I just hope to live a leisurely life in the world of anime.

Ta-da.

It was the sound of a wooden spoon tapping the bottom of the bowl; the bowl was already empty.

"Are you full?" I put the things in my hand aside, and felt the blanket was about to slip off again, so I pulled it slightly.

"Waaah... Hmph..."

There were neither of the two expected answers, only a low sob escaping from her biting her lip.

"Ram-chan, what's wrong? Is it not tasty? Or are you not full?" An Shu asked anxiously, gently patting her back. Her own shirt, which she had just changed, was soaked through on the chest again.

"No... sob..." She wiped her tear-blurred eyes with her only functional left hand. "It's just... it's just that I'm already out... Never, ever has anyone cared about me like this..."

An Shu was taken aback, but didn't stop her anymore. She gently pulled her head close and rubbed her face against hers. "If you want to cry, just cry louder. It'll be alright... everything will be alright..."

"Waaaah—" If there were any members of the Oni Clan present at this moment, their jaws would probably drop to the floor. The usually stern and icy "Oni God" was now crying like a child of this age.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Dawn

Are you feeling better?

An Shu gently patted her back and comforted her in a low voice.

"Ugh... um." She was still sobbing, but the tears had stopped. She slumped her head in An Shu's arms and responded softly.

"Your face is all smeared with tears, wow, you look uglier!" An Shu tried to joke again, though it might not necessarily ease the somewhat somber atmosphere. "Let me wipe it for you, don't move around!"

"Pfft..." Feeling the large hand pretending to wipe her face while pulling at the corner of her mouth, trying to make her smile, Ram laughed along.

"That's right! Ram-chan looks much better when she smiles! Smile more!" An Shu was genuinely happy and proud; this was definitely because she had taught her well!

Wait a minute! What did I teach her?

"Mmm..." she responded softly, snuggling closer to An's embrace, her body seemingly becoming even warmer.

An Shu pulled the blanket up again, and the two fell silent once more.

"Are you sleepy? Let me carry you to bed..." An Shu asked softly when she saw her yawn.

"No..." Ram stubbornly shook her head in refusal, then snuggled closer to his chest. "Just like this, it's good..."

"is it?"

"Well... shall we continue chatting? Ram-chan, can you tell me your stories from the past?"

It's not that An Shu has low emotional intelligence and deliberately chose to talk about topics that people least want to discuss; it's just to give her someone to confide in.

Feeling the hand reaching out to interlock her fingers, Ram subconsciously squeezed it, then lowered her eyes. "It'll be very boring, Brother Anshu, would you like to listen?"

"Big brother" and "elder brother" mean the same thing, differing by only one word, yet their relationship seems to be instantly brought closer.

"Of course I'd love to!" Anshu closed her eyes, rested her head on Ram's head, and gently nuzzled it.

"Hoo..." Taking a deep breath, as if to gather her thoughts, she slowly spoke, "Brother Anshu, do you know about our race?"

"Um……"

"Brother Anshu must have guessed it by now, right? Rem and I are twins."

"Um……"

"So Rem and I only have one horn."

"This led to my parents agreeing to let the patriarch burn us alive during the first week of our lives..."

"Twins are taboo among the demons. This is what the clan leader said, in order to protect the root of the demon clan's honor."

She started shivering; the quilt covering her seemed unable to provide warmth, and she felt a chill.

She only gradually recovered after a pair of hands wrapped around her and pulled her into a warm embrace.

“Brother Anshu, you might not believe it, but I was only seven days old at the time, but I was very conscious. I saw everything they were doing, but I didn’t understand what they were trying to do, until Rem seemed to sense the danger and started wailing…”

"I unleashed my power to save our lives. There's no kinship whatsoever. Brother Anshu, you must find that hilarious, right?"

Without interrupting, he simply pulled even tighter. Why are all the adopted lolis born with tragic backstories?

Perhaps it's just that it's not quite finished yet.

"After that, I was 'kept' by the clan chief..."

"I was only allowed to learn magic from him; I couldn't do anything else or think about anything. Things only started to improve recently after he stopped being able to beat me..."

"He's ambitious, always thinking about restoring the glory of his ancestors, but I don't want that! I just hope Rem can stay healthy!" Her words grew faster and faster, and her voice trembled with the sound of tears.

"To put it bluntly, I am very strong, but Rem doesn't have my talent. So, she has always been ridiculed by her tribe, and she has always felt inferior, thinking that she took one of my horns, otherwise I would be better."

"I swear, I never thought of that, absolutely not!" Ram became emotional. If it weren't for her physical condition, she might have stood up right now.

"I know!" he shouted, silencing Ram, who was fidgeting restlessly. Then he lowered his voice and gently comforted her, "How could Ram be that kind of person? I know!"

"Waaah...waaah—" she cried again.

"Sweetie, let's not talk about it anymore, I don't want to listen anymore, okay?" An Shu suddenly felt a pang of heartache and gently rubbed her head.

I've done something stupid again. How many times has it happened? I guess I'll just keep self-destructing.

"Waaah..." Ram hugged him tightly, sobbing in a low voice, not wanting to show her pathetic side.

"Good girl, good girl..." The hand patting her back didn't stop until her breathing gradually became even.

I'm so tired I've already fallen asleep...

Gently wiping away her tears, An Shu nuzzled her sleeping head. "Goodnight, sweet dreams..."

He carefully stood up, placed her in the relatively clean corner of the bed, tucked the strands of hair that were sticking to her face behind her ears, and covered her with a blanket.

Stretching, he glanced out the window. "Time flies so fast, is it almost dawn? I'll go hunt some game and it'll be back soon. It's been so long since I've gotten any exercise..."

An Shu muttered to herself, her voice not quiet, seemingly unafraid of waking the girl in bed, which seemed contradictory, considering she had just been very careful...

He picked up the clothes from the ground. "Let's just leave these behind," he said, pushing open the door and walking out.

He paused after taking only a few steps, a slight smile playing on his lips. He knew that the blue-haired figure who had been eavesdropping outside had just slipped inside.

The oppressive darkness has dissipated; dawn has broken!

###Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Most Suitable Candidate for the Mistress of the Crystal Palace###

"It should be all better now, right?"

Standing at the village entrance, holding a skinned pheasant, An Shu shook his head.

Looking at the sky, the first rays of sunlight had already fallen on the earth. At this time, if it weren't for the destroyed houses, the charred charcoal, and the silent air, the village would seem like a dream that was too real to be real.

"Why think about these things? We need to hurry up and cook; those girls must be hungry."

He shrugged, took out a lotus leaf he had just picked, and wrapped it around the chicken whose internal organs had been removed. "There's not much seasoning, so this will have to do."

I tapped the lotus leaf with my finger, and a few shimmering blue lights shone through.

He nodded slightly, then suddenly stomped on the ground, creating a two-hole pit. He waved his hand and sucked up a few stones, quickly building a makeshift stove.

With a snap of his fingers, fire ignited inside.

Then they called for water, washed away the dirt on the ground, mixed it with a lot of mud, and threw the carefully wrapped chicken into it.

"I almost forgot how to make beggar's chicken! But I don't know if one will be enough, Wei Zhi is such a glutton..." she complained, but couldn't help but smile.

Clap your hands, and wait for the chicken to cook.

Raising his arms to stretch his body, he was exhausted by Nalam's behavior. "Go see if they've gotten up yet."

……

"So, girls shouldn't get too close to boys?" Ram nodded in sudden realization.

"Yeah! Ram-chan, did anything happen between you and Anshu-gege last night?"

The little girl pressed on, her voice a little nervous. She had come to check on her health that morning, but she hadn't expected her to have changed her clothes and find a bathtub outside the door. Did Anshu like bath play?

That doesn't make sense either!

Could it be that Ram took Anshu's virginity? So cunning! Hmm!

She pouted, looking rather sullen.

"Yesterday, Brother Anshu..."

"What's wrong with me?" At this moment, An Shu pushed open the door and entered. She was a little surprised to hear the people talking about her name.

"Hentai-nii-nii! You dare come back!" The little girl picked up the little girl in her arms and moved her aside. She stood up and pounced on An Shu, who had just entered the room. She sat on his stomach and grabbed his collar. "Tell me! What did you do to Ram-chan yesterday?"

“Say it!” The little girl was equally defiant, running over excitedly to pinch his cheek.

No! There's nothing there!

"Hmm! Brother Anshu is lying again! Ramu-chan has clearly changed her clothes! Ramu-chan can't make any big movements right now, how could she possibly be wearing Hitomi-chan's dress?"

Brother Anshu, you didn't secretly have sex with her while she was unable to move, did you?

But if we're going to have sex, you should come to me first! Or at least Hitomi-chan! Why did you have to come to Ram-chan? Ram-chan is injured!

"Huh? Miori-chan, you seem to have gotten smarter?"

"Ugh! Don't change the subject, just say it! I'll give you a chance to explain!" She shook him hard, looking exasperated.

"Yes, Sister Weizhi is right! Confess and you'll be treated leniently!" The little girl maintained a serious expression, but she couldn't help but smile.

"Sister?" Rem looked at Ram, who was leaning against the bed, with suspicion, even though she didn't understand anything about sex.

"No! Sister Weizhi, Sister Antong, you've misunderstood. I was just sweating and not feeling well yesterday, so I asked Brother Anshu to help me take a bath..."

"Huh? Really?" That makes sense, after all, Ram and Rem can't even tell the difference between boys and girls...

"What do you think?" An Shu was perceptive enough to pick her up from the ground and patted the little girl's head next to her in an annoyed manner.

"Hmph! It's one thing if Ram-chan doesn't understand, but surely you, Anshu-nii, can't be unaware, right? You could have woken me up, but you just wanted to take advantage of Ram-chan!"

“But…but…” An Shu didn’t know how to explain, and seeing Ram’s pleading eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say that she had wet the bed.

"Speechless now, huh?"

"Um……"