On the Ark.

Lin Ye smiled: "Since you've put it that way, I'll definitely have to think about it."

The two looked at each other and smiled, both realizing that the other was joking.

“Leaving Luo City isn’t too difficult,” SilverAsh said slowly. “But leaving Yan Kingdom isn’t so easy. Because the Luo City army was busy with disaster relief, and with limited time and manpower, they couldn’t take care of the Second Prince and Princess. But now that the disaster relief is complete, when the Yan Kingdom’s royal family realizes that the prince and princess are missing, they will definitely declare martial law nationwide. At that time, both land and sea routes will be strictly investigated.”

Lin Ye thought about it and realized that it did make sense, so he couldn't help but feel worried: "Then what should we do? Should we smuggle ourselves out?"

SilverAsh laughed: "It's far from the point where we need to smuggle ourselves out. There's no need to be in such a hurry. Let's take it one step at a time. After all, the people around you aren't ordinary people, don't you think?"

Yes, that seems to be true.

Lin Ye wasn't so worried anymore. He'd just take it one step at a time. After all, even if the sky fell, Messiah would be there to hold it up.

Uh, isn't this idea a bit too simplistic?

“Speaking of which, my ally, I’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since you left Kharlan,” SilverAsh said. “I must say, your life has certainly been quite eventful.”

Lin Ye didn't know what Silver Gray meant by "colorful," nor whether it was a compliment or an insult, so he could only vaguely reply, "It's alright."

SilverAsh chuckled and said, "Looks like this, your reselling catnip in Kallan is nothing special."

Lin Ye almost bit his tongue off—no, he already bit his tongue off.

"Don't be nervous, my ally," SilverAsh said calmly. "Catnip isn't a bad thing. Although it's fed to cats, as long as people like it and it's harmless to humans, it has its value. The reason I came to Yan Country this time is because many places in Yan Country grow catnip, so I plan to purchase a batch to take back to Karlan. If sold as tea, it would indeed be a very good product."

They actually came all the way to Yan Country to buy catnip...

Lin Ye nodded rather sheepishly: "Yes, yes, it's pretty good."

Are you still nervous?

"No, I'm not nervous."

“There’s really no need to be nervous,” SilverAsh said. “If you had given my sister drugs instead of catnip, I would have killed you long ago. Even that lord couldn’t have protected you.”

Lin Ye: "..."

Damn it, they're making him sound like a drug dealer. He's clearly just a harmless veterinarian.

Lin Ye complained inwardly.

“It’s so interesting chatting with you, my ally.” SilverAsh slowly stood up and said, “If it weren’t for the fact that you’re not feeling well, I would definitely be dragging you to play a game of chess right now.”

Thinking of SilverAsh's chess skills, Lin Ye was glad that he was only injured.

"Where are you going?" Lin Ye asked Silver Gray with some confusion.

"Go sit down in the front," Silver Gray said calmly. "I don't want to interrupt the conversation between the siblings."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously turned his head and saw that Ying Li had woken up at some point and was staring at him blankly.

"Then I'll be going now, ally. Call me if you need anything." SilverAsh left the room.

Lin Ye and Ying Li were left staring at each other in the room.

"Uh, that..." Lin Ye was about to speak.

Ying Li hugged him the next second.

……

……

Author's rant: By the way, why do some people still think Lin Ye and Skadi's relationship is progressing too fast? I think there's been enough build-up in the relationship between Skadi and Lin Ye.

Chapter 590 Siblings (Part 2)

Ying Li hugged Lin Ye for a full minute, only slowly letting go when Lin Ye felt he could barely breathe. Only then did Lin Ye notice her red eyes, as if she had been crying for a long time.

"You're finally awake," Ying Li said softly.

Lin Ye hummed in response, then hesitated, unsure how to reply. The blood relation to this former sister remained, but the emotional void left by her lost memories was irreparable. So even though Lin Ye had killed Ying Jie for her sake, he still felt somewhat lost and unsure of himself when actually facing her.

Ying Li sat back down and said, "You've really messed up this time. Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Lin Ye smiled and said, "We can only hope that Her Highness the Princess will help us."

"You're still joking at a time like this?" Ying Li asked expressionlessly.

Lin Ye scratched his head and said, "Then I don't know what to say either."

Ying Li was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "You still haven't regained your memories of me? You still can't remember who I am?"

Looking at Ying Li's expression, Lin Ye wanted to tell her that he had regained all his memories and knew she was his sister. However, when faced with those eyes that were so similar to his own, Lin Ye found that he simply couldn't bring himself to lie to her. After hesitating for a few seconds, he nodded.

Sure enough, a hint of disappointment and dejection flashed in Ying Li's eyes.

"Is that so? That's fine too." Ying Li nodded and said, "That way I won't be in a difficult position."

"Difficult? What do you mean?"

"Prefer not to say."

"Let's talk about it," Lin Ye said. "After all, I'm your brother."

"But you don't remember any of it."

"Maybe she'll regain her memories later?"

"Then let's wait until you regain your memory," Ying Li said, looking at Lin Ye. "But I have something else I'd like to ask you."

Lin Ye nodded: "Go ahead."

"You haven't regained any memories of me yet," Ying Li asked. "Then why did you do such a dangerous thing for me? Why did you say those things to me?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know that yourself."

Lin Ye thought about it and figured it was probably the sentence he had said to Ying Li before he went to find Ying Jie. Actually, Lin Ye didn't think that sentence had any special meaning; he had just said it because he felt like it. Now that Ying Li was suddenly asking him why, he couldn't explain it.

“You have no memories of me anymore.” Ying Li didn’t wait for Lin Ye’s answer and asked again, “Then can you still be considered my brother?”

"This..." Lin Ye hesitated, "Shouldn't it count?"

I don't think so.

"Is that so?"

“Although I really want to say this,” Ying Li suddenly sighed, “you are indeed my brother. Even if you can’t remember me, my memory of you is perfectly clear. This is so unfair. If I had forgotten you too, I could leave you without any pressure right now.”

Lin Ye instinctively wanted to nod, but quickly realized something was wrong: "Leave me? What do you mean?"

“The literal meaning,” Ying Li said softly. “I already know where you came from from Miss Skadi, Miss Warfarin, and Miss Messiah, and I also know what kind of life you’ve been living these past few years. Although it’s been somewhat chaotic, it’s certainly been a very free life. In a way, you’ve fulfilled your long-cherished wish for a free life when you were trapped in the deep palace. Congratulations, brother.”

"Let's talk about this later," Lin Ye said. "What did you mean by saying you wanted to leave me?"

“Didn’t I just say it literally?” Ying Li said, “You’re going back to your own life, aren’t you? Do you really expect to take me with you?”

"What's wrong with that?"

“Of course not,” Ying Li said. “I am a princess of the Great Yan Kingdom. With this status, I can only stay in the Yan Kingdom.”

"But they had previously wanted to marry you off to the Eastern Kingdom."

Ying Li smiled and said, "After such a big incident, it's impossible for me to be married off to the Eastern Kingdom. My father is a firm believer in fate. A natural disaster of this magnitude occurring during my engagement ceremony must be an ominous sign in his eyes."

"In that case, you shall leave Yan Kingdom with me."

“I can’t leave, brother.” Ying Li shook her head and said, “You should know how much trouble I would cause you if I appeared in other places, such as your company. I would not only ruin your life, but also the lives of everyone around you. Just like this engagement ceremony, the whole of Luo City suffered because of me. Even if you don’t care, I will.”

Ying Li's words surprised Lin Ye. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "I could just leave with you instead of going back to the island, right? That way, we wouldn't implicate anyone else."

"And what about your friends?"

"This one……"

"Let's not talk about friends anymore." Ying Li suddenly blinked, looking a little playful. "Everyone is destined to spend their life with another person, but that person absolutely cannot be their own sister, don't you think, brother?"

Lin Ye fell silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "You're trying to comfort me, aren't you?"

Ying Li's smile gradually faded, and she said softly, "There's no other way, I definitely have to leave. It's better for both of us."

"But you don't like life in the palace, do you?"

“I’m used to it now,” Ying Li said. “Besides, my second brother, whom I hated the most, is gone now, so I feel okay.”

“If you don’t want to go back, you really don’t have to,” Lin Ye said.

"What? Getting rid of Second Brother isn't enough? Do you also want to get rid of Father?" Ying Li said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. "You also want to be the Emperor of Great Yan?"

Lin Ye was about to say why not, but he also knew that it was indeed impossible.

“Alright, brother. If something like what happened in Luocheng happens again, Yan Kingdom will be in chaos,” Ying Li said. “I am, after all, a princess of Great Yan. I cannot stand by and watch Yan Kingdom fall into chaos. Only the common people will suffer. So, if you insist on doing that, I will stop you no matter what.”

Lin Ye fell silent.

"Besides, with my second brother gone, my eldest brother's throne is now secure," Ying Li said. "Although my relationship with my eldest brother is just so-so, he's a very upright person, and he wouldn't bully me. Actually, apart from my second brother, no one else would bully me, after all, I'm a princess of the Great Yan..."

She rambled on and on, but Ying Li noticed that Lin Ye wasn't listening attentively and seemed quite distracted.

She knew this was because Lin Ye wasn't interested in the throne of Yan Kingdom; all he cared about now was her.

So Ying Li stopped the current topic and asked instead, "Brother, what kind of sister do you ideally want?"

Lin Ye, who had just come to his senses, was stunned for a moment: "Why did you suddenly ask that?"

“Because… there are still a few days left.” Ying Li grasped Lin Ye’s hand and placed it on her cheek, saying softly, “Before I leave, I want to set aside my identity as the princess of Yan Kingdom and simply stay by your side as your sister. That would be fine.”

Chapter 591 Which one is my sister-in-law?

My ideal younger sister?

Lin Ye was genuinely stumped by Ying Li's question, because in his previous life he was an only child and had no younger sister. He only had one or two distant cousins, the kind who would just sit in their chairs playing on their phones during occasional family gatherings, ignoring each other and not even remembering each other's names very well.

Because Lin Ye already owned so many cats, he hadn't really thought about what it would be like to have a younger brother or sister. But now that Ying Li had asked, he couldn't help but start thinking about it.

Because he doesn't have a younger sister himself, his understanding of sisters mostly comes from Japanese anime, or the world of 2D. In 2D, sisters are either brother-complex characters constantly saying "Onii-chan loves you the most," or they're tsundere types who say things like "Onii-chan, can you go away?" but are essentially still in love with their older brothers. However, these 2D sisters are purely the fantasy of otaku. Saying it out loud would probably get him a disdainful or strange look from Ying Li, and Lin Ye didn't want that; it was just too embarrassing.

As for real-life sisters, Lin Ye had heard classmates complain about it in high school. Having a sister close to their age was a disaster. They'd practically been inseparable since they were toddlers, fighting each other from the start to high school. Being together was always annoying, and no matter how pretty the other sister dressed, they felt nothing for her. They'd even be astonished that anyone could be interested in their silly little sister.

Lin Ye felt that this kind of relationship didn't seem to apply to him and Ying Li. Because he had lost his memory, Lin Ye's feelings for Ying Li were naturally different from those of brothers who watched their younger sisters grow up. And because of their special experiences, Lin Ye in Ying Li's eyes was definitely different from ordinary siblings.

So Lin Ye didn't know what to say, nor did he know what kind of younger sister he should expect. He could only say, "You're perfect as you are now."