"I'm back."
Lin Ye did not know how he could say this line so well. Maybe it was his brain going on autopilot and reacting on its one when this girl came in, flying into his room for the window and hugging him out of nowhere.
His brain must see how this girl was sad, crying into his chest, and ordered his body to comfort her without his permission.
Those two words left his mouth like it was programmed into his very bones when he saw her cry.
He really did not mind it. The best he could do now was lightly pat the crying girl on his chest as he cry her heart out.
Both of them stay like this, Lin Ye laying on the floor and the girl crying on his chest, for about a few minutes. Then her cries slowly calm down and Lin Ye could only hear her slow breath. Her trembling body was now much calmer than before.
Lin Ye was about to say something to this girl but was interrupted when he saw the girl raise her head to look at him. He could feel slight pain when he saw those dark black eyes staring at him.
Then he saw her eyes widen, like she realized something. Her arms then shoot up and grabbed onto his collar. She brought her face inches away from his. Her narrowed eyes stared at his confused ones.
Then he heard her speak again. She sounded angry now.
"Why are you here?!" Ying Li said through her clenched teeth, "You're alive! You can leave all of this behind! Live a life that you deserve! So why?! Why are you here?!"
Being shouted at a girl that jumped through his window left Lin Ye speechless. He did not know what she was talking about and did not know how to answer her question. Even if he had an answer, the girl was not finished yelling at him.
"You worked so hard! Fought so hard!" Her voice trembled with every word she said, "Why are you here?! Ying Zhen! Do you want to die in front of me this time?! Answer me!"
Ying Zhen? Was this her brother's name? She seemed to mistake him for someone else. Was his face that similar to her brother's for her to not realise this?
And Ying? Why was this name sound so familiar? No matter. He needed to deal with this first.
As Lin Ye was about to explain himself, he heard glass breaking. Both he and the girl moved their head to the side to see that it was coming from FEater. He noticed there were two broken mugs and there were coffee spills on the floor below her.
At first, FEater came here to give Lin Ye some coffee and chatted with him. She enjoyed spending some time talking with him. She did not expect something that would come in a movie scene to happen in front of her. So she waited on the sideline to let this play out and see what will happen. She taught this girl looked familiar, but she wasn't sure.
However, when she heard the girl saying that name and she got a good look at the girl, FEater was shocked, so much that she let the cups in her hands fall.
"P-P-Princess!" Pointing at the girl, FEater stammered.
Lin Ye's eyes widened and spun around his head to the girl above him.
The who now?!
He shouted in his mind. Then he realized how similar this girl was to the photo of the princess that he saw from the other. Her name was Ying Li, right?
That was the princess of Yan's name.
....
Why was the princess here?!
That meant that he was talking to the princess of this country privately for two days now.
Then he realized he should have guessed who she was sooner. All the clues were in front of him.
She was about to get married and what was the nearest marriage ceremony here? The goddamn princess. Lin Ye wanted to slap his head at how dense he was.
Not now. Later.
He had a runaway princess to deal with.
She was mistaking him for her brother, one of Yan's princes.
This was a first.
After being recognized, Ying Li didn't seem to care. Instead, she grabbed Lin Ye's hand and pulled him up. Lin Ye stood up and looked at the girl in front of him.
"We don't have time!" She said hysterically, "Don't worry, Gege. I can get you away from Yan."
"Umm," He tried to get her attention.
"Although I don't know why you came back, or how you survived." Ying Li wiped her tears and said, "You have to leave now because Ying Jie is in the city. If he knows you are here, alive. He will never let you go."
"Ugh."
"You have to leave. Ursus, Victoria, any place is better than here... Maybe not Higashi." She thought hard about this, "That scumbag could use his connection to get you there."
"Umm, Ying Li?"
"Don't use my full name to change my mind! You need to leave! Now!" She glared at him. Then she looked away from him and walked back and forth in front of him, "I can't smuggle you from here. It is too dangerous."
"I am not your brother."
"Maybe using the plane? No. Too obvious. By boat? Maybe. How about-," Then he realized what Lin Ye just said to her. Her eyes winded as she looked at him, "What?"
"I am not your brother." Seeing that he finally got her attention, he repeated himself, "I think you are mistaken me for him. Sorry."
"Wha-What are you talking about?" Ying Li opened her mouth. Her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke again. Then she showed a troubled smile at him, "Is this one your prank? It's not funny."
"I am sorry but no," Lin Ye took a deep breath. Then he looked into Ying Li's eyes and said slowly, "I Think you git the wrong person here. I am not your brother. My name is Lin Ye, not Ying Zhen.
Ying Li's eyes widen. She was about to say something but was interrupted when she heard a girl's voice.
"Gege?" Nian mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. She looked around and found him, "What's going on?"
Ying Li looked at her in shock.
"Gege?"
Five minutes later, everyone came to the living room. They were all sitting on the sofa.
Except for Nian, who understood nothing and was barely awake, who was sitting on Lin Ye's lap did not care about this. Everyone else was intrigued by what was going on. However, Lin Ye noticed how the princess was sending glances at Nian and him from time to time. Every time he caught her doing this, she would look away and pretend nothing happened.
"Lin Ye may be a part of the royal family of Yan?"
Even Skadi, who was standing at his side, was interested in this. Her eyes constantly switched between Lin Ye and Ying Li. She was not alone. Everyone else did the same thing, except for Nian, who was trying her best to not sleep.
Lin Ye then notice that Warfarin was a bit too excited as she was looking at both of them.
This did not surprise him. She was the one that was eager to steal the blood from the said princess after all. If this girl was really Lin Ye's sister, it will make everyone happy.
Mostly her.
However, Warfarin still kept her mouth shut and see where this was going. She needed to be sure. Lin Ye was much more suited to dealing with this type of thing.
Lin Ye then went and explained who he was. He started when he woke up at Ursus.
Although Ying Li listened quietly and did not speak during the period, her eyes never took her eyes off Lin Ye. She sometimes glanced at Nian, who was falling asleep on his lap. Nonetheless, Lin Ye still continued the story of his life.
When Lin Ye was done, she was silent for a long time. Then she looked at him.
"So that's how it is." Ying Li said, "So you say that I made a mistake?"
Although he wanted to nod to this, Lin Ye was not sure either. He still did not know whose body he took from when he woke up in Chernobog.
Lin Ye was about to say something when he heard Warfarin's voice.
"Lin Ye, didn't you say you lost your memory?" Warfarin said, "Then how can you be sure that you are not the princess' brother?"
"... True," He hummed, "But the possibility of that being true is not that high."
"Maybe something happened?" Grani said.
"Maybe," He nodded, "But I am not sure. This body used to be someone. I just do not know who."
Then he looked at the princess that might give him some clues about who this body was before Lin Ye.
Ying Li never moved her eyes away from this person named Lin Ye. No matter how long she looked at him, Lin Ye looked like Ying Zhen. How he acted, how he showed his emotion, and even how he interact with people.
When she saw how gentle Lin Ye treated that girl, Nian he looked like how he would act when they were together.
However, the man in front of her still was not sure who he was. His memory was lost so he could be anyone.
Then an idea came into her mind.
Ying Li said slowly, "Can you show me your back?"
Lin Ye arched his brow at this, "My back?"
"Yes," She nodded.
After much thinking, he nodded. He looked down and woke Nian up, "Nian. Wake up."
"Mmmm," She forced her eyes to open, "Gege?"
"Yes. It's Gege," He chuckled, "Can you move for me? I need to stand up."
She did not want to. Gege felt nice being near with. However, he was asking her for help. So, with much force, she shuffled her small body to the side.
Lin Ye smiled gently at her and patted her head, "Thank you, Nian."
"Mmm," She pushed herself into his hand.
Be the side, Ying Li looked at this. She was gripping onto her skirt as she watched how they were interacting; It was like...
"Thank you, Lily..."
She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.
Then she saw Lin Ye looking at her.
"So my back?" He hummed, "Let me take off my shirt first."
Ying Li nodded and went to him.
Lin Ye faced his back to her and drag up his shirt. He was a bit nervous when he was doing this. As he was doing this, he could feel everyone's eyes on him. He bent down a bit to let the princess see his whole back.
When he finally took off his shirt, he waited for a response from Ying Li.
He waited...
... And waited.
.... And waited.
However, no matter how long he waited, he heard nothing from her.
"Umm," He said, "Is there anything there?"
Ying Li didn't speak immediately. Although his back was full of scars, one thing caught her attention. It was a small birthmark that was on his right shoulder.
Ying Li slowly reached out her hand subconsciously, wanting to touch it.
Then a scene flashed in her mind.
"You bastard!"
Lightning stuck a boy in front of a young Ying Li.
However, the child in front of her did not scream. He did not flinch and took all of it.
All for it.
For her.
"Gege!"
"Step aside, child!" The man roared, "I need to have a word with her."
The child did not move and even glared at the man, "No."
Blood was leaking from his wounds.
"So be it," Lightning crackled in the man's hand and he pointed at the boy, "I need to teach you respect."
The boy laughed at his threat.
"What float you boat," He smirked at him, "And respect? In your dreams."
After much time passed, the man left the two of them. The boy was now laying on the ground, his body would sometime twitch. He was gritting his teeth, holding back his pain.
Ying Li ran to his side. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she looked at her brother's state.
"Gege," She stretched out her hand and was about to touch him. Then she felt a slight pain when her hand was close to him, "Eekk!"
She flinched and pulled back her hands away from him. She glanced at the boy's body and saw sparks flying from him.
"Lily?" Hearing her cry, the boy forced his head to the side to look at her, "Are you okay?"
This made her cry more.
"I should be the one asking that Gege!" She yelled at him, "Father was mad at me, not you! I should be the one who got hurt, not you!"
"No can do," He forced a chuckle at her, "I can't let that."
"Why?!" She screamed at him as she looked down, not bearing to see him like this, "Tell me why you are the only one that can get hurt?!"
Then he felt something on her head. She slowly looked up and saw his brother sitting in front of her and patting her head. Although he was in pain, he still smile at her.
"What else? I'm your brother." He smiled at her, "It's my job to protect you."
She stopped her hand an inch away from his back. If she told him he was her brother, he would be pulled back into that world again.
No. He deserved so much more. It was her turn to protect him.
She pulled back her hand and hugged it. She felt her body tremble as she readied herself for what she was about to do now.
"You're right," Ying Li said softly, "You are indeed not my brother. I'm sorry, but I miss him so much that I forgot he is no more now."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
DRaft: Jaq
Proofread: Jaq
Edit: Jaq