The second young lady of the Vosloda family did not immediately answer Yaxiu's question. Using her knife and fork, she carved out a sixth of the lava cake, opened her mouth wide, and popped the entire piece inside. Overflowing cream smeared against the corners of her mouth, making her look just like a child.
Today, she wore a black velvet shawl, black knitted fingerless arm warmers, and a skirt beneath a navy-blue trench coat. Her small crossbody bag sat on the tabletop. She looked every bit the noble young lady out to admire the snow, exuding an effortless elegance and nobility down to her bones with every gesture. Any slight lapse in grace or lady-like decorum only accentuated her uninhibited, endearing childishness.
Yaxiu was not surprised. After all, she had not been raised as a lady to begin with; eight years ago, she had still been "Playboy Felix." When Yaxiu first met her on the train, she had been on the run from bandits while posing as the second son of a noble house... Back then, Yaxiu had not even known she was a girl.
It was only later, when he met Feili in the Cage of All Stars, that he pieced things together after a little thought. Come to think of it, though, ever since Yaxiu returned from the Cage of All Stars, he did not seem to have seen Felix cross-dressing as a man anymore...
"Are you asking on behalf of a friend?"
Catching the teasing glint in Felix's eyes, dark lines crept across Yaxiu's face, his lips twitching. "Is digging at me really that fun?"
"Of course it is." Perhaps because the cake was sweet and delicious, the corners of Felix's mouth curled upward as she said cheerfully, "I won't ask who it is, though it isn't hard to guess.
"Actually, I'm surprised you'd even ask this. Shouldn't 'falling for someone for no apparent reason' be an everyday occurrence for you?"
"How could that be?"
"Oh, so it isn't? I thought you always fell for every girl you laid eyes on—that every pretty girl was your lover, and you had the unpicky appetite of a trash can."
"So you're still digging at me?!"
Felix giggled, biting lightly on her fork. "All jokes aside, does 'falling for someone for no apparent reason' really exist in this world? I don't buy that she doesn't have anything you like. After all, even when I'm in the bath seeing her chest, legs, and hips, I blush..."
"Of course that kind of attraction exists. Appreciating beauty is human instinct—who doesn't like a pretty girl?" Yaxiu took a sip of sweet milk. "To be honest, I even kind of miss the days with Igola and Harvey. Spending day and night with all of you girls now is really testing my self-control..."
"Huh?" Felix tilted her head. "Does that include me?"
Yaxiu glanced at her and casually steered back to the topic. "Appreciation isn't the same as the kind of affection I'm talking about. Liking spring doesn't mean you must pluck the flowers; liking summer doesn't mean you must catch the singing cicada; liking autumn doesn't require keeping the withered leaves; and liking winter doesn't mean hoarding the snow... You can appreciate a landscape without wanting to keep it forever, because the next second you might want to look at mountains and rivers, look at the Void Realm. You wouldn't bind yourself to a single landscape forever.
"But the love I'm talking about is the kind..."
He paused, seemingly embarrassed himself, and said with mixed emotions, "It's the kind where you want to be together every waking moment, bound forever, sharing each other's lives."
Felix blinked and fell silent, seemingly stunned by his words.
A moment later, she could not help saying, "Setting that 'whoever' aside for a moment, does your current situation mean that you alone want to bind the Sword Princess, the Witch, and the Silver Lantern—three female sorcerers—wanting to be with them every moment, share each other's lives, and ideally live together?"
Yaxiu blinked and nodded. "Yeah. Is there a problem?"
"Then I get it." Felix smacked her forehead. "The problem isn't with you. It's mostly that I used to mingle in noble circles, where most people were scumbags. But at least they knew they were scumbags. While dealing with them wasn't pleasant, their desires were clear as day.
"Whereas I rarely had to deal with people like you before—someone who is obviously a scumbag, yet talks about pure love with a straight face." Felix spread her hands and explained, "It's a bit harsh to say, but I feel like I'm watching a puddle of vomit talk. It's kind of repulsive and kind of sickening..."
"If it's harsh to say, then don't say it!" Yaxiu shoved large bites of cake into his mouth to hide how rattled he was. "Fine, I get it! I'll finish eating and get out of here!"
"I've never seen a trash can with such a glass heart," Felix said with a chuckle. "Take my father, for example..."
She paused, then suddenly returned to the topic at hand. "I understand what you mean now. Normally, when someone's values and actions are completely unacceptable to you, at most you'd just lust after her body. You wouldn't possibly want to be with her.
"You should genuinely loathe or even despise her from the bottom of your heart. Even if she never harmed you personally, her past has severely crossed your moral bottom line... If you two were total strangers, you'd even curse her to drop dead immediately... To you, even breathing the same air as her should be unacceptable, and every extra second she lives is a waste of resources.
"Yet your emotion and reason have split. Rationally, you want to stay away from her, but emotionally, you want to be close to her. It's like two Lalafells brawling inside your head, which is why you're so torn."
Listening to her, Yaxiu nodded repeatedly and could not help marveling, "Exactly! That's it! Felix, you're practically speaking my exact thoughts—a perfect summary of what's baffling me!"
Felix shot him a glance, took another small bite of cake, and gave a soft huff. "Being able to understand a scumbag like you really doesn't bring me any joy..."
The corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched, and he said tactfully, "It would be even better if you were willing to show a shred of respect to the Observer Seat."
"Sorry, no can do." Felix bit down on her fork with an audible clink. "If I can't curse you out a little, I'd rather not talk at all."
"Fine, do as you please." Yaxiu felt helpless, and deep down, he felt he really did deserve to be cursed out, especially at a time like this. "So I really don't understand—why would someone fall in love with someone they despise?"
Felix said, "Because she made your heart flutter once. In that moment, all her flaws were forgotten. Even if she's a demon or a scumbag, you still wish that moment could last forever... and so, you fell for her."
Yaxiu froze. He suddenly remembered the morning he had just returned from Hell. He had turned his head to see the sunlight illuminating the maid's face. Smiling gently, she looked at him with eyes slightly crinkled, as if every single eyelash was rejoicing at his return.
He took a bite of cake, savoring the blissful sweetness of the rich cream washing over his tongue. Letting out a soft sigh, he asked, "Then what should I do?"
"Isn't that simple? Follow your emotions and keep loving her, or follow your reason and despise her completely," Felix said. "Is there even a third option?"
"Sometimes I think combat might be the simplest thing in a sorcerer's life."
Yaxiu poked aimlessly at the cake with his fork. "At least with miracles, I can change anything I don't like."
Chapter 1076