Seeing that Warfarin suddenly whispered in Ying Li's ear, Lin Ye felt like he really needed to teach her some common sense.
What was she thinking?
She was talking with the princess of Yan. Why was she getting way too close to her? He really did not want to be imprisoned because one of them did not understand the concept of personal space. Especially dealing with royalty.
He now knew that Warfarin really did not care at all about her life, seeing how she was treating the princess.
So before anything would get out of hand, he called her.
"Warfarin," He called her seriously, "Behave."
Hearing him, Warfarin backed away from the princess. She turned around and lifted her hands up to Lin Ye, signalling to him she was not doing anything wrong. The smirk on her face never left.
He sighed tiredly at how she was acting. Was he the only adult in this group?
Then he looked at the clock on the wall. It was late now.
"Umm... Princess," Lin Ye noted how her body tensed when he called her, "I think you should go back to your room. It's getting late now. You must be tired."
Warfarin glanced at Ying Li and showed a smirk to her, making Ying Li bite her lips. Warfarin then made her way to Lin Ye's side.
Lin Ye arched his brow and whispered to her, "What did you say to her just now?"
Warfarin just glanced at him and looked back at the princess, "Just something private between two girls."
"Between two girls, you say?" He hummed, "You still consider yourself a girl?"
"In vampire age, I am still a young girl," She eyed Lin Ye sharply, "And if you comment anything more about my age, I will bite you."
"... Noted," He sighed, "Just don't cause a scene."
"Who do you think I am?"
"Your Warfarin," He said blankly at her, "That's why I am worried."
She glared at him, but Lin Ye just raised his brow at her, challenging her to correct him.
Seeing her chance, Ying Li got up from the sofa and excused herself, "I will take my leave then."
Being far away from Warfarin, she was much calmer now, but when her eyes landed on Lin Ye though, Ying Li's will wavered just a bit.
"... I already took a lot of your time now," She forced herself to say this, "So I will go back to my room now."
"Oh? Your Highness is going back now?" Grani, who was silently watching all of this from behind Lin Ye, said, "You still did not- mmphf!"
Her mouth was covered by FEater before Grani could finish her sentence.
"As you wish, Your Highness! You must be so tired now!"
Lin Ye arched his brow and looked at her weirdly at how she was acting but did not comment on it.
"Umm... Your Highness? Can we get a group photo with you?" FEater then dragged her phone out, "If it is not inconvenient to you, I mean."
"... FEater," Lin Ye blankly stared at her like disappointed parents would do, "Are you serious?"
"You can't blame me for asking," She tried to explain herself, "I mean, what are the chances of us seeing her after this? One of a million? Maybe a billion!"
"... FEater. This girl just talked about her dead brother and the first thing that you thought of before she left was to take a picture of her?" Lin Ye stared at her emotionlessly, "... I will repeat what I said. Are you serious?"
A blush appeared on her face. Hearing Lin Ye made her realise how tactless she was acting.
"Dummy!" Nian said as she pointed at her.
"Oy!" She glared at the divine beast. Normally FEater wouldn't dare do this, but with how embarrassed she was, she didn't care anymore. That and when Nian was with Lin Ye, she wouldn't dare to hurt people. Feather pointed at Lin Ye as she asked Nian, "Why are you always on his side?!"
"Because he's Gege!" Nian said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I am always on his side! Dummy!"
"Grrr!" FEater grumbled at this, "What about your big sister?!"
Nian hugged Lin Ye, "I have a big brother, Gege!"
Ying Li watched how the group was interacting with themselves. The environment around them felt so comfortable. It almost made her want to be in the group. Then her eyes landed on Nian and Lin Ye.
The child was hugging Lin Ye tightly as she was making silly faces at FEater. Lin Ye sighed tiredly but still had a small smile on his face as he tried to calm both of them down.
Then the image of Lin Ye and Nina was replaced by another pair of people.
A boy and a girl.
The boy was the same, albeit younger. However, the person who replaced Nian was another girl with black hair instead. They were giggling with each as they hugged.
That should be you...
A voice whispered in her mind.
Ying Li hated how much she agreed with it.
That should be her.
That was her big brother!
That was her Gege!
She wanted to say this. She wanted to say this so badly to him so that he could treat her like how she was treating Nian.
She wanted to tell Lin Ye.
To tell him all that was on her mind.
To get her Gege again.
But something stopped her.
Ying Li saw Lin Ye smiling so gently at all of this.
He saw how safe he was now.
How he did not need to protect her anymore.
What to say that if Ying Li told Lin Ye that he was her brother, all of this will be gone.
That Ying Li will suck her brother back into the world that he hated so much.
Looking at how he was acting, Lin Ye was just like her brother. She knew he wouldn't mind it.
That scared her even more.
He would get hurt.
Because of her.
Like how he used to.
... She did not want that.
Ying Li grabbed onto her shirt tightly and readied herself.
I need to leave.
"I think it is better if we do not. It is better for no evidence can be found of this interaction." She politely declined FEater's offer, "This is not for my sake only but also for yours. I hope you understand."
"As you wish then," FEater was the first to respond to this. She put away her phone and nodded to her, "As soon I wake up, I will forget all this."
Ying Li showed a small smile at this.
"That is for the best."
Her eyes landed on Lin Ye's. For a split second, they were staring at each other. Then she glanced away and went to leave.
Lin Ye's eyes followed her. He felt like he needed to follow her.
So he did. He gently picked up Nian and placed her on the sofa. After saying he will be away for a while, he followed Ying Yi to the exit.
Ying Yi was already gone from the room, so Lin Ye opened the door. He found Ying Yi standing alone in the corridor with her back facing him.
He walked outside and closed the door behind him to let them have some privacy.
Only the two of them were now in the corridor.
No one said a word. They both stood there silently.
Maybe because she couldn't bear it anymore, Ying Yi started talking.
"Is there something you want to ask?" Ying Yi asked him without turning her back.
"... I do not know," Lin Ye said honestly.
He really did not know why he followed her here. His body moved on its own and Lin Ye stood in the corridor with the princess of Yan.
"Go back if you have nothing to say to me," Ying Li said sharply, "You did not see me tonight. You better do as I told and forget this ever happened."
He nodded and said, "This is for my good. I will follow your advice. I'll forget about you if that's what you want."
Ying Li clenched her fist tightly upon hearing this.
He would forget her...
... This... This was for the best.
Ying Li slowly released her grip and calmed her breathing.
"Yeah. It's best for you to do that," Ying Li's tone was still calm, "But let me remind you something. Leave Yan as soon as possible."
"Because your brother and I look so much alike?" Lin Ye guessed.
"Yes."
"... I understand," Lin Ye took a deep breath, then nodded, "I will consider this matter. Thank you for your advice."
Ying Li felt she had nothing more to say, so she raised her feet and left again. When she was about to open the door to enter the room, Lin Ye stopped her again.
"... Tell me the truth," His voice echoed in the corridor, "Am I really not your brother?"
He saw Ying Li's body frozen.
Then Lin Ye got a response.
A cold one.
"Of course not." Ying Li sharply said, "My brother is the third prince of Yan. He is a hundred times better than the first prince and the second prince could ever be."
Lin Ye could see her grip on the door handle hardened.
"... You... How could you be him?"
After speaking, Ying Li opened the door and entered her room. With a loud bang, she slammed the door shut.
The sound of the door closing echoed in the corridor.
Lin Ye felt that his emotions had become strange, but he did not know why. He stood in the dark corridor alone for a while.
After much thinking, he slowly made his way back to his suite. When he was in, he was bombarded with questions by both FEater and Grani. He told everyone that he was tired and he wanted to rest now. Nian agreed with him by nodding and pulling him back to the triple seat sofa. Warfarin went back to her room to sleep. Seeing that no one wanted to talk anymore, and it was getting late, both FEater and Grani went back to their room.
When he finally switched off the light and let both Messiah and Nian sleep on his lap, he realised that someone was missing from the group.
Lin Ye's eyes then landed on the opened balcony in front of him.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Ying Yi was alone now in her suite. Her face was still facing the door. She stared at the door, debating whether or not to open it. The room's lights were off, making her stay in the dark.
Ying Li forcibly cheered up, and then took out her mobile phone.
She needed to leave.
She couldn't stay here. Ying Li might endanger him if she stayed here longer than she should.
This... was for the best.
Even though Ying Li told herself this, tears still were falling from her eyes.
Ying Li turned on her phone and was about to contact the housekeeper when she suddenly heard a sigh behind her.
"You really are his sister."
"Who?!" Ying Li shouted.
She immediately raised her mobile phone and looked behind her. The light from her phone shone onto a figure.
It was a woman. She was standing at the balcony door.
Her grey hair danced with the breeze. Her red eyes looked like gems. The woman stared at her, using both of them.
She knew this woman. She was in the room beside this one.
Did she come in using the balcony?
"You're crying," The woman whispered.
Ying Li didn't even have time to wipe her tears, so she must have seen her crying. She wanted to say something, but the other party spoke again, silencing her.
"Is this really for the best?" The woman asked.
Ying Li's body froze.
Ying Li watched as the woman slowly walked toward her. She finally stood in front of her now.
Although Ying Li knew that her current appearance was unconvincing, she still tried her best to maintain her image.
"Breaking into the residence of royalty, do you know this-."
"You were lying back then."
This shut her up.
Ying Li did not know what to say to this.
"From the first time I saw your picture, I thought you had something to do with him," The woman said slowly, "When I finally met you, I knew you were indeed his sister."
Ying Li gritted her teeth and ripped onto her long skirt, "You can smell blood too?"
"No," She shook her head, "That ability, I don't have it."
"... Then why are you so sure I am his sister?"
Skadi recalled the first time she met Lin Ye. How he tried his best to hide his trouble from her. How he would downplay his trouble to not make people worry.
"The way you act. How selfless both of you are," She nodded at the princess, "Yes... Both of you are truly siblings."
It was the first time that Ying Li heard someone describe her like this.
She was about to say something, but Skadi spoke again.
"You don't seem to feel well." Skadi said softly, "Do you need me to lend you a shoulder to lean on?"
Ying Li... She did not know what to do.
She looked at the woman in front of her. Even though it was the first time they met, she didn't even know her name, but Ying Li felt her eyes were getting blurry.
In the end, her body moved on its own. She fell into the woman's arms and whimpered softly in them.
"He-! He doesn't remember me!" She gripped onto Skadi's clothes as she cried her heart out, "I want my Gege!"
Hearing Ying Lin crying, Skadi stroked Ying Li's hair softly as she hugged her.
"Don't worry," Skadi whispered, "Everything will be fine."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Back in the other room, Lin Ye stared at his phone. Messiah was sleeping beside him while Nian was resting her head on his lap, his jacket acting as a blanket on her.
The light of his phone shone onto his face. Lin Ye was reaching something important. Clues that might help him know whose body he was in.
On the search bar, there was something written in it.
[The third prince of Yan.]
"Ying Zhen, huh?" He hummed, "Let's see who you are."
With that, he pressed the search icon and his research began.
Who was really Ying Zhen?
Who was really Lin Ye?
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Jaq
Edit: Jaq