Daidalos set up the charcoal grill on the balcony, poured in smokeless lychee charcoal while leaving gaps in the middle for oxygen to circulate, lit the fire, placed the wire rack over it, and laid skewers of meat and vegetables across the grate. As sizzling fat dripped and popped over the coals, an enticing aroma drifted with the summer breeze into the night of Nabistin.
"...In other words, Viewer, you fought shoulder to shoulder with the Divine Lord of Stars, with the four Divine Lords assisting, and together you defeated Ouroboros and saved the world."
Felix sat perched on the railing, swinging her slipper-clad legs back and forth, her silky blonde hair loosely tied up and resting against her shoulder. She delivered her summary with utter seriousness, but the moment she spoke, everyone couldn't help staring at her Slash Fish Dragon pajamas—even Diya wouldn't wear something so childish!
"That's right," Yaxiu murmured, leaning against the railing with a glass of juice cupped in his hands. "In return, I lost a quarter of my memories, including those of the Witch. Before this, I had already sacrificed memories twice, forgetting Weise and Vichy respectively... So this situation feels rather strange to me. I know you're all my lovers, but I have no idea how we became lovers in the first place. It's as if we were simply made for each other."
"Don't count me in that," Vichy waved a hand dismissively, her face calm. "I'm not like these love-struck fools. You and they like each other, but you and I are... are..."
"***," Felix supplied helpfully.
"Exactly, we're—wait, that's not right either!" The Spectre Prophet glared fiercely at Felix, crossed her legs, and snapped, "In any case, I'm just a prisoner you bound with chains. Don't go sugarcoating our relationship with words like 'lovers.'"
"Then you don't like Yaxiu?" Weise stood behind Vichy, resting hands on her shoulders, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "You don't have any feelings for him at all?"
The maid replied expressionlessly, "I hate him."
"You're dodging the question, Spectre Prophet," Silver Lantern teased with a chuckle. "I didn't ask if you hate him... though that answer is certainly enough to break his heart."
Vichy glanced at the crestfallen Yaxiu, feeling somewhat speechless herself. "You bind my freedom with chains, and you actually expect me to thank you? Did I really need to say it out loud for you to realize I hate you?"
"I just think it's unfair," Yaxiu mumbled. "We're supposed to have that deeply profound love-hate dynamic, caught between hatred and affection. But now that I've lost my memories, I don't hate you at all. All I have left for you is affection, while you still get to hate me... I only get to experience the sugary sweetness of romance, but you get the full, authentic, bittersweet experience! I'm totally getting shortchanged!"
Vichy blinked, looking down and muttering, "No wonder you suddenly became so..."
"You can look at it from another angle, Yaxiu," Diya chimed in. "Since you don't hate her, you don't have any psychological hang-ups at all. But because she hates you, she can't accept being your lover. And yet, she has no choice but to help you ascend the supreme throne of sorcery! By then, she won't even be able to fight you. No matter how much she hates you, she'll have to submit to you and let you bully her for the rest of her life, without a single countermeasure. Isn't that super fun?" As she went on, she grew increasingly excited, a charming peach blush spreading across her cheeks.
*Sometimes Diya is genuinely terrifying,* Yaxiu thought to himself.
"Who said I don't have a countermeasure?" Vichy retorted instinctively. "If I can't beat him, can't I just beat his children?"
"Children?" Everyone froze in bafflement.
The maid opened her mouth, her lips trembling slightly as a blush crept all the way to the tips of her ears.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to say calmly, "I meant the children you all have with him! What on earth are you imagining?"
Weise blinked and said, "While I did think about family planning before, I'm a god now, so I gave up on it after some thought... Sword Princess, Witch, have you ever thought about children?"
"No," Sonia shook her head. "Even by the standards of the Stars, getting married at my age would be considered early, let alone having children. There are still so many things I want to do, so many places I want to see. I'm nowhere near ready to settle down... Children are far too distant for me."
"I still feel like I'm a child myself," Diya said, batting her eyelashes at Yaxiu. "I need someone to dote on me—how could I possibly have the capacity to dote on a child?"
"In other words, while us love-struck fools like Yaxiu, we only want romance for now and haven't given any thought to bearing the fruits of love." Weise leaned close to Vichy's ear, making Vichy's face flush so red it seemed ready to bleed. "Could it be that someone has already picked out baby names? Surely not, right? Surely not?"
"Stop wandering off topic!" Vichy forcefully steered the conversation away. "Aren't we supposed to be discussing Yaxiu's amnesia? Be serious!"
"Now you know to care about me?" Yaxiu teased. Seeing Vichy looking at him with a mix of resentment and pitiful embarrassment, her flushed cheeks paired with a bitten lower lip, his heart fluttered. A rush of sweetness flooded his chest, like a massive mouthful of ice cream, and he couldn't bear to tease her any further. Just as he was about to speak up to rescue her, Felix suddenly tumbled off the railing beside him.
"Sister Vichy was just too cute," Felix said as she flew back up. "I was so mesmerized that I slipped before I realized..."
Almost grinding her teeth, Vichy changed the subject with forced concern: "Yaxiu, are there any aftereffects from your amnesia?"
"None that I've noticed so far," Yaxiu replied, steering the topic back on track. "Though, strange as it sounds, even though I went to such lengths before to hide my memory loss, confessing it actually made me feel lighter than ever."
"Because you're simply the kind of person who can't keep a secret," Weise rested her chin in her hand and smiled. "I remember vividly how you even reported losing your first kiss to Sword Princess, as if she had some way of verifying whether your lips had been unsealed."
"No, it's not just about keeping secrets," Yaxiu said. "Maybe it's also because deep down, I always wanted you to know... just how much I've sacrificed for you behind the scenes.
"Giving and sacrificing in silence might be dashing, but I'm not that kind of cool hero. I still want your recognition and applause—and ideally a little reward too. That's the only way I feel like my sacrifices were worth it." Yaxiu scratched his cheek, sheepishly asking, "Is that too opportunistic?"
Sonia blinked, then was the first to start clapping. The others quickly joined in, not excluding Daidalos and Felix, and applause rippled across the balcony.
Yaxiu hurried to wave them down. "All right, that's enough! Any more and I'll cringe so hard my toes will dig through the floor."
"Still, Yaxiu, having to sacrifice a quarter of your memories to save the world, gain power rivaling the supreme Divine Lord of Stars, and repel a monster capable of devouring an entire layer of the Void Realm..." Felix mused thoughtfully. Yaxiu thought she was about to praise him, only for her tone to pivot: "...it actually feels like a pretty good bargain."
"Indeed."
Vichy couldn't help nodding as well. "Getting the power of supreme sorcery for just a quarter of your memories—the value for money is simply unbeatable."
Chapter 1246