How can you become stronger if you don't build up bonds?

Uncle

Hearing those words from Shuliya, who was two years older than him, was truly delightful.

"Okay, I'll sleep at your place."

Lin Wei glanced at Tina with a half-smile, clearly seeing her relieved expression.

After handing one of the keys to Tina, Lin Wei walked towards Shuliya.

Before even reaching her room, Tina was already longing for the Duke's comfortable large room and bed.

Although sleeping in the same bed as Lucia isn't a good option either, it's at least an option.

"Luya...sama..."

What's wrong?

"Could we lock the door from the inside tonight...?"

"Sure, but why?"

"To prevent that person from coming over in the middle of the night..."

"His Highness wouldn't do such a thing."

"I don't think so... It's very possible that he started knocking on the door as soon as we took off our clothes."

They say they'll help us ward off bad luck, but in reality they're coming in to wreak havoc...

Tina even wrote the script for Lin Wei.

"I will open the door for Your Highness."

Lucia sealed the victory with a single gesture.

……

Lin Wei followed behind Shuliya, inhaling the fragrance of her hair all the way.

She seemed unaccustomed to stairs, always taking very light steps, as if afraid of damaging the wooden floor.

"Has Shuliya already washed up?"

"Yes, Princess Lillian... the same goes for you."

Lin Wei originally just wanted to chat with Shuliya, since they would be spending the night in the same room, but Shuliya was too reserved and respectful. When she answered, she stopped walking, turned around and bowed, so Lin Wei didn't know how to continue asking questions.

Let's take another look at her panel.

First of all, her "affection value" hasn't decreased; it's currently at 92%, ruling out the possibility that she's being so reserved because she has a problem with him.

Then, Lin Wei wanted to analyze Shuliya's combat strength using this paper panel.

Shulia's stats don't appear to be purely mage-based.

Her six-dimensional chart is the one with the fewest weaknesses that Lin Wei has ever seen.

Even the weakest agility is at least B grade, and the highest perception is at least A+.

However, judging from the panel, Lin Wei could easily define her as a "high-end version of Zoreni".

But the panel is ultimately just a reference. What Lin Wei wants to know most right now is whether Shuliya has any real combat experience.

If possible, Lin Weiming doesn't want to escalate the situation tomorrow. His plan is to take down both targets with swift and decisive action, ideally without even needing to call for backup.

While the combination of Are and Zoreni can easily suppress the target, they can cause a great deal of noise once they enter combat.

Lin Wei didn't want everyone to know, so Shuliya's combat ability determined whether Lin Wei would call those two over tomorrow.

As soon as the two arrived at the door of their reserved room, the door opened automatically.

Wearing her pajamas, Lillian rushed to Lin Wei's side: "Uncle~ you're finally back! Lillian has been waiting for you so long, I've fallen asleep twice..."

"Then why not just sleep?" Lin Wei deliberately put on a stern face.

"Because my uncle went over there, I have to help my uncle and sisters get rid of that thing."

Lillian pursed her lips, looking a little aggrieved.

Lin Wei suppressed his blame and squatted down to pinch her soft, cotton-candy-like cheek:

"Your uncle misunderstood you. Your uncle apologizes to Lillian."

Lillian shook her head sharply, her expression turning joyful again:

"Let's go find Sister Luya and Sister Tina now!"

"I wish we could all sleep in the same big bed and see which sister smells the best..."

Lillian's last sentence made Lin Wei's eyelids twitch.

What is this little girl thinking about all day long...?

But kids seem to be like that; they have a strange obsession with sleeping in communal rooms.

"No."

Lin Wei shook his head, picked up Lillian, and carried her into the room.

"Hey, why... are we ignoring Lucia and Tina now?"

"Shh..." Lin Wei gestured for Shuliya to lock the door.

"Does Shuliya have soundproofing magic?"

"I...will give it a try."

Shuliya silently chanted a spell, and then a light green film completely covered the room.

Judging from the vibrations, this membrane does indeed provide sound insulation, but it is far less skillful and efficient than Zoreni's.

In comparison, Green's hidden skills are indeed of high quality.

After confirming that there were no oversights, Lin Wei began to explain to Lillian.

"Uncle, and Sister Luya and Sister Tina are all so amazing..."

Lillian didn't think too much about it. She immediately believed Lin Wei when he said that she, Luya, and Tina were all immune to bad luck.

"In that case, it's only Sister Shuliya who needs my help." Lillian made her goal clear.

"Shuliya," Lin Wei suddenly called out to her.

Her complexion had been off since earlier.

"Ah... Uncle, Your Highness..." Shuliya lowered her head even further, not daring to look at Lin Wei's face at all.

"Sister Shuliya, what's wrong?" Lillian belatedly realized something was wrong.

"Shuliya, please have a seat."

Lin Wei gestured for Shuliya to sit on the bed like him.

Shulia managed to sit down, but her body was completely unable to relax.

Self-blame and guilt constitute half of Shuliya's emotions at this moment.

These two points were already foreshadowed when I lost money at the casino.

But besides that, Lin Wei also sensed a clear sense of inferiority in her.

How did this appear? It wasn't there outside the door before.

Nothing much happened during that time; we just chatted for a while.

Just because we can't be immune to misfortune?

After thinking it over, Lin Wei could only come up with this reason.

But this is still hard to explain, isn't it?

Shuliya is no ordinary young girl; she is a genuine high-level expert!

Reaching level 41 at the age of 20 is simply genius among geniuses.

Is it shameful to not be immune to bad luck?

How could Shuliya not understand the principle that there is specialization in medicine?

Not right.

Lin Wei always felt that he had not grasped the main contradiction.

He reopened Shuliya's panel, focusing his attention on the "Affection Value".

It's still 92%, which means Lin Wei didn't unintentionally hurt her.

After ruling out other possible reasons, Lin Wei's gaze fell on Lillian's face.

There could be no one but Lillian.

"Shuliya, I'll go out with Lillian to see the stars for a while. You can rest in your room."

"good..."

Shuliya didn't ask any more questions, but went to open the door for Lin Wei.

Lin Wei led Lillian to the hotel's rooftop.

"Uncle, what's wrong with Sister Shuliya? She wasn't like this before."

"I wanted to ask you that too." Lin Wei gently poked Lillian's forehead.

"Tell me first what you and Shulia talked about when I left."

Lillian puffed out her cheeks, carefully recalling every word she had said.

"I kept comforting Sister Shuliya, telling her that she lost money because someone had smeared bad luck on the shaker and chips, and that everyone except me would be affected."

Then Shuliya understood and didn't blame herself as much, because Grandpa had told us about the unlucky place before we set off.

Lin Wei nodded: "Did Shuliya say anything?"

"Oh, I remember now, Sister Shuliya also asked about money, asking me how many things I could buy outside with 100 gold coins?"

I told you there was quite a lot; it would take the farmers a very long time to spend it all.

Then Shuliya felt a little guilty, but I immediately told her that her uncle would definitely get the money back tomorrow, and Shuliya was relieved.

So far there have been no problems; Lillian has already done the explaining and comforting work for me in advance.

"You said before that this was Shulia's first time going out. Has she really only ever been to the Giant Wind Eagle Forest?"

"Yes, because Sister Shuliya is the guardian of the Great Eagle Forest, and Grandpa also told me that Sister Shuliya was raised by the Great Eagles and has been living in the Great Eagle Forest since she was a baby."

"Huh?" This was something Lin Wei hadn't expected.

"How did she learn to speak and write?"

"I don't know, Grandpa just said there are people teaching over there."

Did the fairies teach it?

This was the only possibility Lin Wei could think of.

"Sister Shuliya is usually not very talkative; I usually do all the talking and she listens. Along the way, Sister Shuliya really enjoyed listening to all sorts of stories I told her."

What did you talk to her about? What was the main topic?

"Of course, I talk about my uncle the most!" Lillian answered without hesitation.

"Well?"

"Yes, Uncle's stories are quite interesting. Sister Shuliya loves listening to them, and she only asks questions when we talk about Uncle."

"What did she ask?"

"It's usually the parts I didn't explain clearly. For example, when Luya is mentioned, Shuliya will ask about the relationship between Uncle and Luya."

"So what was your answer?"

"Just answer the truth. I'll say that although Lucia is a maid and an older sister, she's also Lillian's aunt. Shulia was completely confused by my answer, hehehe..."

"Sister Shuliya never understood the difference between husband and wife and lovers, so she didn't quite understand the relationship between her uncle and Sister Luya."

Then I told her that the difference between a married couple and a romantic partner is whether or not they can have a baby.

My uncle and Luya will definitely have a baby in the future, so they are practically husband and wife.

Lillian got more and more excited as she talked, raising her chin high.

"..."

Lin Wei always felt that Lillian had instilled a lot of things in Shuliya that she shouldn't have.

"Oh, right, Uncle, there's something very important I forgot to mention!"

"What is it?"

"Although Sister Shuliya doesn't understand what a couple is, she seems to really want to have her own baby, saying that the guardianship of the Great Eagle Forest must continue."

"Um?!"

"Yes, yes! It was because of what I said earlier that Sister Shuliya told me this."

But Lillian was still a baby herself. Lillian only knew that couples could have babies, and then her sister Shulia asked me how to become a couple.

This is truly remarkable; one dares to ask, and the other dares to teach...

Lin Wei broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.

But Lillian was clearly getting into the story:

"I know the answer to that question! Only mutual affection can lead to marriage!"

But Shuliya doesn't know what it means to like someone.

All I could do was tell her about my uncle and Luya's daily life.

I told Shuliya that although Luya has a disability, her uncle doesn't care about it at all.

Then my older sister Shuliya asked me if she could like my uncle too.

"Wait a minute?!" Lin Wei jumped up.

"Lillian, are you sure you didn't let something slip?!"

Lillian blinked rapidly: "Ugh... Uncle found out..."

"Hurry up and confess!"

"Uncle...don't you think Sister Shuliya is lonely...and sometimes Sister Shuliya really does look a lot like Sister Luya..."

I just told Shuliya that her uncle might like her.

Uncle probably wouldn't mind finding Lillian a few more aunts, right...?

Lillian really likes Shulia and doesn't want Shulia to have a baby with someone else...

Lillian opened her big, watery eyes and spoke her true thoughts.

"You should at least... have told me in advance."

"Uncle didn't tell Liliantina about it beforehand..." Lilian pouted, feeling wronged.

Lin Wei hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed with Lillian's logic.

"While I was away, did you mention Tina?"

Lillian nodded.

Lin Wei rubbed his forehead; now he understood why Shuliya felt inferior.

She felt that she was not as good as Luya and Tina, and therefore could not win Prince Linwei's "favor".

Furthermore, Lin Wei's less-than-satisfactory performance when casting the soundproofing spell earlier further dampened Shuliya's confidence.

This is what a girl's heart is like...

"Uncle... Sister Shuliya really likes you..." Lillian started using her sweet and coquettish methods to beg for help.

I know this without you telling me; I can see the level of favorability.

"Does Uncle really dislike Sister Shuliya? Sister Shuliya is strong and beautiful, and even Grandpa praises her as a genius."

"That's not entirely true..."

"Is it because Tina gets jealous...?"

"Why would she be jealous?"

"Then Uncle and Sister Shuliya can have a baby..."

"Cough cough cough—" Lin Wei was starting to feel the strain.

"Do you even know how a baby is born? Just tell me that."

"Mom says that if two people who like each other sleep in the same bed, they'll have a baby. It shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

This topic is impossible to discuss; the intensity of the "Little Girl" (a nickname for a female child) is still too high.

"Let's go back first."

At the very least, Shuliya cannot continue to suffer internal strife; Lin Wei made up his mind.

Lin Wei had just reached the door of the room when Shuliya opened the door from the inside.

She remained bowed and hunched over, just as before, a sense of humility permeating her entire being.

Lin Wei put Lillian on the ground and gave her a look.

Lillian immediately understood Lin Wei's meaning and ran to the best angle in the room to watch.

After Shuliya closed the door, she stood there waiting for Lin Wei's instructions.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shuliya."

Shuliya's body trembled slightly.

Admiration/Respect Rating: 92% → 93%

Lin Wei slowly raised his hands and gently placed them on her cheeks.

93% → 94%

With a little effort, Shuliya's pure and beautiful face was finally fully revealed to Lin Wei.

Beneath her delicate, slender eyebrows, a pair of large eyes glistened with tears.

94% → 95%

"In my eyes, Shuliya is no worse than anyone else."

"Will Shuliya stay by my side for the long years to come?"