My wife is a witch princess.

Bruce pressed closer, the "warding off evil" label on his head practically glowing.

With a swift movement, it bit the black cat. Despite the size difference, Bruce truly acted like a dog when it came to protecting its owner.

The commotion came suddenly and went quickly.

Two cats tumbled and crashed into the bicycle area, their meows and barks echoing through the alley. After darkness and chaos, Bruce emerged from his bicycle, chest puffed out, bruised but looking like a victorious general.

The tabby cat under the moonlight is not lazy, but noble. Its fur flutters in the wind, as if it is not a cat.

Song Che picked up Bruce to check his injuries and found that only his paw had been bitten. Bruce was covered in blood, not a drop of which was his own. Song Che suddenly said in a low voice, "Well done, Bruce."

Bruce went limp as soon as he was in his arms, nuzzling his head against his palm.

Song Che suddenly realized that he had so much: the dazed Xia Li, the protective Bruce, his loving parents, and three good friends.

The black cat looked fierce, but it turned out to be all show and no substance. Bruce chased it away with a frenzied attack.

Song Che breathed a sigh of relief, but another thought weighed heavily on his mind: there really are monsters in this place.

Bruce returned to its lazy demeanor, snuggling affectionately in Song Che's arms; it needed a bath.

Song Che turned to look at Xia Li. Her face was streaked with black and white smears, and her silver hair was frizzy from the earlier fuss, with a few strands clinging to her sweaty forehead. Her scarf was askew, and her clothes were dusty and grimy, making her look exactly like a little homeless person.

Xia Li should take a shower too.

"Does your leg still hurt?" He carried the cat upstairs.

Xia Li touched her calf: "It doesn't hurt."

"That's good. Everyone needs to shower tonight; wash your hair before the injury is fully healed. You know how to shower by yourself, right?"

"……meeting."

Song Che sensed the hesitation in his voice: "What do you mean, 'know'? You can't learn just by listening. I'll teach you."

He came in, put Bruce on the bathroom floor, paused, and opened his phone to search for cat bathing tutorials. He had never owned a pet before, but Bruce looked like a stray cat, very resilient. He figured he could just wash him... he probably wouldn't die from it.

Song Che got up to test the water temperature and said casually:

"You need to change your clothes when you take a bath, and you need to change your little clothes too. I wish I had bought an extra one last time. When you take a bath later, take off your hoodie and put mine on."

With the water temperature just right, he continued watching the video.

The video begins with a cat hissing at water, then being lightly tapped on the head by its owner, which quiets it down. The video then demonstrates adjusting the water temperature, wetting the cat, applying pet shampoo, rinsing, and drying. The cat tries to hiss again, gets tapped again, and finally resigns itself to its fate.

It seems all cats behave this way.

Song Che decided to wash off the bloodstains briefly first, and let Bruce lick the rest clean himself, since only one person in the house used toiletries.

Washing a cat is not much different from washing a person. Song Che turned on the water heater, adjusted the water pressure, and Bruce obediently stayed in the basin, not panting or baring his teeth, and was almost asleep.

Song Che scooped water with his hands to wet its back, squeezed some of his own shower gel, lathered it up, and massaged its back and neck.

"Just like that, rub and knead it, especially the areas that get dirty easily. It feels so good when it's clean."

He turned Bruce over, letting him lie on his back in the crook of his arms, and began to wash his belly. Bruce lay flat on his soft abdomen, completely unsuspecting, letting him massage it.

Xia Li stood at the bathroom door watching.

At first, she studied diligently, but as she watched, her body unconsciously tensed up. Especially when Song Che's hand rubbed the cat's belly and then pinched its pink paw pads, she turned around and rummaged for something.

Song Che didn't pay attention and focused on rinsing Bruce. Just as he wrapped the cat in a towel, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning around, Xia Li was back, clutching a toothbrush tightly in her hand. Her face was expressionless, but the tips of her ears were bright red. She raised the toothbrush and tapped Song Che's head with the handle: "You...you're being indecent!"

Song Che was taken aback: "I'm giving the cat a bath, what's wrong with that?!"

"You...you touched me like that..." Xia Li couldn't finish her sentence. She was still holding the toothbrush, but she didn't dare to look at him. Her gaze drifted to the wall next to her. "Anyway, no way!"

"Your Highness, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll really lose my temper!"

Xia Li raised the toothbrush higher, her eyes darting away, but her tone was firm: "...I want to wash it myself!"

"I told you to wash it yourself!" Song Che realized, and was both amused and exasperated. "You thought I was going to help you wash it? Or wash it together?!"

“…Oh.” Xia Li’s hand, which was holding a toothbrush, froze. “I’ll wash it myself later. I’m going to wash the dishes now.”

"The dishes were washed a long time ago! Hey! Did you see that?" Song Che shouted at her back.

The answer was a loud slam of the door shut.

Song Che shook his head and wiped Bruce's fur as he hummed: "Bruce doesn't even breathe, but you're the first to start breathing."

Xia Li closed the door and buried her face in the pillow.

After lying down for a while, she got up to tidy up her clothes. Before watching the movie, she had put away her little clothes on the bed, and now that she needed them, she wanted to change back into the original ones.

Xia Li looked around and found her own, then suddenly realized that she had also brought back Song Che's as well.

The styles were completely different. She hesitated for a moment, then hooked her finger up, unfolded it, and leaned closer to the window to examine it closely. The fabric, the shape, the structure... she gently traced the differences with her finger, trying to understand the reason and purpose of the design.

After looking at it for a while, I came to a conclusion.

...A lot of unnecessary design.

dong dong.

The knocking startled her so much that she almost dropped her things.

"Xia Li, are you ready? Here's your hoodie." Song Che's voice came through the door.

"Not ready yet!"

"Take your time, I'm going to wash up first."

Hearing Song Che's footsteps fade into the distance, and hearing the bathroom door close and water running, Xia Li breathed a sigh of relief. She clutched Song Che's little shirt in her hand, unsure of what to do.

Return it? What should I say if Song Che asks? Say I took the wrong one? Or…?

Just then, Song Che called out from outside the door again, "Xia Li, have you seen the clothes I hung out to dry on the balcony? What happened to them?"

Xia Li's heart skipped a beat, but she steadied her voice: "I didn't see it. I only took mine."

"Alright... there are bath towels and hoodies on the small sofa, remember to take them." Song Che's voice was puzzled.

Hearing the water stop, Xia Li assumed Song Che had finished wiping. Without hesitation, she grabbed the small garment, then picked up the bath towel and oversized overcoat prepared on the sofa. She tiptoed and gently opened the door, intending to quickly cross the living room and throw the garment back into Song Che's room—pretending it was already there.

She had just reached the bathroom door.

Click—

The door opened.

A refreshing wave of warm air washed over her. Song Che walked out, drying his hair, wearing a simple towel draped over his upper body and loose loungewear. Water droplets rolled down his shoulders and chest.

His gaze met Xia Li's, who was frozen in place, her arms full of things.

Time seemed to stand still.

Xia Li suddenly took half a step back, and the bath towel and sweatshirt in her arms fell to the ground.

The only thing she clutched tightly in her hand was the undergarment that belonged to Song Che. Enveloped in the warm, humid air emanating from the bathroom, her silver hair was slightly damp, a few strands clinging to her cheeks and neck, her chest rising and falling slightly with each breath.

Song Che's gaze moved from her panicked eyes to her feigned composure, slid down her neck, paused for a moment on her heaving chest, and finally landed on her tightly clenched hand that held onto fate.

He raised an eyebrow and slowly shifted his gaze back to Xia Li's face, which was practically steaming.

"Your Highness, you're holding my...this...are you planning to do something strange? You didn't smell it, did you?"

"Absolutely not!" Xia Li shoved the clothes into Song Che's arms, bent down to pick up the fallen towel and sweatshirt, turned around and quickly hid in the bathroom, saying, "Don't peek."

Song Che was amused by her embarrassed look, "I bet you studied it carefully..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xia Li came out of the bathroom with a cold face, tapped Song Che's toothbrush, and then returned to the bathroom like a machine.

...She's angry, huh? No wonder. From now on, you and Zhang Hanyu will sit at the same table when you eat.

Chapter 43 Xia Li... Even if she can read minds

Xia Li felt something was off. Song Che's reaction was strange, and so was her own. She hadn't intentionally taken the wrong thing, so why was her first reaction to hide it? Her body seemed to be acting on its own, as if she didn't want Song Che to find out she'd taken the little dress… as if that would make her seem particularly improper.

She calmed down for a while and prepared to take a shower when Song Che's voice came from the doorway.

"Press the button and the water will come out. I've already adjusted the water temperature. Do you remember where the button is?"

The door was pushed open a crack, and a clean sweatshirt and towel were slipped in. "Change into this after you wash up. Just put your dirty clothes in the basket by the door."

The sound of rushing water came from outside the door, then stopped.

"The shower gel and shampoo are on the windowsill. I'll put them back when I'm done. I'm going back inside."

The footsteps faded into the distance.

Xia Li turned on the faucet and was drenched in water. She turned off the shower and peeked out through a crack in the door—Song Che's room door was closed; he was really gone.

Only then did she feel relieved enough to close the door and begin to undress. The bathroom still held the lingering warmth of Song Che's shower, a misty spray rising and clinging to her slender legs. Her silver hair clung to her waist, her skin as white as porcelain, water droplets leaving glistening marks as they rolled down.

After taking a shower and drying myself off, I put on that oversized hoodie.

She recited the starting gesture of the drying spell in front of the mirror—no response.

With her long hair dripping wet, she had no choice but to open the door and go find Song Che.

Song Che had been waiting for a long time, and he wrapped a towel around Xia Li's head to start wiping her hair.

"Hey……"

When the towel was removed, Xia Li, with her messy silver hair, stared blankly, as if she had been dazed by the towel.

Song Che was a little embarrassed; it was his first time drying a girl's hair, and he wasn't very careful with his hands. He kicked over a small stool: "Sit here, I'll dry it for you."

The hairdryer hummed, blowing warm air towards her face. Although she had seen it twice before, Xia Li couldn't resist turning her head to look at the vent out of curiosity, only to have her face splattered with hot air, causing her to squint and her long eyelashes to flutter.

"Science...it's so strange," she muttered to herself.

"There'll be even stranger things to come." Song Che chuckled, brushing aside her soft hair as he moved the hairdryer around in one hand. Xia Li sat quietly, her back ramrod straight.

"Dinner's ready, go eat." Song Che turned off the hairdryer and patted her half-dry hair. "You can blow-dry it yourself from now on, just comb it with your hands while you blow-dry. Of course, you can ask me for help too..."

"Ah."

Xia Li tossed her fluffy silver hair, stood up, her long, straight legs shuffling as she shuffled towards the kitchen in her slippers.

Song Che followed behind her, wrinkling his nose.

A very faint fragrance lingered in the air, not the overt scent of shampoo, but a lighter, more subtle aroma, mixed with a hint of moisture. So girls really do...have a special scent?