Talulah, I'm still a child.

“That’s true, but I’m not as heavy as Skadi, so I definitely won’t break the bed.”

"Skadi, Mei Xue, do you still know her?"

Talulah was suddenly taken aback. She knew Skadi; ​​she was one of the representatives from Argor and also a physical education teacher at Rhodes Island. Well, she was said to be often sick.

"Wait, how did you know she collapsed the bed? Ordinary people wouldn't know that, right?"

"Because I was on the bed at that time, and Sister Specter tried to persuade her for a long time, saying that Sister Skadi was not suitable to be on top, but she just wouldn't listen. In the end, we had to go to Kroos to get a new bed... Sister, why do you look a little unwell?"

As she was talking, Mei Xue turned around and saw that Talulah's gaze was exactly the same as when she first saw Frostnova hug her, or rather, it was exactly the same, making her feel like she could breathe fire at any moment.

What do you think...?

"It must be because of staying up late, but sister, why are there handcuffs and chains here?"

"Heh...of course it's for you to use."

She was annoyed, extremely annoyed. She was already annoyed because Mei Xue had left without permission, and now this little fox had even openly revealed his affair with another woman, making her already irritable heart even more furious. Draco's possessiveness and domineering nature were well-known, for example, to Raphsini and her sister Abnara.

So this time, Talulah stopped pretending and laid her cards on the table.

"Ugh?"

The next moment, Mei Xue felt a slight loss of balance under his feet. It turned out that Talulah had grabbed his collar and lifted him up. Although she had felt it when she caught Mei Xue earlier, lifting him up like this made Talulah feel more directly how light the little fox was. She even doubted whether she was holding a simple rag doll.

"To prevent someone from leaving without saying goodbye again, I feel it's necessary to take some measures, such as..."

After thinking it over, Talulah decided against using the chains, as they were too long and unsuitable as decorations. Instead, she picked up the handcuffs.

"so."

With one handcuffed to Mei Xue's right hand and the other to her own left hand, Talulah felt a sense of relief, as if she had finally let go of something.

"So, does that mean you don't want to be separated from me, sister?"

"No... I don't actually know why, I just feel uncomfortable."

Slumped on the bed, Talulah closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She couldn't help but look at Mei Xue, as the handcuffs prevented them from getting too far apart.

The little fox wasn't flustered; he just found it somewhat amusing and wasn't entirely satisfied with the handcuffs. He thought a flower wreath would be more suitable, or rather, prettier.

"Mei Xue... I'm telling you, is it really impossible for you to help me regain my memories?"

Talulah and the little fox fell onto the bed in perfect unison. Talulah covered her forehead with her right hand, feeling utterly exhausted. Yet, the source of this exhaustion lay within herself; she was overly conflicted.

"No, if you help your sister regain her memories, you will become the biggest point of contention in this world. At that time, I will have no choice but to... seal your memories again."

"Okay then, but this is really agonizing."

Talulah couldn't help but rub her temples. She didn't want to ask Mei Xue what she went to do after leaving the house. Since the little fox went secretly, it meant that it wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, but rather that Talulah and Chen Huijie couldn't know.

However, at the very least, Talulah wanted to know why she had fallen in love with this silly little fox. Love needs memories as its basis; otherwise, a rootless duckweed will eventually drift with the wind.

"...If it's too painful, well, shall I loosen it a little?"

Seeing Talulah's haggard appearance, Mei Xue felt a little sorry for her, but Talulah couldn't help but frown and look at him.

"Didn't you just say no?"

"Well, generally speaking, that's not possible, but if it's only a small part... that's still within my acceptable range and won't have too much of an impact, provided that you, sister, don't reveal anything related to the past!"

Rather than an acceptable range, it's more accurate to say a tolerable range. Talulah's recovery of her memories would place an additional burden on Mei Xue's original body, which means that uncertainty and possibilities would increase. Moreover, Talulah was able to recover a portion of her memories entirely because she was pregnant with Mei Xue's child, which meant she essentially possessed a part of Mei Xue's power.

"Does your sister want to regain her memories from that period of time?"

"Well... let me think about it. Let's go back to the time between when I first met you and when I started to like you."

"Then it's only one year, which is easier than I imagined."

The little fox twitched its ears. If Talulah had asked for ten years of memories, it would have made things difficult for her. But if it was only one year, it would be much easier. It would just be the pain of being slashed with a knife once, nothing serious.

"Then, sister, here, take this."

As she spoke, Mei Xue stretched one of her tails into Talulah's arms, indicating that she should hug her.

"This is……"

It felt so good to hold Mei Xue’s tail. Talulah even felt sleepy the moment she hugged her and inexplicably wanted to go to sleep.

"Everything will be fine after a good night's sleep."

"Really?"

"real."

As she spoke, even Mei Xue herself couldn't help but yawn, looking quite tired.

"Then... let's go to sleep."

Because her hands were still handcuffed to Mei Xue, Talulah didn't think much of it, simply closed her eyes, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

However, Mei Xue, who was still a little sleepy, did not choose to rest. He simply opened his eyes, looked at Talulah, and gently stroked her hair.

"Sister~ you'll save me again, right?"

——————————————————————————————————————

The wind and snow felt both familiar and strange. Talulah stood on the snow, the wind biting, the snow beneath her feet was thick, and her boots were soaked through. She looked around, she had no memory of being in such a place, but when she saw the Ursus military uniform she was wearing, she suddenly understood where she was.

The snowfields of Ursus, once the most uninhabitable place for humans, were something Talulah had heard Alina mention.

"I'm... here to exchange for food?"

Looking at the vegetables and flour in her basket, and the note Alina had written asking for something in exchange, Talulah realized that this was the purpose of her trip. She couldn't help but look at the village in front of her. Compared to many villages that Talulah had seen before, it was more dilapidated. However, the people here did not seem to have any troubles in life. Talulah could even see smiles on everyone's faces.

Yes, their smiles were very happy smiles; you could feel their heartfelt anticipation for the future.

However, Talulah felt a wave of nausea. For some reason, seeing these people's smiles filled her with an inexplicable anger, so much so that flames seemed to rise from beneath her feet.

Right, she remembered saying before that the memory she wanted to recover was from when she first met Mei Xue...

So, where is Mei Xue?

New World XVI. Things Only Talulah Could Do

"Actually, I've never understood why Brother Meixue did that. If he just wanted to meet Sister Talulah, there were clearly other better ways."

As she spoke, Linglan rinsed off all the foam from her body with hot water. The bathroom was well soundproofed, so she didn't have to worry about her parents hearing what she was saying. Otherwise, they would definitely worry that their daughter was under too much pressure and was hallucinating.

Therefore, most of the time, Linglan only communicates with Su Xueer in her mind. She only wants to communicate directly when she is sure it is safe enough. Talking more helps her not gradually develop the habit of subconsciously choosing to remain silent and consult with Su Xueer about everything.

Because... he needed to save them, those girls named Alina and Talulah, whose fate was to die an unnatural death.

"An unnatural death?"

Lily of the Valley was momentarily stunned, but Su Xue'er manipulated her tail to extend and help turn off the shower, while simultaneously swaying it to shake the water droplets away.

[This is a literal interpretation; they will die due to various accidents. For example, Alina, in her original fate, would have died in the second or third year after meeting Talulah, perhaps murdered or from an illness. But Mei Xue changed this predetermined fact.]

For us, changing our fate is not something we can do just because we want to. If Mei Xue had been a six-tailed or five-tailed creature, it would have been easier, but since she was only a four-tailed creature, the price we had to pay was much higher.

"So, Brother Meixue essentially changed the fates of Sister Talulah and Sister Alina?"

Picking up her staff and controlling the foxfire to help dry her hair and tail, Lily gradually understood why Mei Xue chose that way to meet Talulah; in fact, it was the only way she could meet her.

Yes, the ease with which one can change their fate depends on the importance of the events associated with it. For example, in the old world, it wasn't that Mei Xue didn't want to change Theresa's death, but rather that Theresa's death carried too much weight in his destiny, and even he and the Doctor combined couldn't bear it.

"So, Brother Meixue needs to use Miss Theresa, who has already died in a parallel world, as a substitute to deceive fate?"

[You're so smart, you guessed it so quickly. Hmm, hurry up and clean it up. Get some rest tonight, you have class tomorrow.]

"Ah."

Tomorrow morning, the first two periods are geography and history classes taught by Surtr. Suzuran dares not be late, because Surtr is very strict, but in private she is a kind-hearted older sister.

"Mom, I'm done washing."

"Okay, I've put the hot milk on your bedside table. Drink it before you go to sleep."

Lily's mother is a Syracuse woman. In terms of appearance and temperament, she is no different from an ordinary housewife. However, Lily knows very well that her mother used to be a family assassin. She only became like this after meeting her father. Although she never showed her strong side in front of Lily, she only showed this gentleness to her family.

The stories of love between our parents' generation are always different from what our mothers and fathers tell us, but they are equally enviable. However, Suzuran no longer feels envious because she also has a wonderful lover, and they love each other.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing so happily?"

Linglan often has a smile on her face, but it's rare to see her so joyful and happy like this. Linglan's mother clearly remembers that the last time she showed this expression was when the couple returned from a two-week business trip.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something very happy."

"Oh, what is it? Tell me so Mom can be happy too. Ah, how about I guess first?"

Reaching out, she gently lifted her daughter up, wondering with some curiosity what could have made her daughter so happy.

Did she get praised? No, Lily of the Valley has received so many praise flowers and certificates that they almost cover one wall of her bedroom.

Did she make a new friend? That doesn't make sense, at least not this happy... Hmm, could it be...?

"Does my precious daughter have feelings for another boy?"

"Mom! Stop talking!"

No one knows a son better than his father, and no one knows a daughter better than her mother. When her mother guessed her thoughts, Linglan blushed and struggled to run back to her room from her mother's arms. As she closed the door, she gave her mother a look that was a mixture of resentment, reproach, and shyness.

Watching her daughter lock the door, Linglan's mother couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. Although she had known that her daughter was precocious, this was a bit too early. She wondered what kind of person could make her daughter show such an expression.

"Could it be a new classmate? I'll go check on them tomorrow. My cabbages aren't so easy to pick."

As she spoke, Linglan's mother couldn't help but look at the knife hanging on the wall. After thinking for a while, she decided to call Linglan's father to discuss it, as this was no small matter.

After finally closing the door, Linglan touched her face and found it was so hot she could make an omelet. Su Xueer couldn't help but tease her.

Why not just say it openly? Your parents will definitely agree to your previous marriage with Mei Xue anyway, and you don't have to worry about Mei Xue turning into your stepfather like Ifrit and Cecilia did.

"But... it's still embarrassing to talk about this, and the new world only lasts for seven days. I'll tell you when we officially enter the new world."

[Hmm, okay, being shy is also part of your charm, haha, keep it up, my dear sister-in-law, oh, should I just call you Mom?]

"Sister, please stop teasing me."

Even without anyone telling her, Linglan knew that she was probably turning as red as an apple from embarrassment. It was true, she could now somewhat understand how Meixue felt when Su Xueer teased her. This older sister's personality was really a bit nasty.

However, it wouldn't be wrong for Su Xue'er to really call Linglan "Mom," since her new body needs Linglan to nurture it. Speaking of which, what should Mei Xue call Su Xue'er? It feels like the entertainment circle is really messed up.

Okay, hurry up and finish your hot milk and go to sleep. I'll weave you a sweet dream tonight, like how about a dream of marrying Mei Xue? What kind of wedding do you want? The Great Yan, the Eastern Kingdom, or Victorian? Anything is fine.

"Waaah..."