"Dad... Dad!"

After playing with her doll in the corner for just a minute, Lian Ye grew deeply unhappy when she couldn’t spot Baiyi.

So she bounced back to his side, hugging her doll tightly.

Hmm...

Dad, look—a girl!

Not looking. Mine.

Unhappy.

"What are you doing, dummy?"

Seriously? Barely a minute passed, and this idiot couldn’t wait?

Tch. Troublesome.

I hadn’t even gotten my questions out before this guy started causing trouble.

"Hold... hand."

Lian Ye stretched out her fair little hand and tugged Baiyi’s sleeve.

"Fine."

This dummy... sigh, whatever.

"Hee... hee."

The moment Lian Ye grabbed Baiyi’s hand, she clutched it like her most cherished toy—refusing to let go.

"Hey. You’re captured now. Still planning revenge?"

Honestly, as Baiyi stared at the girl before him, his hostility had faded.

A pang of guilt suddenly hit him.

Whatever. It’s war.

Deaths happen; why feel guilty?

If I hadn’t acted then, I wouldn’t be standing here now.

Baiyi tried numbing himself with war’s cruelty.

Yet his heart still ached.

He felt nothing killing others on the battlefield... so why this one...

"Dad... Dad!"

Lian Ye noticed Baiyi holding her hand but still ignoring her, fixated on the girl.

Furious, she pouted and yanked his fingers.

She didn’t know his gaze wasn’t on the girl—he was lost in thought, eyes distant and dreamy, the girl absent from his sight.

But silly Lian Ye only knew one rule: if Dad didn’t look at her, it was wrong!

"What now, dummy?"

"She... bad person! Xiao Ling... good person!"

To Lian Ye, anyone giving her milk was good.

Anyone making Dad ignore her or skip playtime was bad.

"Xiao Ling? Who’s Xiao Ling..."

Huh?

Xiao Ling?

Why does that name ring a bell...

Oh. Right.

She’s my Personal Maid. Saved Lian Ye at that magic show days ago.

I almost forgot to thank her properly.

But why forget something so important?

Weird.

"You remember her?"

"Re... member!"

Guess I’m getting old. Can’t even recall my own maid.

Something vital—wiped clean from my mind.

Strange.

"Hey. Want to leave here?"

Baiyi watched the girl sitting silently on the bed’s edge, head bowed.

He felt oddly indebted to her.

Tch. So frustrating.

"Fake kindness..."

The girl shot Baiyi a cold glare. Weak from days without food, her body trembled—but her eyes burned with hatred.

Clearly, she had no interest in talking.

"Enough talk. One question: leave here or not? Only two answers—yes or no."

Baiyi claimed to offer a choice.

But his Curved Saber was already pressed to her throat.

Less a chance. More a threat.

"I... will kill you..."

The icy blade at her throat sparked no fear in her eyes.

Only fury.

Baiyi didn’t flinch. He simply murmured,

"You can’t kill me. You’re too weak."