“I want to see Dad! I want to see Dad! I haven’t seen Dad in so long!”
Gospel Kingdom, Yisuo Royal Palace. Deya looked at the mischievous Little Witch Lise in the mirror, exchanged glances with the White Queen, Black Butler, Scarlet Dead Apostles, and other sisters, and felt quite helpless.
Unable to log into the Virtual Realm for a whole month and a half-not just Lise, even Deya and the others were feeling a bit listless. Without replenishing Ashe’s energy for so long, they didn’t even have the energy to handle state affairs. On the worst days, they spent the whole day playing with building blocks to pass the time, but the more they played, the more they remembered how Ashe used to play with them, and the more irritable and restless they became.
Logically, bringing Lise into the Virtual Realm wasn’t impossible-they’d tried it many times before. But things were different now. In this month and a half, a lot had happened: the Void Gate Spirit outbreak, Annan starting to adjust the boundaries of the Gospel system, and the “Rebellion against authority” Miracle achieving initial results.
Although Deya still couldn’t control the Gospel Deity, through “Rebellion against authority” as a medium, she could already disperse the mental influence brought by the Gospel Deity to all citizens, almost immunizing them to the negative effects of deity possession.
Simply put, she no longer needed to hide that the Witch was actually Lise Deya. She could confess everything to Ashe.
But Deya hesitated.
She kept wondering if it was really necessary to change the already stable relationships and add more chips to herself.
Deya was actually very satisfied with the current situation. They were still teammates, still exploring the Virtual Realm together every day. Unlike the sword Princess, she didn’t have so many desires-maybe because she’d already gotten so much from Ashe, or maybe because she couldn’t bear to see Ashe sad.
Actually, it might also be that she was a little afraid of the sword Princess.Clearly, by age she was a bit older than the sword Princess, and her social status was definitely higher, but every time she saw that flash of red hair, Deya would instinctively shrink back and obediently acknowledge the sword Princess’s absolute position.
And thinking carefully, what would she really gain by confessing that the Witch was Lise Deya?
Would it make Ashe return to Gospel? But even if she didn’t say it, he would come back for Lise anyway.
Would it make Ashe like her more? Honestly, Deya would rather maintain the current, still somewhat pure, intensity of love than mix in a bit of kinship-this was what she worried about most. If Ashe couldn’t get over that psychological barrier and couldn’t accept being in love with his daughter’s elder sister, then Deya would really have to revere the sword Princess for life-as a stepmother.
On the other hand, if she kept hiding it, she could maintain the current relationship. Even if she had to confess, she’d wait until Ashe returned to Gospel-by then, even if he wanted to run, he couldn’t.
That’s why Deya was so troubled by Lise: Lise already knew the “Rebellion against authority” had taken effect. If she let her into the Virtual Realm, she might just shamelessly hug Ashe and call him Dad, turning the Virtual Realm into an unpredictable stage of fate, and their relationship would become completely unfathomable.
Asking Lise not to expose herself was pointless-Lise would say “okay, okay, okay” now, and then immediately start thinking whether to nuzzle Ashe’s face or bury herself in his chest first when she saw him. She was, after all, the Little Witch personality Deya had created herself-selfish, willful, and reckless by nature. As for giving up her core demands for the sake of her sisters, “sorry” was a survival function she never possessed from the start.
But not bringing Lise in wasn’t good either. Sure, she could skip today, but what about tomorrow, the day after, and in the future? If she never brought Lise in, never let her see Ashe, then they’d have to prepare for Lise’s early rebellious phase-if all the sisters could see Dad but she couldn’t, Lise, of all people, would never tolerate such unfair treatment. If she didn’t end up hating Deya and the others, that would be strange.
So after thinking it over, Deya exchanged glances with the White Queen and the others, and said seriously, “Lise, I will never bring you into the Virtual Realm to see Ashe again.”
Lise was stunned, then immediately rubbed her eyes and burst into tears.
“But I will continue to keep this young body,” Deya said. “Ashe loves the little girl Lise, not the grown-up Lise Deya. When Ashe returns to Gospel, we’ll let you have the body and let you be Lise for a whole month. You can act spoiled, play to your heart’s content, and enjoy your time with Ashe as much as you want.”
“After you spend a month with Ashe, we’ll return to our adult bodies. How about it?”
Lise immediately held up three fingers. “Three years!”
The White Queen went over and punched Lise on the head. “That’s way too much!”
“One and a half months!”
“One year!”
“One and three-quarters months…”
After a tense negotiation, they finally set “Lise time” at three months. If Ashe returned to the Gospel Kingdom, this body would be taken over by Lise, and only after three months could Deya use Reverse Year to return to her normal body from a year ago.
Finally soothing Lise, Deya breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing it was about time, she lay down on the bed to wait for the Virtual Realm connection. Just then, Annan, dressed in a purple gauze nightgown, came in, humming as she applied face cream, then lay down and hugged Deya.
“Did something good happen? Why are you so happy?” Deya asked.
“Banjeet called me Mom today,” Annan said with a laugh. “Hee hee hee, when he gets his memory back, I’ll be able to tease him about this for ages.”
“Huh?!” Deya exclaimed in surprise. “Will he call me elder sister then?”
“He could, but you’d have to call him elder sister a few hundred times first.” Annan shrugged. “I don’t mind, anyway-he’s taken care of me since I was little, so calling him Mom a few hundred times doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I’ve wanted to call him that for a long time.”
“I’ve always seen Banjeet as an elder sister too!” Deya said. “Is that why you’ve been happy all day?”
“Not just that,” Annan said. “It’s just… well, let’s put it this way. I have a friend A, she likes B, but A and B aren’t together. Recently, A found out that there’s a C around B, and B and C are very close.”
“But according to B, C should be a man. But when A met C, she found out C was actually a woman! Not only that, A and C have to spend a long time together next. Your Majesty, can you guess what will happen?”
Deya guessed, “An argument?”
Annan took Deya’s little hand and applied hand cream to the back of it, saying, “Argument is too mild a word-I think war is more appropriate. You have no idea what their first night meeting was like, it was truly spectacular… In short, it was very entertaining.”
Deya nodded, half-understanding. She thought for a moment and asked, “Annan, I recently read a story in a picture book. There were two women and one man, and their relationship was like this…”
“…Do you think the princess should confess or keep hiding it?”
“Keep hiding it,” Annan said. “Relationships are like sawing wood-sometimes they get better, sometimes worse. There’s always conflict and argument, but also warmth and comfort. Overall, they deepen over time-the longer you saw, the closer you become.”
“And confessing to another identity is like sawing with two saws at once. It might be more efficient, but it could also cause conflict and break the saws.”
“If the princess already has the upper hand, why make things more complicated?”
Deya nodded vigorously. “Annan, you’re right.”
“So what’s the ending of the story?” Annan asked curiously. “Did she confess or keep hiding it?”
Deya was about to answer when suddenly her soul was pulled. She said, “I’ll tell you tomorrow, I’m going to sleep.”
Her soul connected to the Virtual Realm, and her consciousness sank into Ruby Mountain. The Witch slowly opened her eyes, and the blood-red Ruby Mountains came into view.
Pa.
Deya turned her head and saw that flash of red hair throw herself into Ashe’s arms.
Ashe was almost knocked over by the sword Princess. He hugged her and spun around a few times. Then the two looked at each other and hugged tightly, as if trying to merge the other into themselves, endlessly seeking questions that didn’t even exist.
“I’m ready,” Sonya whispered in his ear. “You can come find me in the Stars anytime.”
Ashe was stunned and asked, “Ready for what?”
“Ready to let you stay with me,” Sonya said seriously. “Or for me to leave with you for a while.”
“But your studies, your career, and your-“
“That’s why I said, I’m ready.” Sonya exhaled. “Before you arrive, I’ll keep preparing, always ready. But we’re not leaving forever. When we stand at the peak of sorcerers, we can go wherever we want.”
Ashe blinked. Knowing about Decree 51, he naturally understood how much resolve the sword Princess had shown. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of bittersweet emotion. He pressed his lips together, took a deep breath, and said, “I-“
“Wait, wait, wait.”
Deya walked over and pushed the two of them apart, then looked at Ashe and said seriously:
“Ashe, I am actually Lise Deya.”