives, but I swallowed them like bitter tea.

“She’s my mom!!!”

“…”

“…What? Why is everyone staring at me…”

“Pfft—haha.” Dreamsound flicked a glance like sunlight. “Alright, Little Shengsheng, Xiaolian’s just being clingy. Why so serious? Or—can’t bear your mom being hugged?” She used the moment and yanked the girl off like pulling a weed, and I wrapped both arms around Dreamsound like a koala.

“I can’t bear it! So what?!”

“Ahem. People are watching.” Dreamsound’s cheeks flushed faint as peach blossom. “Save some things for home…”

I lowered my head and thunked my forehead gently into her belly, like a soft battering ram.

“What nonsense are you spouting! I—I just…” She pinched my chubby cheek, her fingers warm as sunlight on mochi.

The villagers watching shifted, awkward as cranes on ice, especially Xiaolian.

“So, that means Little Sister Qingsheng Tangxue is Her Highness’s daughter?”

Isn’t it obvious? I shot the speaker a side-eye sharp as a needle.

“True… they really look alike.” Another man sighed, like a winded bellows. “But Her Highness had a child without marrying… wuu, my youth is over.”

…He doesn’t plan to be my dad, does he?

I need a way to kill that idea—physically.

The young man who’d been mouthing off felt a sudden chill in his crotch, like cold water poured from a well, and shivered.

Truth was, the guy was probably older than Dreamsound, with some standing in the village, like an old pine that never fell. Dreamsound had seen him already when she first came here.

“Right, Your Highness, why not stay a few more days?” A smooth voice drifted in like tea steam. “We’re not a big village, but the scenery is first-rate.”

“And lots of youngsters want to meet you. We—”

“No, Uncle Ming.” Dreamsound’s refusal was soft as a fan’s flutter. “This time I mainly brought Little Shengsheng to play. I want her to meet everyone. We’ll just pay brief visits. Friends in the far north are still waiting for us.”

“Ah, that’s how it is.” The man called Uncle Ming ruffled my hair, gentle as a breeze through rice. “Then make the most of it and have fun here, Little Sister.”

“Mm, thank you, Uncle Ming!”

Later, Dreamsound told me Uncle Ming was the village chief, a quiet mountain under mist. She’d known him before, and from her childhood till now, he looked the same, like time flowed around him. They say he fought in that ruinous war, survived, and guarded this place.

After that, Dreamsound and I visited other homes, including Xiaolian’s (I was grinding my teeth like a squirrel). People kept stuffing us with local gifts—black cookies like little stones, and braised dried fish that gleamed like lacquer. Dreamsound didn’t push too hard. She knew refusing was wind against a cliff, useless. They didn’t need money either. Better to keep the kindness in our hearts like a warm ember.

By the time we headed back, night was washing in like ink, and Dreamsound teleported us straight to the White Moon Pavilion, light folding around us like silk.

“Waaah, Sister Qing… you left me to dry there like laundry.” Xuanxiao burst in, tears bubbling like rain. “I waited till noon and then saw you’d ghosted me, and ran off with Little Tangxue to play… Am I that annoying? At least tell me. If I ruin your sweet little trip for two, I’ll bow out…”

“…” You got lost in your game and spaced out.

“We saw you were busy, Sister Xuanxiao, so we didn’t call you…” I scratched my cheek, heat pricking like sun on snow. “And Dream… and I didn’t really play much. It’s fine if you didn’t come.”

“Wuuuu, I get it, I get it. I was in the way. Sorry.” Her voice drooped like a wilted flower.

What is with this woman! Mmph! Don’t force me!

“But weren’t you busy carrying a newbie girl in-game, Sister Xuanxiao? We were the ones bothering you. Sorry…”

“…” The corner of Xuanxiao’s mouth twitched like a plucked string.

“Alright, alright, I accept Little Tangxue’s apology.” She smiled like a fox in moonlight. “But shouldn’t an apology come with a little something—like coming to my room…” “Ow—Sister Qing, easy! I was just joking!”

“That’s enough. Cut it out. Move. We walked all day, and I’m dead tired.”

Mm-hm. I only want to fall on a bed and sleep like a stone in a river.

“Hee-hee… need a massage? I’m pretty confident in my hands.”

“Scram, you perv!”