It seems that the villain is targeting me.

"It's like some kind of mirage, making me dream of some beautiful fantasy... or people I will never see again."

【I know. 】

The fake Gwyneth was calmer than she had expected. Her expression was focused, but there was tenderness in her eyes as she looked at Xiao Niao.

“This is your dream,” she said. “I will only say what you think I would say, and the dream will only develop in the direction you want it to develop.”

Xiao Niao was almost at a loss.

She subconsciously asked: "Then why did you show up——"

The young queen laughed.

She leaned close to her ear and whispered like the trivial whispers between lovers.

[Because you want to dream about me, Levi.]

Xiao Niao thought of the ancient Greek mythology he had read before, about the Sirens who lived in the Strait of Messina and used their singing to make passing sailors hallucinate and stay on the sea forever.

The siren's song is a trap, but compared to a trap, its existence is much gentler.

It's like putting delicious food in front of a hungry person and letting the tempting aroma waft into the air - if you ignore it, nothing will happen.

If you don't have any desires, then dreams will just be an empty, pure white world.

In some ways, its presence is even more harmless than that of the banshees.

It simply causes you to dream about the things you subconsciously desire—some of which you might not even expect.

Yes, people only dream of what they desire.

A few strands of light golden hair slid onto her cheek. Xiao Niao was dazed for a moment, and then felt her ears being loosely held by slender and powerful fingers.

The young queen deliberately rubbed her earlobe with her tiger's mouth, causing an involuntary shudder.

Xiao Niao subconsciously turned her face away to escape the shackles of the hand, but contrary to her wishes, her ears were covered tightly. The sounds around her seemed to disappear. She could only hear Gwyneth's voice and see her focused expression close to her.

My ears were filled with the sound of gurgling water.

This was a somewhat unfamiliar experience for her: it turns out that this is what it feels like to kiss while covering your ears.

It was unknown how long it was before she got a brief chance to breathe. Xiao Niao turned her cheek and breathed hard to try to relieve the itchy feeling in her chest that felt like being bitten by aphids.

Gwyneth wrapped her arms around her and pecked her playfully, leaving a wet sensation on the skin of her neck.

"Well……"

The former Prime Minister of the Empire let out a shy hum from her throat. She put her arms around the Queen's shoulders and pressed her body against hers to prevent her from taking any further action.

This seemed to have an unexpected soothing effect, and Gwyneth calmed down in her arms, just burying her head in the crook of her neck.

Is this even an illusion? Xiao Niao couldn't help but feel a little hot in his ears. It was a little too real.

[…You’ve grown your hair longer.] Her Majesty twisted a strand of her hair between her fingers, playing with it gently. [You don’t wear it in braids anymore?]

This is about her dress when she was still a butcher bird: at that time she always left an extra small braid by her ear, and the end was tied with a copper ring.

Compared to wearing weird hats and inserting peacock feathers on the head, this is probably one of the few styles of clothing that Xiaoniao can accept...but in the end, it seems that Her Majesty has developed a bad habit of playing with her hair.

"I'll think about it when I get back," Xiao Niao answered subconsciously.

Her brows unconsciously relaxed, and a relaxed expression appeared on her face that she didn't even realize was there. "Well, that kind of outfit is a bit unconventional here."

Her Majesty the Queen didn't say anything else, but just leaned quietly in her arms, like a lazy and docile cat.

Xiao Niao could almost smell the faint warm fragrance on her body. She had been in this place many times in the past.

Fall asleep in the embrace of warmth and fragrance.

"...But I still don't understand," the Shrike murmured, its warm palm unconsciously rubbing her back. "What is your purpose?"

"No purpose," Gwyneth whispered, like some kind of promise.

Her hands stroked the soft fabric on Xiaoniao's neck and back, and then slid down. "I just miss you so much, Levi."

【Will you come back to me?】

Xiao Niao decided to close his eyes and stop looking at those eyes filled with innocence.

"I think we won't be able to meet again."

"Yeah, I know," she said without showing much emotion, but her tone still sounded downcast. "You decided to leave a long time ago."

"Yes," Xiao Niao murmured again and again, "I know I will leave sooner or later."

Xiaoniao knew very early on that she would leave, so she chose to cut the Gordian knot in such a straightforward way and end all ties with the previous world.

There was nothing to blame. To her, it was just a [mission]. She believed that she had completed the main storyline with a fairly satisfactory ending, and put the world that was on the verge of collapse back on track.

Her intentions may not be pure, but no one can blame her for her efforts.

"So you don't need me, and you don't want to come back to me," His face showed a depressed look, "You no longer have any regrets."

"No," Xiao Niao retorted subconsciously, "No, I just..."

I just feel bad.

Sometimes I wonder, if everything started over again, if I hadn’t been so stubborn... would there be a better ending?

Maybe Xiao Niao also felt regretful.

She completed the system's tasks, reshaped the social status of the half-human race, and laid the foundation for the future development of the empire.

The Shrike did not deceive her fellow half-humans who trusted her, and all the promises she made to her friends came true.

Of all people, she couldn't have a clear conscience towards Gwyneth.

【Oh. 】

He showed a meaningful expression.

So, this is your wish.

--------

-

"Xiao bird? Xiao bird..."

Urgent calls rang in her ears, and her shoulders were grabbed and shaken, as if she was determined to wake her from her deep sleep.

But for some reason, my body felt as if it were filled with lead, so heavy that I couldn't even lift a finger.

She could clearly feel someone holding her in his arms, and then she felt the cool touch of skin against her forehead.

The impression left by the dream had not completely disappeared. Xiao Niao struggled to grab the arm of the person in front of her with her hands. Her wrist bones were awkwardly stretched and her knuckles looked pale from the force.

For a moment, she thought it would be Gwen who would hold her.

"Xiao Niao, are you awake?" the other person's voice was filled with concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Xiao Niao opened his eyes slowly.

Her mind was in a mess and she couldn't even figure out where she was for a moment.

It was rare for this man to look so pale. His hair was disheveled, the corners of his eyes were red, and his eyes were filled with fatigue like the clear water of a shallow pond.

She kept her eyes open for a long time, and after a while, her tightly clenched fingers reluctantly loosened their grip.

"……doctor."

Xiao Niao still held her arm, and called out in a muffled voice to the person in front of her who was hugging her with his arms - they had known each other for quite some time, but Xiao Niao was still used to calling the other person "doctor".

This word always seems unfamiliar to familiar friends, but when it is actually pronounced, it inexplicably has a sense of intimacy.

"...You were sweating a lot just now, and you said some strange things." Chen Xiaoyue still looked at her worriedly, her expression quite nervous, "Doesn't your body feel any pain?

The doctor had checked the bird's temperature on its forehead and there was no sign of fever.

But her behavior when she was sleeping soundly just now was really unusual - as if she was possessed by a nightmare, her face looked very pale, and sweat was pouring out of the back of her neck.

It can't be a nightmare.

The doctor was a little uneasy. She had been very sensitive to topics related to 'nightmares' recently, because she herself had those strange dreams very frequently.

What Dr. Chen didn't know was that if she could compare her statements with Xiaoya or Xiaoniao, she would be surprised to find that they had visited the same dream at the same time.

This is certainly not normal - in the 1990s, playing games online was still a rare thing, let alone dreaming online.

There can't be such a coincidence, there must be something going on.

Xiao Niao didn't say anything, but just shook his head silently at Chen Xiaoyue.

This means that there is nothing serious going on.

She sat up on the bed, then turned her head to look at the window glass: the sky outside was already bright, the sun was at its zenith, and it was obvious that it had been a long time since sunrise in the early morning.

Xiao Niao still remembers that he went to bed at around nine o'clock in the evening - he slept for at least ten hours.

"...I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't call you to get up," the doctor explained as he walked to the window sill and opened the glass window to let in some fresh air.

"It's a rare opportunity to rest, so I thought I'd let you sleep a little longer." She

Speaking loudly.

When Xiao Niao sat up, he was already about 80% awake. The cold wind blowing in from the window immediately dispelled the drowsiness in his head.

She looked around and found that this was not the single apartment assigned to her by the school, but the house that Dr. Chen rented off campus.

Xiao Niao blinked.

Well, she remembered why she was here.

This is not a surprising thing. It's just that the public bathroom in the teachers' apartment is under maintenance and has been out of use for several days. If the teachers want to take a shower, they can only find a way themselves.

She then naturally remembered that her only friend here, Dr. Chen Xiaoyue, rented a room outside the school.

After asking the doctor and getting a positive answer, Xiao Niao came to her side and took a comfortable bath.

Because it was already late, I chose to stay overnight at the doctor's invitation.

The two of them sleeping in the same bed... that was of course impossible.

Xiao Niao initially suggested that he could sleep on the sofa, but Chen Xiaoyue insisted, "How can that be possible? Teacher, you sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the floor next to you."

In the end, the two of them compromised and each slept on their own quilt, which was considered a reluctant consensus.

Xiao Niao sleeps very well and doesn't mind sleeping in the same bed with familiar friends - after all, everyone has had the experience of sharing a quilt with friends who come to their home to stay overnight when they were young, and she is not so obsessed with mysophobia that she has to sleep in a bed alone.

This might cause some trouble in foreign countries, but in this land, it is normal for two girls to hold hands, sleep in the same bed, and even kiss each other...

Yes, this is very common and there is no need to make a fuss about it.

The sleepy Xiao Niao fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed, but Chen Xiaoyue, who was lying next to him, struggled in the quilt for a long time and only fell into a drowsy dream in the second half of the night.

Perhaps it was because of this time difference that the two people's dreams did not connect this time.

By the time Xiao Niao woke up from his dream, it was almost noon.

"...Luckily, today is a day off."

She sighed and used her thumb on her still aching temple: "Maybe I'm really a little tired recently."

The high school curriculum is more demanding than Xiao Niao had imagined. Although teachers of non-main subjects have much less pressure, if you add in various administrative tasks, it is not as easy as ordinary people imagine.

Chen Xiaoyue didn't say anything.

She had been paying attention to Xiao Niao's expression. The pale and bloodless look on his face when he suddenly woke up made her feel very uneasy.

The symptoms were very similar to sudden hypoglycemia. The doctor searched around the room for a while and found a corn-flavored hard candy on the coffee table.

The candies are shaped like corn berries and coated with a white powder – high-calorie foods like these are often effective in relieving hypoglycemia symptoms simply by holding them in your mouth.

It seemed to work, as the bird's face slowly returned to normal, no longer as pale as paper. She sipped the syrup intently, seeming to be very satisfied with the taste of the candy corn.

"...It's quite delicious," Xiaoniao said, a small bump forming on his left cheek, "Hmm, but why are you giving me candy?"

Chen Xiaoyue: ...It seems I guessed wrong. Only patients with hypoglycemia cannot talk to others so easily and casually.

Ah, right.

I understand.

The teacher is really too tired from work, isn't she?

Doctor Chen looked at Xiao Niao with heartache, his dazed look (he slept too long and was confused), and his body which had lost weight unknowingly (he was picky about food and didn't like the cafeteria), and he felt an inexplicable feeling of pity in his heart.

She thought: I can't let that brat bother her all day long. I have to let the bird have a good rest for a day.