Chapter 32: Is this your line?

The two of them walked one after the other into the restaurant located in a back alley of the Shopping District.

The restaurant was not large, but the decor was exceptionally cozy. Warm yellow light spilled from wooden chandeliers, enveloping the entire space in a soft atmosphere.

Several oil paintings with warm tones hung on the walls, and a few pots of lush green plants were placed by the windows. The air was permeated with a faint aroma of food, making one subconsciously relax upon entering.

A waiter greeted them with a smile and led them to a seat by the window. Hell naturally pulled out a chair and made a “please” gesture, his posture impeccably gentlemanly.

Seshi glanced at him but said nothing, silently taking her seat.

Hell then sat in the opposite spot, picked up the menu on the table, and handed it to Seshi with a gentlemanly flourish.

“Take a look and see what you’d like to eat?”

His tone was gentle, carrying the consideration an elder brother should have.

However, Seshi did not reach out to take it.

She simply shook her head slightly, her obsidian-like eyes looking at Hell calmly, her voice still maintaining its usual coldness.

“I can eat anything.”

Hell’s hand holding the menu paused for a second.

He looked up, meeting Seshi’s eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything.

In that moment, he understood.

This wasn’t indifference. It was… a test.

She was testing him.

Testing whether what he had said at the school gates—that line about ‘living together day and night, I still know what you like’—was actually true.

‘Since you know I like this restaurant, then…’

‘You should also know what I like to eat, right?’

‘Prove what you just said to me.’

Seshi’s gaze was as calm as water. There was no urging and no questioning; she just watched him quietly. But beneath that calm lay an unspoken scrutiny—she was waiting to see how he would respond to this silent challenge.

The corners of Hell’s lips curled up slightly.

‘Interesting.’

‘This younger sister of mine really isn’t so easy to fool.’

He didn’t say much else. He simply nodded and took back the menu, his eyes quickly scanning over it. In his mind, details about Seshi from the Original Work surfaced like flowing water—

The dish she ordered every time she came here.

The dish she had once mentioned in her memories that reminded her of her mother’s cooking.

The dessert she never said she liked but always silently took a few extra bites of.

Hell’s finger tapped lightly on the menu. He looked at the waiter waiting nearby and rattled off a string of dish names.

“Creamy Mushroom Soup.”

“Pan-fried Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce.”

“Slow-stewed Beef with Seasonal Vegetables.”

“And…” He paused, his gaze sweeping over the dessert section. “Lava Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream.”

Having finished, he closed the menu and handed it back to the waiter, giving Seshi a small smile.

“Let’s start with these. We can order more if it’s not enough.”

The waiter left as requested.

Seshi remained seated opposite him, her expression unchanged. However—

Hell noticed it.

The moment she heard that list of dishes, something in the young girl’s obsidian eyes trembled extremely slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Creamy Mushroom Soup—that was the very first dish she had ordered when she was first brought to this restaurant by Hell’s parents. The girl who had lost both parents sat in an unfamiliar environment, facing an unfamiliar “family,” and carefully picked up her soup bowl, her frayed nerves healed by that warm, rich flavor.

Pan-fried Salmon—that was the main course she ordered every time she came later. It wasn’t because she particularly loved eating fish, but because the way this dish was prepared was somewhat similar to a certain meal her mother used to make. That taste, with its fresh lemon fragrance, always allowed her to inadvertently recall the warmth of the past.

Slow-stewed Beef—that was the dish Hell’s father ordered every time he came, with tender meat and rich gravy. Although Seshi never said she liked it, she would silently eat a few extra bites every time the dish was served. It was another form of silent longing for “home.”

Lava Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream—that was the only dessert she would actively order. The hot chocolate lava cake paired with cold vanilla ice cream created an intertwined sensation of hot and cold; it was one of her few small enjoyments.

These details were only revealed to readers in the Original Work during much later plot points through Seshi’s memories or the accounts of others. Under normal circumstances, the original Hell couldn’t possibly have known.

But the current Hell knew.

Moreover, he had ordered all of them.

Seshi sat across from him, her expression still cold, but the usual layer of frost over those obsidian eyes seemed to have developed an extremely tiny crack.

She looked at Hell. His pale face still wore that same sincere and harmless expression.

It seemed… he hadn’t lied to her.

He really knew.

It wasn’t a casual remark or a lucky guess; he truly, accurately knew what she liked.

This realization caused an indescribable, complex emotion to rise in Seshi’s heart.

She didn’t know what she should feel. Happy? Impossible. Moved? Even more impossible. How could the brother she had loathed for so many years change her opinion just because he knew what she liked to eat?

But…

Why was there a tiny bit of… an inexplicable feeling in her heart?

The waiter soon brought out the first dish. The aroma of the Creamy Mushroom Soup wafted through the air.

Hell picked up his spoon and gestured for Seshi to eat while it was hot.

Seshi lowered her head and stared at the bowl of steaming soup in front of her for a few seconds of silence.

Then, she silently picked up her spoon.

Hell watched the way she took small sips of the soup, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

He said nothing, simply picking up his own utensils and beginning to eat quietly.

A brief silence fell over the dining table.

But this silence wasn’t awkward; instead, it carried a strange, subtle atmosphere.

After a while, Hell put down his utensils, looked up, and turned toward Seshi. He decided to strike while the iron was hot and find some topics to bridge the distance.

“Xi’er, how are things at the Academy? Are you keeping up with your studies?”

He spoke slowly, his tone carrying just the right amount of concern.

“Is there anything I can help with? While I might not be able to do everything, I can at least… give you some advice.”

The words were spoken sincerely, and his posture was kept low, exactly as an elder brother caring for his sister should act.

However—

Upon hearing this, Seshi slowly set down the spoon in her hand.

She looked up at Hell. In those obsidian eyes, an extremely complex and indescribable expression emerged.

In that expression, there was distaste, mockery, confusion, and a hint of… an inexpressible sense of absurdity.

The girl just looked at him and asked one word at a time.

“Is that your script?”

Hell was stunned.

Seshi’s tone was still icy, but beneath that iciness was a sharpness bordering on caustic.

“Since when did you learn to say things like that?”