Two petite figures, one little girl holding another, sat in the hallway.
Xiaomiao nestled obediently in Bai Li’s warm embrace, her hands gently encircling her neck as she silently watched her profile from up close.
‘Master Bai… even though she’s a girl and so petite, feeling even smaller and more delicate than me…’
‘But she acts so steady and reliable, her magic talent is shockingly high, and now she’s taking such tender and meticulous care of me… This is cheating.’
‘What should I do… I think I’m starting to like Master Bai…’
‘But…’
Xiaomiao lowered her eyes slightly, a hint of inferiority rising in her heart. She was just an ordinary mixed-blood.
To be chosen to enter the Palace as a maid was already a stroke of immense luck, a distant blessing.
To want to get close to someone as dazzling as Master Bai was impossible—it was pure wishful thinking.
In her mind, she couldn’t help but recall yesterday when Bai Li had pinned her down.
She remembered that faint, pleasant, and reassuring scent, along with the warmth of her body.
‘Sigh… It looks like tonight, I can only go find the maid sister next door and imagine her as Master Bai…’
Xiaomiao sighed silently in her heart. While her thoughts were churning, Bai Li remained completely unaware.
She was hurrying toward the medical room, her heart and eyes entirely focused on the injuries of the little maid in her arms.
She didn’t notice at all that she had quietly walked into a certain little kitten’s heart.
Shortly after, Bai Li handed Xiaomiao over to the doctor in the medical room.
After a careful examination, it was confirmed that only her nose was red from the impact and there were no other issues.
Only then did Bai Li breathe a sigh of relief. After giving several instructions, she turned to leave.
“I hope Xiaomiao doesn’t really blame me…”
Walking out of the medical room, Bai Li headed toward the restaurant, her heart still full of self-reproach.
Yesterday she had almost done something excessive to her, and today she accidentally hit her nose, making Xiaomiao suffer one grievance after another.
‘Sigh, poor Xiaomiao. I must be nicer to her from now on and make it up to her.’
With those thoughts, Bai Li quickly reached the entrance of the restaurant.
Upon entering, her gaze fell upon the familiar small figure by the dining table.
Ziya sat quietly on a chair, hands on her knees, looking somewhat timid and lacking her usual liveliness.
The moment she saw Bai Li, Ziya’s eyes brightened instantly.
Her lips curled up and she reflexively opened her mouth, wanting to shout “Mother” with her usual energy.
But as the words reached her lips, she met Bai Li’s calm, slightly cold expression and immediately swallowed them back.
“Father… did you sleep well last night? Today’s breakfast is Vanilla Mousse…”
“I slept okay,” Bai Li replied flatly, her voice even carrying a hint of deliberate indifference.
She walked over to the table and sat down, her gaze not lingering on Ziya for too long.
Ziya lowered her eyes, her small hands clutching the hem of her clothes as a wave of disappointment washed over her.
‘Ugh… Mother… she’s really angry…’
‘An entire night has passed, and she’s still mad…’
Ziya thought aggrievedly, her eyes reddening with self-reproach and anxiety.
Bai Li sat at the table with a cold exterior, her eyes calm as if she didn’t care about anything around her.
However, only she knew that her peripheral vision was constantly stealing glances at Ziya, never leaving her for a moment.
When she saw Ziya’s guilty, restless, and helpless appearance, Bai Li breathed a secret sigh of relief.
She knew the effect she wanted had been achieved. Ziya truly realized she was wrong and felt guilty for her actions.
Next, as long as she could resist softening her heart and maintain her indifference during this cold war for a while, she could wait for the little girl to take the initiative to admit her mistake.
Then, she would give her a good lecture, and this matter should be resolved perfectly.
As the perfect plan formed in her mind, Bai Li nodded inwardly, very satisfied with her educational method.
She had already envisioned how she would maintain a serious face when Ziya tearfully apologized.
She would teach her with earnest words and make Ziya remember this lesson firmly.
This trick had always worked on Baining in the past; it had never failed.
But just then—
“Father, don’t be angry! I’m sorry!” A crisp, tearful voice suddenly echoed in the restaurant.
“……?”
Bai Li froze in place, her eyes widening slightly as she looked at Ziya in disbelief.
‘Wait, baby Ziya, how can you play your hand like this? I haven’t even played one card, and you just threw out all seventeen?’
‘This is completely different from the script I imagined!’
‘This educational method never had a problem with Baining. Why is it failing immediately with you?’
‘Now look what happened… even if I want to keep a cold face, I can’t do it anymore… Sigh…’
Bai Li sighed heavily in her heart.
The cold mask that had been tightly held together had now cracked.
She cleared her throat, intentionally bracing her face and feigning a majestic cough.
“Ahem.”
“Ziya, I want to tell you, by doing this…”
She had only just started, not even deciding how serious her tone should be, when the small figure in front of her suddenly moved.
Ziya seemed unable to hold back any longer and rushed over from her chair, diving straight into Bai Li’s arms!
She hugged her waist tightly, burying her face deep in the folds of her clothes.
The next second, the crying she had suppressed all night long burst out.
“Waaaaah—!”
Tears fell like broken pearls, instantly soaking Bai Li’s clothes.
“Father, you talking to me like this means you’re angry, waaah!”
“I really, really know I was wrong! I’m sorry!”
“I won’t ever do it again! Never again!”
“I shouldn’t have ignored Father’s feelings and turned you into this!”
“Please, forgive me this once…”
“Without Father by my side last night, I cried all night long by myself. I couldn’t sleep at all…”
“I will work hard! I will definitely help Father find a way to solve the Dream Demonization!”
“Please don’t look at me with those cold eyes… I’m so scared…”
A string of apologies popped out like machine-gun fire, mixed with sobs and gasps that made one’s heart ache.
These were the apology lines Ziya had rehearsed countless times while tossing and turning in her room all night.
Now she brought them all out at once, hoping only to appease the person in front of her and bring back her gentle father.
Bai Li froze completely. Holding the little girl who was trembling and sobbing in her arms, feeling the dampness spreading across her chest, and hearing those tearful confessions, the indifference, severity, and lecturing she had practiced collapsed instantly.
‘Oh boy…’
She wailed silently in her heart.
There was really no way. Seeing Ziya crying so pitifully with her eyes swollen and red, the hardness she had managed to maintain instantly melted into warm water.
The cold war plan, which hadn’t even officially started for a few minutes, was completely shattered.
Bai Li closed her eyes gently, feeling helpless to the extreme.
Ziya was crying like this; could she really harden her heart and continue to ignore her?
She couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.
Even if she knew perfectly well that she had to give her a lesson this time to make her remember, her body was more honest than her brain.
Her arms uncontrollably lifted, slowly falling onto Ziya’s back, patting her gently, stroke by stroke.
Even though she had been turned into this female form, that heart was still the same as always, softening completely for the daughter she loved to her very bones.