After the meal, Bai Li began packing his bags, preparing to set off with Ziya.
While he called them “bags,” there were no actual valuables inside.
They were mostly just some handy kitchen utensils he brought along for convenience, wanting to avoid unnecessary trouble while they were out.
Before long, the two arrived at the palace gates.
“Pops… remember to write to me…”
Baining kept her head lowered, her voice soft and sweet, brimming with reluctance to see him go.
“You certainly know how to call me ‘Dad’ properly when it’s time to say goodbye, don’t you?”
Bai Li gave a helpless smile.
Standing on his tiptoes, he gently rubbed her hair.
The sight of a short young girl rubbing the hair of a taller young girl was both heartwarming and comical.
“Even though we will only be apart for three months, I will definitely write to you.”
“Mm… remember, if you aren’t happy over there, or if Ziya bullies you, you must tell me in your letters.”
“…Hey, Sister Baining, I can hear you perfectly clearly right here…”
Ziya immediately puffed out her cheeks and interjected with dissatisfaction.
“…Haha, just kidding! I believe Little Ziya will take good care of Pops!”
Baining laughed.
“Hmph, that’s more like it! I will definitely take good care of Father!”
Ziya stood tall, her expression solemn.
Baining gave a soft hum in response.
Her gaze fell back onto Bai Li, her eyes incredibly tender.
“Pops.”
“What is it now?”
Bai Li raised an eyebrow slightly and crossed his arms, feigning composure.
“Huggy~”
Without hesitation, Baining opened her arms, boldly asking for a hug.
“I really can’t do anything about you…”
Bai Li sighed softly.
He stepped forward and gently pulled her into his embrace.
This child clearly knew how to act spoiled and longed for a warm hug.
“But why was she so obsessed with trying to be his mother?”
“It was truly an unsolvable mystery.”
What Bai Li did not know was that Baining was already a hundred-year-old member of the Vampires.
Based on age alone, she was more than qualified to be his elder.
It was only because of those ten years they spent together day and night that he mistakenly believed he was a father being relied upon by his daughter.
“As a noble Vampire with a century of bloodline history, how could Baining be willing to submit to a human?”
Their closeness as father and daughter was merely her enduring humiliation to gather intelligence on the Hero.
Yet, without her realizing it, that calculated intention to get close had long since been replaced by genuine emotion.
Thus, this ridiculous displacement of roles was born…
Both of them wanted the other to be their daughter.
Their relationship was intricate and complex, yet they were tightly bound by the thin threads of affection, unable to let go.
“…I want one too!”
Seeing this, Ziya quickly hurried over and gently hugged the two of them from the other side.
The three small figures stood there quietly embracing.
The silence spoke louder than a thousand words.
There was no sadness in the air, only a heavy sense of reluctance and tenderness.
After a moment, the three of them slowly let go of each other.
“Let’s leave it at that for now… See you in three months, Baining.”
“Mm… See you in three months, Bai Li, my Pops~”
Bai Li nodded gently and boarded the carriage with Ziya.
As the wheels began to turn and the carriage slowly pulled away from the palace, Bai Li felt a sudden tightening in his chest.
He could not help but look back.
His gaze passed through the breeze, meeting the eyes of Baining, who was still standing in the same spot.
Both of them smiled at the same time, sharing a moment of telepathy.
That smile was incredibly gentle, yet it carried a strange weight, as if it were a final farewell.
The carriage moved further and further away until it disappeared at the end of their vision.
Only then did Fei Yi slowly walk up behind Baining and bow slightly.
“Queen, I have finished gathering all the military generals who survived from ten years ago according to your orders. They are currently waiting in the hall.”
“Mm.”
Baining withdrew her gaze.
The tenderness in her eyes vanished completely, replaced by a deep, bottomless calm.
“Fei Yi, you should understand what I want to do, right?”
“I… can only guess a little. It’s just, Your Majesty, are you not afraid that such actions will… affect the Princess?”
“When Bai Li was chatting with me in the study, he mentioned a tactic called Blitzkrieg.”
Baining’s tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable firmness.
“Three months is more than enough time.”
“Blitzkrieg? But Your Majesty… could that have just been a joke from the Princess?”
“No.”
Baining shook her head decisively.
“I know her. She never speaks carelessly. Fei Yi, say no more. Follow me to meet the generals.”
“…Understood, Queen.”
Meanwhile, inside the speeding carriage.
“Father! Look at that tree over there, it’s huge!”
Ziya was leaning against the window, pointing excitedly at the view outside.
“Yes, it really is big… Wait, why does this tree look so familiar?”
Bai Li was slightly stunned.
“Father, you are too forgetful! Isn’t this near the cave where we hid before?”
“…What?”
Bai Li’s eyes widened instantly.
“Then—then isn’t this the tree I accidentally kicked that day? How did it grow so massive in such a short time?”
“Oh, now that Father mentions it, it really seems like it! I didn’t notice such a big tree back then…”
‘Was it because the Mother of Spirits possessed the tree back then, causing it to grow so rapidly? This power is truly beyond belief,’ Bai Li thought, feeling a secret sense of alarm.
But this surprise was quickly suppressed by a lingering gloom in his heart.
Ever since he said goodbye to Baining, an inexplicable, ominous premonition had been following him, tightly entwining itself around his heart.
A ridiculous yet incredibly clear thought kept surfacing—
It felt as if once they parted this time, he would never see Baining again.
‘Maybe… I’m just too reluctant to leave, and that’s why I have these illusions.’
Bai Li shook his head gently, trying to throw off these unsettling thoughts.
However, the faint sting deep in his heart refused to fade away.