2: The Girl Coming Home
The key entered the lock, turned gently one and a half times, and with a crisp sound, a familiar yet strange room came into the girl's view.
She put away the key and bent down to find a pair of bunny slippers labeled "Stupid Sister" from the shoe cabinet.
Seeing the label, the girl showed a helpless expression on her face. Her younger sister was still the same as before, not giving her, the older sister, any face at all.
The room was very neat and clean, with everything properly placed where it should be, almost exactly the same as when the girl had left years ago.
Her sister was still at school, and she, as the older sister, didn't even know which school her sister attended. The girl sighed and walked to her own room.
She reached out to open the door. The room didn't look like it hadn't been lived in for years—instead, it felt... lively?
The bedding was neatly folded, and the clothes in the wardrobe had barely moved from their positions.
"I'm home." The girl's cherry lips moved slightly, and an almost inaudible voice floated from her mouth.
"You should go rest. If this continues, I'm afraid your spirit will collapse before your body does." Her old friend's earnest advice still echoed in the girl's ears.
Rest?
The girl's crimson eyes were full of confusion. Did she really have the right to rest?
Non-human races still lurked at the edges of the world, ready to move. The current human world didn't yet have the capital to face off against those non-human powerhouses.
Even though years ago she had turned most of the non-human monarchs of that time into former monarchs, the most dangerous monarch had escaped from her hands.
The Demon King, Leticia Infinoi.
This had always been a knot in the girl's heart. When she had found time to give that girl a finishing blow to turn her into a former Demon King, she discovered she couldn't find where the Demon King was.
Not only her—even the demons themselves didn't know where their Demon King had gone.
"Hah..." The girl lay on the soft bed, letting her snow-white long hair scatter. "Little Ya should be home from school by now."
She wondered what kind of expression she would have when she saw her—happy, or angry?
The girl didn't know, but having already lost half her purpose in life, the remaining half was simply watching her sister grow up safely.
Time passed minute by minute, and the blood-red sunlight gradually dyed the girl's room red.
Why wasn't she back yet?
School should have ended long ago. Her sister wasn't a bad child who would fool around outside... so what had happened?
"I should go look for her."
Like a martial arts master in TV dramas, the girl floated up from the bed and took out a phone she had barely used.
She dialed a number, and before even half a ring, the call was answered. "My lady, run into trouble?"
"Help me see where my sister is right now." The girl didn't waste words and got straight to the point.
The woman on the other end was stunned. "Your sister?"
"Yes, my sister."
"Didn't your sister go home?"
"How do you know?" The girl frowned.
"Your sister is one of our key protection targets. Every day on her way to and from school, there are at least ten people secretly protecting her. How do you think I know?" The woman snorted. "Although your identity is top secret, we still have to prepare for the worst."
The girl fought day and night on the front lines for humanity. Those of them enjoying the fruits of her labor in the rear couldn't fail to protect even her family, could they?
"Don't worry, your sister should be in the house downstairs from yours. There are only two households in your building, and your sister often goes to play with that young girl downstairs."
"Is that so?" The girl left her room. Since it was her sister's friend, she, as the older sister, naturally had to meet her.
"Why would I lie to you? I still have things to do, hanging up now."
The call ended, and the girl put her phone back in her pocket, walking step by step downstairs.
Knock, knock, knock. She knocked a few times on the bronze-colored door, completely failing to notice the white doorbell beside it. The girl was currently thinking about what expression to use when meeting her sister's friend.
She couldn't be too serious, but she couldn't be too casual either. She needed to smile... but the girl didn't know how to smile. She had even forgotten how to smile.
To put it in more common terms, she was expressionless.
Click... The door opened a crack, and a pretty girl in a maid outfit peeked out with wary eyes.
"You are?"
"I'm Little Ya's older sister." The girl pointed upstairs and explained matter-of-factly, "I've been away on business trips and couldn't stay by Little Ya's side."
Xue'er blinked her eyes. So Miss Little Ya had an older sister? Why had she never mentioned her before?
As for whether the girl was lying, Xue'er didn't doubt it. This girl clearly looked like the type who couldn't lie.
Look at that level of expressionlessness—could a liar be like this?
"Mm, please come in. Miss Little Ya is a very cute girl." Though not as cute as Her Majesty.
"Little Ya... is indeed very cute." The two reached a consensus from a strange angle.