My wife is a witch princess.

So this is what I used to give off when I had an indifferent expression.

It's like an invisible wall, forcefully pushing away those who want to get closer, leaving them no choice but to retreat.

For the first time, she clearly saw what she used to look like.

This is not good...

Song Che opened the computer, glanced at it, then closed it and put it aside.

The phone screen lit up; it was a message from Jiang Shuo, inviting him out. Song Che tapped the screen, replied "Busy, next time," and then turned off the screen.

He sent another message to his parents to let them know he was safe. After doing all that, he started to space out again, thinking about all sorts of random things. This problem was too difficult; it seemed like there was no solution.

Xia Li did not speak.

She simply stayed in a place that was neither too close nor too far from him.

She suddenly realized that in this small home, if Song Che didn't speak, there would be almost no other sounds; if Song Che didn't take the initiative to care about her feelings, no one else would.

She didn't know how to comfort him, but decided to stay with him in case he... did something bad.

This thought led her to follow.

Song Che walked back to the bedroom, and Xia Li followed him in.

He turned around, as if to say something.

Xia Li spoke first, "Don't kick me out. I want to sit here for a while."

“…Okay.” Song Che didn’t object, walked to the bedside and sat down. “If you’re sleepy, remember to remove your makeup before you go to sleep.”

“Yes, I remember.” Xia Li sat down on the chair by the window.

She still had that makeup on her face, and Song Che already thought she was beautiful, but now that beauty was amplified.

"Why are you staring at me?" Song Che felt a little uncomfortable being stared at and looked away.

Being looked at like that by the person he liked, he was almost afraid to look them in the eye.

"I don't know!" Xia Li answered confidently.

"I'm fine, I just need to calm down. You can take a nap and rest." He tried to ease the tension.

"You're lying."

"I didn't call you Your Highness this time."

“But you don’t dare look me in the eye,” Xia Li said bluntly.

“This is different, who told you…” Song Che couldn’t help but glance at her again.

Her delicate nose wrinkled up, making her look a little puffed up, and the expression on her clear face created a unique kind of cuteness.

And that face was now staring right at him without any attempt to hide it.

"What's wrong with me?" Xia Li pressed.

Song Che's gaze lingered on that red color for a moment, and a thought of wanting to kiss it popped into his mind.

He immediately pressed it down firmly.

Xia Li may never have truly understood what "liking" meant to her. Under these circumstances, Song Che felt he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her.

Even though... he knew that with a little guidance and some harmless little tricks, he might be able to touch that alluring warmth.

"Nothing, just saying." He lowered his eyes.

"There must be something." Xia Li's stubbornness kicked in, and she wouldn't let go.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then leave me alone."

Unable to deceive him, he began to passively resist.

"Why don't you want to talk about it? I am His Highness, and I have to take care of you."

Song Che remained silent.

He was stubborn, but Xia Li was always more stubborn than him, and she didn't understand what "giving up" meant at all.

"I just don't want to talk about it."

"I feel you're not calm at all; you're different from before." Xia Li's voice was calm, yet it carried a penetrating force.

She may not know much, but there's one thing she does better than Song Che now—she's never afraid to confront the problem itself.

"You're afraid of something, things you wouldn't let me hear last night. Song Che... does he have things he's afraid of too?"

"Your Highness is very clever." He smiled wryly.

"I'm not happy at all that you praised me today."

"……sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Xia Li's tone sounded almost aggressive. She was usually taciturn when interacting with strangers, but she could press Song Che for answers.

She knew he was hiding something from her, even his innermost thoughts were carefully guarded. On the surface, it seemed that Song Che was in control, while Xia Li was merely passively learning. But only now did Song Che realize that Xia Li possessed a quiet strength within her, which she simply chose to reveal in front of those she trusted.

"Your Highness, feel free to knock if you want." He was almost giving up on himself.

"I won't knock on you." Xia Li's long eyelashes fluttered slightly, her blue eyes filled with determination. "I want to know why you're unhappy."

"..."

“You still don’t want to talk about it. Your mind is still in turmoil. Song Che is different now. He’s always been… steady and reliable.” She pointed out this obvious change. “You don’t want to tell me because you think I’m incapable of solving it. But when you helped me before, you said that if you have a problem, you don’t have to keep it inside. If you talk about it, the people around you will help you. I’m your girlfriend… The Magic Mirror said that a girlfriend is someone you can trust even more than a friend, someone who can share your burdens.”

She spoke at length, which was quite unusual. His Highness usually only gave instructions or asked questions, rarely stating his views and logic so clearly. Song Che looked at her with some surprise.

Xia Li studied diligently, memorizing everything he taught her, even the things he said casually as a joke. She was always so earnest.

And this is precisely what Song Che fears most at this moment.

"Xia Li." He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse, "Actually, you need to think about the 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing again."

"I've thought about it."

Song Che shook his head: "No, that might just be because I said a lot of things to you back then, and there was some... suggestive element in them."

Xia Li shook her head as well, her silver hair swaying: "I thought about it all night before making this decision. Although I don't know what 'like' is, that's because I don't understand it, but I'm not stupid. I asked the magic mirror, I asked it: 'I am a witch, I don't want another person to die. I'll be unhappy if I'm alone, but I'll be happy if I'm with him. I can eat a lot of the food he cooks, but when I'm angry I'll want to hit him.' The magic mirror said that's what 'like' is. So, I decided to be your real girlfriend, not a fake one."

Song Che was stunned.

It turned out that Xia Li had been quietly researching and thinking about so much without his knowledge. She was usually not very talkative, but when she spoke seriously, her words were clear and logical, and her voice, cool and clear, struck people's hearts with a particularly pleasant sound.

This caused him even more pain.

Xia Li had never been in a relationship, and neither had he. He seemed to understand a lot about human relationships, but when faced with real inner struggles, that understanding proved useless. He still couldn't figure out what to do.

He wanted to escape, yet he knew he had to face it. But every time he made up his mind, the moment he saw Xia Li's face, all the words he had prepared would get stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single one.

If Xia Li were faced with such a problem, what would she do?

I guess... I'll feel lost just like I do now.

Regardless of whether Xia Li was confused or not, all she knew was that Song Che was hiding something from her.

"Why don't you talk to me? I can work with you to figure out a solution," she pressed again.

“Some things… can’t be truly understood.” Song Che’s voice was low. “Unless we switch bodies… just like you can’t feel true ‘like’, some problems… are just impossible to understand.”

He was referring to the almost hopeless lifespan gap that lay between them.

Xia Li fell silent.

She looked at him silently for a few seconds, then turned and went to the bathroom. The soft sound of running water could be heard; she was removing her makeup. After a while, she returned to her bedroom and gently closed the door.

Song Che looked at the closed door and wearily closed his eyes.

But he fell asleep again.

And once again, I fell into that uncontrollable "lucid dream".

This time, Xia Li is in my dream.

It was Xia Li in the summer, wearing that noble witch princess dress, with her signature broom beside her.

But Song Che was absolutely certain—this wasn't the Xia Li he knew. The "Xia Li" in his dream had a bright and natural smile on her face, so real it was heart-stirring.

Her makeup still seemed to be on, and her rosy lips parted slightly: "Song Che, let's go out and play."

The broom beside them seemed to come alive and moved slightly.

Xia Li in my dream has magic... which seems quite reasonable.

Chapter 83 Not a Hair's Bread, Not a Penny's Worth (4k)

Song Che didn't say much in his dream. Because the "Xia Li" in his dream seemed to be able to read his mind, always responding the moment a thought arose in his head. She took him out to play—it was summer, and they spent a long time at the amusement park, then went to see a movie, and finally went to the planetarium to look at the stars. The Xia Li in his dream seemed to know the area around the school like the back of her hand.

However, this was a dream, and Song Che simply regarded it as a disordered patchwork of fragments of his own memories.

But this dream is much better than that blood-soaked dusk from last time.

Even so, he was keenly aware that it was just a dream.

……

I didn't take a long nap.

Song Che opened his eyes. The dark clouds outside the window had dispersed a little, but that was all. Grayish-white wisps of cloud still clung to the sky, heavy and heavy, as if holding back a rain that was yet to fall.

It wasn't raining outside. But there was a slight dampness and coolness in the corners of Song Che's eyes.

Once he regained his senses, those temporarily set aside problems surged back into the spotlight. He thought about the exam next Monday and for the first time, he felt a strong urge to "not go."

He was acutely aware of his current state—indecisive and hesitant to move forward. The problem was difficult, yet incredibly simple, so simple it was cruel, its outcome predictable at a glance.

There are only three possible outcomes.

Life and death, separation.

Life and death, separation.

It was still a separation of life and death.

No matter what choices you make, the outcome seems predetermined. If there's anyone to blame, it's the human body itself, which is too fleeting.

Song Che never really cared about "living a long time". Even if he said he wanted to live longer before he died, it was just a human's instinctive fear when facing the end, not a real desire for immortality.