The North side of the city of Chang'an, being the part of the city that was the first to evacuate from the disaster, was in good condition compared to the rest of the city. Although the other parts of the city had been shut down, meaning that all shops there were closed, the North had its shops open like normal. For most people outside of Yan, this was something strange. Even Yanese people would think that this was something of an oddity for Chang'an to still have their businesses active.
There was a reason why this was the case. The prince of Yan, Ying Ren, said that business should continue as per normal, with his reason being that the whole situation was under control. Although a few people were sceptical of this statement, most of the residents obliged without much question.
The Yanese's loyalty toward the royal family was second to none.
As such, the shops on this side of the city were open. With how early it was, people were just opening their shops to start the day like how they had always been. Besides the shops that were opening, there were some benches lining the sides of the road.
On one of those benches, there were two people sitting on them.
Those two people were newly sisters.
Nian was wearing her usual getup. The white shorts matched perfectly with her bright orange shirt. To finish her whole set was Lin Ye's black hoodie covering her top, though it was too big for her, making the sleeves cover her hands. She was swinging her legs because of how short she was, and a smile could be seen on her face. Nian almost did not sleep because of how excited she was for today.
She was going on a date with Gege!
The moment Miss Dragon left her with Lily to wait for Gege was the moment that the smile on her face could not be dampened. She was practically jumping in her seat.
Lily was a different case. She was a nervous wreck. If Nian almost did not sleep because of how excited she was, Lily did so out of nervousness.
Even before coming to this place to wait for Lin Ye, she took almost an hour to pick the clothes she would wear. She would have been late if not for Mr Hu finally helping her pick what to wear.
If she had to say, her servant did a fantastic job.
Lily was wearing a white blouse that had long sleeves that had frills at the end of them, tucked into a long black casual skirt that was held in place by a leather belt that matched its colour. To top it all off, she wore a black beret on her head. Her long black hair was also combed nicely, making it silkier than normal. Her get-up was a great combination of simple and comfortable.
At first, Lily was worried that people here would notice her, but she remembered that the public only saw her when she was dressed up as the princess. The first time she saw herself in the mirror wearing this outfit, she thought she was looking at a different person.
In hopes of calming her thoughts, Lily glanced to her side at Nian, her... sister. Just the idea of her getting a new sister was something that Lily needed to get used to. Although she was conflicted about this new situation, seeing how close Nian was with Gege, she was okay with having a new sister.
Seeing how Nian was cheerfully swinging her legs, Lily was envious of how carefree she was.
Just as Lily's thoughts began to wander, she heard footsteps slowly getting closer to them. Both of them spun their heads towards the source of the sound and saw their Gege walking toward them with a smile on his face.
Lin Ye was wearing a simple black shirt with a pair of jeans, and his black hair seemed to have grown a bit longer now and was unkempt. Lily could see two swords on his waist. One of them was Zhan Lu. Lin Ye stopped just a few feet from them. With his left hand still in his pocket, he raised his other hand and waved at them.
"Hey there," Lin Ye greeted them with a small smile on his face.
Just as Lily was about to greet him, Nian jumped off the bench and ran head first towards him.
"Gege!" She jumped straight towards his stomach.
Luckily, Lin Ye seemed to be expecting this from her and easily caught the flying dragon.
With Nian in his arms, Lin Ye spun her around and brought Nian close to his body, "Woah!" Gege chuckled at her. After finally calming down, Lin Ye looked at Nian who was giggling, "Miss me?"
The hug around his neck that he got from her was a good enough answer for him. As he was hugging Nian, Lin Ye noticed that Lily was just not far from them now. When Lily felt his eyes on her, she started to fiddle her fingers and lowered her gaze to avoid his. Humming at this sight, Lin Ye smiled at her and stretched out his other hand towards her, inviting her to come closer.
Seeing this, Lily slowly walked closer to Gege and hugged him around his waist. He chuckled at how timid she was acting. Lin Ye hummed and gently wrapped his arm around Lily's upper back, pulling her closer to him. Lily's tense body slowly calmed and she let herself melt into his embrace.
As the three siblings enjoyed themselves, some small groups were eyeing them from afar.
One of those groups was people from Rhodes Island. They were hiding in an alleyway, save for the fact that some heads could be seen peeking from around the corner.
Warfarin was spying on the three using a pair of binoculars, with FEater peeking over Warfarin's shoulder. Grani was conflicted about doing the same but when she saw the three of them hugging, she slowly raised her own pair and stood behind Warfarin. Messiah's head was also peeking outside of the alley. With her being a god, she did not have to use binoculars to see all of this, she even got to hear everything they had said. As for Skadi, she had not been interested in spying on Lin Ye in the beginning. However, after being persuaded by Warfarin, saying that this was to ensure the safety of Lin Ye and his group, she had her eyes glued on the three of them. Her original plan was to just follow Lin Ye's side, but Grani told her that this was an important day for the three siblings, so her going along with them would ruin their experience. Although Skadi did not understand Grani's reasoning, she understood that she did not want to ruin Lin Ye's day.
"Doctor, they look so happy!" Grani exclaimed to Warfarin as she shook her body in glee.
"Shush! I am trying to focus here!" Warfarin, still looking through her binoculars, swatted FEater's hand away, "That Ye, he is really good at dealing with people. Maybe that's why Kal'tsit let him be our first psychologist?"
"... Is the Doctor a dad?" Grani curiously asked no one in particular, "He seems like one."
"He's single," Messiah answered a bit quicker than usual, "His heart is still up for grabs."
Skadi did not comment on what she said. She only gave the goddess a side glance and went back to staring at Lin Ye hugging his sisters.
Another group could be found on top of a building near the three siblings. One of the people in the group was spying on them using a sniper scope.
"So, that's the infamous King Killer, Ying Zhen?" The red-hooded man asked as his eyes were still on the prince, "The first prince ordered us to keep him safe no matter what."
"Yes," Leizi, who was wearing her red hood, confirmed, "This mission is most likely the most important one for the good of Yan."
"Are you not overreacting?" A younger man's voice could be heard behind her, "He is just a single person."
"I understand why you would think so," Leizi glanced at the man and then back to the prince, "However, you do not know what this man is capable of when he's angry."
Going back to the three siblings, after enjoying their hug, they were on the move to find what to do. Nian was holding his right hand tightly while Lily had a gentle hold on his left.
As he was being held on both sides, Lin Ye chuckled and asked them, "So, what shall we do first?"
"Up to Gege!" Nian answered him with a bright smile on her face, "As long as Gege is with us, everything is fun!"
Lin Ye nodded at her. He glanced to his other side, "Lily? What about you?" He asked the princess, "Have anything in mind?"
Being put in the spotlight so suddenly, Lily froze. Lin Ye must have noticed this but he didn't comment on it. He patiently waited for her to give him an answer.
Seeing this, Lily realised how much of a wreck she was now. Although she knew that this was the first date that she ever had, she was still the princess. She should have more control of her emotions than this.
After finally calming down, she turned her gaze to Lin Ye. Although her face was slightly red out of embarrassment, Lin Ye did not say anything about it as he smiled at her.
"... I'm also fine with anything," Lily coughed to hide her embarrassment as she answered.
Lin Ye hummed at her answer and glanced ahead. While they were walking on the streets, Lin Ye racked his mind on what they could do. Being the sickly child that he was in his past life, Lin Ye was not that experienced in dating. This might be a challenge for him.
He tried to remember anything that he saw before he got to meet them and recalled that a particular shop was about to open a few blocks away from them. With how long Lin Ye was hugging the two of them, the shop might be open by now.
Might as well go there first.
Lin Ye came to a halt, making the two sisters stop as well and looked at him confusedly, "Lily. Nian," He called their names and glanced at both of them, "I need your help with something."
Although they were confused, they readily nodded at him.
A few blocks behind them, Warfarin's group was stalking the three of them.
With binoculars still in her eyes, FEater said to the others like a spy on a mission, "They are on the move, over."
"They went to a store!" Grani, who seemed to be enjoying this too, reported back, "Follow them! Over!"
They sped up and saw what store the three of them went in.
It was a barber.
"Gege?" Nian tugged on his sleeve and made him look down at her.
"Yes?" Lin Ye raised his brow at her.
"What are we doing?"
"I want to know that too," Lily asked him as well.
Lin Ye barked out a laugh at how he was being questioned. He then fiddled with a bang of his hair.
"I want to cut my hair," Lin Ye answered. Then he smiled at them, "I thought that you two might want to pick a hairstyle for me."
Both of them widened their eyes hearing this. Then Nian jumped for joy at the idea of making her Gege look even cooler! Lily was also in the same boat as her. When she was little, Gege would always comb her hair. Now it was her turn.
While both of them were excited about this idea, a man walked toward them. Lin Ye presumed that this person was the barber of the shop. From what he has seen of him, Lin Ye guessed that this man was an Elafia, a race that is based on deers. Their most obvious trait was that they had beautiful horns branching out from their heads. This man had those horns.
"Hello, sir," The man greeted him, "What may I assist you with?"
Lin Ye glanced at him, "I want to have a haircut." Then he looked around the store. From what he saw, this was a well-decorated shop. There were a few pictures of people - men's and women's haircuts - as well as some hair products being displayed. Lin Ye hummed and glanced back at the barber, "Do you have a list of hairstyles? For both men and women."
"Of course," The man nodded with a smile, "Wait a moment." With that, the man excused himself and left the three of them.
Lin Ye looked back at the two of them, "You both want a haircut?"
Lily started to play with her hair, "A haircut?"
"Yeah," Lin Ye hummed, "If you want, of course."
Lily just was about to answer but was cut short by Nian, "I want one!"
"You do?" Lin Ye looked at Nian's hair. Then he hummed, "I think you only need to tie your hair in a certain way. I should ask the barber how to do that for both of you."
"Really?!" Lin Ye jerked up when he heard Lily almost scream this. Realising this, Lily's face went bright red and shied away from him. Then she started to stammer and stutter, "... I mean..."
"Looks like I need to learn after all," Lin Ye nodded to himself.
"Yay!" Nian jumped in joy at this.
The barber then came back with a list in his hand, "Here. Take your time." The man then handed Lin Ye the list.
After receiving a nod from Lin Ye, the man went away. Lin Ye then gave the list to Lily, "Here, pick out something for me."
Lily looked at the different types of haircuts, and Nian jumped to her side to see them as well.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
"What is taking them so long?" Warfarin said as she glared at the barber shop.
The three of them had not come out for about an hour now. Warfarin was starting to get restless.
"They're really taking their time," Grani tried to reassure her, "They should be out soon."
"... Maybe something bad happened?" FEater questioned worryingly.
The group became dead silent after her claim, but the silence was broken when they heard the sound of a sword being drawn. They saw Skadi holding her sword, looking like she was about to run straight to the shop.
Messiah stood in front of Skadi, stopping the mad orca in the process, "Hold your horses, girl." The Goddess folded her arms across her chest, "Lin Ye would not like you making a mess on his special day."
Although Skadi looked like she was about to ignore her, when Messiah mentioned Lin Ye's name, she came to a halt. The huntress glared at the goddess. Tension was high between the two, making the rest of them worried about the safety of the city. Another disaster happening was not something this city could afford.
Just as Warfarin was considering calling Lin Ye for help - he might be the only person who could control these two monsters - a bell chime rang at the door of the barber.
The group's heads all spun to the front of the shop. What they saw caused their eyes to widen. They looked so different.
Nian's long messy white hair that would usually flop around was now gone. Replacing it was a clean-looking high ponytail, which swung with each skip she took. She also had braids on each side of her head. With how her hair bounced with each step she took, Nian seemed to like her new style.
Lily had also changed her hairstyle. Her long black hair that she used to let flow freely was now a braid resembling a wave, and a long lock of hair rested on her right shoulder. Lily's face was a bit redder now but on it was a small smile.
However, what caught their attention the most was the last person to walk out from the barber. Compared to the two girls, whose hair did not look like it was cut, Lin Ye's hair was completely different. His semi-long messy hair was completely gone. His hair was much shorter and cleaner now.
"So?" Lin Ye hummed as he glanced at his sisters, "How do I look? Is it good?"
"It's so good!" Nian exclaimed in joy. Then she twirled around and stared at him, "Do I look cute?"
Lin Ye chuckled at this question, "Yes. Yes, you do."
Nian's face lit up like a thousand stars when she heard this from him. Then he glanced at the shy little princess not far behind the joyful dragon.
"Lily? What's wrong?" Lin Ye arched his brow at her confused, "Do you not like your new hairstyle?"
"No!" She quickly answered, "It's just that..." Lily then lost some of her energy when she looked at Lin Ye's confused face. Then she started to play with her tied hair, fiddling with the end of the lock.
Seeing this, Lin Ye did not need to take long to understand what she wanted. A smile slowly appeared on his face as Lin Ye placed his hand on Lily's head.
"You look cute too." Lin Ye smiled at her. Then he placed his other hand on Nian's head, "Thank you for picking a hairstyle for me too. It looks good."
If Nian's face when she praised her was like a thousand stars, Lily's was redder than the setting sun with how red it was.
The man who was using his sniper scope to spy on the three could see a flowery aura around them even though he was on the roof of a building.
Without looking up from the scope, he called Leizi, "... Captain?"
Leizi on the other hand was using her binoculars to the max of their capacity to eye the royal family.
"Well done," She muttered to herself loud enough for her group to hear her, "Especially the two of you. His Highness looks so..."
Her breathing had become a slight bit heavier now.
Her teammates wisely did not comment on this strange behaviour and continued to watch them from afar.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Discord (uvn6hzemNq)
Edit: Jaq