Having returned from Hell this time, with his dejection healed by Diya, Yaxiu soon sank into deep confusion—just who was this little girl who called him Daddy?
There was absolutely no way she was his own flesh and blood. To have a daughter that age, he'd have needed a rosy high school life straight out of some urban youth drama. In fact, back in high school Yaxiu really had hoped for a blazing, all-consuming first romance—but in his first year he pulled something suicidal. His family had a bottle of foreign liquor, a gift from an uncle who worked at some unknown job in the big city and had never married, and Yaxiu brought it to class to share with his buddies. At first it went down pretty well; by the time he came to his senses, his friends had stripped off their clothes and were lying in a heap all over the floor. He, at least, hadn't stripped—but he was lying in the middle of a pile of naked friends, and afterward he earned a legendary title that clung to him for three years: "Class Three's Succubus"—along with the loss of all his dating prospects for the rest of high school.
So she had to be a daughter he'd adopted... but it still felt a little strange. Given the age gap, I should have taken her as a little sister. At least a sister wouldn't hurt my chances of finding someone. But with a daughter, I'm sure the vast majority of normal women would keep their distance.
And then, just as Yaxiu had barely managed to accept that he had gained a daughter, the little girl suddenly turned into a teenage girl after he got out of bed—still calling him Daddy—which thoroughly addled the brain that had been deteriorating steadily ever since he started university.
Taking a little girl as a daughter was understandable. But taking a girl in the flower of her youth as a daughter—what the hell was that?! I'm only supposed to like taking bros as sons!
Later, when Diya came over to hug him and ask for a kiss, Yaxiu watched the others' reactions in extreme nervousness, but everyone looked utterly unsurprised, as though this were trivial daily routine to them.
At first Yaxiu had tried to find excuses for himself—like, in the sorcerer world, this sort of intimacy is normal between family members... But Diya had put her tongue all the way in, and he really couldn't fool himself.
Daughter? Lover? Little girl? Teenage girl?
The one consolation was that Diya had been in her teenage form when she kissed him. If she'd been in her little-girl form, Yaxiu wouldn't have needed to wonder at all—he could have simply ruled that he was a pervert.
There was still a little room to maneuver! Maybe calling him Daddy was just a special pet name between lovers?
Faced with Yaxiu's gaze—hopeful and anxious at once—Diya thought for a moment and understood what he had been going through since losing his memories. She was just about to clear things up, to say that she alone had treated Yaxiu as a father, when the Witch's mind took a sudden turn. Her long-unused Empress intellect seized the high ground, and she thought of a road she had never imagined before.
"...How could what we have be called perverted?"
The Witch gently wound her arms around Yaxiu's neck and buried her face in his shoulder so he couldn't see the smile on it. "We've always been like this, you know. Both father and daughter, and lovers."
Damn it!
Yaxiu was sick at heart, filled with deep guilt over what he had done; he wished he could call the police and have his past self locked away in Shattered Lake to be melted down and remade—couldn't you just date someone properly? Why did you have to go in for such high-end maneuvers? The present me simply isn't perverted enough to handle it!
"When we're alone, you always call me your good daughter, and if I'm disobedient you spank me. Have you forgotten?" Diya tilted her head to look at him, her tone full of reproach. "Is there no going back to how we were?"
Yaxiu opened and closed his mouth, then rubbed Diya's hair and murmured softly at her ear: "Goo...daugh...ter..."
Diya's heart raced. In that instant Black Demon, promises, everything was flung from her mind, and she even thought that Yaxiu losing his memory might be a good thing. After all, only blank paper could be daubed recklessly with whatever color she liked.
"No!" Yaxiu still couldn't accept it. "I really can't say it."
"Ah..." Diya pretended to be disappointed. "Looks like I'll be getting closer and closer to Black Demon..."
"Can I call you Little Diya?" Yaxiu pressed his palms together in entreaty. "That's my limit for now. I'll work on it."
"Hmm—" Diya gave him the cold shoulder for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. "Fine. Who told you to lose your memory? But if I'm disobedient, you still have to punish me, you know. Like right now—don't you think little Diya deserves a punishment?"
Yaxiu briskly and swiftly smacked her backside. Diya bit his ear and let out a soft "Ah" that held no trace of pain and was all seduction, sending his blood surging.
Originally Yaxiu hadn't entirely believed Diya's story; now he believed it completely—this was bad, he really did seem to be a pervert! "Well, if there's nothing else, go back and rest—"
"No hurry." The Witch wrapped her legs around Yaxiu's waist. "You said just now that both Weise and Vichy know you've lost your memory?"
"Yeah. I didn't tell them, but I did lose all my memories of them, so they can probably tell something's off from our everyday conversations." Yaxiu lay on the bed not daring to move, afraid of setting off a spark. "Vichy probably knows and doesn't care. Maybe for her and me, my losing my memory isn't a bad thing... From what you've all described, our meeting was a disaster. Even though I slowly began to like her, because of everything that happened before, I couldn't accept her. She and I are both bound by chains—losing my memory actually undid my chains, so..."
"No wonder you suddenly became so infatuated with the maid."
Diya's face lit with understanding. "We thought Vichy must have used some kind of charm miracle... Wait, so the Spectre Prophet really has fallen for you? She's not faking it? Have you gotten hold of some charm miracle that's super effective against wicked women?"
Yaxiu went on: "Weise knows for certain, because she keeps helping me recall the past, reminding me what happened between us. I still can't remember, but at least I know she's the lover I fell for at first sight."
"Mm... Mm!?"
Diya blinked. Love at first sight?
That wasn't right. When Yaxiu met Silver Lantern, wasn't that exactly during his love triangle with her and Sword Princess? He had always discussed Silver Lantern as an enemy. How could he have fallen for her at first sight?
And Yaxiu's personality made love at first sight impossible—lust at first sight was more like it. Yaxiu seemed to be good to everyone and get along with everyone; only the Witch and a small handful of others knew how seldom he opened his heart. As a friend he was indeed a sunflower that grew friendly with anyone right away, but the moment a relationship threatened to deepen, he turned into a mimosa, folding shut to hide himself.
Could it be...
"I don't think I've ever heard the story of you and Silver Lantern," Diya said, following the thread. "How did you two become lovers?"
Suspecting nothing, Yaxiu told her the story of how he had chased after and pined for Silver Lantern—his adventure through Senluo turned out to be the long romantic marathon of Yaxiu and Silver Lantern. When he finished, he sighed. "Good thing Silver Lantern took the initiative to help me remember, or I'd never know how many important moments we've shared."
Chapter 1244