Chapter 408: Even if You Scream Your Lungs Out, No One Is Coming

“Yingxue?”

The wooden door was pushed open gently.

Unlike the image in Xu Xi's imagination of the girl writing furiously at her desk…

After pushing open the door, it was a quite peaceful scene.

The desk was wide, with bronze candle stands on either side. Two flickering flames brought a faint light to the desolate room.

Affected by Xu Xi's opening of the door,

the night wind surged into the room.

Consequently, the two candle flames swayed unsteadily, sometimes flaring up and sometimes dipping low.

They flickered and burned,

illuminating the sleeping face of the young girl slumped over the desk.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her expression was serene, and she was sleeping very soundly.

“Did she fall asleep…”

Xu Xi was stunned for a moment, then his expression softened. He slowed his pace as he approached the desk, avoiding making any loud noises.

Soon,

as the distance closed,

the girl's sleeping posture was fully revealed before Xu Xi.

She was slumped over the dark brown desk, her head resting on her arm, which in turn was pressing down on a calligraphy sheet. A brush was placed carelessly at the edge.

In the corner, there were several crumpled, discarded calligraphy sheets.

Xu Xi opened one slightly to take a look.

It was densely packed with the girl's practice work.

“It's not bad at all,” Xu Xi smiled. These were not insincere words, but a genuine compliment.

It was true that Wu Yingxue had practiced martial arts since she was a child.

But during her childhood, she had also received an imperial education.

Her handwriting couldn't possibly be ugly.

Xu Xi felt it was already sufficient, but the girl herself felt it wasn't good enough, claiming she must learn more beautiful calligraphy to make Xu Xi look at her in a new light.

“Hehe…”

“Hehe…”

“I'm not that amazing, Mister…”

“~~~”

With her eyes closed and her nose twitching slightly, the sleeping Princess murmured blurred sleep talk.

Xu Xi laughed upon hearing this.

He just felt that the Princess in this state was truly quite cute.

Whoosh—

The night wind blew, and the wooden door swayed slightly in the wind, making intermittent creaking sounds.

Xu Xi closed the door and covered Wu Yingxue with a thin blanket.

“This way, she shouldn't catch a cold.”

Xu Xi stood by the desk, looking at the soundly sleeping Wu Yingxue, then at the many calligraphy sheets on the desk, pulling out the top one.

That was the one Wu Yingxue had been writing before she fell asleep.

The ink had already dried.

Corrections were obvious.

On it were two lines of the same characters.

One line was Wu Yingxue's old handwriting, and the other was her imitation of a calligraphy master.

“She really is working hard…”

Xu Xi put down the sheet and took out the second one, checking the girl's results for tonight one by one.

In some places, typos were obvious.

In some places, it was too messy.

Through these calligraphy sheets, it was easy to imagine Wu Yingxue's tired and weary posture as she practiced by the lamp.

Xu Xi thought for a moment and picked up the brush scattered on the table.

On those calligraphy sheets, he corrected and modified Wu Yingxue's characters and gave them grades one by one.

[Grade A]

[Grade A]

[Grade A]

This wasn't an evaluation of the calligraphy.

But an evaluation of the girl herself.

Regardless of whether the calligraphy was beautiful, in Xu Xi's eyes, Wu Yingxue had already become a qualified person.

He trusted and affirmed Wu Yingxue's growth.

“Have a good sleep.”

Finally,

Xu Xi put down the paper and brush.

After confirming the thin blanket wouldn't slip off, he left Wu Yingxue's room with the same silent steps.

The candles swayed, blooming softly.

The girl continued to sleep soundly, murmuring sleep talk that Xu Xi could no longer hear:

“Mister… even if you scream your lungs out… no, no one will come, hehe…”

“Come home with me quickly, hehe…”

Before Xu Xi left,

he thoughtfully closed the doors and windows.

This was to prevent the overly fierce night wind from waking his Princess from her sweet dream.

But there was still a stray wind that slipped through the tiny gap at the threshold, gently lifting the fine hair on the girl's forehead.

Revealing a happily silly sleeping face.

Murmuring and talking to herself, her hands waved back and forth on the desk, as if trying to catch something.

Until some time passed and she fell into a deeper sleep, only then did she slowly quiet down amidst the howling of the night wind.

The next day.

The brilliant sun rose from the horizon.

Wu Yingxue, slumped over the desk, woke up in a drowsy state, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“Did I fall asleep again?”

“No, no, at this rate, when will I be able to make Mister look at me in a new light?”

“Wu Yingxue, you can't be so lazy anymore!”

She cheered herself up.

The girl picked up the calligraphy sheet on the desk, preparing to fight again.

Only soon,

she discovered her calligraphy sheets had been touched.

“This handwriting is… Mister's?” Wu Yingxue was stunned. What appeared before her were Grade A evaluations one after another.

The ink was half-dry, and the brushstrokes were gentle.

Like a silent tenderness.

Quietly telling unspoken words.

“Does Mister mean that I'm already qualified…” Wu Yingxue's hand rested lightly on her shoulder, catching the thin blanket Xu Xi had covered her with.

It was very warm and delicate.

At this moment, the girl belatedly realized one thing.

She wanted to gain Xu Xi's recognition through calligraphy, through the gentleness of a well-bred lady.

But.

That seemed to be a useless action.

Because all along, Xu Xi had been supporting, affirming, and encouraging her to move forward, never once denying her.

“I did something stupid…”

Wu Yingxue leaned back slightly in the wooden chair, looking up at the ceiling, feeling she had wasted a lot of time and made Xu Xi worry about her.

The moon was right there.

It had never moved.

It was the arbitrary surging of the water's surface that disturbed the clear reflection of the full moon.

“I'm sorry, Mister, for making you worry.”

During breakfast.

Before Xu Xi could speak, Wu Yingxue apologized directly, her expression filled with guilt: “Even though it's my own business, it delayed your rest.”

“It's fine, Yingxue.”

“Eat,” Xu Xi said with a gentle expression, lightly rubbing the Princess's hair, letting her eat breakfast in peace.

As for whether to continue calligraphy, Xu Xi didn't make the decision for Wu Yingxue.

“Yingxue, as long as it's something you like, I will support you.”

Xu Xi's voice was soft.

He let the girl judge for herself whether to continue.

In the end, Wu Yingxue gave up on practicing calligraphy.

She had seen through it; in the Domain of calligraphy, she indeed had no talent. Instead of wasting time, it was better to do truly important things.

“Truly important things?”

“Yes, Mister.”

The Princess's answer had a double meaning.

The morning breeze blew across her cheeks, itchy and cool, brushing past the corners of the girl's eyes with a delicate touch, making her subconsciously press down her hair.

She looked up at the sky.

The spring sun was exceptionally gentle, without a hint of harshness.

“Mister, can you accompany me away from here?”

“I want to go to the place in this world closest to the stars.”

As she spoke,

Wu Yingxue looked at Xu Xi with a brilliant smile.

Those eyes were the only two bright stars in the daylight.

“Okay.”

The moon accepted the invitation.